SPED 338 Curriculum/Strategies for Teaching Students with Mild/Moderate Educational Needs

Students will study causes of developmental delay in young children and will address issues related to research-supported instructional content and practice, such as techniques for facilitating learning, modifying methods, materials, environment, and teaching style to meet the needs of the young child with disabilities in an inclusive early childhood program. The Ohio Department of Education's Competency-Based Model Curriculum is used to frame content-area instruction. Included are development and evaluation of developmentally appropriate educational plans (IFSP/IEP) and instructional objectives, the effects of cultural perspectives and diversity on effective instruction, the use of assessment to evaluate instruction, and strategies for facilitating maintenance and generalization of skills across learning environments. Inclusion models, collaborative teaming, and consideration of next environment issues, along with methods of promoting effective adult-child and child-child interactions are investigated. Students will spend 10 hours in an inclusive early childhood setting designing and implementing developmentally appropriate intervention and instruction for young children. This includes modifying materials and environments to include children with disabilities. Students will develop methods of integrating a child's IEP goals into his/her daily activities and routines, incorporating a multidisciplinary approach into the design of intervention strategies for young children. This course is required to add the Pre-K Special Needs Endorsement to an early childhood licensure.

Credits

3