Cynthia Massey
New accelerated program debuts this fall, allows students to complete special education advanced degree in less time
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.
The team, including the College of Education’s Eric Landers, Ph.D., Cynthia Massey, Ph.D., Stephanie Devine, Ph.D., Kathryn Haughney, Ph.D., Caitlin Criss, Ph.D., and Karin Fisher, Ph.D., received approval for the new ABM to begin this fall, encouraging special education undergraduates at Georgia Southern to complete a M.Ed. in Special Education.
“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 Landers. “Through this route, students will save both time and money towards a degree in this field.”
The ABM in BSEd to M.Ed. Special Education allows special education undergraduate students to take courses (up to nine credit hours) in their junior and senior years that will transfer as credit in the University’s M.Ed in Special Education program.
“Students completing this track will complete both the initial and an advanced teaching certificate in special education in fewer hours than if they had done the programs separately, and it allows them to enter the field at a higher salary,” said Landers.
All efforts from the special education team aim to help address the state and national shortage of certified teachers, specifically in special education, which has recently been named one of the three highest-need subject areas by the Georgia Department of Education.
“The void clearly impacts states’ abilities to meet the needs of students with disabilities, as research shows that students with disabilities have greater academic success when supported by teachers certified in special education,” explained Landers. “As educators of and advocates for special education, we will continue to strive to help meet the needs of students with disabilities in our state and nation in any way that we can.”
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., 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.
“I decided to pursue this research project to explore a nontraditional approach to instruction,” explained Massey. “I wanted to improve the way I supported juniors in the special education program as they mastered course content and improved their pedagogical skills. I chose to use the flipped instruction model to increase the amount of time they spent applying the content learned in a supported atmosphere before implementing the strategies learned with their P-12 students. The purpose of this project was to analyze the effectiveness of this model.”
The new flipped instruction method requires both asynchronous and synchronous instruction, with students engaging in asynchronous assignments centered on the content prior to class time. During synchronous class, students met face-to-face and began with a review of difficult or confusing concepts from the content review done on their own.
“Once we completed review, we then had the remainder of the class time to engage in hands-on activities and group discussions that allowed students to demonstrate their knowledge of the concepts,” said Massey. “I aimed to increase the motivation and engagement with course content while increasing their content knowledge so they become better educators for students with disabilities.”
The use of instructional technology allowed the students to engage in conversation and instruction outside of the classroom. Programs and applications such as Perusall, Flip and Khan Academy allowed students to read, practice and discuss content for the course outside of the classroom without the necessity of costly textbooks.
To further analyze this instruction method, two additional courses were restructured to the flipped classroom method, with one instructor making the addition of administering digital badging to add a gaming element to the course.
After each course, students were surveyed about the new teaching methods. Results were definitive that students preferred the hands-on activities versus lectures and 100% of students surveyed agreed or strongly agreed that the course provided a student-centered learning environment.
“As educators, it is important that we continually seek the most effective way to reach our current students,” said Massey. “This project taught me the importance of continuing to grow as an educator to best serve the students I teach. I will continue to search for ways to provide students with a learner-centered classroom environment and evaluate educational technology tools that best meet their needs.”
Since the success of the flipped classroom methodology, several other special education faculty have applied this approach to their classrooms.
College of Education 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.
Toledo, who joined the College of Education faculty in 2017, is currently pursuing a Doctor of Education in Curriculum Studies at Georgia Southern. The focus of her dissertation revolves around pre-service special education teachers’ experiences with a simulated Individualized Education Program (IEP) that she has implemented in her undergraduate courses.
During the course of the Leadership Academy’s two-year commitment, Toledo will attend the annual Council for Learning Disabilities Conference and work with members of her cohort on a special project that can be implemented at various institutions.
“As a result of being in the Leadership Academy, I look forward to having the opportunity to network with other researchers in the field,” said Toledo. “I hope to take on more leadership opportunities in our community as well as at the state and national level. In addition, I hope to gain valuable experience working collaboratively with other budding researchers who are at a similar stage in their career.”
A cohort of up to six leaders are selected for the Academy each year. Georgia Southern’s Cynthia Massey, Ph.D., assistant professor of special education, was a part of the previous group.