Frederick Community College

ED203-Online – Foundations of Special Education

Summer 2009

 

Faculty Information

Name:   M. Catherine Hull

            Adjunct Professor-Education

Office:  By appointment only

E-mail: 

mhull@frederick.edu

Phone Number:  (messages only)

301-846-2507

Office Hours: 

By appointment only

 

Campus Mail Box:

#342

All faculty and staff mailboxes are located in the "A" Building across from the Financial Aid Office.

 

Course Information

Credits:  3

Academic Deadlines:

Last day 100% refund – June 5, 2009

The last day to withdraw – July 8, 2009

Prerequisites:  EN 50A and EN 52 or ESL 95 and ESL 99.

Co-requisites:  None

 

Course Description

This course is designed to provide an overview of critical issues and strategies related to educating students who have been identified as exceptional. The course content focuses on historical and legal foundations of special education, inclusive education, developmental characteristics of exceptional students, and strategies for accommodating students. (This course satisfies the Maryland State Department of Education professional education course work in inclusion of special populations.)

 

Core Learning Outcomes

By the completion of the course students will:

  1. Identify the educational provisions serving children with disabilities from the legislation and litigation that created special education as it exists today in American education
  1. Evidence fair and accurate assessment criteria to identification, retention and appropriate placement of children with disabilities
  1. Discriminate the recognized categories of disability, their specific definitions, identification and eligibility criteria
  1. Analyze the major data components associated with providing education and related services in the least restrictive environment
  1. Integrate the skills needed by professionals to serve children with disabilities, and assess the effectiveness of their service

 

 

Instructional Methods

This is an online course.  All course activities will be conducted via the FCC Blackboard site (www.frederick.blackboard.com) Active, informed discussion and respectful interaction are emphasized in this course via the discussion board. Quizzes, newspaper articles, videos, case studies and websites are incorporated into this course.  Note that a service learning project is a requirement of this course. Students need to complete 10 hours of service learning.  Students need to plan their time accordingly and should be prepared to provide verification of their time. 

 

Texts for Course

Hallahan, D., Kauffman, J., & Pullen, P. (2009). Exceptional Learners: An Introduction to Special Education. Boston: Pearson. (11th Edition).

 

Hallahan, D., Kauffman, J., & Pullen, P. (2009). Cases for Reflection and Analysis for Exceptional Learners: An Introduction to Special Education. Boston: Pearson. (11th Edition).

 

Additional readings will be distributed online.

 

Evaluation Methods

Graded Activity

Points/Percentage of Grade

Weekly Activities

40%

Discussion Board

10%

Course Project

20%

Exams and Quizzes

30%

 

The calculation of the final grade will be based on the following scale:

A = 90% and above; B = 80% - 89%; C = 70% - 79%; D = 60-69%; F = 59% and below.

 

Progress Report

Students will receive graded assignments by the third week of class. Students should use those grades to assess their progress in the course. FCC offers a wide range of academic support services, including tutoring and study skills workshops.  Additionally, students are strongly encouraged to discuss their progress in the course with me as needed.

 

Written Assignments

All written assignments must feature no larger than one inch margins written in Tahoma, Arial or similar font no larger than 12 pt. Documents should be submitted as Rich Text files (rtf).  All assignments are expected to be free of spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and grammatical errors. Ideas should be expressed with clarity and papers should include proper language usage, sentence structure, and paragraph structure. Students who have difficulty with written assignments should contact the Writing Center for assistance.


 


Missed Classes and Late Assignment Policy

Attendance:  Attendance for an online course is measured by participation.  In the case of this course, your attendance is measured by the weekly Muddiest Point Discussions.  Weekly attendance is required.

 

Assignments: All assignments must be submitted in class on or before the due date. Unless otherwise specified, the due date is the last day of the week the assignment was given.  The weeks run from Monday through Sunday. Any assignment received after the due date will receive a one letter grade deduction. Late assignments are accepted for one week after the due date. However, this does not apply to assignments due on the last day of class. That work must be submitted on time and will not be accepted late.

 

 

Academic Honesty

Work in this course is subject to the provisions of the FCC Code of Academic Honesty. Plagiarism in any form will not be tolerated. As a student, it is your job to practice academic honesty at ALL times.  Make sure that all sources, particularly Internet sources, get proper credit for quotations, paraphrases, and ideas.
If the graded performance for online assignments differs significantly from the grade average for proctored assignments, the instructor reserves the right to administer additional tests.

 

 

Accommodations

FCC provides reasonable accommodations to otherwise qualified students with disabilities in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504) and amendments.  Students with disabilities who are in need of accommodations must contact the Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) office at 301-846-2408 (A Building, Room 106A) in order to request and apply for services.  The SSD office will require appropriate documentation of a disability.  Questions related to accommodations or services can be directed to the SSD office.  Additional information related to services can be viewed at the following FCC web page:  http://www.frederick.edu/student_services/disability.aspx

 If you currently receive services from the SSD office, please submit your Student Success Plan to me and make an appointment with me to discuss your accommodations and needs in class.  I will hold any information you share with me in strict confidence unless you give me permission to do otherwise.

 


 

 

Email Policy

Email is an instructional tool essential to student-instructor and student-student communication. In the Blackboard environment by default, your email address is available to all students in this course. However, students are permitted to use email addresses of other students in this course only for the purpose and the duration of this course.

 The instructor can be expected to respond to regular student email inquiries (grades, posted assignments, and tests excluded) within the time frame of 24 to 48 hours.

The college’s official means of email communication is via the FCC-issued email addresses (myfcc.frederick.edu). The instructor uses these FCC-issued email addresses and BlackBoard to communicate with students throughout the semester about projects, homework assignments, extra credit opportunities, etc.  It is the student’s responsibility to read these email messages and to check BlackBoard. Students must use their FCC email accounts when sending an email to the instructor.

 FCC has computers available for student use; home computer problems will not result in a deadline extension.

 

 

 


TOPICAL OUTLINE

Week

Subject

Assignments

1

Ch 1 - Exceptionality and Special Education

Ch – 2 Integration, Inclusion, and Support of Positive Outcomes

  • Chapter 1 Activities
  • Chapter 2 Activities
  • Muddiest Point Week 1

2

Ch 3 - Multicultural and Bilingual Aspects of Special Education

Ch 4 - Parents and Families

  • Chapter 3 Activities
  • Chapter 4 Activities
  • Muddiest Point Week 2

3

Ch 5 – Learners with Intellectual Disabilities

Ch 6 – Learners with ADHD

 

·         Chapter 5 Activities

·         Chapter 6 Activities

·         Muddiest Point Week 3

4

Ch 7 – Learners with Learning Disabilities

Ch 8 – Learners with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

  • Chapter 7 Activities
  • Chapter 8 Activities
  • Muddiest Point Week 4

5

Ch 9- Learners with Communication Disorders

Ch 10- The Deaf and Learners who are Hard of Hearing

  • Chapter 9 Activities
  • Chapter 10 Activities
  • Muddiest Point Week 5

6

Ch 11 – Learners with Blindness and Low Vision

Ch 12 – Learners with Autism

  • Chapter 11 Activities
  • Chapter 12 Activities
  • Muddiest Point Week 6

7

Ch 13 – Learners with Multiple, Severe, Low Incidence Disabilities

Ch 14 – Learners with Physical Disabilities and OHI

  • Chapter 13 Activities
  • Chapter 14 Activities
  • Muddiest Point Week 7

8

Ch 15 – Learners with Special Gifts and Talents

  • Chapter 15 Activities
  • Muddiest Point Week 8
  • Final Exam