Donna Sobel, lori Elliott, & antwan jefferson University of Colorado Denver

1. INTENTIONAL PLANNING THAT MOVES BEYOND APPENDED SPECIAL EDUCATION CONTENT AND PRACTICES Office of Special education programs project director’s conferenceJuly 15-17, 2013Washington, dc Donna Sobel, lori Elliott, & antwanjefferson University of Colorado Denver

2. Our AIM intentional and strategic planning for moving beyond appended special education content and practices.

3. Extending the work of the 325T grant: Achieving Special Education Equity through Diversity (ASEED) Project Through a process of collaborative program development, faculty are integrating and supporting curricular components from general and special education programs to ensure vertical alignment as demonstrated by a comprehensive progression of inclusive practices content across the core program.

4. The need is vast Nationally Colorado Snapshot School-aged students with an identified special education disability = 72,913 Graduation rate for students w/ an identified disability = 64.3% Graduation rate for students w/out a disability = 74.6% 72.4% of students with a disability spend 80% or more of their school day in general education classrooms • 76,600,000 school-aged children • 6,535,838 school-aged students aged 3-21 receiving special education services

5. Our Context • Research Intensive Urban University • Graduate (85%) & Undergraduate (15%) teacher education • Elementary (K-6) • Secondary (7-12) • SPED (K-12) • 350-400 teacher candidates • Integrated/Merged approach to preparing general & special educators • Professional Development School model with co-teaching as a foundational approach

6. the Role of Inclusive Practice in a Time of Dynamic Change, Innovation, &Accountability A multi-phased collaborative effort to gather feedback then implement essential special education knowledge and skill sets into a merged general and special education teacher preparation program.

7. Inclusive Practices Learning Progression MATRIX DESIGN 4 overarching categories address 36 topics across 5 core courses and internships: • Special education in context: Perspectives, concepts and people = 14 topics • A study of individuals with special needs: Learning characteristics and issues of diversity= 10 topics • Promising practices that foster inclusive education = 10 topics • Response to intervention = 7 topics See handout #1

8. Core courses • UEDU 4010/5010: Social foundations and cultural diversity in urban education • UEDU 4020/5020: A partnership transforming schools & connecting communities • SPED 4030/5030: Understanding students in urban contexts • UEDU 4040/5040 & 4050/5050: Exploring diversity in content and pedagogy • SPED 5931, 5932 & 5933: Internships and collaborative learning community

9. Course: Social foundations and cultural diversity in urban educationExemplar 1: Take a stance: concerning practices (activity) A collection of articles and videos examining the inhumane treatment some individuals with disabilities currently receive in present day society. Discussion Prompts: • Discuss what the video segment means to you? • Talk about what the messages conveyed in the videos means in regard to the way persons with disabilities are perceived and how their needs are addressed today. • Consider how the actions and message conveyed in the clip(s) reinforce specifics beliefs you hold about your role as a teacher and a citizen. • Articulate a position you might take based on what you saw and heard (what message will you convey, to whom). Handout #2

10. Course: A partnership transforming schools & connecting communitiesExemplar 2: Collaboration with parents and families [reading and activity] Kim, E.J., & Vail, C. (2011). Improving preservice teachers’ perspectives on family involvement in teaching. Teacher Education & Special Education, 320-338. See handout #3 Website review: PEAK Parent Center is Colorado's Parent Training and Information Center. PEAK is a statewide organization of parents of children with disabilities reaching out to assist other parents and professionals.

11. Course: Understanding students in urban contextsExemplar 3: Deepening understanding of valid and appropriate testing (Reading and activity) Salend, S. J. (2011). Determining and implementing valid and appropriate testing accommodations. In T. J. Karten, Inclusive Practices (pp. 145-164), Thousand Oaks: Corwin. See handouts #4and #5 Prompts Teacher Candidates to evaluate and reflect on their own abilities in implementing valid and appropriate testing accommodations

12. Course: Exploring diversity in content and pedagogyExemplar 4: Mapping a route towards differentiated instruction (reading and activity) The element of differentiated “content” is one of the most challenging planning process of the differentiated instruction model describe by Tomlinson. Teacher candidates will complete an advance organizer to support their understanding of readings. See handout #6

13. Course: Internships & collaborative learning community for licensure program optionsExemplar 5: Essential experiences (dual licensure) To support PDS faculty in understanding the multiple pathways to special education licensure, a description of the varied program options and matching sets of documents that outlines the Essential Experiences to be completed during all internships was created. Four different Essential Experiencesdocuments articulate the expectations across the progression of each internship. See handout #7

14. Building accessibility and sustainability A social networking website • Educational community connecting peersto share information, spread innovative ideas, and provide professional development. • Schools and districts can create professional learning communities and practice groups, improve teacher and principal quality. • View the entire list of resources at www.edweb.net/inclusivepractices

15. Faculty Feedback…….. • Thank you, thank you. This is information I’ve always wished I had. • I'm worried about rushing to put content into the course that I'm not yet prepared to support.   • I wonder if we might be able to meet and go over these resources and engage in professional learning that would help me feel more confident about this work?   • Do you think we could set up a handful of times to meet over the rest of the course of this semester to push our thinking forward around this?

16. Professional development: it’s an ongoing journey It is continuous, experiential, collaborative, and connected to and derived from working with students.

17. The realities of tension-filled, complex, emotional work • Long-held perspectives of what we’ve always taught • Supporting colleagues (on-campus and in public schools) on their personal paths of inclusive practices • Attending to issues of sustainability (e.g. edWeb) • Time, time, time

18. Comments, Clarification, Questions

19. CONTACT INFORMATION Lori Elliott, Ph.D. Clinical Associate Professor Urban, Community Teacher Education Program 303.315.6304 Lori.elliott@ucdenver.edu Antwan Jefferson, Ph.D. Senior Instructor Urban, Community Teacher Education Program 720.423.9256 Antwan.jefferson@ucdenver.edu Donna Sobel, Ph.D. Associate Professor Acting Director of the Center for Faculty Development University of Colorado Denver Donna.sobel@ucdenver.edu 303.315.3033