Southern Educator | July 2022

July 2022

Georgia Southern University special education college classroom takes a "flip"

Faculty members in the College of Education (COE) at Georgia Southern University recently published research on their efforts to analyze and reconfigure undergraduate special education classroom instruction for preservice teachers at the University.

Lead by Assistant Professor of Special Education Cynthia C. Massey, Ph.D. (pictured left), the research team included COE faculty members Selçuk Doğan, Ph.D., Edward A. Muhammad, Ph.D., Eric Hogan, Ph.D., and Jackie Kim, Ed.D., as well as former Heard County Schools Special Education Teacher Cindy N. Head, Ed.D. Their study, “The Effect of Flipped Instruction on Special Education Preservice Teachers’ Perceptions,” was published in the International Journal of Scholarship for Teaching and Learning.

In fall 2019, Massey taught her first special education assessment course in the traditional format at Georgia Southern with students who were juniors in their first semester of major courses. By spring 2020, she began research to explore alternatives for teaching the material.

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COE instructor selected for Leadership Academy

Courtney Toledo, instructor of elementary and special education at Georgia Southern University, has been named a member of the 2022-24 Leadership Academy for the Council for Learning Disabilities.

The Academy, created for professionals in their first or second year of a university position or in the dissertation phase of their doctoral studies, provides the opportunity to assume a leadership role on a local, state and national level in service to students with learning disabilities and their families. Academy participants have the opportunity to network and receive mentoring from some of the most highly regarded leaders in the field of learning disabilities.

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New BSEd to M.Ed. Special Education accelerated program in to begin this fall

Georgia Southern University special education faculty created an Accelerated Bachelor’s to Master’s (ABM) program to assist undergraduate special education students with earning an advanced degree in special education in less time.

“Creating ABM options for prospective teachers provides a career path that results in a master’s degree and a higher salary than those without,” explained Eric Landers, Ph.D. “Through this route, students will save both time and money towards a degree in this field.”

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Road to Resilience Conference

to be hosted in Savannah on Sept. 10

Conference now accepting presentation proposals

On September 10, more than 2,000 Savannah-Chatham educators, counselors, social workers and criminal justice professionals, among others, are anticipated to attend the first-ever Road to Resilience Conference on Georgia Southern University’s Armstrong Campus

Previously three separate events — Brake the Stigma: Mental Health Awareness Car Show; Mental Health Symposium; and the Trauma Informed Education Symposium (TIES) — are coming together to form one day of professional education, training and awareness to address the behavioral and mental health needs of Chatham County.

Researchers and practitioners are invited to submit presentation proposals for a 45-minute session (30 minutes of content and 15 minutes for Q&A) that addresses one of the four strands of the conference theme HEAL.

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