Department of
Special Education
research
The UIC Special Education Faculty is doing groundbreaking research, establishing state-of-the-art programs in response to documented need, providing research-based services to children with disabilities and their families, providing the evidence necessary to improve policy. More than just identifying and employing best practices, the Special Education community at UIC is establishing them.
Research is often conducted in conjunction with our affiliated programs, where cutting edge research is conducted in practice. A common area of research and interest to several faculty members is understanding and designing effective ways of involving parents and families as case managers and as brokers of information from the various school, medical, and other service agencies that they work with on a day-to-day basis. This research informs, and is informed by, the direct work with children and families who attend the UIC Assessment Clinic and the UIC Child Family Development Center
We are also transforming educational practice by training significant cohorts of practitioners responding to new needs and new mandates. For example, the overarching goal of the Monarch Center is to affect positive change in the lives of children with disabilities and those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Toward that end, the Monarch Center programs support Minority Institutions of Higher Education faculty in the pursuit of educational excellence for their programs and students.
Research Highlights
Dr. Marie Tejero Hughes & Dr. Michelle Parker Katz
When Dr. Michelle Parker Katz and Dr. Marie Tejero Hughes saw the need in the City of Chicago for a program to help bridge the gap between university training and first year teaching, they designed and implemented the STEP=UP program: Special Teachers and Exceptional Pupils = Urban Promise. STEP=UP assists in alleviating the shortage of special education teachers with a program designed to improve the quality of personnel preparation for Chicago Special Education teachers. The U.S. Department of Education recently acknowledged the significance of STEP=UP by awarding funds in the amount of $795,361 to continue the program 2006-2009. STEP=UP prepares highly qualified special education teachers to work with students disabilities who come from culturally and linguistically diverse neighborhoods. Check out the STEP=UP web site.
The Monarch Center's Program Development/ Enhancement Component
is creating a curriculum that will focus on how to prepare special educators to address the dynamic impact of culture, language, and ability/disability on children's learning. The curriculum will address critical questions, such as:
- How can we create a diverse teaching force?
- What should the course of study be to graduate a culturally responsive special educator?
- What should the pedagogies of practice be in the program?
- How can we support our graduates in the initial year of teaching to continue to be culturally responsive as they work with students with disabilities?
Find out more at the Monarch Center.