Web Technology as a Teaching Tool: A Multicultural Special Education Case

Professional training programs strive to prepare students for success in their respective fields. Despite sustained and concentrated efforts, however, a serious gap exists between training and practice, particularly in fields requiring complex decision-making. In the field of education, the process of referring and assessing students for special education services remains controversial and requires professionals to engage in complex decision-making, especially for students from diverse ethnic backgrounds. This paper describes the infusion of a CASELINK multicultural special education case designed to provide pre-service education students a simulated experience going through the special education referral process for a student from Hispanic background also indicating academic difficulties in his general education classroom. The paper describes the case and the methodological procedures employed while introducing the CASELINK multicultural special education module into three special education teacher preparation courses at two universities. Preliminary results using the CASELINK multicultural special education case are discussed and the costs and benefits of using web technology as a teacher preparation tool are highlighted. Keywords Special education teacher training, Web technology and teacher training, Problem-based learning and teacher education, Interactive web technology teaching tools Professional training programs strive to prepare students for success in their respective fields. To this end, considerable time and effort are allocated to developing and implementing activities teacher trainers hope will maximize acquisition of knowledge and its application. Despite sustained and concentrated efforts, however, a gap exists between training and practice, particularly in fields requiring complex decision-This persistent chasm brings forth some specific questions regarding the preparation of personnel such as: How can institutions of higher education best prepare their students for the professional field they have chosen? What types of activities maximize student learning and best prepare students to apply knowledge upon entering their fields? This article explores a focused problem of major concern in the field of education: How do educators distinguish between academic troubles related to limited English proficiency (LEP) from those related to cognitive deficits. Students from ethnic minority heritage are seemingly at higher risks for inaccurate referral and assessment for Until recently, claims of disproportionate representation of students from Hispanic backgrounds in special education have emphasized overrepresentation. While overrepresentation persists, in some cases a reverse trend has been noted The new trend is a reversal from over to under-representation for special education services. It appears that some students, who in the past would have triggered a referral from their teacher for …