SPLS
Special Education & Literacy Studies
News
Amy Marshall, Presidential Scholar in SPLS, will be graduating in April 2008. Amy is majoring in special education receiving dual endorsements in emotional impairments and learning disabilities, and minoring in language arts. Amy completed a sixteen-week internship in special education this past fall at Mattawan Later Elementary working with students in third, fourth, and fifth grades in a special education classroom. Amy will complete my undergraduate studies by intern teaching at Gobles Elementary in a fifth grade general education classroom, teaching science and language arts. She is participating in an exciting new process of implementing Response to Intervention (RTI) within Gobles Elementary School. Amy hopes to obtain a job in special education after graduation. She thinks it is a very exciting time to be entering the field of special education with new laws such as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Reauthorization (IDEA) 2004 and No Child Left Behind (NCLB) changing the way that services are delivered services to students with disabilities. Amy plans on continuing her studies by enrolling in a Masters Program at Western Michigan University in the future. She would like to obtain a Masters degree in special education to become either a master teacher or special education administrator. Amy has been on the Dean’s List for six semesters and was named on the National Dean’s List in the fall of 2006. She will be graduating Suma Cum Laude and is a member of the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, the Golden Key International Honour Society and the WMU Chapter of Student Council for Exceptional Children (SCEC). Amy has two children which she states have influenced the way she looks at education. In her free time Amy likes to volunteer in the community and to teach Sunday school at her church.
Dr. Lauren Freedman, chair, and Dr. Karen Thomas, professor and director of the Dorothy J. McGinnis Reading Center and Clinic, wrote the book: Building Confidence in Adolescents: Key Elements That Enhance Proficiency (2008). Corwin Press: A Sage Company. In her work with Battle Creek schools, Freedman identified four recurring elements while working with inquiry-based instruction accounting for effective readers' engagement with texts: confidence, independence, metacognition, and stamina. Interviewing and surveying over 120 teachers and 300 students in Michigan, Kentucky, and Texas, the authors found these self-efficacy elements fundamental to success for effective teaching and learning in literacy. In the book the authors discuss classroom conditions and practices that can create more proficient readers in grades 6-12. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Professor of English Education at Boise State University says of the book: "A tremendous book. Research shows--and teachers know--that student motivation is a central challenge. This text provides fresh insight into self-efficacy, and essential component of motivation, by exploring what it is how to cultivate it, and how to nurture it in the context of innovative teaching that develops literacy competency in a range of areas."
Christine Russell, a doctoral student in special
education, was recently appointed as state trainer for the Michigan
Integrated Behavior and Learning Support Initiative, a state-funded
grant through the Michigan Department of Education, Office of
Special Education. MiBLSi, co-directed by Drs. Margie McGlinchey and Steve Goodman, WMU alumni, is currently implemented in over 250
Michigan schools at the elementary, middle, and high school levels.
The purpose of the initiative is to improve student behavior and to
enhance reading success. The grant aims to develop support systems
within the school to help educators implement and sustain a
data-driven problem-solving model in their school. Christine is
involved in assisting in the preparation of training materials and
leading workshops for school teams.
Dr. Susan Piazza is supervising a tutoring program through the Dorothy McGinnis Reading Clinic for a community outreach program. The program is run by Securing Children’s Opportunities, Possibilities, and Empowerment and provides tutors for children from the Kalamazoo area who have a parent that is part of the Michigan Prisoner ReEntry Initiative. Children ages 6-15 who have an incarcerated (or previously incarcerated) parent are eligible to participate. WMU’s Reading Clinic is one of several community service providers for this project. Tutors have been selected from the capstone literacy class to work one-on-one with the children. Assisting Dr. Piazza is Mr. Dwight Quinn, WMU alumnus and teacher at Washington Writer’s Academy, who provides mentorship and is a role model to the tutors.
Congratulations to Dr. Shaila Rao, who received the 2007 College of Education Mary L. Dawson Teaching Excellence Award!
The Department of Special Education and Literacy Studies (SPLS) offers undergraduate and graduate programs focused on preparation of educational professionals with expertise in meeting the needs of K–12 students with diverse abilities. Special education faculty offer a number of program options at the undergraduate, master, and doctoral levels with an emphasis on the application of research-generated practices to improve students’ educational and post-school outcomes. Literacy Studies offers a master’s program that leads to the Reading Specialist Endorsement K-12. The Literacy faculty provide undergraduate courses to all WMU elementary and secondary education majors. These courses integrate teaching reading and literacy development throughout the curriculum and across the educational continuum. Within each program area, faculty are engaged in research initiatives that enhance both student engagement and learning. Through the Dorothy J. McGinnis Reading Center and Clinic and the Career Connections Research Center, SPLS faculty provide opportunities for WMU students to participate in experiential learning.
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Monica Harris, professor, presented at the 68th Annual Conference of the Michigan Council for Exceptional Children (MCEC) in Grand Rapids, MI.