Special Education Today newsletter 3(49)
Special Education Today newsletter 3(49)
What's happened with SET in the week since 27 May 2024?
I am a little short on snappy opening lines. “Call me Ishmael,” “These are the times the try men’s souls,” and “It was a dark and stormy night” have already been taken. Sigh. So, I’m stuck with “Welcome to this week’s edition of the newsletter for Special Education Today.”
It is the 49th issue of the third year of publication, and I’m publishing it on 3 June 2024. It has the usual sections: appreciations, the situation, the posts for the week, and (maybe) a comment or two. Of yes, I’ll toss in an image.
Image
You may recall that I’ve published a couple of photos from baseball games. I have a much greater passion for basketball, though. I frequently watch broadcasts of men’s and women’s games. The teams may come from the professional, college, or high school ranks. I also read a fair bit about hoops, as a glance at the titles in this image will reveal.
As those who look closely will see, a half dozen of the books in that photo were written by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Mr. Abdul-Jabbar was not only a superbly talented basketball player (for example, he held the record for most points scored in a professional career from 1984 until 2023) but also a very well-informed and compelling writer. He wrote about hoops, of course, but also a jazz, history, politics, social justice, and more in the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, Time magazine, the Washington Post, and many others. I read his work pretty much weekly by following his Substack at Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Some readers will, I’m pretty sure, find it interesting.
Appreciations
Here’s a special woohoo for all the paying subscribers. They make this rag to keep on publishing. Also, thanks to everyone who subscribed, commented, shared, and liked during the past week.
Subscribers: Welcome-welcome to Anji G., J. B., and Louise D. who initiated subscriptions and to Imagine P. Catherine J., and Oussama H. who started following last week.
Commenters: Dan H.dropped a comment into the community’s conversation. Thanks, my man!
Likers: Adam, Adelaide D., Dan H., Clay K., Luann D., Sandi R., and [anon]. Thanks!
Apologies to everyone I missed in mining the records.
Stats
SET is till hanging just a few subscribers fewer (how about that construction?) than 700. There were about 3200 visits on the site last week.
Previous posts
Here is the not table of contents for the past week:
Special Education Today newsletter 3(48): How about "7 take-aways from the past week?"
C. Taber on the value of learning math facts: Is teaching and testing computational fluency harmful?
Ways to reduce teacher shortages: What did E. Blad efforts to address problems did E. Blad find?
US ED webinar on STEM for students with disabilities: Is anyone interested in including students with disabilities in STEM education?
Retro SET: Ornithology: What are some posts published on SET that refer to birds and birding?
One more Fixed Interval: What's special in Fred's FI for the past week?
Commentary
This week I learned that the undergraduate special education program at Lynchburg University will no longer accepted students. Yep. It’s kaput.Gone.Done for. Over.
So, here in the USA there is a shortage of special educators who have adequate credentials…and programs aimed at preparing special educators are closing. The reason that the Lynchburg program is closing is that too few students are enrolling in it. Thus, it’s not generating sufficient revenues for the university. According to news reports (see WSLS and WFXR for examples), the restructuring of the university will cut not just special education, but other areas of low enrollment, too. The graduate program at Lynchburg is continuing.
I suppose that 18 -year-olds who hear that special education is a dead end, that it discriminates against minorities, that it’s broken would be reluctant to major in special ed. Who would want a career in an endeavor that has all those negatives and doesn’t pay well?
I have in the hopper an article by Jim K. in which he analyzes one proposal that would essentially abolish special education. The recommendation is predicated on some of these same ideas about the failings of special education. Jim, as you might guess, doesn’t think that the proposal is a good idea. Once we settle a couple of technical matters (and Jim returns from a junket), I look forward to publishing it.
In the mean time and the in-between time, please remember to stay safe (seatbelts, hygiene, etc.) and to teach your children well.
JohnL
John Wills Lloyd, Ph.D.
UVA Professor Emeritus; Founder & Editor, Special Education Today
SET should not be confused with a product that uses the same name and is published by the Council for Exceptional Children. SET predated CEC’s publication by decades. Despite my appreciation for CEC, this product is not designed to promote that organization nor should the views expressed here be considered to represent the views or policies of that organization.