Current Events and Trends in Special Education (30 points)

Fall 2009

The knowledge and skills acquired in your teaching preparation program are critical to your success as a professional in your field. Your coursework establishes a solid grounding for your future practice, which is why you are held to many standards of professional knowledge, skills, and dispositions even before you become a teacher. Even so, the information you gather through your classes and experiences in schools leaves many potential stones unturned.

With this in mind, you will be asked to prepare a review of current trends or events in special education, using the Council for Exceptional Children’s RSS feed, CEC SmartBrief. This news source provides a five-times-a-week review of news stories in special education from around the U.S. Canada, and Great Britain. You will need to subscribe to the feed by going to:

If, for any reason, this link does not work, please use the link below:

You will need to enter my name and email address () in the appropriate boxes, then your own in the recipient box. There is a limit to how many subscriptions my email address can authorize in any 24 hour period. If you can’t subscribe on the first try, please try again. This suggests that you should NOT wait until the last minute to subscribe (smile)!

Once you have successfully established your free subscription to the newsletter, you can begin to peruse stories of interest to you. Whether you are interested in current technology trends, issues in curriculum development, or educational policy, you will find links to a variety of stories from news publications.

Please choose three related news stories to review. Provide a synopsis of each story, outline the common theme among all three stories, and provide an analysis of how you believe this information supports or contradicts your understanding of the topic. If you choose a topic about which you have no prior knowledge, please provide an analysis of what new understandings you have come to, given your readings.

You may review the news stories in the SmartBrief over multiple issues and analyze trends that you observe in these news stories. You will often be directed to access stories through publications like newspapers and online education journals. Some of these will require registration, and some may ask for a registration fee. I DO NOT ask that you access the stories from those sources that require a fee, but be flexible about registering for the free sites, if necessary.

In your analysis, I will be looking for the following:

1. A review of multiple (at least three) news stories on a single theme (e.g. diagnosis of autism, assistive technology for students with LD, transition from high school to college, etc.),

2. An analysis of the main factors or issues identified across the CITED news stories,

3. An exploration of how these trends or issues relate to the knowledge and skills you have learned in your time at NAU, and

4. A personal reflection explaining your feelings about the observations identified within the news stories.

Please note that you may access the SmartBrief archives to find additional stories on a specific trend, if nothing is forthcoming in the issues that you receive in your inbox. You can access the archives by going to the appropriate link within the SmartBrief.

Exceeds: (28-30points)

• All pertinent information about the articles is provided.

• Key ideas from the articles are described. Supporting explanations, descriptions, evidence, etc., are clear, accurate, and cited.

• A clear description of how the articles challenge or reflect your current understandings of special education is provided. Supporting explanations, descriptions, or evidence are clear, compelling, and detailed.

• At least one personal observation or reflection is described, with clear and concise thoughts that explain your position on the issue or topic.

The reflection is clearly and cohesively written. Person first language is used effectively, and no ableisms are present. Exceptional writing mechanics are evident.

Meets (24-27 points)

• Pertinent information about the articles is provided.

• Key ideas from the articles are described. Supporting explanations, descriptions, evidence, etc., are relatively clear and accurate. Some minimal reference to the source is provided.

• A description of how the articles challenge or reflect your current understandings of special education is provided. Supporting explanations, descriptions, or evidence are present, but may be general or unpersuasive.

• At least one personal observation or reflection is described, with general thoughts that explain your position on the issue or topic.

The reflection is well-organized. Minor errors in writing mechanics are present. Effective use of person first language and ableisms is evident.

Does Not Meet (0-23 points)

• Some information about the articles is provided, but does not give a full picture of the articles' intent or content.

• Some ideas from the articles are described. Supporting explanations, descriptions, evidence, etc., are general, ambiguous, or unclear. No citation or reference to the articles' sources are provided.

• Some minor description of how the articles relate to your current understandings of special education is provided.

• A personal observation or reflection is present, with a perspective on the topic. the reflection is brief, general, and does not give any insight into the writer's perspective.

The writing lacks clarity or organization. Multiple errors in writing mechanics are evident. Person first language is not used effectively. Ableisms are present.