Statement of the Problem

This is a Masters of Special Education Masters Project – Planning course. Please look at the uploaded word document for further assignment instructions/requirements to complete this assignment.

M2: Part 1 (Statement of the Problem), First Draft

Instructions:

This week, you will deliver the first draft of Part 1 of your project paper. This section of the project paper is titled Statement of the Problem. Part 1 of your project paper contains the description of the problem I have chosen (listed below) to address in your project research.

Minimum requirements:

• Provide my topic of interest or concern
• The context in which the problem of practice happens or is likely to happen
• A statement of what you envision a solution to this problem will be

The final draft of this part of your paper, which you will complete later in the project development process, will include an introduction as well as a topic, problem of practice, context, and envisioned solution.

Please reference the uploaded project template and project example page to download the project paper template and see how a former student addressed this section in his/her project paper.

Guidelines:

• Write and submit your first draft of Part 1 (Statement of the Problem).
• Your draft should be written in 12-point Times or Times New Roman font, double-spaced, and formatted with standard margins.
• Page numbers must be located in the upper-right corner.

Statement of the Problem:

How to better collaborate and build a community, a safety net, a support system with families, Special education teachers, Para educators, Administration, and service providers that serves the needs of students with high-incidence disabilities.

Building and maintaining relationships with families of students with high-incidence disabilities, as well as developing effective transition school programs for these students.

Best form for this project:

Special Education Process Improvement Project –

A process improvement project entails identifying a special education process (for example, an IEP meeting, using an IEP to organize a student’s support program and communicating with others about how to do this, coordinating home-school collaboration, etc.) that could be improved in its implementation in a particular context. The student will research how to best implement a selected process, develop an implementation process, try it out, and evaluate process improvement goals.

An example of a special education process improvement project that I uploaded for you to download as a PDF:

Kreiling, J. (n.d.). The face of absence: The growing disappearance of face-to-face meetings in our school systems.

SPECIAL EDUCATION PROCESS IMPROVEMENT PROJECT ROAD MAP:

Overview and Step 1 –

A uploaded video detailed overview of what a special education process improvement project entails and Step 1 of the project development process.

First Draft:

A nearly complete submission that will allow for a content check (i.e., have you clearly defined the context of your problem of practice and focused your project and have you found and read appropriate evidence/literature on your topic?) and a review of form (correct format, use of APA style, grammar, correct sentence structure and paragraph structure).

Research relevant literature addressing the problem and potential evidence-based solutions:

You will use online Library research engines to research your problem of practice. You need to find out what research and researchers say are the best evidence-based practices in your area of interest. After reading the research, you will be able to develop a defensible product to respond to your stated area of interest.

• Use relevant websites to widen your search and take advantage of sources of already reviewed and vetted research findings:

o What Works Clearinghouse Practice Guides
o CEEDAR Center Resources/Tools
o Center on Instruction
o IRIS Center

• Read, review, and keep notes of relevant findings on the research chart. Be sure to save your entire reference list in APA format.

o Purdue OWL

Expected Outcomes:

• You will learn about using the library for the purpose of writing a literature review and developing an evidence-based solution to your problem of practice
• You will refine your problem of practice and write the first draft of Part 1 (Statement of the Problem)

Course Overview:

The master’s project is a “capstone” program experience requiring the student to apply a scholarly approach to addressing a problem of practice related to high-incidence disabilities, educational programs serving students with high-incidence disabilities and their families, or special education processes. Once completed, the project is reviewed and approved by a panel of three faculty members, leading to a recommendation of completion of the master’s degree in the School of Education at the University of Kansas. This one-credit section of SPED 898: Master’s Project focuses on planning one’s master’s project research, which leads to a following two-credit section of SPED 898: master’s project implementation and final presentation for completion of degree. In this course, the student will identify a problem of practice, complete a literature review exploring informed responses to the identified problem, and develop an action plan based on the literature to address the identified problem of practice. This module will provide an overview of the master’s project. You will learn about the types of projects students have done to complete their master’s degree, see examples, and begin to think about what you might want to do for your final master’s project.