School News
Teachers become summer students
By Kathleen Phillips, Texas A&M
May 30, 2010

COLLEGE STATION – Now that school is out for the summer, teacher Edith Lawson is returning to the classroom for some learning of her own.

But Lawson's courses will happen in her own home and at whatever time fits her daily schedule. She's learning ways to better serve special needs students, and she's doing it with study materials sent to her home, online modules and an email support group.

Lawson is among thousands of Texas teachers who've discovered the Career and Technical Special Populations Training and Resource Center. It's a virtual learning site, http://ctsp.tamu.edu, operated by the Texas AgriLife Extension Service with the support of Texas Education Agency.

"I teach in a school where most parents work, so the kids basically are raising themselves," said Lawson, a career and technical education teacher in Grand Prairie. "I've always wanted to help at-risk children, but I didn't feel I was trained. With this center, I have been able to learn more about the response to intervention as a state and federal way to help those at-risk students. So I got the books from the center to better educate myself on how it works."

One particularly helpful topic, she said, was a section on understanding how to help student's with behavioral problems so that they do not become a distraction in the classroom.

Lawson said the online system is teacher-friendly because they don't have time to search or may not live near a university library to find the resources they need.

"This has worked out great because the materials are delivered to me and I can return them on my time," she added.

Dr. Lakshmi Mahadevan, AgriLife Extension special populations specialist and the center's coordinator, said more than 4,000 people like Lawson have used the online courses and materials that can be loaned to teachers any where in Texas to help them learn skills to manage classrooms.

Dr. Rick Peterson, AgriLife Extension parenting specialist and project director, said the process of guiding Texas students toward career choices begins as early as the eighth grade.

"Parents and the child at that time begin to consider what the career path will be," Peterson said. "And in Texas, there are at least 16 different career paths a student may follow and have a course of study. So in the four-year process of going through high school, it pushes a student into areas they have interest in and then tries to prepare them with the skills and competencies they need to enter the workforce or post-secondary education."

Mahadevan said that's important because more and more students with special needs – from learning disabilities to language barriers – are being steered toward the career and technical tract at public schools.

"A teacher may have the certification in the career and technical courses such as health science, business or agriculture," Mahadevan said, "but they may not have the skills needed to handle special needs students."

She said the center keeps in mind that all materials – whether online or hard copies – have to be practical.

"We want teachers to be able to use the program at all times as it is convenient to them so that it does not add to their burden," Mahadevan said. "And we want it to be accessible in a variety of ways – from in-person workshops to online instruction."

The center's site has numerous online videos as well as a list of resources that can be checked out, all with a searchable database to help teachers find materials that target their learning needs, Peterson noted. Teachers also may qualify for professional development credits by completing the courses. Many of the materials online are marked with a gold diamond to indicate they may be useful for parents of special needs children.

"I'm able to use these materials to better help the child in the classroom," Lawson added. "And I would definitely recommend it to other teachers."