Special Education – Law/Ethics

Doctor of Education

EDU 968

Breyer State University

Instructor: Catherine Moran, PhD.

COURSE OVERVIEW: Welcome to Special Education – Law/Ethics a doctorate level course in the curriculum for the Degree, Doctor in Education. I am pleased to instruct you in this course.
This is an upper level course that prepares you to work in the field of Special Education.  In this course you will study the law and special education.  Specifically you will study the current laws concerning children with learning disabilities.

I know you will enjoy this course. Please learn as much as you can as you progress through it, as it does lay down a solid foundation for the rest of the curriculum. It is my pleasure to have you in the course.

TIME FRAME: This is an (5) five-semester hour course. This course is allotted ten weeks of time. You must complete all of the requirements for the course successfully by the end of the ten-week period. The first day of week one will begin the day that you register for the course, or the day which you notify me that your textbook has arrived and you are ready to begin your studies. Please be cognizant of the time frame. Extensions of time are permitted if needed with my and/or departmental approval. Upon successful completion of this course, you will be awarded five (5) semester hours of credit.

TEXTBOOKS: There is (1) required textbook for this course.

Book 1: “The Law and Special Education“, by Mitchell L. Yell.  Prentice Hall Publishers.  ISBN:  0-13-110670-8

This book may be found in your local bookstore. Your local bookstore most often will order it as a special order for you if it is not in stock. Or, you may purchase this book online from:

	» Click Here to Enter
» Additional Student Resources at StudyTactics

EXAMINATIONS: There is a cumulative final exam required for this course covering the entire textbook. The final exam must be taken by the end of the tenth week in the course.  The exam is programmed and is located in the classroom for this course. The examination is "open book" objective type. You will have one (1) day to complete your exam, once you access it from the classroom. To access the exam, you must send me an email and request to have access to the exam. Upon registration, you will receive my email address. I will then program your access in. You will receive an email back from me telling you that you are now authorized to go ahead and to access your exam. To access, you will come into the classroom, click on testing, and click on the exam you are taking. You will need your User ID and PASS WORD to access the exam. The exam will appear on your screen. Once you access the exam, you have twenty-four hours to submit your answers. The program provides me the exact date and time that you accessed the exam. The program also notifies me of the exact date and time that you submitted your answers. Thus, the program is timing you. When you are ready, go back into the classroom and click in your responses and then click submit. Shortly, you will receive the exam in your email box with your computed score. You will also know what questions, if any, that you missed, and what the correct answer is. I also receive a copy of your exam and your score.

GRADING: The grading scale for this course is as follows:
90-100%    = A
80-89%      = B
70-79%      = C
Below 70% = Fail

COMMUNICATION: You are encouraged to communicate with me. I am available as a teacher, coach, and mentor to assist you in meeting your goals for this course. Primarily, communication is through email. However, I am also available for conversation by telephone if you would like. Our classroom for this course has a "chat" room. I am also very willing to meet with you one-on-one in the chat room at your request. From time to time, depending on how many students are enrolled in this course at a particular time, we will have some scheduled group chats. You will receive more detailed information at the time such chat sessions are scheduled. Please keep my email address handy so that you can contact me whenever necessary. If at any time during this course you change your email address, please be sure to notify me right away.

WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT: There is a paper required for this course.  You are to write a paper on IDEA in chapter 5 of the textbook. The requirements for the paper are as follows:

1). Cover page, with your name, course number and title, and title of paper.
2). A minimum of 10 pages.
3). 1-inch margins.
4). Double-spaced.
5). APA style format.
Breyer State University Approved Guidelines for Written Papers

Breyer State University requires adherence to its approved guidelines for any course that requires a written paper. Please access the link below and review the required criteria for required papers. If you have any questions, be sure to contact your instructor.

View Guidelines

ABOUT YOUR INSTRUCTOR: I, Catherine Moran, Ph.D., currently teach undergraduate and graduate courses at Breyer State University and Canyon College. I hold Ph.D. in Education and a Master’s degree in Education from Breyer State University.  A Bachelor of Science from Kent State University with a major in Chemistry and Biology and Speech. I have worked in several hospitals as a Med. Tech. I lecture at conferences on “Assessing and Teaching Children with Learning Disabilities”. 

I am the Registrar of Breyer State University.   

COURSE OBJECTIVES: Upon completion of this course, you will:

1. Have an understanding of American legal system and history of the law and children with learning disabilities.
2. Discuss the legal system.
3. Understand legal research.
4. Identify legal research strategies.
5. Describe the internet research tools.
6. Identify law-related resources on the internet.
7. Discuss strategies for legal research on the internet.
8. Understand the exclusion of students with disabilities.
9. Define parental advocacy.
10. Discus the brown v. Board of Education.
11. Discuss the development of the IDEA.
12. Understand the purpose and structure of the IDEA.
13. Know the funding of IDEA.
14. Understand and discuss the rehabilitation act of 1973.
15. Discuss the development of the ADA.
16. Have an understanding of the IDEA act.
17. Have an understanding of the ADA act.
18. Know the school district’s responsibilities with the ADA.
19. Understand the development of the NCLB.
20. Discuss the major principles of the NCLB.
21. Know the FABE mandate of the IDEA.
22. Know the components of a FAPE.
23. Define assessment.
24. Understand the interpretation of evaluation data.
25. Have an understanding of the NCLB and FAPE mandate.
26. Have an understanding of Identification, assessment and evaluation.
27. Have an understanding of IEP.
28. Discuss the purpose of the IEP.
29. Know the IEP mandate.
30. Define the LRE, mainstreaming and inclusion.
31. List the standards for determining the LRE.
32. Know the procedural rights of parents.
33. Discuss IDEA and discipline.
34. Know the legal status of disciplinary procedures.
35. Know school district responsibilities.
36. Have an understanding of disciplining students with disabilities.

COURSE CONTENT – A brief abstract of content:

1. The American Legal System.
2. The law and special education.
3. Legal research.
4. Computers and legal research.
5. Legal research strategies.
6. Legal research on the internet.
7. Internet research tools.
8. Government resources online.
9. Compulsory attendance.
10. Parental advocacy.
11. State Educational statutes.
12. Development of the IDEA.
13. Development of the ADA.
14. Purpose and structure of the ADA.
15. Development of the NCLB.
16. Major principles of the NCLB.
17. The FAPE mandate of the IDEA.
18. Components of the FAPE.
19. Litigation and FAPE.
20. Definition of assessment.
21. The assessment/evaluation process.
22. Purposes of the IEP.
23. The IEP mandate.
24. IEP development.
25. Litigation on the IEP.
26. LRE, mainstreaming and inclusion.
27. Procedural rights of parents.
28. Discipline in the schools.
29. The IDEA and discipline.

ASSIGNMENTS: For specific assignments, please click on the link "Assignments."

QUESTIONS: If you have any questions about the assignments or the course in general please feel free to e-mail me at the address provided or contact Breyer State at: cm@breyerstate.com

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