U.S. OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS 2009 PROJECT DIRECTOR’S CONFERENCE
WASHINGTON, D.C.
DONNA M. SOBEL, PH.D.ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR
UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER
Meeting the Cultural & Linguistic Needs of All Learners:
Reducing Misidentification & Providing Needed Intervention
Addressing issues of disproportionality and the growing diversity of our student
population
Integrating culturally responsive content and learning experiences into a teacher preparation program meant that every aspect of that urban, merged general and special education program warranted attention.
This work could only be done if faculty first began by increasing their own knowledge about culturally responsive pedagogy.
A professional development journey for university and partner school faculty
“To create a society in which all people are valued,
you must model that society in our schooling.”Villa & Thousand (2005)
It’s a process……..
Supported by funding from the Office of Special Education in 2007 (ASEED: Achieving Special Education Equity through Diversity project), faculty in began to make plans for revising the special education licensure program with a focus on culturally responsive pedagogy, however they quickly acknowledged that this could not be done in isolation.
Institutionalizing curriculum revisions and reforms
NEEDED STEPS IN THE PROCESS:
Revising a unified conceptual framework. Collaborating on curricula and courses including
internships and the logistics of implementation however we knew that professional development on culturally responsive teaching practices needed to happen first.
Professional development on culturally responsive teaching practices needed to happen first.
Professional development planning efforts
In order to better prepare teachers to implement culturally responsive teaching practices with all students and with a focused attention to those with special needs, support first needed to be provided to university and PDS site faculty and that professional development needed to be conceptualized not as an event, but rather as an ongoing process.
“Teachers’ knowledge about and attitudes toward cultural diversity are powerful determinants of learning opportunities and outcomes for ethnically
different students.” (Gay, 2000)
Our Context
University of Colorado Denver (UCD) has utilized a professional development school model for general and special education teacher preparation since 1993.
29 schools in the partnership across six metropolitan school districts, serving students primarily from low-income and diverse backgrounds.
TCs progress through a series of developmentally sequenced internships to ensure exposure to the full range of student ages, types and level of abilities, varied teaching styles and collaborative opportunities.
Internship experiences are aligned with on-campus coursework to ensure a gradual release of responsibility and experience with students from diverse backgrounds and with diverse learning and language abilities.
Focused faculty professional development
Issues surrounding:
Power and privilege Sociocultural competencies Pedagogy and practices
Professional development design plan
OVERLAPPING STRUCTURES ACTIVITIES
I. Ongoing design activities Faculty meetings/retreats
Work group meetings
Advisory council
II. Specialized workshops Conversation cafe
Premier urban teacher prep
Curriculum planning
III. Feedback loops Focus groups
External review of curriculum
External review of partner school sites
Moving forward…….
1) Finalizing a new conceptual framework that reflects a deep commitment to urban education and social justice;
2) Utilizing the new conceptual framework to “backwards map” clear proficiency descriptors in the new teaching roles utilizing our internship rubric, a framework for urban proficiency descriptors, and additional professional accreditation standards and requirements;
3) Collaborating on the redesign of a sequence of core courses that provides for deep, developmental experiences for all teacher candidates throughout their program and aligns to the conceptual framework and mapped proficiency descriptors;
4) Collaborating on the selection of a core set of readings/texts that would be used across the course sequence; and
5) Collaborating on the development of syllabi “shells” that include course objectives/proficiency descriptors and readings that allow “lead instructors” to further develop course materials, activities and content outlines.
This is a process and that process is not linear
The process documented in this presentation has served to merely set us on the right track for continued work.
Strategic teacher education leadership is essential to ensure committed and focused professional development.
Professional development and recruitment efforts must continue on several fronts.
At the core of such deep work is an examination of ones dispositions. Such introspection has the potential for creating a conundrum that must be attended to as faculty strive to understand what this means to each individual.
Contact Information
Donna M. Sobel, Ph.D.Associate ProfessorUniversity of Colorado [email protected]