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Hot Resources for 2008 Click on the links below to take you to that set of resources. Attention alumni: Please send us information about resources you are involved with that would be of interest to our readers. Newly published book explores the Department's half century of research and its relevance to today's world of special education The KU Special Education faculty-authored book, Taking Stock of Special Education Policy & Practice: A Retrospective Commentary, is concerned with the evolution of special education policy and practice. It assesses what has been accomplished in the field over the past several decades, what remains to be done, and what must be reconsidered. Its retrospective approach allows noted authors in several areas of special education policy and practice to reflect on their previously published works, discussing the context and motivation of their writing and relating their ideas, intentions, and recommendations to present-day needs. The book is organized into seven areas of special education scholarship. Thematically, readers are introduced to a conceptual framework for integrating the broad range of perspectives in the book and to a principled stance for the field of special education whose strength lies in its diversity of interests. The book is available from Love Publishing Company for $66.00 Beach Center's online Community of Practice Family members interested in discussing their real-life experiences with other family members who have a young child with a disability now have a new, interactive online forum hosted by the Beach Center on Disability. The Beach Center’s Community of Practice on Early Childhood Family Support is up and running and already giving voice not only to family members, but also to practitioners, advocates, policymakers and more. Faculty, students and alumni of the School of Education are invited to join the conversations now underway in the Early Childhood Family Support Community of Practice. Go to the Beach Center website at www.beachcenter.org. Click on the photo under “Community of Practice.” Once you are in the CoP, find the “Participate” menu (on the left side of your screen), choose “Become a Member," and then follow the instructions. Click here to view complete article. KU affiliated disability centers...all on one page The Department of Special Education faculty and staff operate a number of research and professional development centers and Web sites that benefit individuals with disabilities and their families and the professionals who serve them. Listed conveniently on the Department's Affiliated Centers & Institues Web page, exploration of these sites provides a wealth of effective, research-based strategies, guidance and information regarding the educational needs of children, youth and adults with disabilities. In fact, bookmarking this page is a great way to locate familiar as well as new sites that are likely to become personal favorites! KU professor, student help create Web site that offers comprehensive information on Autism Spectrum Disorders Brenda Myles, former KU special education associate professor, has been involved with a collaborating group of researchers, including recent KU doctoral program graduate and now OCALI professional development specialist, Sheila Smith, attempting to enhance ASD resources and standards for educators, professionals and parents across the nation. Smith said the response to the newly developed modules has been extremely positive despite minimal advertising and minimal conference presentations. The free Web site, www.autisminternetmodules.org, currently has some complete modules available and will eventually have 60 modules that contain valuable information on ASD, such as characteristics, diagnosis, intervention and support systems, transition and employment. Each module is developed by various ASD experts from across the country. Link to this National Education Association article that highlights the modules. Faculty members create Web site to highlight grant activity Professor Michael Wehmeyer and his research team including Associate Professor Sean Smith and Research Associate Professor Susan Palmer, have created a Web resource that helps to explain the technology projects associated with the group’s grant. Team members worked with the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center for the Advancement of Cognitive Technologies (RERC-ACT) at the University of Colorado to design the site, which is advancing cognitive technologies and initiatives that support people with disabilities and help them use various forms of technology. The grant, which team members have used to focus on technology use for individuals with disabilities, is scheduled to end soon, although the resource will still be maintained. Instructional Coaching site offers school and classroom progress through partnerships The KU Center for Research on Learning Instructional Coaching Web site, developed by Jim Knight includes information on future Instructional Coaching Institutes, Coaching Classroom Management Institutes and the annual Instructional Coaching Conference. Besides dates and information about these professional development opportunities, the site also includes information on research, duties and activities of an instructional coach, and the partnership theory of instructional coaching. In addition, there are several tools and presentations that instructional coaches can download and use, plus a list of articles and publications pertaining to instructional coaching. ALTEC tool helps teachers find equity resources As part of their 4Teachers.org project, ALTEC has created a tool designed to help educators and parents learn more about the needs of diverse learners. The Equity Index is an organized list of rubrics, Web collections ("tracks") and Web sites related to a wide variety of special needs. Categories include topics such as Disabilities, Multicultural, and Assessment, and each category includes more specific subtopics. The resources included in the Equity Index are taken from the Web in general, as well as from RubiStar and TrackStar, both developed by ALTEC and available free at the 4Teachers.org Web site. RubiStar helps teachers quickly create rubrics for project-based learning activities, allowing them to customize assessment and individualize student projects. TrackStar organizes a collection of Web sites chosen by the teacher into an easy-to-use interface to help students conduct research and explore the Web safely, quickly, and easily. ALTEC encourages educators to submit Web resources for inclusion in the Equity Index using the "Nominate a Site" link at the top of the page. KU Beach Center Resource Library provides developmental disabilities resources for families and educators Hundreds of journal articles, book chapters, books, tips and feature stories on developmental disabilities can be accessed through a new resource library on the Beach Center Web site. Conduct a search by type of resource, author, topic or disability category. Or, you can search by a key term in the title. Center for Research on Learning develops helpful resource on disability legislation and policy The National Research Center on Learning Disabilities (NRCLD), a collaboration of researchers at the KU Center for Research on Learning and Vanderbilt University, released a new Web-based resource that helps school systems navigate changes in federal legislation related to specific learning disabilities. The resource kit debuted this past spring and is available to state and local agencies and parents of individuals with disabilities for free at www.nrcld.org/resource_kit. The kit includes basic information about learning disabilities and responsiveness to intervention (RTI) models, with which schools use to create multiple levels of support for special education students. Link to view complete article. University collaborators produce program to help teachers align curriculum with state mathematics standards The e-Learning Design Lab collaborated with the KU Center for Educational Testing and Evaluation (CETE) to create the Blending Assessment with Instruction Program (BAIP), an online resource that enables teachers to create effective lesson plans that help students adhere to mathematics curriculum standards. BAIP connects lesson plans with assessment results that measure student achievement in fulfilling performance objectives of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation. The resource includes a multitude of instructional units, lesson plans and online tutorials. All lessons provide extensions that accommodate the educational needs of students with disabilities. The Kansas State Department of Education has made BAIP available statewide. Link to view complete article and registration information. |
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Contact Special Education Joseph R. Pearson Hall, Rm. 521 1122 West Campus Rd. University of Kansas Lawrence, KS 66045 3101 phone: (785) 864-0556 Related Info Taking Stock of Special Education Policy & Practice: A Retrospective Commentary Affiliated Centers and Institutes |
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