Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Grant would team up JSU with Oxford

12-19-2007

MONTGOMERY — Jacksonville State University is in the running for a $20,000 grant that would establish Oxford City Schools as a demonstration site for co-teaching.

Known throughout the state for its success in teaming-up general and special education teachers in the classroom, Oxford City Schools is a natural fit for such a collaborative program, said Stephen Armstrong, professor of special education at JSU.

“Oxford City Schools are already doing great things in special education and its one of the top systems in the state for co-teaching,” he said. “One of the issues for school systems that want to do this (co-teaching) is having enough special education teachers, but Oxford does have enough and they also have good administrative support.”

Armstrong said if JSU is successful in getting the grant from the Alabama State Improvement Grant program it would bring about a marriage of the academic study of co-teaching and the realities of making it work.

What they learn from the seven-month project could be beneficial to school systems and educators throughout the state and beyond, he said.

Khristie Goodwin, special education coordinator for Oxford City Schools, said for several years the school district has sought to educate students with disabilities in “the least restrictive social and academic environment.”

Putting general and special education teachers side by side in the same classroom helped make that happen, she said.

See the full story here.

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