Nikita Khrushchev Buys Sheets

page 5

Decision Points in Academic Leadership Development as an Engaged Scholar: To Lead or Not to Lead

Academics have a variety of career paths available to them, yet it can be difficult to determine what career opportunities will lead to beneficial professional and personal outcomes. As engaged scholars, we seek academic leadership positions that allow us to make a difference in the world, either directly or indirectly, using our unique skills, experience, teaching, and research. To help engaged scholars determine if academic leadership opportunities are appropriate for their aspirations, this article provides career paths experienced by two engaged scholars, criteria they use to select or forgo leadership positions, and lessons they’ve learned as academic leaders who are also engaged scholars

An Elementary Special Education Program, Community Unit District #3, Georgetown, Illinois

In February, 1977 Supportive Services (SS) was designed as a special education program for the elementary schools in Community Unit District #3, Georgetown, Illinois. Georgetown has 900 students in grades kindergarten through eight. Three special education teachers developed the supportive services program with input from other district specialists who work with exceptional children. Following study sessions and writing the program, approval was sought from the director of the special education district, the school principal, and the school district superintendent. Upon request of the superintendent, the teachers presented the program to the school board for approval. After approval was received from the board of education, programs and workshops were planned by the special education teachers and the administrators to present the program to classroom teachers and parents to gain their cooperation in the implementation of the SS program. The program is cross-categorical and includes students labeled educable mentally handicapped, learning disabled, and behavioral disordered. Special education students are based in a regular classroom and spend at least 51 percent of the school day in that classroom joining in activities with their peers. The portion of the school day the child spends in the SS classroom is programmed to fit each child\u27s educational plan. The child\u27s work may be either instructional or supportive. Supportive Services utilizes an academic approach to work with the child\u27s perceptual deficiencies. Transitional kindergarten is a part of the SS program as well as a part of the kindergarten program. At the end of the kindergarten year, children, who have not accomplished the academic requirements for the first grade, are provisionally placed in special education for one year on the basis of minimal testing. This appraisal is based on pre and post testing of the kindergartners. These students attend school a full day, half of the day is spent in repeating kindergarten and half the day is spent in SS. Special education remediation techniques are utilized with perceptual and academic deficiencies. At the end of the year all transitional kindergarten children return to the first grade classroom. If serious special education problems are suspected, the child is referred for full psychological evaluation and a placement conference. Opinion surveys of the regular classroom teachers were made in 1978 and 1981. The teachers had positive attitudes toward the social and academic progress that the special education students had made. They approved of the increased cooperation between special education teachers and classroom teachers. Some teachers noted that problems existed in grading and scheduling. In general, the teachers and administrators feel that the positive aspects of the SS program help to better serve the needs of the students

Ode to the Whiterock Conservancy

The Whiterock Conservancy is a 5000 acre reserve in the Middle Raccoon River Valley a few miles south and east of Coon Rapids, Iowa. Surrounded by an area that has been converted almost entirely to cropland, the Garst family has protected and preserved this island of bluffs, woodland, wildlife, native prairies, and wetlands for generations to come. They have also opened it to ecologists, environmentalists, biologists, and the general public for environmental education, low impact public recreation, research and modeling of ecologically and economically sustainable methods of land management. This diverse area is a place of great inspiration to me and it is my hope that the work that I have done in expressing its beauty will help to promote and preserve it for future generations

Teacher training and the implementation of reading instruction for students with mild to moderate mental retardation

This study was designed to investigate whether special education teachers are adequately trained to meet the literacy needs of students with mild to moderate retardation

A Shift Towards Culturally Responsive Teaching Practices in Workplace Education

This Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) focuses on a nonprofit organization resolving a problem of practice (PoP) that was identified following the withdrawal of its funder’s support. The problem is an absence of culturally responsive teaching practices (CRTP) in the pedagogy knowledge of subject matter experts (SMEs) who are hired to instruct capacity-building programs within community partner organizations. These organizations are working to instil a culture of equity, diversity, inclusion, and decolonization. This OIP unpacks this PoP and creates a pathway forward to implement a change initiative based on a triad model solution: policy, beliefs, and practice. This multifaceted approach results in establishing policy that influences SMEs to participate in CRTP professional development that can shift their beliefs and pedagogical practices. The triad model solution prevents learners from being excluded in today’s diverse workplace education classrooms, online and in class. To implement this triad solution and realize lasting change, leaders must adopt a critical theory lens and lead with transformative leadership. The exclusion of learners is a problem that exists in other adult education learning environments, such as corporate settings. Therefore, this triad solution may prove to be effective in reforming adult education practices in other organizational learning environments