Assignment: Becoming a Special Education AdvocateBecoming a leader in the field of special education entails being an advocate for issues and discrepancies often faced by students and their families,

Assignment: Becoming a Special Education Advocate

Becoming a leader in the field of special education entails being an advocate for issues and discrepancies often faced by students and their families, those with and without disabilities. Not only will you have to take on the challenge of defending your position and presenting your case, you will have to be innovative in how you deliver your message to a variety of audiences.

For this Assignment, you will synthesize the resources and research collected, and create an opinion editorial (op-ed) piece addressing the identified issue.

Purpose: To synthesize collected research and practice scholarly writing.

To prepare:

·         Review all module Learning Resources.

·         Review resources on TED Lines, the CEC TED Division Newsletter.

·         Think about what you might include in an op-ed piece on a specific issue for the state of South Carolina CEC TED Division Newsletter.

 a draft of your op-ed

2- to 3-page opinion editorial incorporating feedback from your colleagues. Include the following in your op-ed:

·         Introduction, clearly identifying the issue and presenting your position for transformation

·         Research to support your position and evidence for the need for transformation of the identified issue

·         Conclusion, summary of the facts and findings

·         At least 5 scholarly sources cited in APA format on a reference page

Note: For this Assignment and all scholarly writing in this course and throughout your program, you will be required to use APA style (6th edition). Please use the Walden Writing Center as a resource as you complete assignments.

Required Readings

Florian, L. (Ed.). (2014). The SAGE handbook of special education (2nd ed.). London, England: Sage Publications Ltd.

• Chapter 8, “Disability Rights in Education” (pp. 131–148)Focus on examining the concepts of equity and the implementation of a rights-based approach to education.
• Chapter 11, “Sui Ban Jiu Du: An Approach Toward Inclusive Education in China” (pp. 187–202)Focus on the development, practice, issues, and challenges of Sui Ban Jiu Du.

Adderley, R. J., Hope, M. A., Hughes, G. C., Jones, L., Messiou, K., & Shaw, P. A. (2015). Exploring inclusive practices in primary schools: Focusing on children’s voices. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 30(1), 106–121.

Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

Children share their views about the practices of teachers and how these hindered and/or helped their sense of inclusion.

American Federation of Teachers. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.aft.org

Institute of International Education, Inc. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.iie.org/

National Education Association. (2002–2015). Issues and action. Retrieved from http://www.nea.org/home/IssuesAndAction.html

Teacher Education Division of the Council for Exceptional Children. (2013). TEDLines. Retrieved from http://ted.projectpreview.us/publications/publications-list-view/tedlines

U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences. (n.d.). National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/

Walden University. (2015b). About. Retrieved from http://www.waldenu.edu/about