|
Helen Keller Fellows at TRI
Nov,11 2011
Eleven special education teachers from across the nation have been selected to participate in the Helen Keller Fellows project, a federally funded program at the Teaching Research Institute, at WOU, that prepares teachers to become leaders in the field of sensory disabilities. The newly selected fellows launched their training at TRI on Nov. 3-4, 2011 where they met with experts in sersory disabilities and teacher professional development.
The purpose of the Helen Keller Fellows program is to develop a cadre of geographically dispersed and networked teacher leaders who will be prepared to provide evidence-based practices and professional expertise required to meet the educational needs of children with vision and hearing impairments. The teachers selected come from Alabama, Arizona, California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Texas, and Utah. Several are the first in their family to have completed a college degree or pursue a graduate degree. One is the child of Mexican immigrants with 8th grade educations; another survived Spina Bifida and amazed her physicians by living beyond her first birthday and suffering no cognitive developmental delays. All are passionately devoted to ensuring that K-12 students with the most significant disabilities are provided quality educational programs.
 The newly selected Helen Keller Fellows will launch their training at TRI on November 3 - 4, 2011. During this time they will meet with experts in sensory disabilities and teacher professional development in order to begin to hone their ability to provide technical assistance and coaching to their peers. Next steps for the Fellows will be participation in "webinars with the experts" that incorporate live video, real-time online interaction, and asynchronous communication with leading researchers, technical assistance providers and master teachers; attendance at the annual topical conference on deaf-blindness hosted by the National Consortium on Deaf-Blindness; attendance at a face-to-face, three-day seminar focusing on leadership and systems-thinking; and internship with their home state to experience a variety of environments including high-poverty communities, rural areas and urban areas.
"The availability of qualified special educators to serve children with disabilities nationwide remains a critical concern. This issue is amplified in the area of low incidence disabilities and especially severe for students with simultaneous vision and hearing impairments," noted Dr. Christina Reagle, the project director. "However, it is impossible to produce enough classroom teachers to guarantee that each child with deaf-blindness has a teacher with a focus on sensory disabilities. A more realistic solution has been to identify and train highly qualified "teacher leaders" in order to support district level mentoring and sustained professional development," she continued. The development of such a cadre assists the field by providing coaching/mentoring to their educational colleagues, enhancing instructional programs, and providing job-embedded professional development within the least restrictive educational environment.
The Teaching Research Institute at WOU, in conjunction with Boston College, East Carolina University, Hunter College of City University of New York, San Francisco State University, Texas Tech University, University of Alabama - Birmingham, University of Arizona, University of Southern Mississippi, the University of Utah, and Utah State University, are collaborating to implement the Helen Keller Fellows Project. This project addresses the critical shortage of qualified personnel in low incidence disabilities with particular emphasis on simultaneous vision and hearing impairment (i.e., deaf-blindness) and was awarded through the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) under the Personnel Development to Improve Services and Results for Children with Disabilities Combined Priority for Personnel Development (CFDA 84.325K). Upon completion of their university's graduate program requirements and consortium activities, each Fellow will receive a master's degree in education as well as documented competencies in addressing the needs of students with deaf-blindness and the educators who work with them. The overall goal of the HK Fellows Project is to improve the quality and increase the number of personnel who are fully credentialed to meet the needs of children with the most severe disabilities.
|
|
Education Evaluation Center - 50 Years
Nov. 18, 2011
The Education Evaluation Center (EEC) will be celebrating 50 years of service providing comprehensive educational assessments for individual's school age through adulthood for the purpose of identifying strengths and weaknesses, functional skills levels, and/or disabilities that impact their academic performance in school, in the work environment, or activities of daily living. Staff are credentialed and experienced in providing assessments to meet state and federal guidelines for public school and college age students in the areas of Learning Disabilities, Dyslexia, ADHD, Post-Secondary Transition, Autism/Aspergers, and Bilingual Psychological Assessment for second language learners.
The EEC provides comprehensive assessments for college students for the purpose of providing documentation as to whether or not they meet criteria for a disability and if so what accommodations will assist them in being successful in a college program. Staff assists students in choosing a program that best fits their preferred interests and strengths.
Parents, schools, agencies and individuals with suspected learning problems may request services by calling 1-800-541-4711 or by visiting our Center located in Maaske Hall rooms 322 through 330 on the WOU campus. You may contact the director Ken Kosko at 503-838-8751 or assistant director Marlene Richards at 503-838-8817. The assessment needs will be discussed, and fees will be negotiated during the initial referral call. Assessments are scheduled when referral information forms are received by the EEC. The Center operates Monday through Thursday.
Improving Child Care in Oregon
Oct. 25, 2011
 The Oregon Program of Quality (OPQ) works to improve the quality of licensed child care programs in Oregon. The TRI Center on Inclusion and Early Childhood Care & Education, in collaboration with the Oregon Dept. of Employment, Child Care Division conducted a two-day review of portfolios for the Oregon Program of Quality field test. This quality rating improvement system (QRIS) will assist child care centers and providers to improve their programs across six standards. The review panels scored the portfolios of 29 centers and family based programs who participated in this field test.
Programs that meet OPQ standards will be eligible to receive a host of benefits including: state supported slots for hard to find care and opportunities to partner with Head Start and Special Education as a community placement for children eligible for those services.
|
|
Holiday Book Drive
Dec. 2, 2011
 The Teaching Research Institute Child Development Center is collaborating with Reading for All in their annual Holiday Book Drive. Through this effort last year, they collected 5,575 books! The books have been distributed in a number of ways to the community, but more are still needed. Reading for All is once
again challenging the county to donate new or gently used books that can be redistributed to children, families, and organizations.
Download the Holiday Book Drive brochure.
Women from Jordan Visit TRI
Nov. 11, 2011
During October, TRI hosted a group of women from Jordan, interested in the role of women in the disability field. The women, ages 22 - 35 with disabilities, visited several programs in Oregon to strengthen their capacity to lead grassroots organizations and advocate for the empowerment of women and girls with disabilities. While in Monmouth, the women spent time with the Oregon Deafblind Project to learn more about children who are deafblind and services to them. While on campus, they also learned about other national projects on deafblindness, including the National Consortium on Deafblindness, and the Helen Keller Fellows personnel preparation initiative.
The nine women were sponsored and accompanied by a Mobility International, USA (MIUSA) team leader and organizer, and interpreters for ASL, Arabic, and Arabic sign. They were able to interact with faculty from the College of Education on campus, learn about the Rehabilitation Counseling program, and the Interpreter Training program. The group was also given the opportunity to observe an interpreter class being conducted by a faculty member who is herself Deaf. Their main interest related to the role of women in the disability field, and, more specifically sensory impairments. Each of them shared their considerable expertise and credentials, both in education and government. During this tour, they were looking for ideas to expand their roles and to promote the well-being of women with sensory disabilities in Jordan.
The 2011/2012 U.S. Jordan: Young Women with Disabilities Leadership Exchange Programs bring together women with disabilities who are working in Jordan and the U.S. as community leaders, gender advocates or professionals in the fields of education, employment, accessibility, health and fitness, policy, legislation and adaptive recreation. These emerging leaders are building their own leadership skills and increasing the capacity of organizations that they represent to advocate for the empowerment of women and girls with disabilities in Jordan and the U.S.
News Archive
|
