2024-Spr-SPEC_ED-301-ONLIN-1-01-14377-Educ of Exceptional Children

The final syllabus will be available in the Learning Management System.

This is a past syllabus providing a general idea of what the course entails. This does not represent the current course's syllabus, requirements or expectations.

Course Overview

This will be a very time-consuming course, so please plan your schedule accordingly. The expected work load for this class (readings, assignments) may be as much as 6-10 hours per week, depending on your personal circumstances.

In this course we will explore issues and trends in Special Education from children with disabilities and their families. Included will be an introduction to the history of and legislation related to Special Education; discussion of the nature of disabilities, multicultural and diversity issues; and information regarding the ways in which educators, families and other professionals work together in the process of providing Special Education services to children. We will apply this information to “real life” situations such as may be encountered in professional practice.

Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs)

When this course is finished you should be able to:

• Demonstrate your understanding and appreciation of the historical contexts from which Special Education developed as an academic discipline. [WAC {Washington Administrative Code} 180-82-360 (5)]
• Describe significant federal and Washington State legislation and its impact on children and families receiving Special Education services. [WAC 180-82-360 (5)]
• Define which students are eligible for Special Education services [WAC 180-82-360 (1,11)]
• Become familiar with the established categories of disabilities according to IDEA [WAC180-82-360 (1,11)
• Discuss the important issues related to diversity and multiculturalism in Special Education (including gender bias, ethnicity, English Language Learners, socio-economic status, and geographic factors.) [WAC 180-82-360 (8)]
• Describe the Special Education process including the roles of parents and professional in educational planning meetings (i.e. IEP/IFSP development), team collaboration, confidentiality issues, and service delivery options. [WAC 180-82-360 (4c, 6, 7, 8, 12)]
• Apply newly gained knowledge of Special Education to a “real life” case study from identification to educational plan development. [WAC 180-82-360 (4c, 6, 7, 8, 12)]

Note: the sections and subsections of the Washington Administrative Code {WAC} 392-172A (01000-07070) are reflected in all course goals and objectives.

Learning Outcomes and Assessment for this Course

Course Work

Group Leadership

Assignments

Note: Typed papers for 301 are not to be recycled texts from another class. Most of the content for this assignment is to be your newly-created text. Read the APA Manual, 7^th Edition, page 21 for more information about plagiarism and self-plagiarism.

Referencing in Written Assignments (e.g., discussion forums' Answer posts, written papers, presentations, posters)

In-text citations and a Reference list must be included whenever you refer to others’ ideas (e.g., discussing two strategy ideas to help a student improve), per the university’s policy about Academic Integrity. From the APA Manual (7th Edition), “Researchers do not claim the words and ideas of another as their own; they give credit where credit is due (APA Ethics Code Standard 8.11, Plagiarism). Quotation marks should be used to indicate the exact words of another. Each time you paraphrase another author (i.e., summarize a passage or rearrange the order of a sentence and change some of the words), you need to credit the source in the text” (p. 16)…in-text citations (Brown, 2008) and a Reference list.

Example:

Mnemonic strategies (e.g., Saddler et al., 2004) offer a step-by-step set of directions for how to manage generation and editing of prose for a publishable text.

References

Brophy, J. (2013). Motivating students to learn. New York: Routledge.

Dunn, M. W. (2014). Writing-skills Intervention programming and its being a component of response to intervention. Journal of Education and Learning, 8, 368-386.

Saddler, B., Moran, S., Graham, S., and Harris, K. (2004). Preventing writing difficulties: The effects of planning strategy instruction on the writing performance of struggling writers. Exceptionality, 12, 3-17.

APA Style:

APA_Sample_Paper.docx

Academic Integrity

Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated in this course. Students found engaging in such behavior (e.g., copying assignments, using unauthorized notes or information, plagiarism, and/or cheating on an exam) could have, as penalty: points deducted from the assignment, a reduced final grade, and/or referral to the Student Conduct Board for consideration of failing the semester’s class.

Artificial Intelligence (e.g., ChatGPT). The purpose of this course is to prepare future educational leaders. Artificial intelligence is an emerging technology that provides great potential for positive educational use and several significant pitfalls.  It is the expectation that the material and assignments you turn in is your original work in alignment with the academic integrity policy of Washington State University.  You should not use AI to generate responses, papers, discussion posts, or other work that will be graded unless explicitly approved. 

The use of AI is not authorized by this instructor in as source that can be used in writing papers, reports, solving problems, and carrying out other assignments unless explictly directed by the instructor.

Assignments' Descriptions

1. Class Discussions: 170 points Students are to post comments to the Class Discussions each week. Additionally, you will respond to at least 2 of your peers in an in-depth and thoughtful manner. The assignments are due on Sundays by 11:59pm and your responses are due on the following Tuesdays by 11:59pm.

2. Research Paper (50): Choose a disability type to research more in-depth (beyond the textbook) or propose to the instructor an outline of a topic you would like to discuss. See the rubric under the Assignments tab (at left) for the full criteria.

3. See (Week 4: Assignment (50): PBIS and Multi-Tiered System of Supports Interview.

4. See Lesson 9 Task: Assignment (25): Assistive Technology to Promote Inclusion.

Reminder - Late Policy: Assignments turned in late will be penalized 5% per day. If the student initiates a discussion with the instructor before the due date about circumstances rendering it difficult to have the assignment completed by the date specified, the instructor may wave this penalty. 

***If you have read the syllabus to this point, email me for 5 extra points***

Grading