Special ed leaders eye SEHD advances
Three key leaders from the U.S. Office of Special Education (OSEP) and the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) got a good look at the great research going on at the School of Education and Human Development.
For the entire afternoon, faculty presented OSEP-funded research as well as research we are doing in teacher education. Jim Hageman, associate vice chancellor for research, attended as did Dorothy Yates from Sponsored Programs; Wayne Ball, director of the Mountain-Plains Regional Resource Center, Nan Gray, director of special education in Utah, and Colleen Riley, director of special education in Kansas. Federal officials included Dick Fisher, deputy assistant secretary of education, Ruth Ryder, director of state monitoring, and Jim Button, director of communications for OSERS.
Presenters included Dean Lynn Rhodes, who spoke about SEHD school partnerships that ground the research that was presented, Deanna Sands and Bonnie Utley, who spoke about research they are doing on our merged general/special education teacher education program. Organizer Phil Strain talked about the results of his 25+ years of funded work in the areas of autism and young children with challenging behavior and Barbara Smith discussed the results of her policy work specific to young children with challenging behavior. In addition, Corry Robinson and Steve Rosenberg, two professors from Pediatrics & Psychiatry, discussed the results of their funded work on children with physical challenges, and Barbara Buswell talked about the major accomplishments of PEAK Parent Center the past 20 years.