.SPC ED 201: The Education of Exceptional Persons

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Syllabus

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Fall, 2003, Tuesdays, 4:20-6:50 p.m. (3 credit hours), Mitchell Hall 115

 

Instructor:	Julia Scherba de Valenzuela, Ph.D.
Office:	Hokona Hall, room 254
E-mail:	devalenz@unm.edu
Phone:	277-1406
Web site:	http://www.unm.edu/~devalenz/
Office Hours:	Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, 7:15-8:30 by appointment only. Thursdays, 5-7:15, on a drop-in, first-come first-serve basis -- no appointment needed. NOTE:  No office hours on September 25, October 16, or November 27. Last office hours for the semester on Thursday, Dec. 11, 2003.

The following information is included in this syllabus:

• Course Overview
• Readings
• Course Design
• Policies
• Class Schedule
• Mission Statements:
• Instructor vision and mission
• College of Education mission
• COE conceptual framework
• Grading Assignments:
• weekly homework
• film review
• interview with an adult with a disability
• disability project
• Grading Criteria:
• weekly homework
• film review
• interview with an adult with a disability
• disability project:
• rough draft
• presentation rubric
• final draft

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OVERVIEW


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Course Description:
This undergraduate, introductory course in Special Education is designed to:
 

1.)	provide students with an overview of the history, major concepts, and issues in the field, and
2.)	to explore concepts of social justice, educational equity, and advocacy for individuals with a wide range of diversities.

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Rationale:
The mission of the College of Education is to advance the quality of the educational experience for all learners and to educate professionals who can facilitate human growth in schools, homes, communities, and workplaces. In carrying out this mission, the College explicitly values diversity in people and perspectives. The rationale for the Mental Retardation and Severe Disabilities Program is supported by a shift in the major paradigm in mental retardation, severe disabilities, and bilingual special education from a solely trait-based conceptualization toward thinking about disabilities as an interaction between individuals with severe limitations in intellectual functioning or those from cultural and/or linguistic diverse backgrounds, their environments, and needed supports. This new way of thinking forces reanalysis of structures designed to assist individual in creating for themselves satisfying lives and challenges traditional notions of disabilities and handicaps.

This course supports the College of Education and Mental Retardation and Severe Disabilities Emphasis frameworks by addressing student abilities within the context of a diverse society, recognizing the need to support all individuals in life-long learning, and validating all individuals, including those with disabilities, as valuable members of their communities, including their communities of learners.

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Course Objectives:
 

1.)	To understand the rights of individuals with disabilities.
2.)	To understand the history of special education, including that related to culturally and linguistically diverse individuals.
3.)	To become familiar with disability category labels, but not constrained by them.
4.)	To develop the understanding of individuals with disabilities as full participants in all aspects of life.
5.)	To understand the philosophy underlying the use of “person-first” language.
6.)	To understand the rationale for positive behavioral supports.
7.)	To understand issues related to the concept of the Least Restrictive Environment, including the interaction of the continuum of services with student needs.
8.)	To understand that values play an important role in the education of all students.
9.)	To learn to question the limitations imposed on individuals with disabilities and other disempowered groups by schools and other social systems.
10.)	To evaluate and deconstruct issues related to labeling individuals with a disability, including the pervasive issue of disproportionate representation of culturally and linguistically diverse students in special education programs.
11.)	To understand the role of the environment on student ability.
12.)	To understand that classrooms where students with disabilities are educated are only a part of the wider social systems in which these students participate.
13.)	To understand the responsibility of teachers to construct and modify the teaching environment to best meet the needs of each student.
14.)	To understand that students within each disability category are as diverse as students in the general student population and that there are not specific techniques that work equally well with, and only with, those students identified with a particular disability.

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READINGS
 

Readings are on electronic reserve at Zimmerman library: http://ereserves.unm.edu/courseindex.asp Please contact the course instructor (devalenz@unm.edu) for the password.




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1.) Required Text :

Freiberg, K. L. (2003). Educating exceptional children (15th ed.). Guilford, CN: McGraw-Hill/Dushkin.

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2.) Additional Readings
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Brown, D. F. (2002). Self-directed learning in an 8th grade classroom. Educational Leadership, 60(1), 54-58.
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Chappuis, S., & Stiggins, R. J. (2002). Classroom assessment for learning. Educational Leadership, 60(1), 40-43.
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Griego Jones, T., & Fuller, M. L. (2003). Teaching Hispanic children. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
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Kohn, A. (1998). What to look for in a classroom... and other essays. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
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Kliewer, C., & Biklen, D. (2001). "School's not really a place for reading": A research sysnthesis of the literate lives of students with severe disabilities. JASH, 26(1), 1-12.
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Peter, P. (2000). Dynamics of discourse: A case study illuminating power relations in mental retardation. Mental Retardation, 38(4), 354-362.
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Proo, C., Contreras, P., Moore, V., Janney, E., & Keefe, L. (2002). Thoughts from the kids next door or did we really need to be told this? TASH Connections, 28(7/8), 25-28.
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Safran, S. P. (1998). The first century of disability portrayal in film: An analysis of the literature. The Journal of Special Education, 31, 467-479.
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Simon, K. G. (2002). The blue blood. Educational Leadership, 60(1), 24-28.
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Smith, G. A. (2002). Going local. Educational Leadership, 60(1), 30-33.
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Suina, J. H., & Smolkin, L. B. (1994). From natal culture to school culture to dominant society culture: Supporting transitions for Pueblo Indian students. In P. M. Greenfield & R. R. Cocking (Eds.), Cross-cultural roots of minority child development (pp. 115-130). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
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Tomlinson, C. A. (2002). Invitations to learn. Educational Leadership, 60(1), 7-10.
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Williams, C. B., & Finnegan, M. (2003). From myth to reality: Sound information for teachers about students who are deaf. Teaching Exceptional Children, 35(3), 40-45.
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Zola, I. K. (1992). "Any distinguishing features": The portrayal of disability in the crime-myserty genre. In P. M. Ferguson & D. L. Ferguson & .
S. J. Taylor (Eds.), Interpreting disability: A qualitative reader (pp. 233-250). New York: Teachers College Press.
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COURSE DESIGN

Course Structure:
This course is designed so that students will interact actively with the course material -- whole and small group discussion, rather than instructor lecture, will make up the bulk of in-class sessions. Therefore, it is imperative that students arrive at each class having thoroughly read all of the assigned readings. Graded assignments are designed to be instructional as well as providing a means of arriving at a final grade for each student. Therefore, emphasis will be placed on graded out-of-class assignments that rely on analysis, synthesis and evaluation of course materials and development of critical thinking.

Students who require special accommodations or instructional modifications need to notify the instructor by the beginning of the semester, or as soon as difficulties become apparent, with appropriate documentation from the Student Support Services Center (277-3506), Mesa Vista Hall, Room 2021.

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Specific Course Requirements:
Descriptions of and criteria for grading each assignment will be handed out in class. Extra copies will be available at the instructor's web site -- http://www.unm.edu/~devalenz/
 
Assignments:                                                                           Points Possible:
1)   weekly homework (3 points per homework)                  30 points total
2)   film review                                                                          20 points
3)   interview with an adult with a disability                           20 points
4)  disability project:                                                                29 points
• rough draft   (9 points)
• final draft      (20 points)
The total points possible for all of the above assignments add up to 99 points. The final point will be added to the student's grade at the instructor's discretion for any assignment that goes significantly above and beyond the work of other students. This allows the instructor to assign a grade of 'A+' only in the case of the student fulfilling the stated requirements for all assignments, attending all class sessions (or making up those missed) AND performing clearly superior work on at least one assignment.

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Evaluation Procedures & Grading System:
Final grades will be determined by a point system (X out of 100 total possible points). Fractionated grading will be used, with the following breakdown:

                        A+ = 100           B+ = 88-89          C+ = 78-79             D+ = 68-69                 F = below 60
                        A = 94-99          B = 84-87            C = 74-77               D = 64-67
                        A- = 90-93         B- = 80-83           C- = 70-73             D- = 60-63

Incompletes are strongly discouraged and are only given when the conditions of the university are met and after a conference with the instructor at the initiation of the student. Incompletes and withdraws from the course will be allowed only in accordance with UNM policies. Please see the UNM catalog for a description of these policies.

Written directions for all assignments are provided in this syllabus, along with the criteria for determining point values. Extra copies of the syllabus, assignments, and grading criteria are available at the instructor’s web site at: http://www.unm.edu/~devalenz/. All written assignments will be expected to be typed and follow the American Psychological Association Manual (5th ed.) format, unless otherwise specified. A brief guide to APA is also available on the instructor's web site, under the "handouts" link.

In particular, all assignments should:
 

• Be typed and double-spaced.
• Use 12-pt font, and a serif typestyle (such as Times New Roman).
• Have 1 inch margins on all sides.
• Be copied onto plain white paper, stapled at the top left hand corner. Please do not put your assignment in a folder or plastic cover, unless otherwise specified.
• Have the text lined up/aligned on the left margin only (“left justified”). Leave the right margin “ragged.”
• Be written in complete sentences, using grammar, style, and vocabulary appropriate for an academic audience.
• Use person-first language.
• Include a title page with your name, the name of assignment, the date the assignment was turned in, the instructor’s name (please try to spell this correctly...) and the course name and number (i.e. SPC ED 527: Assessment for Diverse Exceptional Learners).
• Include a brief header and page number in the upper right-hand corner of each page.
• Use section headings appropriately and in correct APA format.
• Include a separate reference page at the end of your assignment, which includes all of the sources cited in the paper and is formatted according to APA guidelines.
• All works/sources used in the assignment must be appropriately attributed (see ‘academic dishonesty policy’ below).
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POLICIES

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1.) Academic Dishonesty: It is the responsibility of students to avoid practices that may be considered acts of academic dishonesty. UNM’s policy, as found in the UNM Catalog  (2003-1005), p. 43, is as follows:
 
Any student who has been judged to have engaged in academic dishonesty in course work may receive a reduced or failing grade for the work in question and/or the course.

Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, dishonesty in quizzes, tests, or assignments; claiming credit for work not done or done by others . . .


What does this mean for this course?
 

a.)  In terms of written work, this means that you have the responsibility to make it very clear in all written work what portion of the work you wrote and what was written by other people, such as book or article authors, web site authors, or your colleagues. This includes both direct quotes and paraphrases.
b.)  Additionally, you must make it clear what you read to complete the assignment (a ‘primary source’), versus what the authors of the sources read in preparation for their work (a ‘secondary source’).
c.)  Finally, the work that you turn in for this class must be specifically written for the assignments in this course, this semester -- you may not turn in work (either in whole or part) that you have used for a grade in another course.


So, if you didn’t actually write it or you didn’t actually read it, you must make that explicit. Additionally, if you didn’t originally write it for this class, you may not use it. Failure to comply with these guidelines falls under the category of academic dishonesty and will result in the following:
 

• The first time a problem of this sort appears in an assignment, I will assume that it is unintentional and will ask you to re-write the assignment. Points may be deducted from your assignment at my discretion. You will be required to meet with me to learn how to avoid this problem in future assignments.
• The second time this problem is noted in an assignment, you will be assigned 0 points for that assignment.
• If the problem appears for the third time, you will be assigned a failing grade in the course.
• If this problem appears for the first time in your final assignment for this course, you will be assigned 0 points for the assignment, unless there is time for you to re-write it before I turn in the final grades at the end of the current semester.


To assist you in understanding what plagiarism is and isn’t, you will be provided with a handout during the first day of class on what plagiarism is and how to avoid it. Further information on avoiding plagiarism and other forms of academic dishonesty can be found in the APA Manual and at the Dartmouth College Website: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~sources/contents.html. Rutgers University also has many resources on this topic, including an interactive presentation on plagiarism: http://sal.rutgers.edu/plagiarism.html.

If you have any concerns or questions about how to appropriately indicate what is your own work and what is derived from the work of others, or whether small portions of an assignment developed for another course might be appropriate to include in an assignment for this course, please see me during office hours, or if that time is not convenient, call or email to set an appointment time.

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2.) Late Paper Policy: All assignments are due by the beginning of class on the date assigned. Papers turned in after class (such as brought to my office later that evening) will be considered late. Late assignments will receive a one (1) point deduction for every day late, with a limit of seven days allowed. If assignments are not turned in within 1 week of the assigned date, they will not be accepted, except in the case of significant illness (doctor's note required) or major family emergency. You need to notify me as soon as possible about this emergency, so that we can arrange a mutually agreed upon time for completion of the assignment.

If you will not be able to be in class the date an assignment is due, please arrange for a friend to turn in your assignment during class, have the assignment faxed to the special education office by the time/date due, or have it handed in in person to either Terri Montoya or Jo Sanchez in the Special Education office (Hokona Hall 273) prior to 5 p.m. on the date due. If your assignment will be turned in at the Special Education office, please make sure that the time and date it is received are documented by the staff. Do NOT put late assignments under my office door, unless you want them accepted as turned in on the day I find them, which may or may not be the same day as you turned them in. Since I am not at the university every day, this could cost you points.

If you would like to send me your assignment as an attachment to an e-mail, I may allow that, at my discretion, with prior approval. However, I will only allow this when absolutely necessary -- if you e-mail me your assignment the evening after a paper is due, I will not accept it, unless you have arranged this ahead of time. If I agree to allow you to send me your assignment and you do so, I will e-mail you back with confirmation that your assignment was received and that the attachment could be opened. It is your responsibility to make sure that you receive confirmation of the receipt of your e-mail attached assignment. Please print and keep a copy of this return e-mail. I am not responsible to e-mail that do not arrive or attachments which cannot be opened.

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3.) Re-Writes: In order to be fair to all students, re-writes will not be allowed, except under extraordinary circumstances beyond the student's control. However, students are STRONGLY encouraged to talk with, e-mail questions to, and/or submit drafts to the instructor at least 2 weeks ahead of time, so that revisions can be made, if necessary, by the assigned due date. You are also encouraged to bring drafts of your work to drop-in or scheduled office hours, in advance of the date the assignment is due, so that I can provide you with feedback on the spot.

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4.) Class Attendance: Class attendance is mandatory - Students who miss three class sessions will be dropped from the course, regardless of the reason.  Missed class sessions (up to three) can be made up with the following, turned in no later than three weeks after the missed class:
 
• a photocopy of a colleague's notes from the missed class,
• a typed response to the reading questions (available on the course website), and
• a typed summary of all assigned readings for the class missed.
• a typed response to the assigned quick write (available on the course website).


Five points will be deducted for every absence that is not made up. No excuse or documentation is necessary for missed classes.

Late arrivals to class interrupt the learning of all students. Therefore, a point will be deducted for arriving more than 30 minutes late to class. Arriving more than an hour late will be considered a class absence and will need to be made up, as indicated above.

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5.) Class Participation: Class participation that is conducive to the learning of all course participants is expected. Behaviors that are considered to be conducive to learning (of the student him/herself and others) include:
 
• arriving to class on time and well-prepared,
• paying attention to instructor and/or other students when they are speaking,
• turning off the ringer of your cellular phone and not taking calls within the classroom (please step out in the hall to speak if you must answer an emergency call),
• use of appropriate and non-offensive language during class and in written class assignments,
• demonstrating cooperation with and respect for the instructor and peers during class discussions,
• actively participating, on-topic, during small group activities, and
• showing consideration for other students' need for alternative teaching strategies.


I expect students to demonstrate consistently positive class participation. Frequent and/or significant failure to fulfill these expectations will result in the student being dropped from the course. The following four areas are defined below:
 

• Respect for self and others
• Positive contribution to the group
• Listening
• Openness


Respect for self, colleagues and instructor is shown by: 1) following group norms during discussions, 2) consistent use of oral and body language that is professional, and 3) frequent reference to classmate's opinions and perspectives in class discussion in a positive and supportive manner.

Positive contribution to the group is demonstrated when: 1) the quantity of contributions is neither significantly more or less than that of other students, 2) the student is not usually the first one to talk after a prolonged silence, 3) contributions are almost always on topic, and 4) comments frequently engage other participants or support the engagement of other students in a consistently positive manner.

Listening is demonstrated by: 1) providing previously provided information to colleagues when asked, 2) not redundantly repeating what was already stated, 3) consistently following directions, and 4) incorporating others' responses and comments in contributions to class discussions.

Openness is shown by: 1) consistent recognition and consideration of alternative perspectives, 2) consistent reaction to alternative ideas in a thoughtful manner, and 3) a positive response to criticism.

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COURSE SCHEDULE

August 26, 2003 (#1)
Topic:  introduction
Read:  no reading assigned

September 2, 2003 (#2)
Topic:  Setting the Education Context -cultural diversity
Read:  Griego-Jones & Fuller
Due: Homework #1

September 9, 2003 (#3)
Topic: Setting the educational context - cultural diversity
Read:  Suina & Smolkin
Due:  Homework #2

September 16, 2003 (#4)
Topic:  The social construction of disability
Read:  Peter
Due:  Homework #3

September 23, 2003 (#5)
Topic:   Media Portrayals
Read:
1. Zola, and
2. Safran
Due:
1. Homework #4, and
2. watch ‘There’s Something about Mary’

September 30, 2003 (#6)
Topic:   The impact of assumptions on education
Read:
1. Proo, et al, and
2. Kliewer & Biklen
Due:  Homework #5

October 7, 2003 (#7)
Topic:   Inclusive Education
Read:  text, articles 1 & 2
Due:
1. Homework #6, and
2. Film Review

October 14, 2003 (#8)
Topic:  Inclusive Education
Read:  text, articles 3 & 4
Due:  Homework #7

October 21, 2003 (#9)
Topic:   Thinking about Teaching
Read:
1. Kohn,
2. Simon, and
3. Tomlinson
Due: Homework #8 and Interview with an adult with a disability

October 28, 2003 (#10)
Topic: Thinking about Teaching
Read:
1. Chappius & Stiggins, and
2. Brown
Due:   Homework #9

November 4, 2003 (#11)
GUEST PRESENTER: Dr. Joe Suina
Topic:  Teaching Native American students
Read:  To be assigned by Dr. Suina (maybe). If so, copies will be provided by Dr. Scherba de Valenzuela ahead of time
Due:  NO HOMEWORK DUE THIS WEEK

November 11, 2003 (#12)
Topic: Student Presentations:

• Early Childhood Special Education
• Developmental Delay
• Autism
• Mental Retardation
Read:   text, units 2 & 5*
Due:   Draft of Disability Project and Homework #10

November 18, 2003 (#13)
Topic:   Student Presentations:

• Multiple Disabilities
• Deafness and Hearing Impairments
• Visual Impairments
• Deaf-Blindness
Read:  text, units 7 & 8 and Williams & Finnegan*

November 25, 2003 (#14)
Topic:  Student Presentations:

• Learning Disabilities
• Other Health Impairments
• Orthopedic Impairments
• Speech and Language Impairments
Read:  Units 3, 4, & 9*

December 2, 2003 (#15)
Topic:   Student Presentations:

• Transition
• Emotional and Behavioral Disorders
• Giftedness
• Traumatic Brain Injury
Read:   text, units 6, 10, & 11*

December 9, 2001 (#16)
Topic:  Student Presentations:

• IDEA (2 presenters)
• Any other presentations delayed because of DOCUMENTED illness or family emergency (NOTE: Please advise instructor AHEAD of time if you will be missing your assigned presentation date.)
Due:  Disability Project