Professional Development Institute

NDSU Distance & Continuing Education

Course Syllabus

Teaching Students with Special Needs in the Mainstream Classroom

PDI Course Number: 23B02-U

Instructor: Laura Cahill, M.A.

Contact:

30 Corporate Park #310

Irvine, CA 92606

949-263-4931

Contact PDI’s office for assistance and information regarding registration, grade processing and documentation, technical issues, and general questions by emailing Becky Elizalde at .

Course Timeline

Participants have six months from the date of registration to complete the course. Participants must spend a minimum of three weeks in this course.

Required Text

“Getting Beyond Bullying and Exclusion” by Ronald Mah

Course Description

This course teaches K-6 teachers how to address students with special needs in the general classroom. The course provides information about teacher involvement in the special education process in terms of assessment, intervention, and collaboration. The most prevalent disabilities are covered in addition to students with other special needs such as ELLs, at-risk, and gifted students. Each special need is defined and common causes and characteristics are identified along with suggested instructional strategies. Intervention strategies and classroom adaptations are also provided to help teachers accommodate students with special needs in an inclusive classroom.

National Board for Professional Teaching Standards

The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards seeks to identify and recognize teachers who effectively enhance student learning and demonstrate a high level of knowledge, skills, abilities and commitments. This course aligns with propositions two and three of those standards.

Educational Objectives

  1. Teachers will learn the definition of a plethora of terms and concepts related to special needs.
  2. Teachers will become aware of the services available for students with special needs.
  3. Teachers will learn their responsibilities in the special education process.
  4. Teachers will learn how to identify and assess students with special needs in the classroom.
  5. Teachers will acquire strategies for prereferral intervention.
  6. Teachers will learn how the formal referral process works.
  7. Teachers will understand the various components of an Individualized Education Program.
  8. Teachers will learn the importance of collaborating with school personnel and other professionals when working with students with special needs.
  9. Teachers will learn the definition, characteristics, and causes for learning disabilities.
  10. Teachers will learn the definition, characteristics, and causes for intellectual disabilities.
  11. Teachers will learn the definition, characteristics, and causes for emotional and behavioral disorders.
  12. Teachers will learn the definition, characteristics, and causes for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
  13. Teachers will learn the definition, characteristics, and causes for communication disorders.
  14. Teachers will learn the definition, characteristics, and causes for autism spectrum disorders.
  15. Teachers will learn the definition, characteristics, and causes for sensory impairments.
  16. Teachers will learn the definition, characteristics, and causes for certain low-incidence disabilities.
  17. Teachers will learn the definition and characteristics of English language learners.
  18. Teachers will learn the definition, characteristics, and causes for students who are considered at risk.
  19. Teachers will learn the definition and characteristics of gifted students
  20. Teachers will glean knowledge on how to use differentiated instruction, Universal Design for Learning, and other strategies to accommodate students of various special needs in the general classroom.
  21. Teachers will understand the Common Core State Standards and the Next Generation Science Standards’ references to students with special needs.

Instructional Media

·  Online Discussions

·  Instructor Feedback

·  Instructor Interaction

·  E-Mail

·  Online Resources and Websites

·  Supplemental Instructional Materials

Evaluation

·  Write an Autobiography and Article Reflection (20% of final grade)

·  Identification Plan (12% of final grade)

·  Prereferral Intervention (12% of final grade)

·  Classroom Adaptations (12% of final grade)

·  Classroom Adaptations Part 2 (12% of final grade)

·  Lesson Plan (12% of final grade)

·  Reading/Learning Log (20% of final grade)

Topical Outline

Unit One

·  Course Overview and Glossary

·  The Definition and Scope of Special Needs

·  Services for Students with Special Needs

·  Assignment #1

Part One: Write an autobiography including information about yourself, your grade level and what you specifically hope to learn in this course. Your autobiography should be a minimum of three paragraphs.

Part Two: As an educator, it is important to be aware of the research, studies, and professional work done in the field. In the course, you will find an article that is relevant to the specific course content. Read the article and then write an essay with your thoughts.

Unit Two

·  The Special Education Process

·  Identifying Special Needs

·  Prereferral Intervention Strategies

·  The Formal Referral Process

·  Program Placement

·  Assignment #2

Discuss how you plan on identifying students with special needs in your classroom. Include information about the types of identification assessments you plan on implementing; your plans for determining whether a student’s deficit is a result of instruction or the student’s special needs; your plans for determining whether prereferral intervention strategies are necessary. The assignment must be a minimum of two paragraphs.

Unit Three

·  The Importance of Collaboration

·  Creating an Inclusive Classroom

·  Assignment #3

Develop two activities that can be used to differentiate instruction in your classroom during the prereferral intervention stage of the special education process. Describe the activities in detail. Explain how the activities will work to meet the diverse needs of your students in a minimum of two paragraphs.

Unit Four

·  Students with Learning Disabilities

·  Students with Intellectual Disabilities

·  Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

·  Students with ADHD

·  Assignment #4

Imagine you have a student who is eligible to receive special education services under IDEA for one of the disabilities covered in Unit Four. As part of the IEP team, you must develop intervention strategies to help the student succeed in the general education classroom. Select a disability from Unit Four and develop two classroom adaptations that can be made for the student and how the adaptations will help the student academically. The adaptations can be physical (related to the classroom environment), instructional (related to instructional delivery or materials), or behavioral (related to behavioral or social supports). Include the grade-level you teach and the name of the disability you selected at the top of the assignment. The assignment must be a minimum of two paragraphs in length.

Unit Five

·  Students with Communication Disorders

·  Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders

·  Students with Sensory Impairments

·  Students with Low-Incidence Disabilities

·  Assignment #5

·  In this assignment, you will be performing the same tasks required for Assignment 4; however, this time, you must select a disability from Unit Five. Imagine you have a student who is eligible to receive special education services under IDEA for one of the disabilities covered in Unit Five. As part of the IEP team, you must develop intervention strategies to help the student succeed in the general education classroom. Select a disability from Unit Five and develop two classroom adaptations that can be made for the student and how the adaptations will help the student academically. The adaptations can be physical (related to the classroom environment), instructional (related to instructional delivery or materials), or behavioral (related to behavioral or social supports). Include the grade-level you teach and the name of the disability you selected at the top of the assignment. The assignment must be a minimum of two paragraphs in length.

Unit Six

·  Working with ELLs

·  Working with At-Risk Students

·  Teaching Gifted and Talented Students

·  Special Needs and the CCSS

·  Assignment #6

Select one disability or special need from this course that is of particular interest to you. Design a lesson that properly differentiates instruction to accommodate students with the chosen disability/special need in your classroom. Include the following information: 1) Name of the disability/special need; 2) Symptoms/characteristics of the disability or special need; 3) Curriculum standard(s) that is addressed in the lesson; 4) Educational objectives of the lesson; 5) Two-paragraph summary of the lesson that specifically identifies your differentiation strategy and explains how it is appropriate for the specific disability.

·  Assignment #7

Submit the reading/learning log you developed as you read each chapter of the required text for the course.

Assessment Rubric

Grade / Percentage
A / 90 – 100
B / 80 – 89
C / 70 – 79
D / 60 – 69

Students with Disabilities
Any students with disabilities or other special needs, who need special accommodations in this course are invited to share these concerns or requests with the instructor as soon as possible.

Academic Honesty Statement

All work in this course must be completed in a manner consistent with NDSU University Senate Policy, Section 335: Code of Academic Responsibility and Conduct (http:www.ndsu.nodak.edu/policy/335.htm).

Print Bibliography

Freeman, D., & Freeman, Y. (2007). English language learners: The essential guide.

New York, NY: Scholastic Inc.

Friend, M., & Bursuck, W. D. (2012). Including students with special needs: A practical

guide for classroom teachers (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Greenspan, S. (1996, October 11). Everyday intelligence and a new definition of mental

retardation. Presented at Fifth Annual MRDD Conference, Austin, TX.

Hallahan, D. P., Lloyd, J. W., Kauffman, J. M., Weiss, M. P., & Martinez, E. A. (2005).

Learning disabilities: Foundations, characteristics, and effective teaching (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Hammill, D. D., & Larsen, S. C. (1974). The effectiveness of psycholinguistic training.

Teaching Exceptional Children, 41(1), 5-14.

Rea, D. M., & Mercuri, S. P. (2006). Research-based strategies for English language

learners: How to reach goals and meet standrads, K-8. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Shames, G. H., & Wiig, E. H. (1990). Human Communication Disorders (3rd ed.). New

York, NY: Macmillan.

Smith, T. E. C., Polloway, E. A., Patton, J. R., & Dowdy, C. A. (2012). Teaching

students with special needs in inclusive Settings (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.