Course Catalog • Special Education

This course provides an overview of current practices in the identification, placement, and education of students with disabilities. This course emphasizes patterns of social, cognitive, language, and physical development. Social, political, and economic advocacy issues are also addressed. Prerequisite: One course in child development. Six written assignments; midcourse and final examinations. Instructor: Sally Roberts.

Textbooks (separate purchase):

• Hardman, Drew, and Egan. Human Exceptionality: Society, Community, and Family, 8th ed., Allyn and Bacon, 2005.
• Walker. A Loss for Words, Harper and Row, 1986.

This course provides a problem-solving approach and the framework for teaching and assessment strategies to develop prosocial behavior in students with disabilities and their typical peers in classroom and whole school contexts. Students assess problem behavior, discover the functions of problem behavior, and learn prosocial alternatives in home, school, and community settings. Prerequisite: SPED 631 or SPED 731, and SPED 632 or SPED 732. Requires a behavior analysis project that involves observation in a school or institution. Four activity options; midcourse and final examinations. Instructor: Sally Roberts.

Textbooks (separate purchase):

• Alberto and Troutman. Applied Behavior Analysis for Teachers, 5th ed., Prentice Hall, 1999.

Provides an introduction to positive behavioral support (PBS). The lessons include an overview of positive behavioral support, the basics of behavior, an introduction to specific positive behavioral support strategies, and information on preventing problem behavior. One essay assignment. No final examination. No textbook required. Offered on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis (for a grade of S or U). Instructor: Amy McCart.

Introduces current functional assessment methods that are used to build effective behavioral support plans. Provides guidance in implementing functional assessment methods in your classroom. One essay assignment. No final examination. No textbook required. Offered on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis (for a grade of S or U). Instructor: Amy McCart.

Describes how to modify features of the environment associated with problem behavior, what and how skills and strategies will be taught, and how to respond to both positive and problematic behavior. Lessons on designing, implementing, modifying, and assessing PBS plans. One essay assignment. No final examination. No textbook required. Offered on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis (for a grade of S or U). Instructor: Amy McCart.

Introduces interventions that can be used as part of a comprehensive positive behavioral support plan. Lessons address setting events, antecedent interventions, replacing problem behavior, and consequence interventions. One essay assignment. No final examination. No textbook required. Offered on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis (for a grade of S or U). Instructor: Amy McCart.

Introduces three types of interventions to use in positive behavioral support. Also addressed are social skills education, crisis prevention, and interventions addressing physiological factors that influence a student’s problem behavior. One essay assignment. No final examination. No textbook required. Offered on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis (for a grade of S or U). Instructor: Amy McCart.

Describes how positive behavioral support can be used to redesign the environment at a systems level. Considers the larger issues within a system including the broader environment, the values and beliefs held by staff, policies and procedures that promote ongoing learning, and collaborative problem-solving processes within a school. Also addresses classroom management, staff development, and school-wide discipline issues. One essay assignment. No final examination. No textbook required. Offered on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis (for a grade of S or U). Instructor: Amy McCart.

Introduces topics related to creating positive lifestyles, including person-centered planning, self-determination, and quality of life. One essay assignment. No final examination. No textbook required. Offered on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis (for a grade of S or U). Instructor: Amy McCart.