Utah State University Showcases Special Education Training

Undergraduate students in the Special Education Department at Utah State University showed off their knowledge and training April 21 during a poster session in the atrium of the Education building.

 

The session, "Interventions to Improve Behavior of Children in Special and General Education," was the culmination of one-on-one projects class members conducted with special education children. The poster session highlighted two semesters of behavior analysis.

 

"Poster sessions allow students to represent their efforts by verbally responding to questions from faculty, graduate students, district teachers and special education directors," said Robert Morgan, professor in the SPED department at Utah State. "Their learning of behavior analysis is solidified by describing their projects to others."

 

The undergraduate special education teaching students work with graduate students in the SPED program, which was ranked 15^th in U.S. News & World Report's annual survey of graduate programs in the United States.

 

"Our graduate students work closely with the undergraduates in preparing their posters and discussion of the assessment, intervention and outcomes," said Ben Lignugaris/Kraft, head of the SPED department at Utah State. "This kind of rehearsal helps our undergraduates demonstrate clear understanding of the concepts and principles. It also helps our graduate students learn how to work with pre-service teachers and build exemplary teaching and management skills."

 

The need for trained and licensed special education teachers is increasing. Of all special education teachers entering a new school district, 45 percent are unlicensed. The demand is high for special education teachers able to provide quality instructional programs for students with severe disabilities. Special education training programs are unable to keep up with the need, resulting in a shortage of qualified teachers within school districts.

 

"The shortage is so critical that we only make a dent by graduating the students we do," Morgan said. "Our department has two alternative teacher preparation programs operating along the Wasatch Front and a distance education program operating throughout Utah in an attempt to address the teacher shortage."

 

Training at Utah State alone cannot alleviate the shortage of special education teachers, Lignugaris/Kraft said. The demand for trained professionals is too high, but Utah State is making a mark.

 

"Our on-campus and distance programs produce more special education teachers than all other programs in the state combined," said Lignugaris/Kraft. "I believe that says a great deal about the department's commitment to helping relieve the shortage of special education teachers in the state."

 

For more information about SPED, visit the department Web site.