Instructors: Dr. Lora Fader Dunne                   Dr. Susan Burns
                                                      208B Krug Hall                            214B Krug Hall
                                                      703/993-2106                              703/993-2017
                                                      lfader@gmu.edu                            mburns2@gmu.edu
                                                                                                           Office Hours:
                                                                                                           Mondays 4:00 to 6:00pm

Class Day:   Tuesday
                   4:30 to 7:10pm

Course Description:

This course is a seminar for masters students and is designed to provide students with an understanding of both historical and current trends and issues involving legislation and policy in early childhood education, bilingual education, early childhood special education, and multicultural education.  The course will also focus on the historical role of social advocacy, the development of advocacy skills, and collaboration and consultation with other professionals and staff in the field of early childhood education.  Students will further their understanding of the continuum of services and the context of service delivery at the local level and also at the state and national levels.  Students will explore their role as leaders in the field of education and learn how to develop leadership skills.

Relationship to Program Goals and Professional Organization:

This course is part of the George Mason University Graduate School of Education Special Education Program (area of early childhood education) and of the UTEEM Program (Early Childhood, Special Education, bilingual/ESL) for teacher licensure in the Commonwealth of Virginia.  This program complies with the standards for teacher licensure established by the Division of Early Childhood, the major professional organization addressing Early Childhood Special Education, and the National Association for the Education of Young Children, the major professional organization addressing Early Childhood Education.

Course Objectives:

At the completion of this course, students will:
1) have an understanding of the historical role of social advocacy and the role of educators in advocating for young children;
2) demonstrate the ability to collaborate and consult with professional peers and staff in the field of education;
3) have an understanding of the legislation and policy-making process related to culturally, linguistically, and ability diverse
    young children and their families;
4) demonstrate knowledge of  the continuum of services and the context of service delivery at the local, state, and national
    levels;
5) have an understanding of the administrative aspects and legal mandates for early childhood programs;
6) identify characteristics of leaders and develop leadership skills;
7) demonstrate an ability to write a proposal in response to a RFP which would respond to the needs of culturally,
    linguistically, and ability diverse young children and their families;
8) demonstrate an ability to review a grant proposal and evaluate it in response to a RFP, and participate on a review panel.

Texts:
Capper, C.A., Frattura, E., and Keyes, M.W.  (2000).  Meeting the Needs of Students of ALL Abilities: How Leaders Go Beyond Inclusion.  Thousand Oaks, Calif: Corwin Press, Inc.

Odom, S.L. Editor.  (2002).  Widening the Circle: Including Children with Disabilities in Preschool Programs.  New York: Teachers College Press.

Articles:

• Swadener, B.B.  (1995). Stratification in Early Childhood Social Policy and Programs in the United States: Historical and Contemporary Manifestations.  Educational Policy, 9, 404-425. (on electronic reserve at Johnson Center)
• Schwartz, J.  (1997).  Early Childhood Education: Past, Present, and Future.  The Education Forum, 61, 343-353. (on electronic reserve at Johnson Center)
• Jalongo, M.R. & Isenberg, J.P.  (2000).  Exploring Your Role: A Practioners Introduction to Early Childhood Education.  Chapter to be read titled:  Exploring your child advocacy role from a historical perspective, (Chapter 2).  Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill. (on regular reserve at Johnson Center)

CLASS1/22/02	Course Introduction and Overview. Brainstorm about Conference Proposals. Examine Requests for Conference Proposals. Guest Speakers on Presenting at Conferences:  Tracey Mongerat.
READING ASSIGNMENT FOR 1/29/02	Widening the Circle (Chapters 1 through 6)
CLASS1/29/02	Work on conference proposals individually or in groups of 2 or 3.  Guest Speaker on Interviewing for Teaching Positions:  Sue Benezra.
READING ASSIGNMENT FOR 2/5/02	Widening the Circle (Chapters 7 through 11 plus Appendices)
CLASS2/5/02	In class discussion of Widening the Circle.Guest Speaker on Inclusion:  Brenda Wallace. Conference proposal drafts due.
READING ASSIGNMENT FOR 2/12/02	Stratification in Early Childhood Social Policy and Programs in the United States: Historical and Contemporary Manifestations. Early Childhood Education: Past, Present, and Future
CLASS2/12/02	Discussion of History of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC). Submit 3 preferred topics for group presentations (form will be distributed in class on 2/5/02). Final Conference Proposal due. In class peer review of  proposals - give feedback.
READING ASSIGNMENT FOR 2/19/02	Discussion of Meeting the Needs of Students of ALL Abilities. Guest Speaker on Advocacy and Leadership:  Parker Anderson. Assignments to group projects will be announced and time will be allotted so that the group can begin planning how they will approach their topic. Brief introduction to blackboard.
READING ASSIGNMENT FOR 2/26/02	Find one of the listed grant proposal sites listed under assignments and read it (if you find a different one which is more interesting to you, you can read it instead). Read a completed grant proposal .
DISCUSSION BOARD	Complete the discussion of question #1 on Meeting
ASSIGNMENT FOR 2/26/02	The Needs of Students of ALL Abilities
CLASS 2/26/02	In class discussion of the completed grant proposal  Examine Grant RFPs, select working partner (if necessary), brainstorm about topics. Bring Copy of Grant RFP to class Group Project Discussions – 1 group with Lora, a second group with Susan 6:00 to 7:10 (rest of students are free to leave). Initial plan for group project due by the end of small group sessions.
READING ASSIGNMENT FOR 3/5/02	More careful reading of the request for grant proposals that you plan to use as the guide in writing your grant.
DISCUSSION BOARD ASSIGNMENT FOR3/5/02	Complete the discussion question #2 on Meeting the Needs of Students of ALL Abilities
CLASS 3/5/02	Initial plan for grant proposal due by end of class. Work on Grant Proposals Group Project Discussions – a 3rd group works with Lora and the 4th with Susan 6:00 to 7:10 (rest of students are free to leave.)  Initial plan for group project due by the end of small group sessions.
March 12th – Spring Recess
March 19th - all students will be given flexible time to work on their portfolios (details to follow)
READING ASSIGNMENT FOR 3/26/02	Review APA Manual
CLASS 3/26/02	First Draft of Grant Proposal Due (need to include copy of RFP) Read one of the drafts of a classmate’s grant proposal in light of the RFP and give written and verbal feedback
READING ASSIGNMENT FOR 4/2/02	TBA
CLASS 4/2/02	Grant Proposal Due Review Grant in Class and Give Feedback
READING ASSIGNMENT FOR 4/9/02	TBA
CLASS 4/9/02	GROUP PRESENTATION
DISCUSSION BOARD ASSIGNMENT FOR 4/9/02	Give feedback on presentation by the end of the day 4/10/02.
READING ASSIGNMENT FOR 4/16/02	TBA
CLASS 4/16/02	GROUP PRESENTATION
DISCUSSION BOARD ASSIGNMENT FOR 4/16/02	Give feedback on presentation by the end of the day 4/17/02.
READING ASSIGNMENT FOR 4/23/02	TBA
CLASS 4/23/02	GROUP PRESENTATION
DISCUSSION BOARD ASSIGNMENT FOR 4/23/02	Give feedback on presentation by the end of the day 4/24/02.
READING ASSIGNMENT FOR 4/30/02	TBA
CLASS 4/30/02	GROUP PRESENTATION
DISCUSSION BOARD ASSIGNMENT FOR 4/30/02	Give feedback on presentation by the end of the day 5/1/02.

ASSIGNMENTS

Preparation and Participation
Students are expected to have completed assigned readings prior to class and participate in group discussions and activities.  There are parts of each assignment listed below that account for preparation and participation.  In addition, students will be graded for their discussion board assignments (see rubric for each – total/the number of discussion board assignments – total points in this category is 15).
 
 

Area of Interest	Excellent	Good	Average	Poor
Responsiveness to discussion and demonstration of knowledge and understanding gained from assigned reading	Very clear that readings were understood and incorporated well into responses	Readings ere understood and incorporated into responses	Postings have questionable relationship to reading material	Not evident that readings were understood and/or not incorporated into discussion
Responding to peers	In addition to answering the main question, student responds to two or more other students’ comments	In addition to answering the main question, student responds to one question a peer submitted	Student answers the main question but does not take part in an interchange with a peer based on the peers response	Students answers the main question with the same information used in a peers prior response

Conference Proposal
Using the guidelines provided by the organization you have chosen, write a proposal for a conference workshop session of the organization’s annual conference.  This activity should be done individually or with 1 additional person.  A copy of the Call for Papers and final proposal that was mailed to the conference organizers should be submitted to the professors.  The proposal will be graded based on the requirements outlined in the Call for Papers (see rubric below – total points for this activity is 20; 10 points for the final proposal, 10 points for the quality of feedback given to students during the in-class review).

Written Grant Proposal
Using one of the RFPs provided by your instructor or classmates or through your own search, write a proposal that addresses the needs of culturally, linguistically and/or ability diverse children in some capacity.  This activity can be done individually or in a group of 2.  Be sure to include all of the components as specified in the RFP.  The grant will be graded based on criteria identified in the RFP.  Notice that the course schedule includes dates when different aspects of this activity are due.  In addition, you will be given a proposal to review that was written by one of your classmates.  In class you will read the proposal and score it according to the criteria set up in the RFP.  You will provide written comments to the proposal writer as well as to the instructor.  In addition, you will share your feedback verbally with the proposal writer.  (see rubric below – total points for this activity is 35; 25 points for the final proposal, 10 points for the quality of feedback given to students during the in-class review).
 
 

Components addressed in assigning points for grant proposal	Possible Points
Organization (including handing in all requested materials – old draft, RFP); proposal done in APA format.	5
Each component on the RFP is addressed in a comprehensive manner.	10
Inclusion of a literature review either as requested in the RFP or if the RFP criteria did not include a literature/research review, make sure that a separate paper (between 10 and 15 pages) is attached.	5
Final proposal addressed the review comments of peers and instructors.	5
Comprehensive comments given to peer in review of their proposal – includes all points mentioned in the RFP.	10
Total Points	35

Group Project Presentation
Working in groups of 4-5 people, you will develop a presentation based on the topics presented in class.  We expect you to pursue the topic in-depth, identify key legislation, policies and trends related to the education of young children and their families. You will lead a productive discussion on the issue you have chosen.  Each member of your group must lead part of the discussion.  You may accomplish this by dividing the class into small groups with one individual from your group leading small group discussions, with an overall summary at the end; or you may divide the large group discussion into various parts, with each group member leading a part of the discussion.  You may also use a short activity to support this discussion.  You must identify an article or book chapter that you would like the class to read in preparation for your presentation.  Provide an outline of your presentation to the professors and relevant handouts to the class that summarize the key legislation, issues and trends related to your topic. (see rubric below – total points for this activity is 30; 20 based on the quality of the content included in the presentation and 10 points based on your ability to communicate that information to your peers through your presentation).

Course Grading:

1. Participation and preparation
         15 points
2. Conference Proposal
         20 points
         (10 points for written proposal; 10 points for quality of review of peers’ proposal)
3. Written Grant Proposal
         35 points
         (25 points for written proposal, 10 points for quality of review of peers’ proposal)
4. Group Project Presentation
        30 points
        (20 based on content, 10 points based on the quality of the presentation)

Assignment of Grades:
96-100      A
90-95        A-
86-89        B+
80-85        B
70-79        C