University of MassachusettsAmherst
Special Education Administration at a Crossroads:
Training Special and General Education
Administrators to Provide Educational
Programming for All Students with Disabilities from
Diverse Backgrounds
May, 2006
Mary Lynn Boscardin, Ph.D. , Professor
Matthew Militello, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
1.0 Address and ameliorate of
national, state, and local level
shortages of qualified
administrators of special
education, especially in the area of
evidence-based service delivery for
students with disabilities from
diverse backgrounds through
recruitment and matriculation of
highly qualified trainees.
• 1.1 Disseminate Program Information
• 1.2 Contact and Recruit Underrepresented
Students
• 1.3 Contact and Recruit Trainees with
Disabilities
2.0 Supply administrators and
faculty to the field of special
education administration with
expertise in empirically-based
service delivery systems for
addressing the educational needs
of students with disabilities from
diverse backgrounds using
financial assistance and incentives
to recruit highly qualified trainees.
• 2.1 Review Applications and Select Trainees
• 2.2 Make Awards to Trainees
• 2.3 Review Contractual Obligations with
Trainees
3.0 Establish a comprehensive
training program that will produce
highly qualified trainees with a focus
on empirically-based service delivery
systems for addressing the educational
needs of students with disabilities from
diverse backgrounds that is comanaged by the Special Education and
Educational Administration Programs
at the University of Massachusetts at
Amherst.
• 3.1 Advise Trainees on Course Selection for
Program of Study
• 3.2 Select Comprehensive and Dissertation
Committee Members
• 3.3 Assess Competency Levels of Trainees in
Special Education Administration
• 3.4 Identify Practicum/Internship Opportunities
4.0 Implement a leadership
training program that provides
administrators and faculty of
special education administration
with leadership skills built on
collaborative relationships between
special and general education
through comprehensive training
and experience in teaching and
research.
• 4.1 Teach Courses and Seminars to Trainees
• 4.2 Infuse Knowledge and Skills Addressing the Needs
of Students with Disabilities from Diverse Backgrounds
• 4.3 Provide Intensive and Supervised Research-toPractice Practicum/Internships for Trainees
• 4.4 Supervise Trainee Research Projects and
Presentations
• 4.5 Provide College Teaching Experiences for Doctoral
Trainees
5.0 Provide outreach services to
other preservice and inservice
general and special education
administrators, teachers, and
support personnel in the area of
evidence-based service delivery for
students with disabilities with
diverse needs at the national, state,
and local levels supervised by
project faculty.
• 5.1 Provide Doctoral Trainees with Opportunities
to Supervise Special Education Pre-Service
Educators
• 5.2 Provide Trainees with Opportunities to Train
Inservice Special and General Educators
6.0 Implement a system of
monitoring and evaluation
to determine trainee
progress and stakeholder
satisfaction with the training
program.
• 6.1 Select Advisory Board Members
• 6.2 Evaluate Trainee Progress for all Project
Requirements
• 6.3 Evaluate Employer Satisfaction with Trainees
• 6.4 Conduct an Annual Stakeholders Evaluation
of the Project
• 6.5 Evaluate Satisfaction of
Practicum/Internship Supervisors
• 6.6 Evaluate Trainee Placement and Follow-up
Data
• 6.7 Monitor and Evaluate Timeline and Task
Progress
• 6.8 Evaluate Project Courses
7.0 Personnel Preparation
Performance Measures
Required by OSEP
• 7.1 Scholars Successfully Complete Program
• 7.2 Evaluate the Extent to which Trainees are
Employed in areas Trained upon Completion of
the Program
• 7.3 Scholars who Exit Program Prior to
Completion Due to Poor Academic Performance
• 7.4 Evaluate the %age of degree/certification Trainees
who are Employed Upon Program Completion in the
Areas for which they were Trained
• 7.5 Evaluate Project Courses for Current Knowledge
Base on Effective Practices
• 7.6 Extent to which Trainees Maintain Employment for
Three or More Years in Field they were Trained
Crossroads Course of Study
• Core Special Education Administration Courses:
• EDUC 653-Collaborative and Integrated Teaching Strategies in Special
Education (3 credits)
• EDUC 669*-Policy and Legal Perspectives in Special Education (3 credits)
• EDUC 760*-Organization and Management of Pupil Personnel Services (3
credits)
• EDUC 808*-Program Planning, Implementation and Evaluation in Special
Education (3 credits)
• Core Administration Courses:
• EDUC 692B-Policy Studies for Educational Administration (3 credits)
• EDUC 697J-Orchestrating Educational Reform (3 credits)
• EDUC 726-Fundamentals of Educational Administration (3 credits)
• EDUC 729-Fiscal Management & Community Relations (3 credits)
• EDUC 615F-Data and Technology (3 credits)
• EDUC 758*-School Personnel Administration (3 credits)
• EDUC 618-Law, Education, and Public Policy (3 credits) or
• EDUC 856-Principles of School Law (3 credits)
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Special Education Administration Seminar
EDUC 880-Current Issues Facing Special Education Administrators (3 credits)
Recommended Social Justice Education Electives (select one of the following
courses):
EDUC 648-Historical and Pedagogical Foundations of Social Justice Education (3
credits)
EDUC 713-Developmental Foundations of Social Justice Education (3 credits)
Practicum/Internship for Administrator of Special Education (select one of the
following courses):
EDUC 698N-Practicum-Administrator of Special Education (3-6 credits)
EDUC 698V-Internship-Administrator of Special Education (3-6 credits)
Practicum/Internship for the Principalship (select one of the following courses):
EDUC 698Z-Practicum in Administrative Certification or (3-6 credits)
EDUC 863-Internship in Administration Clinical Experience (3-6 credits)
State or Federal Practicum/Internship for Administrator of Special Education:
EDUC 698-State or Federal Practicum/Internship in Special Education Administration
(6 credits)
TOTAL
43-52 credits
• Research Requirement
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Acceptable research courses are as follows:
EDUC 555-Introduction to Statistics and Computer Analysis I (3 credits)
EDUC 656-Introduction to Statistics and Computer Analysis II (3 credits)
EDUC 771-Multivariate Statistics I (3 credits)
EDUC 793L-Qualitative Research Methods (3 credits)
EDUC 789-In-depth Interviewing and Issues in Qualitative Research in Education
(3 credits)
– EDUC 797A-Qualitative Data Analysis (3 credits).
• Comprehensive Examination Requirement
• Dissertation Requirement