SPLS
2007 News
2007 News
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!
Monica Harris, professor, presented at the 68th Annual Conference of the Michigan Council for Exceptional Children (MCEC) in Grand Rapids, Feb. 27-29. She represented the Michigan Association for Learning Disabilities Educators by presenting a “SIM Strand” to educators. The Strategic Instructional Model was developed by the University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning and provides research-based learning strategies to students with learning disabilities. Also included in this model are teaching routines that have been validated in general education settings for students with and without disabilities. While at the conference, Harris presented three sessions that included vocabulary learning, reading comprehension, and test-taking skills for secondary students. The sessions were attended by administrators, teachers, undergraduate students, and parents from around the state. For more information about SIM, please contact Monica Harris.
On March 17 the department hosted Dr. Don Deshler who spoke on “Fostering Literacy in Struggling Adolescent Learners: Research-based Interventions” (Bernhard Center 10-11:30 a.m.) and “At-Risk Adolescent Learners in the Shadow of NCLB and RTI:Challenges and Reasons for Hope" (Fetzer Center, 4-5:30 p.m.). Don Deshler, Ph.D., is director of the University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning. Under his guidance, KU-CRL developed the Strategic Instruction Model, a comprehensive approach to adolescent literacy that addresses the need of students to be able to read and understand large volumes of complex reading materials as well as to express themselves effectively in writing.
Congratulations to Kasandra M. Posey for being selected as a WMU Presidential Scholar. The Presidential Scholar is the highest academic award the WMU can bestow to an undergraduate. Selection is based on the students' general academic excellence, academic and/or artistic excellence in their major, and intellectual and/or artistic promise.
20th Senior and Junior Sports Education Camps
The purpose of the camps is to introduce students to physical education and common sports, to have them take the knowledge back 
to their teachers, and encourage them to get good enough to compete on their school teams. The camps help students develop their skills rather than sitting out during physical education class and to gain a more positive view of themselves as athletes. Sports camp evaluations show that students have increased their participation in sports after attending a camp.
The senior sports camp will conclude with a track and field competition at Kanley Track on Saturday, May 12 from 9am-12pm. The camps are co-sponsored by the Michigan Blind Athletic Association. For more information on the United States Association of Blind Athletes, see www.usaba.org.
Dr. Sarah Summy, associate professor, attended the Association of Teacher Educators (ATE) conference in San Diego February 18-21. Also attending were Drs. Paul Vellom, assistant professor in the Department of Teaching, Learning and Educational Studies, and Allison Kelaher Young, associate professor in the Department of Teaching, Learning and Educational Studies, and Katharine Cummings, associate dean for academic services. They presented papers discussing their work and research findings on teacher preparation. In addition, Dr. Cummings participated in a national commission on teacher induction.
Researchers from the College of Education have been awarded a 3.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education, Early Reading First program to promote literacy among Head Start children in Battle Creek. The WMU-led effort involves a partnership between the COE departments of Family and Consumer Sciences and Special Education and Literacy Studies. The program will provide extensive professional development and help Head Start centers develop literacy-rich environments to facilitate development of phonological, print, alphabet, and book awareness. Dr. Esther Newlin-Haus, currently the evaluation coordinator of the GEAR UP grant, will serve as project director. In addition, co-principal investigators Drs. Karen Thomas, Shaila Rao, and Kristal Ehrhardt from the Department of Special Education and Literacy Studies will provide both formal workshops and weekly coaching for teachers. Lori Farrer, an instructor in Family and Consumer Sciences, will act as literacy coach. Kellogg Community College and WMU will both offer credit for full participation in the grant's professional development program. The grant also includes a family component and will fund a five-week summer school for approximately 300 children.
Dr. Shaila Rao, assistant professor in the Department of Special Education and Literacy Studies, is collaborating with Spain and Mexico on a cross-cultural project to assess pre-service general education teachers' beliefs and attitudes towards teaching children with different disabilities in general education classrooms. One university from Spain and four universities from Mexico will participate in this joint study.
