This week I started planning for the end of my sabbatical, since summer courses are starting in two weeks. I am teaching two sections of a special education law course this summer so I set up the syllabus for that course this week, and started working on the Canvas page. This week there was an opportunity that came across my desk for an Op-ed writing workshop in June. I have never really written Op-Ed articles, instead sticking mostly to research, practitioner, or parent articles, so decided to apply for this. My statement on what I would like to examine as I think about writing Op-Ed pieces was:

“As a K-12 special educator and professor of special education, I am interested in the equity of schooling for all children—and more specifically students identified with a disability. Topics that I would like to look at include: neurodiversity and inclusivity of language (opposed to ableist, pathologizing, and dehumanizing language) used to discuss disability, opportunities for equity in education and employment of individuals.”

The statement had to be 50-100 words so I couldn’t elaborate on any of the thoughts above. I was awarded one of the five funded workshop fees that my university advertised so I am happy with that.
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This week I also read a book, “Better feedback for better teaching: A practical guide to improving classroom observations.” I read this book thinking about the supervisor training that the university provided and how to potentially improve this and improve supervisory skills in the process. There were several ideas that I highlighted in this book to bring up when planning on improving our practices in effective feedback during pre-practicum and practicum student teaching. One was vetting supervisors through pre-scored videos and checking observation evidence and feedback. Another is adding some guided questions to our current state document for observation. I also wondered if the state could be doing this work to provide training rather than each institution doing their own and having master scorers identified in the state that can then build capacity elsewhere. My thinking also led me to wondering if at the teacher preparation level, we are looking at observations differently than building administrators (who would be doing the observations once the student leaves us and is employed) are. I wondered if a more universal approach to observations could take place between supervisors in teacher preparation and school district administrators. Again, here a state-wide model may work best, or could a teacher preparation institute invite local principals in partnership schools to go through professional development in unison with teacher preparation supervisors?

I highlighted and wrote down many ideas while I read this book just to get conversation happening next semester at my university. One other idea, out of the many that I thought about, was on the use of video and guiding students’ reflections by identifying snippets of the video for them to reflect on. This could help them see what a supervisor calls out as an area needing improvement. The book really emphasized not having the student-teacher watch the whole video because it doesn’t focus their attention and without guidance on where to look, they could identify the incorrect places during the lesson that need some attention. I think this a practice the pre-practicum experience could really use and it could have a direct impact on candidate performance. It could also serve as an audited spot-check on supervisors, and a quick check on their guided feedback skills. This is something I will bring to my school of education’s assessment or dean’s council team in the fall as a conversation starter.  

This week was a week all about proposals. Two conference proposals were submitted and one book proposal review from Emerald publishing was completed this week. The book proposal I was asked to look at was on technologies to support students with learning disabilities in online learning. The review went to the publisher late on Wednesday so I was able to take that project off my plate this week. I also was able to send in two conference proposals for upcoming projects this week. I haven’t been to an in-person conference since February of 2020 so the prospect of being back in person and networking is exciting.

The conference proposals were sent in to Council for Exceptional Children’s Division of Autism and Developmental Disability portal this week. One was on using Disney films to help all students, especially students with ASD, understand and make sense of trauma and reactions to it. The other proposal that I sent in was on state endorsement for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) licensure uses medical-model language as they set criteria for endorsement and how this is counter to the neurodiversity and inclusive movement. This is a project that is based on discussions I had with an autistic student/colleague before going on sabbatical, and a project that will be worked on in the coming year. Here is a summary of the proposal and upcoming work project:

“The state of Massachusetts has a set of criteria that teacher preparation programs must adhere if they wish to offer an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) endorsement to teachers. This endorsement criteria is all written based on the medical model of disability. This medically-focused model of defining and treating ASD has a trickle-down effect on teacher preparation, our teachers, and in turn, students, both those with and without an ASD diagnosis. It does not promote neurodiversity and, therefore, the medical model, many would argue, does not promote a sense of belonging and inclusion. Coursework was written and approved for my university to offer this endorsement, and when approved this coursework mimicked the state’s endorsement criteria (based on the medical model). but this coursework has gone through many iterations to move it from the state’s medical model to a more inclusive neurodiversity model.

​Changes to reflect neurodiversity and inclusivity are needed in these four courses for ASD endorsement. These changes should be made by talking with autistics and having their voices reflected in the syllabus changes. The goal of making these changes is to move the traditional deficit perspective of disability from the medical model to a ‘socially constructed difference’ or neurodiversity model (Grenier, 2010; Molloy & Vasil, 2003). The importance of seeking the views of individuals with ASD helps to expand professional knowledge of ASD and ‘what it feels like’ to have ASD rather than ‘what it looks like’ to the observer (Davidson, 2010). Through embracing this neurodiversity paradigm and putting it in action in teacher preparation we can move from passive awareness to an acceptance focused frame of reference, and a more inclusive society (Sibley, 2012).

Proposed changes to consult on in course syllabus included: the university wide diversity statement to include avoiding ableist, pathologizing and dehumanizing language; rewriting goals and objectives to avoid ableist, pathologizing, and dehumanizing language; including course materials by neurodivergent individuals; seeing autism viewpoints as the ‘experts’; practicing neurodiversity in the course, itself, by implementing universal design for learning approaches and allowing multiple means of representation, action and expression, and engagement opportunities ; and having debates about ‘hot’ topics (e.g. person-first vs. identity-first language; ethics of ABA; media representations; legal and political policy, civil rights, and marginalization). The ultimate goal would be to eventually have state endorsement/policies reflect these changes in their endorsement criteria.” 

Although the state promotes diversity and inclusivity, setting criteria for endorsement through medical-model language is counter to this. I think if I could make changes in these four courses in this one endorsement program (and still receive the approval for state endorsement), it could be a model for how to revise state criteria and in turn the syllabus and instruction used in other universities in the state. I haven’t worked on a project that I am hoping leads to state regulation changes so this will be new to my wheelhouse, and I think that is exciting. So, even though my sabbatical is coming to an end, new projects are on the horizon!