The article I found this week was very interesting to say the least. It was a study examining the correlation between high poverty schools and poorly qualified special education teachers. Finding it through an Education specific journal helped a lot, because there was so much information right in front of me!

The article, using different research methods, and examination of school surveys, the author found that many high poverty schools had a dramatically higher number of teachers who were not fully prepared, holding general education certificates rather than special education certificates, or completing nontraditional or alternative preparation programs. The study looked at different factors for determining preparedness of a teacher including the following: Amount of teacher preparation, degree major, certificate in special education, certification in education, type of preparation program, and teaching experience.

The statistically significant differences based on school poverty reports suggest that students with disabilities in high-poverty schools are not provided an equal opportunity to an equitable education, violating the equal opportunity standard. The concern is that in high poverty schools, students are more dependent upon the quality of teachers than more affluent schools.  This article shows me that not only is there disproportionality of minorities in special education but that unprepared teachers in low income areas are aiding in the diagnosis of these minorities. If they are not prepared for special education, how can they be aware of the different testing methods, fully prepared to diagnose a learning disability over a cultural barrier. I am going to continue to explore this topic and although this study was based on data from 2003-2004, I would like to follow up and see if anything has changed in regard to teacher preparation for special education.

This week was interesting because the article I initially found led me down a rabbit trail to another article that offered a wealth of information for my research. I felt like I truly understood the research process this week. The first article addresses a study that found that 347 school districts were flagged for having overidentification of minorities in special education. These districts are now required to dedicate 15 percent of their federal special education budget to address the problem. Though this study only spanned 25 states, over 100 of these districts were all located in Louisiana. The article helped me develop further research into what steps these districts will take to remedy the problem, how the issue developed and is leading me to question why one southern state has such a large number of these issues. I decided to continue to research  and searched for “testing strategies” AND “special education” AND “diagnosis” and the first article I found was a goldmine of information on the impracticality of standardized tests in special education, analysis of the Response to Intervention (RTI) process, and different assessments that may offer more information on the student to better diagnose disability.

I was so excited to find this resource and to learn more about diagnosis and assessment of students.

Week 3 Book Research

This week was a little frustrating at first in my research process, I was finding books that seemed like they were exactly what I was looking for in relation to diagnosing minorities in special education, but after skimming through I found that there was maybe one chapter that applied to my topic, and the rest were completely unrelated.

I found a few useful tools this week while searching for an appropriate book for my topic. I discovered one very helpful way to narrow down options and make sure a book is the right choice before I read too far into it. First of all, there are so many electronic resources, that I limited my advance search options to ebook only. That way I don’t waste time borrowing a print book that may not be as useful as it seems by the title and bibliography. I found there were a few titles that matched my research topic perfectly and seemed like they would be a good resource, but after I started reading them I realized there was only one chapter that actually focused on my topic. The next thing I did when I realized I was not finding exactly what I needed, I would look at the Table of Contents on Ebscohost after I clicked on a title and the Table of Contents can be a great way to find the specific piece of information you are researching. Then, you can click on the chapter in the Table of Contents and it will take you directly to that chapter instead of scrolling through the entire book to get to the chapter you want. I have been using this method for another class I am taking and it has helped me cover more information faster than I was able to before.

I m hoping that as I continue to research that I can find a clear cause between minorities being over diagnosed with learning disabilities for so many years, and now that there are laws in place to protect against over diagnosis, there is suddenly a drop of diagnosis' for minorities. I would also like to find the solution to this problem, whether the problem is in testing, classroom issues, or in the laws that were designed to help.

Over the course of my research this week, I found some interesting information that led me to a very specific aspect of my research topic. I have been very interested to learn more about disproportionate classification of minorities in special education. There has been a trend of overclassification of minorities as disabled for many years. It has led to federal oversight in classification and because of that there is a new study showing that now there is an underrepresentation of minorities in special education which means that there may be students who are not receiving the help they need because they are a minority and cannot be classified as disabled.

I learned a great deal about research this week and was so excited to be able to find sources from journals, books, studies, that have all been peer reviewed and offer so much research that I am eager to keep digging and learn more! Using the library sources was beneficial, but I was more interested in how much information I could access just from doing an advanced search on Google. I think the evaluation criteria we used was also extremely supportive. Analyzing the currency, relevance, authority, accuracy and purpose of each article helped me focus on the most important details of the research. I was able to eliminate a few different cases and articles based on the currency alone. I want to make sure I am studying recent and relevant information that takes into account federal measures to safeguard against overclassification.

I think the next direction I want to pursue in my research is how disabilities are classified and measured to determine whether or not the law affecting overclassification could be inhibiting students receiving services because of their minority status. I would also like to find out more about the history behind disproportionality, and what federal guidelines are in place to limit overclassification.

Hello! I am starting this new adventure as an assignment for my very first class at Brandman University which is my first college class in 7 years. I am finishing with an Applied Studies degree (finally) after taking time off to start a family, I am a mom of 3 wonderful boys under the age of six, so now my attention is divided between the Bachelor’s and the baseball! It has been a very long and difficult journey getting to this point in my life and I could not do it alone. I am very thankful for parents who instilled a desire to continue my education and never give up. I have wanted to become a teacher since my first day of kindergarten, and when I became an instructional aid with Hemet Unified School District and got to experience the amazing challenge of working with severely handicapped students I found my direction and plan to continue with a Moderate/Severe Teaching Credential.

I think one aspect of my career that I need to continue to explore are limitations that I don’t have experience dealing with. For example, I have learned so much on how to handle basic classroom management, but I have never had to deal extensively with violent or emotionally disabled students for long periods of time. I have learned how to modify curriculum for specific limitations of students, but how do I find something meaningful to teach to a student who is so low functioning that the most simple fine motor skills are beyond comprehension?

I expect one of the challenges of teaching special education is finding the right tools to help our students. I was doing research on dyslexia for a specific student and was able to find a font that was designed specifically for dyslexic readers and was so excited that I had found a tool to help our student succeed! I hope that over the course I am able to find tools and effective strategies to help my students learn to the best of my ability.

I believe that one of my biggest challenges during this course will be reacquainting myself with college level writing and correct citation of my work because honesty is very important to me and I would never want to plagiarize work because it was not cited correctly. I would also like to learn more about education resources for severely handicapped students that are tested and studied accurately.

This course is an amazing opportunity to step back into my education and gain the tools I need to be successful and I am very excited about this amazing opportunity.