Ball State University’Open Journals
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Empowering Our Future: Integrating Advocacy into Special Education Coursework
Full text linkBecoming a special education teacher encompasses more than just learning how to teach. A large component of this position requires advocacy at the local, state, and national levels. Therefore, special education teachers need to be prepared to effectively advocate across all levels. This article examines the integration of advocacy into an undergraduate special education course and provides actionable recommendations. Implications for further integrating advocacy into special education teacher preparation programs are also discussed
Empowering Educators to Advocate Locally, Statewide, and Nationally
Full text linkAdvocacy is important in educator preparation programs, equipping future teachers with the knowledge, skills, and mindset to support students, schools, and communities. Educators are critical in driving policy change and supporting students with disabilities. This article explores how educator preparation programs can engage in advocacy at the local, state, and federal levels. The authors share strategies and insights for involving undergraduate and graduate students in advocacy work within communities and local school districts and building relationships with key stakeholders at the state and federal levels. By prioritizing advocacy, educator preparation programs encourage future teachers to actively engage with the broader educational ecosystem, collaborate with stakeholders, and become change agents in schools and communities
Interdisciplinary Insights: Innovative Strategies for Preparing Future Professionals
Full text linkInterdisciplinary personnel preparation programs are crucial in shaping the next generation of service providers in early intervention/early childhood special education (EI/ECSE), special education, school psychology and counseling, and other related service fields. This article examines three distinct interdisciplinary personnel preparation programs that have developed innovative approaches to improve scholar success, foster teamwork, and enhance community engagement. These programs promote collaboration by breaking down disciplinary silos and enabling faculty and scholars from diverse fields to learn from one another. By integrating cross-disciplinary collaboration and experiential learning opportunities, these programs equip future service providers with the skills, knowledge, and dispositions necessary to support the needs of students with disabilities and their families. This article highlights key program components, shares creative methods, and presents effective strategies for preparing personnel across multiple disciplines. It also explores how interdisciplinary approaches can strengthen personnel pipelines, improve workforce diversity and retention, and develop highly skilled, collaborative service providers who can serve alongside families and professionals as cohesive teams
Stepping into the Unknown: A Graduate’s Guide to the Real World
Full text linkOur perspective piece does not include a formal abstract; however, it addresses key topics such as the transition from undergraduate studies to an industry career, the challenges associated with this new phase of life, and the strategies we have developed to emphasize work-life balance and personal fulfillmen
Examining Aristotle's Substance: Does A.I. Autonomy Warrant a Reinterpretation of Artifacts and Natural Substances?
Full text linkWhen examining Aristotle’s works, it is difficult to properly explain his account of substance, and even more so to understand what things can be considered as natural substances. Typically, artifacts have been believed not to be natural substances, since they lack a certain autonomy living organisms have. However, this argument may not be fully adequate depending on how “artifact” and “organism” are understood. I argue that due to advances in the autonomy of Artificial Intelligence, a reinterpretation of the distinction between artifacts and natural substances could be warranted
Taking action toward racial and economic justice: An interview with Rebecca L. Toporek
Full text linkOn November 21, 2024, we had the great honor, privilege, and pleasure to conduct a highly revealing, engaging, and intimate interview with Professor Rebecca L. Toporek about their lifelong investment in social justice and action work. Professor Toporek serves as a faculty member in the Department of Counseling at San Francisco State University. They have been a psychologist and counselor educator for 20 years after serving as a community college counselor and associate dean. Their scholarship has focused on social justice advocacy and activism, backlash, racism, economic justice, and college and career counseling. They have written or co-written over 70 journal articles and book chapters, were co-editor and co-founder of the Journal for Social Action in Counseling and Psychology, co-developer of the American Counseling Association Advocacy Competencies, and co-edited five books on multicultural practice and social justice including Taking Action: Creating Social Change through Strength, Solidarity, Strategy and Sustainability. They co-produced the video, Helping counselors and psychologists as advocates and activists. They are also a daughter, sister, partner, and mother of two awesome 20-somethings. Our interview with Professor Toporek addressed their long-standing experiences that led to their social justice and action work, their role models and mentors, and their challenges and opportunities. Professor Toporek also shared their thoughts on how counseling and psychology have evolved in terms of social justice and action work, and where the fields were heading. Finally, Professor Toporek reflected on the 18-year history of the Journal for Social Action in Counseling and Psychology, and they presented recommendations to strengthen the journal
Digital High Five: Virtual Co-Teaching Strategies within Teacher Residency Programs
Full text linkA growing number of teacher education programs are adopting teacher residency models in preparing future teacher candidates to meet the needs of local partnering school districts. Coursework in teacher preparation may, therefore, include co-taught models of instruction where representatives from both local school districts and university-based teacher preparation programs collaborate to deliver instruction. Due to the physical distance that may stem from institutes of higher education (IHE) in comparison to localized school districts, however, virtual instructional settings are increasingly necessary for these co-taught models to be successful. It is the purpose of this practitioner-based article to provide teacher educators with a step-by-step guide to co-teaching within synchronous (live) classroom settings
Lessons Learned from an Interdisciplinary Approach to Educator Preparation
Full text linkIn this article, the authors describe the benefits and challenges of an interdisciplinary preparation program involving students in special education and counseling graduate degree programs. Special Education teachers and related service personnel often lack ‘shared knowledge, skills, and expertise’ specific to the professional standards of each discipline (Quezada et al., 2021). Consequently, they tend to struggle when serving on school-based problem-solving teams faced with the challenge of planning, implementation, and monitoring of evidence-based practices (EBPs) for students with intensive disabilities and social emotional needs. One possible alternative to discrete discipline preparation programs is the possibilities of improving practice through interdisciplinary professional training models. Unlike traditional silo approaches to educator preparation, interdisciplinary preparation approaches provide opportunities for special education teachers and related service personnel to exchange expertise of discipline specific knowledge and skills through meaningful application in shared coursework and collaboration in clinical field experiences. In this article, we describe an example of an interdisciplinary preparation program titled, Intensive Needs Teacher and Counselor Training Program which originated in 2017. Lessons learned through implementation of our interdisciplinary preparation program suggest evidence of potential barriers and invaluable benefits to this unique approach to educator training, as well as recommendations for best practices are shared
Burdened with Glorious Purpose: : Racialized performance expectations for African American student-athletes at predominantly white colleges and universities
Full text linkThe current discussion highlights particular circumstances and certain dynamics that shape attitude and performance expectations of African American student-athletes at PWI’s. Research on the topic is limited, but some suggest that African American male student-athletes competing in revenue producing sports like football and basketball at the NCAA Division 1 level may experience greater athletic performance expectations than do their non-African American counterparts. Implications for sport social work are discussed and culturally competent sport social work practice is highlighted as instrumental in assisting African American student-athletes effectively cope with the external pressures and demands associated with college athletics at PWI’s including racialized performance expectations
A Comparison of First- and Second Order-in-Time Finite Difference Methods Applied to Nonlinear Reactive Transport
Full text linkIn this paper, we consider solution methods for the nonlinear reactive transport equation used to model the protein adsorption process. Efficient methods for simulating this process are necessary to aid in the development of novel adsorptive chromatography media to ensure high-volume production of purified product for the purposes of biotherapeutics. Using MATLAB®, we compare four finite difference schemes used to solve the nonlinear reactive transport equation, focusing on the differences of efficacy between implicit and explicit methods. As such, two of the methods are semi-implicit and two are explicit with one of each kind using a first-order temporal scheme and one of each using a second-order temporal scheme. The semi-implicit methods evaluate almost all terms implicitly while lagging the nonlinear coefficient function in time to linearize the equations. We include numerical results that indicate optimal convergence of the schemes, and we compare the effectiveness of the schemes in matching experimental data using two different boundary conditions