Critical Issues in Preparing Effective Early Childhood Special Education Teachers for the 21 Century Classroom

Interdisciplinary Perspectives

Edited by:
Festus E. Obiakor, Sunny Educational Consulting
Alicja Rieger, Valdosta State University
Anthony F. Rotatori, Saint Xavier University

A volume in the series: Contemporary Perspectives in Special Education. Editor(s): Anthony F. Rotatori, Saint Xavier University. Festus E. Obiakor, Sunny Educational Consulting.

Published 2015

The purpose of this book is to provide a forum for an interdisciplinary scholarly dialogue with regard to preparing teachers for early childhood special education. In addition, it is aimed at examining and making available relevant and most recent scholarship to practitioners and at addressing critical issues and perspectives around preparing effective educators for the 21 century classroom and the future. This book intends to illuminate a complex and challenging task of preparing effective educators through the lenses of several educational disciplines, including but not limited to, teacher education, general education, special education, early childhood education, and urban education.

The information in this work will focus on several educational disciplines that have the most immediate implications for teacher preparation and practice. The overall educational knowledge base will be enhanced due to the educational interdisciplinary approach. This has additional implications for teacher education, special education, educational leadership, curriculum and instruction, educational policy, and urban education, to name a few. The multidimensional nature of the book gives it the freedom to highlight multiple and diverse voices while at the same time providing a forum for different (and sometimes divergent) methodologies, philosophies, and ideologies.

CONTENTS
List of Contributors. Foreword, Brian Gerber. Preface, Festus E. Obiakor, Alicja Rieger, and Anthony F. Rotatori. Teacher Education—Then and Now, Deb L. Marciano. Performance Assessments of Teaching and the Current Discourse on Teacher Education, Jessica B. Graves, Barbara J. Radcliffe, and Karla Hull. Dismantling Defi cit Thinking Through Teacher Education, María L. Gabriel, James Martínez, and Festus Obiakor. Preparing Teachers and Leaders for Urban and Rural Special Education in This Age of Change, Tachelle Banks, Festus E. Obiakor, Floyd Beachum, Bob Algozzine, and Sean Warner. Interdisciplinary Collaboration in Teacher Preparation to Support Students With Exceptionalities, Shaunita D. Strozier, Margaret M. Flores, Vanessa Hinton, Margaret Shippen, and Stephanie Taylor. Preparing Teachers to Maximize the Potential of Young Students With Gifts and Talents, Sunday Obi, Festus E. Obiakor, Don Drennon-Gala, Tachelle Banks, and Satasha Green. Preparing Teachers and Practitioners to Work With Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders, Lynn Adams. Preparing Teachers for Adaptive Physical Education for Young Children With Special Needs, Eugene F. Asola. Preparing Educators Through Relationships Between Schools, Families, and Communities: Sullivan Literacy Center, Gina M. Doepker. Preparing Teachers to Teach With Comics Literature In K–12 Classrooms, Alicja Rieger, Ewa McGrail, and J. Patrick McGrail. Using Technology to Prepare Teachers and Leaders in Early Childhood Special Education, Sunday Obi, Floyd Beachum, Festus E. Obiakor, Carlos McCray, Elizabeth Omiteru, and Marty Sapp. Teaching at a Distance: Perspectives on the Growth and Impact of Electronic Learning in Special Education Teacher Preparation, Kelly Heckaman, Anthony Scheffl er, and Patti Campbell. Clinical and Field-Based Teacher Preparation Pedagogy and Professional Development of Teacher Educators, Jessica Graves, Carolyn Gish, Karla Hull, and Jamie Bird. Forging Evidence-Based Inquiry and Teaching in Teacher Education, Alicja Rieger, Ewa McGrail, and J. Patrick McGrail. Moving Forward: Coalescence of General Education, Special Education, and Teacher Education Programs Into Collaborative Partnerships in Education, Satasha Green, Cheryl A. Utley, Florah Luseno, Festus E. Obiakor, and Alicja Rieger.