Archive for the 'Administration' Category

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UNCG Professor and chair

Published on 27 September 2010 in Administration, News, Positions in higher ed and Teacher Education. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) invites applications for Professor and Department Chair for its Department of Specialized Education Services in the School of Education. The successful candidate, who will assume the position  August 1, 2011, will have responsibility for leadership in program development, personnel issues, managing budgets and course schedules, outreach, strategic planning and program evaluation, state and national accreditation, school and university respresentation, alumni relations, and other similar activities.
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Maybe special ed isn’t as bad as it’s cracked up to be?

Published on 22 September 2010 in Administration, Commentaries, News, Public Policy and The Press. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Special education takes a lot of lumps as a dumping ground, a backwater, a path to dashed hopes, and on and on. Thanks to Amy Corbett Storch over on The Stir, it’s clear that special ed isn’t so bad. In “Why We’re Not Afraid of Special Education,” Ms. Storch explains why she wasn’t fazed by allowing her son to be identified as having a disability and receiving special education. Here’s her lead:

When we first told some of our family members that we decided to seek support and services for our child through the school district’s special education program (and later, after he actually qualified for the special education program), they were shocked. Shocked that Noah — sweet, smart, sociable little Noah with all his invisible labels — qualified in the first place, and that we would actually willingly send our child to public school special ed.

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Considering goals for individuals with severe disabilities

Published on 20 June 2010 in Administration, News, Teacher Education and The Press. 0 Comments

Writing in the New York Times, Sharon Otterman reviews some of the challenges encountered in providing educational services to students with multiple and severe disabilities. In her extended article, Mr. Otterman uses the case of Donovan Forde, a 20-year-old youth who is nearing the end of mandated educational services in the US, to explain how teachers must weigh provision of academic experiences and functional living needs.

And yet, because of his cognitive disabilities brought on by a traumatic brain injury at nearly 6 months old, it is almost impossible to know what he comprehends and retains. After 15 years in the New York City school system, he is less reserved and more social, but otherwise has shown almost no progress, his mother said.

Once predominately isolated in institutions, severely disabled students have been guaranteed a free, appropriate public education like all children since the passage of federal legislation in 1975. In the years since, school districts across the country have struggled to find a balance between instruction in functional skills and academics while providing basic custodial care.

Read to Ms. Ottermn’s article. It would be a worthwhile one for discussion in courses about teaching students with disabilities.

RIF funding opportunity

Published on 4 March 2010 in Administration, Advanced training opportunities, Graduate students, News, Requests for proposals and Research. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

Reading is Fundamental, the US nonprofit organization devoted to promoting reading and literacy, is soliciting proposals from university graduate students who would be willing to help conduct some research. The student who receives the award must analyze data and write a report of a study being conducted at Brooklyn (NY, US) Public Library. The study is to investigate the feasibility and impact of providing audio books to children with reading and developmental disabilities.

Upon completion of the project, the grantee will receive $3,000 in compensation. Digital media and special education majors are encouraged to apply. Proposals are due March 26. Direct questions to Patricia Oholeguy at 202.536.3476 or poholeguy [at] rif [dot] org. Learn more about RIF. Download a copy of the RFP.

Summer camp opportunities in Virginia

Published on 17 February 2010 in Administration, Positions in orgs and Professional development. 0 Comments

Camp Baker Services in Chesterfield (VA, US) provides residential summer camp, day summer camp, weekend respite services, emergency respite services, day support services and an after school program for over 590 individuals with disabilities each year. Officials at Camp Baker Services have opportunities for people interested in working with children, youths, and adults, including summer jobs and spring, summer, and fall internships.

“We operate 24 hours a day for 365 days of the year,” Shirley O’Brien, the Senior Director at Camp Baker Services, reports. “The individuals who attend our programs range from 6-80 years of age and from mild intellectual delays to severe intellectual and physical delays. We are a fully barrier-free, modern facility on 22 acres.”
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Costs-benefits of special education

Published on 4 February 2010 in Administration, Commentaries, News, Public Policy and The Press. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Over on Squidalicious, a guest post by Lea Cuniberti-Duran about “Special Needs Children and Public Education” appears under the title “We Are Not Sparta: The Real, Justified Costs of Educating Kids With Special Needs.” Ms. Cuniberti-Duran recounts the argument that schools are hamstrung by the costs of providing special education services.

I have attended many school district budget meetings in which officials blurted to their audience, “We cannot pay for XYZ because of our financial responsibility toward children with special needs: to educate one special needs student can cost the district $100,000 a year.” I also hear about how the district has “an unfunded mandate to educate children with special needs, and how this results into an encroachment to the general fund.”

She then proceeds to provide a clear and powerful dismissal of the canard that special education’s costs harm others. Not only does she show how the costs argument leaks (at least with regard to the local education agencies in her geographic area of the US), but also she explains how beneficial special education has been to society as a whole over the past 35 years. Read it!

Kauffman’s ‘Curtains’ paper

Published on 3 February 2010 in Administration, Commentaries, News and Public Policy. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Jim Kauffman drafted an editorial expressing his concern that special education has been so substantially undermined that it is near collapse. Here’s his lead (‘lede?’):

I think we’re approaching the end of special education. By analogy, we’re nearing the final scene of a stage play. Special education is, I think, very near its “curtains.” And we’re perilously close to being unable to rewrite the play while it’s in progress.

You may download a full copy of “Curtains for Special Education: An Open Letter to Educators.”

Posney to OSERS

Published on 8 July 2009 in Administration, News, Public Policy and The Press. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

The US President Barack Obama announced that he plans to nominate Alexa E. Posny for the position of Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) in the Department of Education. Dr. Posny, who currently serves as commission of education for the state of Kansas, will return to US ED where she previously served as Director in the Office of Special Education Programs.

OSERS claims its mission is to “promote academic excellence, enhance educational opportunities and equity for all of America’s children and families, and to improve the quality of teaching and learning by providing leadership, technical assistance and financial support.” In the role of Assistant Secretary for OSERS, Ms. Posny will oversee policies related to achievement in schools, educational improvement, and financial assistance for local education agencies.

The White House press release provided background information about Commissioner Posny:

Alexa E. Posny currently serves as the Commissioner of Education for the state of Kansas. As Commissioner, she is responsible for helping over 450,000 students meet or exceed high academic standards, licensing over 45,000 teachers, and overseeing a state education budget of a little over $4.5 billion dollars. Prior to this, Posny was appointed as the Director of the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) for the U.S. Department of Education, a position in which she assisted state and local efforts to effectively educate all children and youth with disabilities. Other positions that Posny has held included the Kansas Deputy Commissioner of Education , Kansas State Director of Special Education, Director of Special Education for the Shawnee Mission School District, Director of the Curriculum and Instruction Specialty Option as part of the Title 1 Technical Assistance Center (TAC) network of TACs across the United States, and a Senior Research Associate at Research and Training Associates in Overland Park, KS. Posny earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point, a master’s degree in behavioral disabilities and a doctorate in educational administration both from the University of Wisconsin Madison. Currently she serves on the Board of Directors for the Chief State School Officers, the National Council for Learning Disabilities, and chairs the National Assessment Governing Board’s Special Education Task Force. Most importantly, she has been a teacher at the elementary, middle and high school levels and remains a teacher today, serving as adjunct faculty with the University of Kansas.

Links for:

Do Chicago schools hide special ed students?

Published on 19 June 2009 in Administration, News, Public Policy and The Press. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

One of the on-going concerns about high-stakes testing and special education is whether scores of students with disabilities should be included in a school’s or local education agency’s average on tests. If they do, won’t they drag the average to lower levels? If they don’t isn’t that counter to the advocacy position of some organizations (e.g., National Center on Learning Disabilities)?

The issue’s complicated by the change in the US government. People are looking carefully at the records of the newly appointed officials in the US Obama Administration. And, low and behold, US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan’s record is under the magnifying glass. As Christina Samuels reports in “Chicago Schools Come Under Fire for Special Education Progams,” the actions of schools that were under Mr. Duncan’s oversight are in the crosshairs.

Because U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan was the superintendent of Chicago Public Schools, I keep an eye out for special education news originating from the city. This article, in the Chi-Town Daily News, is about an accusation from a principal that students with special learning needs are barred from evaluations because it’s too expensive to educate them.

A Chicago Public Schools principal yesterday accused district officials of routinely denying disabled students access to specialized help, and at times even barring them from evaluation for learning disabilities.

As is common with Ms. Samuels’ report, this is a valuable recitation of the situation. I recommend it to folks who are concerned about high-stakes testing and special education. Link to the article.

NCD meeting 20 July 2009

Published on 18 June 2009 in Administration, News and Public Policy. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

National Council on Disability (NCD) has invited people to attend a meeting and contribute to a discussion of policies, practices, and etc. that affect individuals with disabilities. Although this meeting is not precisely centered on special education, I’ve posted it here for the benefit of those of us who work with families, on transition issues, or are concerned with other aspects of special education where larger issues of public policy intersect with special ed.

June 17, 2009
Dear Friends and Colleagues:

On behalf of the National Council on Disability (NCD), it is my pleasure to invite you to attend NCD’s next quarterly meeting, which will take place at the Minneapolis Marriott City Center, 30 South 7th Street, Minneapolis, MN, beginning at 8:30 a.m. on Monday, July 20, 2009, and ending at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, July 22, 2009. This meeting is open to the public.

NCD is an independent federal agency, composed of 15 members appointed by the President, by and with the consent of the U.S. Senate. NCD’s purpose is to promote policies, programs, practices, and procedures that guarantee equal opportunity for all individuals with disabilities, and that empower individuals with disabilities to achieve economic self-sufficiency, independent living, and inclusion and integration into all aspects of society. To carry out this mandate we gather public and stakeholder input, including that received at our public meetings held around the country; review and evaluate federal programs and legislation; and provide the President, Congress, and federal agencies with advice and recommendations.
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