Blended Schools Network Debuts PD for Special Ed
A
new online professional development course to help classroom teachers
improve
their instructional skills with students in special education programs is
now
available.
The Blended Schools Network (BSN) will begin offering its professional development
courses October 6 to all teachers responsible for the learning of
special education students.
These
courses,
for teachers with general education classes that include special
education students, will help them with individualized education plans,
differentiation, paraprofessional potential, data collection and
instructional
strategies.
According
to
a BSN spokesperson, teachers will develop skills with the courses that
they
will be able to incorporate into the classroom the very next day.
The
courses
have been developed by Pam Danklefsen, an advisor for professional development and special education
at Sibling
Group Holdings, of which BSN is a subsidiary. Danklefsen
has extensive
experience both in and out of the classroom developing programming for
children
with disabilities.
This
will
be the first time BSN has offered the courses; most of its professional
development courses in the past have been intended to help teachers with
blended and online learning.
BSN
representatives
said the development of the courses was in response to a great need
for professional development for special education. According to the
National
Education Association, the number of students in the United States enrolled in special
education
programs has increased 30 percent over the last 10 years and three out
of four
students with disabilities now spend all or part of their day in general
education classes.
For
more
information on the professional development courses, go to the Blended
Schools site.
About the Author
Michael Hart is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer and the former executive editor of THE Journal.