Article Outline
Publication Topic
I plan to write about support for novice educational diagnosticians through blended learning.
Publication Options
After reviewing publication options for my article, I have narrowed it down to two options. One option is Edutopia Blog. This blog offers articles on innovations occurring in public schools. Guidelines for publishing include first emailing the guest blog with the title provided in the subject line, within the email describing the proposed in a few sentences. Blogs post should be approximately 750-800 words and include 3-5 posts to other links. The article must include a description of the author’s role in education, which should be about 80 words. Another option is Academia.edu. You have to be a registered user to upload or download articles.
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Introduction of Topic
There is an evident shortage of educational diagnosticians in the state of Texas, which has resulted in an increase in roles and responsibilities. Furthermore, the advancement of existing and creation of new special education laws have increased that number of student referrals for special education evaluations. Thus, it is incumbent school districts provide ongoing support and training to educational diagnosticians, while attempting to increase retention. My blended learning for novice educational diagnosticians will be detailed in the article as a possible support model for educational diagnosticians.
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Innovation Plan Connection
My innovation plan, Blended Learning for Educational Diagnosticians, focuses on providing support to novice educational diagnosticians to increase the fidelity of evaluations to increase student achievement. The innovation plan offers ongoing training, opportunities for peer collaboration, mentoring, and the creation of guides and artifacts to serve as resources. The goal of the Blended Learning program is to provide an accessible, timely, and convenient structure to support the success of educational diagnosticians regardless of additional roles, responsibilities, or evaluations.
Focusing on my Audience
Through my article I hope not only detail challenges faced by novice educational diagnosticians, but also offer a framework for support. Many new educational diagnosticians feel as though their programs do not prepare them for all aspects associated with the position. The article will be designed to offer insight and ways to provide support in real-time as the educational diagnosticians fulfills all assigned duties.
Lessons (Learned and Currently Learning)
At the start of exploring ideas for my innovation plan, I learned about the increase responsibilities of educational diagnosticians and that these increases are not necessarily addressed by preparation programs. Serving as a diagnostician mentor I have also learned that first year diagnosticians often feel the most overwhelmed, and if not supported appropriately typically leave the field.
Through my innovation plan I hope to learn more about strategies that are most successful for the support and growth of educational diagnosticians.
Digital Resources
I plan to share my call to action and innovation plan outline in the article. These items are intended to clearly depict the area of need and detail a plan that can be used as a guide in developing a blended learning environment. Although my plan focuses on educational diagnosticians, the plan can be utilized in a variety of areas to address a need through blended learning. There will be a brief discussion of different platforms (Zooms, Google Meets, Microsoft Teams) that can be utilized, in conjunction with platforms to maintain support documents.
Overall Message
This audience for this area is the educational special education community. However, it can also be applied to address an identified need. The overall message I want readers to have after they read the article is there is a drastic need to offer ongoing support to novice educational diagnosticians to increase their success and retention, which ultimately increases student success.
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References
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Bhardwaj, P., Gupta, P. K., Panwar, H., Siddiqui, M. K., Morales-Menendez, R., & Bhaik, A.
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Explaining the decline in special education teacher employment from 2005 to
2012. Exceptional Children, 83(3), 315–329. https://doi.org/10.1177/0014402916684620
Rueter, J. A., & Simpson, C. G. (2011). The promises and realities of evidence-based practices:
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