Fisher publishes advocacy guidance for special educators
Karin Fisher, Ph.D., assistant professor of special education in the Department of Elementary and Special Education, published an article in a recent edition of TEACHING Exceptional Children (TEC), an official journal of the Council for Exceptional Children that features research-to-practice information and materials for classroom use, as well as current trends or issues in special education training and learning.
Fisher’s article, “Legislative Advocacy for Special Educators,” introduces how teachers and administrators can participate in and the importance of advocacy efforts at the local, state and federal levels.
Fisher and co-author Katie Miller, Ph.D., argue that special education teachers have the personal experiences needed to make significant impact in the legislative arena. Personal accounts, stories and information help to power change.
The article reads, “Special education itself was born as a result of advocacy.”
Citing the power of he U.S. Supreme Court Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954) that called for an end of separate-but-equal schools, “families of students with disabilities believed this finding should also relate to their children. As a result, federal courts applied the concept of equal opportunity in two seminal cases, ultimately leading to special education law,” the article states.
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