The Department of Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology at the University of Missouri is recruiting for a highly qualified individual to help coordinate a new large-scale group randomized intervention trial to evaluate the efficacy of a teacher classroom management training program. For a full description of the position, which is at the Assistant or Associate Research Professor rank, please download the position announcement.

The Department of Communication Sciences and Special Education at the University of Georgia (Athens, GA, US) announced a search for an individual to fill tenure-earning position in the area of learning disabilities at the assistant or associate professor level. Please see the accompanying PDF for details. For additional information, please contact
Jennifer Lindstrom, Ph.D.
Search Committee Chair
Department of Communication Sciences and Special Education
516 Aderhold Hall
Athens, GA 30602

The Department of Communication Sciences and Special Education at the University of Georgia (Athens, GA, US) announced a search for an individual to fill tenure earning position in the area of early childhood special education at the assistant or associate professor level. Please see the accompanying PDF for details. For additional information, please contact
Cynthia Vail, Ph.D.
Search Committee Chair
Department of Communication Sciences and Special Education
516 Aderhold Hall
Athens, GA 30602

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.

Shining Stars brochure

A coalition of groups concerned with early childhood education will hold its seventh annual conference in mid-July of 2010. Shining Stars: Charting the Future for Today’s Children will be held at the Cavalier Inn in Virginia Beach (VA, US). Click on the upcoming image to download a brochure or go to the Shining Stars conference website for more information.

The WVU Department of Special Education has been approved to offer 2 Teaching Faculty positions in special education for Fall 2010. These benefits-eligible positions are full-time employment for 1-3 years that are renewable, so they offer opportunity for long term employment. The positions focus on teaching and service, including teacher education program coordination responsibilities. There will also be some opportunities for research related to teacher education. These positions may present a good opportunity for a doctoral program graduate who does not wish to focus on research or someone who needs employment now while finishing a degree or considering other employment options.

Position 1 & Position 2>/a>

The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) declared the week beginning 9 May 2010 to be “Exceptional Children’s Week.” Pass it along!

For those who can make it, I recommend attending the main Sprout Film Festival 30 April through 2 May at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. This is the parent festival for the touring versions, one of which has stopped in my neighborhood a couple of times. Well worth the time. See http://www.sproutfilmfestival.org.

Scholars in the field of reading research are encouraged to submit applications for the 2010-2011 Jeanne S. Chall Research Grant. The purpose of this grant is to provide a stipend for a scholar to spend a period of time (usually from 2-8 weeks) at the Harvard Graduate School of Education to conduct research utilizing the Jeanne S. Chall Collection on the Teaching of Reading housed in the Monroe C. Gutman Library’s Special Collections Department. Additionally, the researcher will have access to other extensive reading resources available in Special Collections, Gutman Library and elsewhere at Harvard University. The Chall Collection consists of books and other materials related to the history of reading research and the teaching of reading, spanning both the 19th and 20th centuries. Most of the materials are dated from the 1950s through 1980s and include reading textbooks, curriculum sets, and scholarly works.

The research should focus on beginning reading, reading instruction, reading difficulty, or other related topics in the field. Additionally, projects may be historical in nature, focus on textual analysis, or relate to the research and writing of Jeanne Chall. The award will support travel to and from Cambridge and other expenses (up to a total of $2500). Applicants must hold a doctoral degree from an accredited institution of higher learning. Please include a current resume and a project proposal not exceeding 500 words in length. The application deadline is May 14, 2010.

Send to Edward Copenhagen, Special Collections Librarian, Harvard Graduate School of Education, Gutman Library, 6 Appian Way, Cambridge, MA 02138; e-mail submission to: edward_copenhagen [at] harvard [dot] edu

The Department of Special Education at Peabody College of Vanderbilt University invites applications for an associate professor in the area of severe disabilities. The successful applicant will be eligible for tenure evaluation. The duties of the position are to maintain a program of research, teach courses in the program on severe disabilities, participate in the development of master’s and doctoral programs, advise students, and submit and operate grants. Affiliation with the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development is possible.

For a full description of the position, please download the accompanying position announcement.