UF professors work to influence how NCLB overhaul affects special education teacher quality, assessment

Posted: April 15, 2010

Two UF special education professorshave applied their expertise to influencehow the proposed revision of the 2002 No Child Left Behind law addresses the preparation and assessment of teachers of students with disabilities.

Professors Mary Brownell and Paul Sindelar helped draft a set of recommendations concerning special education teacher quality and evaluation in a report submitted in late March to the U.S. House education committee, which is considering President Obama’s recent proposal to overhaul the NLCB act. Brownell and Sindelar also conducted much of the research on which the recommendations were based.

The recommendations were submitted by the heads of two special education professional organizations—the Higher Education Consortium for Special Education (HECSEE) and the teacher education division of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) — to Rep. George Miller, chairman of the House committee, and Rep. John Kline, ranking member of the committee.

Their recommendations called for supplementing standardized student-testing with other reliable measures of teacher effectiveness and student achievement gains. They also advise against fast-track, alternate preparation programs for special education teacher certification, and advocate professional development based on evidence-based instructional skills for both general and special educators.

If approved by Congress, President Obama’s new law would place more importance on academic growth than the current pass-fail approach to judging schools. Obama’s blueprint encourages states to create accountability systems that measure students’ college readiness and to reward schools for producing dramatic gains in student achievement. It emphasizes doing what works based on scientific research.

Brownell, co-holder of the Irving and Rose Fien Professorship in Education, helped write the special education recommendations while Sindelar served as a consultant on the effort. They currently co-direct the college’s National Center to Inform Policy and Practice in Special Education Professional Development, or NCIPP for short, and they previously oversaw UF’s Center on Personnel Studies in Special Education (COPPSE). 

“These recommendations on teacher education and quality are grounded in the influential scholarship of Dr.  Brownell and Dr. Sindelar,” said Jean Crockett, acting director of UF’s School of Special Education, School Psychology and Early Childhood Studies. “Their work is having a powerful impact on this legislation and should strengthen the quality of the instructional skills of teachers who work with students with disabilities.”

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CONTACTS

   SOURCES: Mary Brownell, UF Irving & Rose Fien Professor, Special Education; (352) 273-4261; mbrownell@coe.ufl.edu

                     Paul Sindelar, Professor, Special Education; (352) 273-4266; pts@coe.ufl.edu

   WRITER: Larry Lansford, COE News & Publications; (352) 273-4137; llansford@coe.ufl.edu