Advanced Special Education Course

Lesson 1 • History and Evolution of Special Education

Traces the shift from exclusion to inclusion across key historical periods. Establishes context for understanding current mandates and professional responsibilities.

Lesson 2 • Disability Categories and Definitions

Defines federally recognised disability categories and eligibility criteria. Provides the classification vocabulary used throughout the course.

Lesson 3 • Models of Disability and Inclusion

Contrasts medical, social, and educational models of disability. Shapes practitioners' philosophical stance towards learner potential and placement.

Lesson 1 • Informal and Curriculum-Based Assessment

Teaches observation, portfolio, and curriculum-based measurement techniques. Links ongoing classroom data to eligibility and progress monitoring decisions.

Lesson 2 • Multidisciplinary Evaluation Process

Outlines team roles, timelines, and procedural requirements for comprehensive evaluations. Ensures learners can coordinate and document compliant eligibility determinations.

Lesson 3 • Interpreting and Communicating Results

Builds skills for translating assessment data into actionable instructional recommendations. Addresses family-friendly reporting and culturally responsive communication.

Lesson 4 • Principles of Special Education Assessment

Introduces validity, reliability, and bias considerations in disability-related assessment. Grounds all subsequent evaluation practices in psychometric fundamentals.

Lesson 1 • Writing Measurable Goals and Objectives

Teaches criteria for crafting observable, measurable, and ambitious IEP goals. Directly improves the quality and defensibility of learner progress documentation.

Lesson 2 • Monitoring and Revising the IEP

Establishes systems for tracking goal progress and triggering timely IEP revisions. Closes the loop between assessment data and instructional adjustments.

Lesson 3 • IEP Team Collaboration and Family Engagement

Develops facilitation skills for productive, family-centred IEP meetings. Strengthens team communication and shared decision-making practices.

Lesson 4 • Transition Planning Across Age Levels

Addresses age-appropriate transition assessments and post-secondary goal development. Prepares educators to build transition plans that connect school to adult outcomes.

Lesson 1 • Universal Design for Learning Principles

Introduces the three UDL principles and their application to lesson design. Provides the proactive framework that reduces the need for individual retrofitting.

Lesson 2 • Evidence-Based Instructional Strategies

Surveys high-leverage practices with strong research support for learners with disabilities. Equips teachers to select strategies matched to specific learning profiles.

Lesson 3 • Tiered Instructional Frameworks

Explains multi-tiered systems of support and how tiers guide instructional intensity. Connects whole-class, small-group, and intensive intervention decisions.

Lesson 4 • Flexible Grouping and Co-Teaching Models

Examines grouping configurations and co-teaching approaches that support inclusion. Prepares educators to collaborate effectively within general education settings.

Lesson 1 • Schoolwide Positive Behaviour Support

Examines PBIS frameworks at universal, targeted, and intensive tiers. Connects individual BIPs to the broader school climate and prevention infrastructure.

Lesson 2 • Foundations of Applied Behaviour Analysis

Introduces operant conditioning principles, reinforcement schedules, and behavioural terminology. Provides the scientific basis for all subsequent behaviour intervention design.

Lesson 3 • Functional Behaviour Assessment

Teaches indirect, direct, and experimental methods for identifying behaviour function. Ensures interventions target the communicative purpose of challenging behaviour.

Lesson 4 • Behaviour Intervention Plan Design

Guides construction of function-matched BIPs with antecedent, teaching, and consequence strategies. Links FBA findings directly to individualised intervention components.

Lesson 1 • Assistive Technology Assessment and Selection

Applies structured AT consideration frameworks to match tools to learner needs. Ensures IEP teams make evidence-informed AT decisions across all disability areas.

Lesson 2 • Augmentative and Alternative Communication Systems

Surveys unaided and aided AAC systems from low-tech to speech-generating devices. Establishes the communication access foundation for learners with significant disabilities.

Lesson 3 • AT for Mobility and Daily Living

Addresses physical access, positioning, and daily living technology for learners with motor and sensory disabilities. Expands the scope of AT beyond academic tasks.

Lesson 4 • Implementing and Sustaining AT Use

Develops training, troubleshooting, and maintenance plans for AT implementation. Addresses barriers to consistent use across school, home, and community settings.

Lesson 1 • Family and Community Partnership in Inclusion

Builds strategies for engaging families and community partners as active inclusion stakeholders. Extends the family engagement skills developed in Chapter 3.

Lesson 2 • Philosophical and Research Basis for Inclusion

Reviews outcome research on academic and social benefits of inclusive settings. Strengthens practitioners' evidence-based rationale for inclusive placement decisions.

Lesson 3 • Building Collaborative School Cultures

Identifies leadership behaviours and structural conditions that sustain inclusive cultures. Connects individual teacher practice to school-level systems change.

Lesson 4 • Co-Teaching Partnership Development

Deepens co-teaching skills beyond models introduced in Chapter 4 to address relationship and planning dynamics. Prepares educators to build and sustain effective co-teaching partnerships.

Lesson 1 • Professional Development and Capacity Building

Designs job-embedded professional development aligned to programme evaluation findings. Connects staff learning to measurable improvements in learner outcomes.

Lesson 2 • Special Education Programme Evaluation Frameworks

Introduces logic models, fidelity measures, and outcome indicators for programme evaluation. Provides the evaluative lens applied to all programme improvement work in this chapter.

Lesson 3 • Compliance Monitoring and Accountability

Addresses state and federal monitoring processes, corrective action, and self-assessment tools. Prepares leaders to maintain compliance while driving quality improvement.

Lesson 4 • Data Systems and Decision-Making

Examines data infrastructure, dashboards, and decision-making protocols for special education leaders. Builds capacity to use aggregated data for equity-focused programme improvement.