Dr. John Easton, Director of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), the research arm of the U.S. Department of Education, announced the appointment of Dr. Deborah Speece to become the next Commissioner of the National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER) yesterday. Dr. Speece, a longtime CEC member, is a nationally recognized special education researcher and has an extensive professional career spanning both research and practice, as a former special education teacher and coordinator of early childhood programs. For the last 27 years, Dr. Speece has served as a professor of special education at the University of Maryland.
Established in 2004 with the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, NCSER is one of four National Education Centers which are tasked with supporting research to expand the knowledge and understanding of the educational needs of all students. Specifically, NCSER focuses on addressing the needs of infants, toddlers, and children with disabilities in order to improve the developmental, educational, and transitional results for children and youth with disabilities. Click here to read more about CEC’s analysis of special education research and funding.
CEC congratulates Dr. Speece on her appointment and looks forward to working with her in her new role.
CONGRATULATIONS!
I would like to see Dr. Speece address a few issues:
(1) The over identification of African America students in special education has been an ongoing discussion that has not resulted in a resolution.
(2) NCLB has put pressure on school administrators to make AYP. It seems that some schools have been sited for test violations that seemingly resulted from efforts to meet AYP. A special concern in this area is the fact that many SPED students are functioning far too low to pass State Tests or Alternate Assessments.
What are future plans for addressing these two critical ongoing issues in special education?
Dee
Posted by: Detra Bishop | 08/26/2011 at 10:49 AM