Chaminade University of Honolulu
Summer, 2006
ED 665R-90-3 Arlise Mild/Moderate Disabilities

Instructor: 	Maureen Malanaphy, Ph.D.
		Maureen.Malanaphy@adjunct.chaminade.edu
		 Alternate Email: momalanaphy@yahoo.com
		808 256-3925 (Cell) 
		Office Hours: By appointment

		10/02/06 – 12/15/2006

Course Description:

	The goal of this course is to gain an understanding of teaching children with special learning needs in the mild/moderate categories.  This will include knowledge of concepts, research, and practical application of instructional strategies to meet the educational needs of these children including useful approaches, assessments, services, and supports for working with them. Students will also gain knowledge in approaches to transition services, inclusion models, and current trends. Case studies, discussion, personal reflections and team collaboration will be used to enhance the course content. 

Catalogue Description:

Overview of learning, behavioral, and personality characteristics of students diagnosed as mentally retarded, and learning disabled; important issues in the field presented along with service delivery options; assessment and intervention strategies for the classroom teacher.
	
Location:
http://webct.chaminade.edu

Format:

	The time for this class is flexible as it is held online. Each week of this class begins on Monday and ends on Sunday.  Weekly discussion, assignments and reflections are due on various days throughout the week.  Students are expected to log on a minimum of four out of seven days and to post substantial responses/discussions. Course format includes online discussions, team collaboration, individual and team assignments, and a final project. This course is designed to be interactive through the use of class forum/discussions and e-mail. The class forums include responding through posts/topics/questions and responding to the posts of others. Students must respond and interact to the posts of others in order to receive full participation points for each week. Certain assignments require students to send work as attachments via Email. I will ask for feedback relating to course format and content and will provide ongoing feedback to students about their progress.  Students should use the class or individual Web CT Email for questions or comments on the course content/procedures and I will respond in a timely manner.

Textbook:

Henley, Martin, Ramsey, Roberta & Algozzine, Robert. (2006). Characteristics of and Strategies for Teaching Students with Mild Disabilities.  Boston: Pearson Education Inc. (ISBN 0 -205-45764-9)

Course Goals:
	By the completion of this course, students will be able to achieve and demonstrate the following goals and objectives:
1.	Students will demonstrate a thorough knowledge in and understanding of all of mild/moderate disabilities including pre-referral interventions, causation, statistical prevalence, characteristics, and curricular/instructional supports and interventions.
2.	Students will be able to identify appropriate informal and formal assessments to meet the diverse learning needs of students with identified learning needs.
3.	Students will demonstrate a variety of teaching techniques that incorporate flexibility in teaching strategies, such as differentiated instruction, to meet diverse learning needs, and that promote inclusion for exceptional students.

•	Describe characteristics and needs of students with varying disabilities. 
CEC 1, 2, 3; HTSB 1, 3.
•	Demonstrate knowledge of the various, effective teaching strategies, interventions, methodologies, and techniques. CEC 4. 5, 6; HTSB #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7. 
•	Demonstrate the ability to plan, adapt, and individualize instruction for a variety of student needs. CEC 1,2,3,4,5; HTSB #1,#2, #3, #4, #5,#6,#7.
•	Describe methods and models of facilitating the successful integration/inclusion of students with disabilities into the general education classroom. CEC 3,4,5,6,7; HTSB #1, #2, #3, #4,#6, 7, #10
•	Demonstrate understanding of techniques for assessing the instructional needs of students with disabilities. CEC 8, HTSB #8.
•	Describe a variety of techniques which have been successful in managing the behavior of students. CEC 4, 5; HTSB #2, #4, #5.
•	Discuss collaboration and consultation skills with other professionals, related services, and parents. CEC 6, 9, 10; HTSB #9, #10.

Course Requirements:

All students are expected to communicate online for four out of seven days each week as this forum is the foundation of the course. Please be observant of the following university rules and policies as they also apply to online courses. 

1.	Attendance.  University policy requires students to attend all classes. For an online course, this means that all students must have weekly online responses to assignments as stipulated by the professor. Attendance and participation requirements include online responses to discussion and other activities for four out of seven days each week. You are expected to be engaged in the activities and discussions to receive 100% of the participation points.  The quality and content your individual responses to the Discussion Questions will count toward participation. However, students are also expected to interact and respond to the posts of others throughout each week to gain full participation points for that week. Please keep up with the weekly course readings, activities and discussion questions to gain the full understanding and necessary practice to meet course objectives.

If an emergency or illness occurs, the student is responsible for contacting the professor to make arrangements to make up any missed work. Graduate course terms and course content are accelerated, and weekly online participation is mandatory. Unexcused absences  may result in a lowering of your final grade. Please contact me at the provided e-mail address. 

2.	Academic Conduct.  Each student is expected to maintain high standards of honesty, ethical behavior, and academic integrity.  All assignments submitted in fulfillment of course requirements must be the student’s own work and created for this course.  All assignments, except those designated as “group or team” are meant to represent the effort of each individual student.  Please refer to and follow all the policies and procedures included in the Student Handbook which is available in hard copy and online, and carefully read all areas. Please pay attention to the sections that discuss plagiarism, classroom respect, student conduct, freedom of speech, and all academic policies regarding grading. 

3.	Professionalism. It is assumed that all students will perform professionally in preparing course assignments and will submit all assignments by their due date. There is much course content and assignments not received by the respective due date will be considered late and may be marked down. Please contact me if you anticipate work being late for a legitimate reason..  All performance assessment will depend upon the accomplishment of learning outcomes.  Students are expected to be prepared and current for each week especially in an online class.

4.	Grading.  Students will earn the final grade through an accumulation of points received for assignments throughout the term. The distribution of points for each assignment is as follows:

Assignment                                                                            Points
Participation, Reflections, Discussions & Debates  		 30
Assignments/Application Tasks				 25
Culminating Final Project                 	                            	 20
Midterm and Final Exam                                                	 25

Total Points                                            			100

5.	Grading Scale- 
A = 90- 100
B = 80- 90
A grade of C or below will not be credited toward the graduate degree. The student will have to repeat the course if a grade of C or below is received. 

Course Assignments:

All written course assignments must follow the American Psychological Association  (APA) standards for professional writing. Students must read and edit all assignments prior to posting their comments online.

A detailed description of the course assignments follows.

1.	Participation, Reading Reflections/Discussions, and Debates - Each week students will respond to the assigned readings from the text or supplemental articles. Use the information from the readings, other online resources and your own personal experiences to formulate your ideas, reactions, and analyses of the concepts and issues. Your responses will be posted for the other students and the professor to read.  Due dates will be provided to pace the discussions throughout the week.  It is important to post throughout the week rather than at the end of the week. You are expected to read your classmates’ (or team members’) views and respond to them to foster interactive and collaborative learning.

2.	Assignment Tasks and Debates – Throughout the course, you will complete various assignment tasks, and respond to debate discussions.  These assignments will be graded by points ranging from 3 to 8 and count towards your final grade.  Your responses will be interactive with your team or classmates and graded based on the quality and sharing of substantial ideas.

3.	Culminating Final Project- This assignment (e.g., case study) will give students the opportunity to demonstrate a thorough investigation of the etiology, formal and informal assessments, teaching strategies, interventions, and supports used for a student(s) with one category of mild/moderate disabilities. This final project will be applicable to your individual teaching/work experiences and your interests on current issues related to teaching students with special needs.

4.	A Midterm and Final Exam will be given in ‘open-book’ inquiry format based on course readings and discussions and will include thoughtful application of principles.

Syllabus:

Week #1:  Oct. 2 - 8
Topic: Foundations of Special Education for students with Mild Disabilities, Chapter 1
Introduction: Give a brief overview to introduce yourself, tell about your life interests and experiences, and tell why you are interested in children with mild/moderate disabilities.
Weekly Debate: What are the advantages and disadvantages of labeling/classifying student for special education/
Assignment: Read Henley, Ramsey & Algozzine Chapters 2 
	
Week #2: Oct. 9 - 15
Topic: Overview of Students with Mild Disabilities, Chapter 2
Weekly Debate: Do you think there are special populations (including environmental causes) at risk of educational and school failure?  Explain.
Assignment:  Read Henley, Ramsey & Algozzine Chapter 3

Week #3: Oct. 16 - 22
Topic: Students with Mild Mental Retardation, Chapter 3
Weekly Debate: Discuss the idea that certain minorities (African-American, Mexican, etc.) are overrepresented in the mild mentally retarded category (or learning disabilities) and the ‘Six-hour Retarded Child’?
Assignment: Read Henley, Ramsey & Algozzine, Chapter 4 
                     Read and discuss a case study of a student with mild disabilities.  

Week #4:  Oct. 23 - 29
Topic: Students with Behavioral/Emotional Disorders, Classroom Management, Chapters 4
Weekly Debate: Discuss the pros and cons of medication monitoring for students with ADHD and the use of behavioral modification interventions for students with behavioral problems.
Assignment: *Complete a Functional Behavioral Assessment with an intervention goal.  Read Henley, Ramsey & Algozzine, Chapter 5.

Week #5: Oct. 30 – Nov. 5
Topics: Students with Specific Learning Disabilities, Chapter 5
Weekly Debate: Do you think that many students with learning disabilities are ‘misclassified’ or that eligibility criteria is vague/confusing?  Explain.
Assignment: *Midterm Due, Read Henley, Ramsey & Algozzine, Chapter 6

Week #6: Nov. 6 – Nov. 12
Topics:  The Inclusive Classroom, Chapter 6
Weekly Debate: Discuss the pros and cons of inclusion and some issues/barriers to inclusion that teachers face?
Assignment: Henley, Ramsey & Algozzine, Chapters 7
                     Outline for Final Project Due

Week #7: Nov. 13 - 19
Topics: Learning and Teaching, Chapter 7
Weekly Debate: Research and share a teaching model/theory that works for you?
Assignment:   *Share a differentiated lesson/teaching strategies.  Read Chapter 8

Week #8: Nov. 20 - 26

Topics: Instructional Modifications, Chapter 8
Weekly Debate: Discuss how you can differentiate instruction to meet the diverse learning needs of your students.
Assignment: Read Chapters 9, 10

Week #9:  Nov. 27 – Dec. 3
Topics:  Classroom Management, Chapter 9; Teaching Social Skills, Chapter 10.
Weekly Debate: Discuss various styles of  classroom management, organization and discipline.
Assignment:  **Final Project Due; Read Chapter 11

Week #10  Dec. 4 – Dec. 10
Topics:; Building Family Partnerships, Chapter 11.
Course Reflection: What were key insights learned during this course and what do you still have questions about?
Assignments: Provide feedback to team member’s final projects;
                       Course Reflection Due;
        Complete Final Exam.

Dec. 12:  Final Exam Due

**NOTE:  This syllabus may be adjusted to meet the needs of the class.  The course text readings may be supplemented with additional articles/readings.

Access Information for Online Courses:

	The course is located at http://webct.chaminade.edu. Choose “login to my WebCT” and enter your student password. The course will be listed on the left side of the screen. Follow the commands.

	If you have any questions about the format, or if you have any technical difficulties, please contact jnakason@chaminade.edu (739-8327).