Tufts University - Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Certificate in Occupational Therapy: School-Based Practice
Medford, USA
Certificate
DURATION
12 months
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Part time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
STUDY FORMAT
Distance Learning
Key Summary
About: The Tufts Department of Occupational Therapy Advanced Professional Certificate in School-based Practice is a no-residency, online, asynchronous certificate for practicing school therapists. It helps therapists expand knowledge of special education law, evaluation and intervention best practices, systems approaches, and evidence translation into practice. You'll join an online community of learners and can consult the certificate coordinator about applying if you're a Tufts Occupational Therapy graduate student.
Career Outcomes: Graduates work in K–12 settings as school occupational therapists, special education consultants, or pediatric rehabilitation specialists. The certificate may support roles in school-based teams, district-level programme development, or interdisciplinary intervention planning.
The Tufts Department of Occupational Therapy Advanced Professional Certificate in School-based Practice is a no-residency, online certificate designed for working school professionals.
This asynchronous, online certificate is for practicing school therapists with an interest in:
- expanding their knowledge in applicable special education law
- best practices in evaluation and intervention, including systems approach, translation, and application of available evidence to their current practice
participation in an online community of learners
Tufts Occupational Therapy graduate students who are interested in a school-based practice certificate are encouraged to discuss the application process with the certificate coordinator.
- This certificate consists of three courses; this certificate program begins in the January semester.
- Participants will take one course each in the spring, summer 1 session, and fall semesters.
Course Curriculum
Spring semester (January-May): Participants enroll in:
- OTS 284: Therapy in Schools: Best Practices
Summer semester 1 (May-June): Participants enroll in:
- OTS 193 Autism: Working with Children with Autism: Facilitating Social and Educational Participation
or - OTS 194 Working with Children with Self-Regulation Issues in Schools
Either course is a prerequisite for OTS 285. Pick only one.
Fall semester (September-December): Participants enroll in:
- OTS 285: Mentored Seminar in School-based Practice
The Advanced Professional Certificate in School-based Practice is a series of three courses delivered in an asynchronous online format, over the course of one calendar year, and aims to create a supported professional development opportunity for working school-based therapists. Given reform in special education and civil rights legislation, current guidelines for best practices in the provision of educationally-relevant related services to students with disabilities, as well as school system pressures, including increased accountability for student outcomes, the program prepares participants to become more evidence-based and effective in advancing a systems approach to delivery of services. The certificate will focus on systems considerations, current evidence for evaluation and intervention, research on inter-professional teams and collaboration, self-reflection on personal practice patterns, and action-planning for potential practice change.
