i thank you both for being hereand i'll turn it over to you. yeah, lisa is referring to a- a time where we were workingon certification and i think we stillhave the bumps and bruises and a few holesin that bullet-few vest that we-
Education For All Handicapped Children Act, that we tried to wear, that were not quiteso successful. but, um, it is throughmy association with cec that i have the honorof being with you here,
and like everyone else,i just really wanted to spend a- a word or two thanking, um, mary-allaine and lisa and, um, also, you know, mickiefor just inviting me to be a part of this. um, my association with cechas truly been an honor and just learning-i'm learningas much in this symposium and that the barand in the hallway and in the elevatorsand at breakfast
as i am formally, uh, which,uh, is an awful lot as well. so thank youfor that opportunity. and that's a segue,my involvement with cec, which i began as a student. and it was through myassociation as a-as a student that, um, i really got involvedwith cec initially at-and because, you know,the local chapter at the university, i wasat northern illinois university, and they were doing thingswith kids.
and they were doing fun stuff. and so i wanted to bea part of that and learn and figure outand be associated with students and their families and that wasmy first introduction. you know, i joined cecbecause of the social aspect in that day and for the funand the learning, but then i stayed for survival. i stayed becauseof the resources, the networks,
the information,the professional development. i stayed becauseof the resources and the survivalthat it offered me. um, the mission statement, and i almost think that i should havesusan speak to this, and i think maybe you willin a moment, susan, but, you know,the mission statement that we maybe very familiar with
and that i knowsusan was instrumental in getting that enhancementof the engagement of families added to that mission statement for-for cec, a very pivotaland important aspect, that it took us some timeto learn, right susan? it took us some time to learn, you know, that you just really are not going to make the headway workingwith students only, are you? you know, you have to rememberthat family context
and where that child isthe majority of their day and, um, i really appreciate that work and your impact on that mission statement and gettingthat engagement of families added as an important aspectof that. we just wanted tojust kind of briefly just review the complex structureof cec, just to say that it startswith our members. we have stateand provincial units,
we have 17 specialty divisions, special interest groups. i believe very firmly, like-minded peoplecan change the world. and cec offers thatinternationally where we can learn from,benefit from, and really experiencewith persons that have interests that are similar to ours. and moving on to the, um,representative assembly,
the board of directors, and our committeeand work groups. we'll talk in just a minuteabout some of our- some of our current work,um, of the council. i'm also gonna be making a pitchfor the board of directors, i've been talkingwith some of the students while i've been here today, um, i also had the opportunity to speak to ami's, uh, class on wednesday evening,
and we are in a process, as immediate past president of cec, one of my chargesis nominations. susan's worn that hat before,is nominations. and, um, we are looking for excellent students and wouldn't it be great to have a studentfrom the university of illinois serving onthe international board for the councilfor exceptional children, representing the voiceof students?
that's a very important role and so that's my littlepublic service announcement. i've passed out a few brochures. i have a few more in my purse. so, i hope that you will,as a student, think about, um, the opportunity to serve and be that voice, and also to represent illinois. and cec doeshave 17 specialty divisions, some related to differentdisability areas
and specialty areas. um, susan, uh,highlighted some in red that she may go backand reference for some important people, who's textbookis still used here in teaching exceptional children, um, by some of the authorsand some very notable people that i know she'll go backand speak to. susan?
just call me hop-along,or scooter, whatever. [laguhs] um, i'm-i'm trulydelighted to be asked to speak for a few minutes, um, at this wonderful symposium. and one of the, um, issues that i wanted to address were the cec leaders past and present. and i know that we'll alsobe talking about the future.
but i think when you wanna put thingshistorically in perspective, cec does not go backto 4 million b.c. um, it goes back to 1922. uh, it was foundedby elizabeth farell, who was a teacherof special education who brought together a groupof like-minded individuals and said,"we need an organization." and, uh, began...the councilfor exceptional children.
um, last year i taughtin hong kong for a little bit, on sabbatical, and i used "educatingexceptional children," the last edition, um, and so i've got apicture of it up here, um, in large part becausei also wanted to highlight the role that, um, sam kirkand jim gallagher and nick anastasiow,and mary ruth coleman, the four authorsof the last edition,
played within cec. our writers and our leaders,um, in terms of research and personnel preparation, have also been our leaders for the councilfor exceptional children. and i think it's just importantto mark the fact that, um, they played these critical rolesin our organization as well as leading the fieldin information. so we move really fromthe first president to, i think,
uh, are the 91st president? (woman)yes. yes. um, [laughs] and, um, in our-in our discussion of cec, and one of the things that i learnedfrom mary ruth coleman, who preceded me is thatleadership is not a position, it's not a role,
it's truly a responsibility. and the responsibilityof the council, i think, is to continue to engageand inspire all of uswho are in special education and to ensurethat we consider the family as a componentof every child's life and as a partner within, um, our planningin special education. margaret mead also said,
unfortunately she was not president of special ed- of s-of cec, but, and when i think aboutthe legislation and what happened in 1976, 1974, when i was an undergraduateand in early graduate school, i think so muchof the work that cec did in pushing through 94-142,the early, um, the educationof the handicapped act. and then continued to doin 1986 with the passage
of preschool servicesfor all children, and early interventionservices. um, i also, because i had hadthe last book of the, uh, kirk, gallagher,and now coleman edition, i wanted to highlight, um,the current edition and to speak briefly aboutthe impact that jim gallagher had on me as a professor in this departmentof special education. for a number of years,
i was able to teachthe doctoral seminar for the first year students and one of my, um, favorite books, i think, is "driving changein special education," which jim wrote. um, it's, um, becominga bit out of date, but it was a fabulous, fabulous jumping off point for discussions with students
in the 1990s and,um, even-even today. um, and i'm hoping that someonewill step forward and do the next "driving changein special education." i'd always hopedthat jim would do it. but, um, i think that, uh, what cec has done,as well as sam and jim, is in fact, drive change. and my association with cec,which goes back to 1974, it's always been about change.
and so, just a coupleof fond memories that i'd like to-to share, um, cec was-is my firstprofessional organization. um, i was a naive, um, uh, senior in early childhood and k. eileen allen saidto me one day, she was a professor in the, um, department of human development, came out of washington, she basically handed methis form and said,
"fill it outbefore you leave today." and, um, it was a formthat said "councilfor exceptional children." and i was in a behavioralpsychology department and i really wasn't familiar with the councilfor exceptional children. but because eileensaid to fill it out, i did. and, um, also became a member ofthe division of early childhood, of which she was the president.
and i think she was one of the second, third,or fourth presidents of the division. um, it turned out to bejust a wonderful experience and a wonderful journey. um, because of, uh, the councilfor exceptional children, i gave one of my- well really my first dozenpresentations and papers were pretty much at the councilfor exceptional children
with one opportunity at,um, aaesph, [laughs] uh, which was, uh,occurring in kansas city, close tothe university of kansas at that time. it was through my trips to,uh, cec that i began to see the bigger worldof special education, and general education. um, it's where i first metjim gallagher, merle karnes,
uh, found out about the handicapped children'searly education program, um, funding sources,first network. it was, um, when i was first metann turnbull, and she helped me writethe assumptions that underlaid the, uh, first proposalthat i wrote to the office- office of special education programs, which was to lookat the transition for children from preschoolinto kindergarden,
because there was notransition planning process in the, uh, late '70s,early '80s. and it was also, uh, my firstintroduction to leadership, uh, where i learnedthat it really takes a team to do anything. my first introductionto leadership was in kansas for the divisionfor early childhood, which was a subdivision of cec and a subdivision withinthe state of kansas,
i happen to be presidentin 1986, which is whenthe passage of the, um, 99-uh, 99-457 occurred, which was the passage ofservices for early intervention, birth to three. and in kansas, uh, if you were a statewest of the mississippi, you did not havepreschool services, for the most part.
so, it was the beginning ofguaranteeing preschool services for all children three to five. and i remember the advocacythat we engaged in, in, uh, the kansas dec, all hundred memberswent to the state capitol and, um,we demonstrated peacefully, it was a civil act, to really push the importance of kansas joining inand accepting
and being a part of the nation,because it was permissive, beginning to serve children birth to three. um, it was a very, veryexciting opportunity. um, in fact it was so excitingthat, um, i followed the turnbullsto washington, d.c. and spent a year,um, in, uh, exempt position. uh, i thoughtbeing a project officer, but it turned out to bechairing the branch of the early childhood, uh, the-the early childhood branch
in the officeof special education programs. and actually beginningthe first year of implementation of all the servicesacross the country, including the individualized family service plan, um, issues. so, that all happenedwithin the context of my starting in cec at kansas. um, after my year in washington,i left kansas, came to illinois, and, um,because of my year is osep, be-was accepted into the department of special education
as a leader,although my training was reallyalternative certification in special education. um, cec provided me with much ofmy special education knowledge. it gave mea community of support. it gave mehistorical perspective on our field. it, um, provided mewith my role models, the other leaders.
it taught me advocacyand policy making and what a responsibility it is for us that we not onlyprepare teachers, but we advocate for change, um, we set policyat a local, a state, and a federal level. it taught methe importance of research, which is in fact our driverand our rudder in our field. and the division of researchin cec
has been an important driver on the qualityof research for, um, our organization and our field. um, it gave me an opportunityto become active at the division for early childhood level, based in part on the opportunityi had in washington, d.c. and so, i had the great pleasure of being president of decmore than 20 years ago, shortly after i cameto illinois,
at a time in whichwe began the first set of, we didn't call themrecommended practices then, we called them best practices, but with, um,jeanette mccollum, who was my mentorhere at illinois, we began to outline and define what were the best practicesin early childhood. it certainly supportedour professional preparation by providing the guidelinesand the standards
for-for professional preparation. um, it servedas our change agent for what it isthat we should be teaching, um, the future generations. a benefit that i had of cec, was also when i had theopportunity to join the board and eventuallyto become president, was to, um... talk with other memberswho were professionals
who were also parents. and i am a parent of a young manwho's now 21, um, who was born prematurely and i didn't knowwhat his future would be like, but i jumped in withthe optimism of every new parent and said, "we'll make itthrough life together, "one way or the other." and, um...discovered that,you know, most teachers were reallyon my side and on chris's side,
but there were a few teachers that weren't, and that it becamereally, really important for cec to advocate on the partof families as well. and so in the value statement,the mission statement, and the value statement of cec, about seven years ago,we were able to add families as the other elementof our-of our value, valuing the partnershipof families. and i will go backto the turnbulls as, uh,
mentors in supporting that because i learned so muchfrom watching them and their son, jay,make their way through the world and find independenceand autonomy that i was able to dosome of that for my own son. and there were other people,within the organization of cec, who were professionals, but very quietly,on the side, parents, who also brought to the fore,the importance of, um,
of-of this-of this critical partnership. so, i will just saythat cec shaped me. it, um, really establishedwho i am as a person. it provided me witha sample of leaders that i could never have,uh, dreamt about had i not gone to cecand met them. and, um, it continues to shape where we go as a field, and will go, i think,long into the future. so that, i'd liketo turn it back to
our most immediatepast president, to talk about wherecec is in fact going today, and tomorrow. thank you so much, susan. eh-just is kind ofoverwhelming to me, just to even be in this roomand co-presenting with you. it's really justan awesome opportunity. um, uh, there was a time, um, when i was considering running for, um, cec president
and, um, was slated,but didn't win. so susan had the awesomeopportunity to, like, let me know that,send me the beautiful letter, [laughs] you know,in written form. yeah, i won't tell ya- i won't tell yawhat ted and i did with that piece of paper,but, [laughs] you know. and then the next year,you get the call saying,
"we'd really like youto run again." and i'm like, "are you nuts?" been there, done that,wasn't fun, you know. and, you know, um, my mom, who wasvery instrumental in, uh, s-influence, you know,influence and encouraging me and-and raising her daughters to think we absolutely coulddo anything, and, um, she did createa couple of monsters,
'cause we really do thinkwe can do anything. um, and she had justpassed away. and i could just hear hersaying, "christy ann, "this is somethingyou've always wanted to do. "put your pridein the back seat, honey, "and buck up,and call those people back up "and, you know, tell themthat you wanna run again." and i did, you know. and i am so gladthat i swallowed that pride--
[applause] --swallowed that pridebecause i have had the most fabulousprofessional opportunities. um, i wouldn't be here,you know, with all of you today and having this experienceif it wasn't for, um, cec and, you know,i'm a lifer. you know, and really,the opportunities have been totally amazing. um, to kind of talka little bit about
what are some ofthe current topics and moving forward, there are some hot topics: professional standards,you know, the red book. everybody know the red book? students, you know the red book? what every special educator, um, must know and be able to do. those professional standards,
you know, we-we haveto look back at those, we have to review those to make surethat they are still relevant, and that they reflect the standardsthat are important, um, today, you know, of the field,and that the process, the vehicle for puttingthose standards forward, that's very important workthat cec has taken, um, a leadership role
and-and somethingthat we are taking a look at that process again. um, with the leadership of brian cookand many others before him, um, we have had a veryesteemed group working on, you know, what's the criteriawhen we read research that we knowthat it's an evidence base, that we knowthe research is sou-sound, it's reliable, it's valid,
you know, it really doeswhat it purports to do. and with brian's leadership, we just approved,in the last six months, that criteria,what are those standards in special education for reviewing, um, evidence base and reviewingre-research studies. uh, policy and advocacy,as you know, you know, we stillhaven't reached
in the funding level that 40%of the excess cost, have we? you know,we're nowhere near that. but, you know,funding is one thing, but there are so manyother areas around advocacy and the reauthorization first at the elementaryand secondary education act, i believe fervently, we have to get as much of the individualswith disabilities education act
into that foundation elementaryand secondary education act that governs what we do, uh, for all children, and we need to work on that. and maybe one of these days we'll get passed hearing that, you know, we're in-we're in an election year, it's not movin'. we're in an election year,it's not movin'. you know, it's not politically,
you know, somethin'that's gonna happen. but hopefully we will movethat forward and, um, i-cec will continue, i know,to be a leader in that. there's a new ter-tiered membership model, um, that is to v-you know, isn't it a great conceptto actually have people choose the benefitsthat they would like, rather than saying,"join, this is what you get." rather than,here is a list of benefits,
here are some options, tell us what is of importanceand of value to you, and so we are rolling that out. that does take effectin the next couple of months. teacher evaluation, you know, we all know what'sg-been going on in that field and how the performanceof students is a part of the evaluation of teachers,and h-what that looks like. and maggie mclaughlin last year,was instrumental and in 2012,
in helping cecwrite a position paper and widely distribute thatand hold town hall meetings and really impact,in a thoughtful way, how we wantthat accountability, don't we? our studentswith disabilities count! they matter. that's important, but how that is looked atand how that is utilized when we talk aboutteacher evaluation
and teacher performanceand all-school performance is really important. and again, cec is very muchabout providing support to cec leadershipand to cec units. i came up through case,primarily, the council of administratorsof special ed, but that importanceand that support is critically important. um, our strategic planis ending in 2014,
so we are meeting, um,the cec board, uh, we met with the, uh,representative assembly in philadelphiaand got good information and did someround table discussions about planning, the future,the role, what should be on our table,what are the priorities, and so the boardis getting together in june, face-to-face, and really trying to figure out,
you know, what is it that we should strategically work on for-in the immediate future. and again, [laughter]cec does need you. i don't care, you know,if you are a student, you know, an undergraduate,a graduate student, our mentors are veterans. what your experience,what your background, you're a family member, um, cec really isa collective family.
and because of cec,we have a lot of work to do, but really, as a leaderin the field, it takes all of us to do that and to get there. so, i just wanted to make myfinal last pitch of, [sound fades]cec needs all of us, really.
0 Response to "Education For All Handicapped Children Act"
Posting Komentar