SPLS
Special Education and Literacy Studies
News
Dr. Liz Whitten, professor, published the book: RTI Success: Proven Tools and Strategies for Schools and Classrooms (Free Spirit Press). Response to Intervention is an innovative instructional method that enables educators to assess and meet the needs of struggling students before they have fallen too far behind. The book includes step-by-step guidelines for implementing RTI in schools and provides hundreds of pragmatic, research-based instructional strategies for classroom teachers to target specific skill deficits in their students. Vignettes and school profiles demonstrate RTI techniques in diverse settings, and reproducible forms streamline assessment and documentation procedures.
The Department of Special Education and Literacy Studies participated in the second annual WMU Day at the Capitol which featured dozens of WMU programs and projects.
Congratulations to senior Phoenicia Green honored as a 2009 Presidential Scholar, the highest academic award that WMU can bestow to an undergraduate. Phoenicia was selected by faculty members as the most outstanding senior in the program. Selection is based on the students' general academic excellence, academic and/or artistic excellence in their majors, and intellectual and/or artistic promise.
The on-campus Reading Tutoring Program was held Jul. 7-Jul. 30. This was an exceptional opportunity for school-aged children who needed supplemental instruction in reading, writing and/or study skills.
Dr. Shaila Rao, associate professor, in collaboration with faculty from Spain, has completed two data collection projects in five Southwest Michigan elementary and middle schools. The studies were conducted with the help of teachers from Battle Creek, Kalamazoo, and Gull Lake school districts. The first studied the teaming process in schools and how it contributes to the successful embracing of diversity. The second study looked at how diversity is viewed by educators in schools. The findings of the projects will be presented in July in Alicante, Spain.
Dr. Rao also co-authored an article with former MA in special education student, Ms. Lynette Mallow. The article, Simultaneous Prompting: A teaching method to promote the recall of multiplication facts by students with cognitive impairments, will be published in the March issue of Education and Training in Developmental Disabilities. In addition, Dr. Rao and co-author special education senior Elisabeth Barkley, wrote “Read and Reach the Whole Child: Using Adapted/Created/Enhanced (ACE) Stories for Content Representation” published in the Spring 2009 volume of Reading Improvement.
In the fall of 2009 Dr. Paula Kohler, professor, gave a lecture “Working Together to Improve Transition Outcomes” in Kalamazoo. The presentation highlighted the main challenges people with special needs face in becoming active and full members of society and gave possible solutions for overcoming such challenges.
