The Torch - FSU College of Education Magazine, Spring 2022

THE TORCH

DEAN

Damon P. S. Andrew

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Jennie Kroeger

CONTRIBUTORS

Kevin Derryberry

Josh Duke

George Kantelis

PHOTOGRAPHY

Ken Higgins

Jennie Kroeger

LAYOUT & DESIGN

University Communications

Creative Services

FROM THE DEAN

Greetings from the FSU College of Education!

As I reflect on the challenges presented by the pandemic over the past two years, I can’t help but be impressed by the resilience and dedication of our college. It’s no secret that challenges, such as those presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, can be tough. We face challenges of one kind or another every day, especially in the field of education. There are times when it seems like the moment one hurdle is cleared, another one surfaces, causing further disruption and the need to alter plans.

But challenges like these can also be an opportunity to shine. Trials can lead to new ways of thinking and the chance to grow. And seeing a student learn a new skill, make progress towards a goal or overcome challenges of their own makes it all worthwhile.

While education professionals around the world have had to shift their ways of work to contend with the pandemic, those serving students with special needs have had an even bigger hurdle to overcome. In this issue, you’ll read about some of the work our faculty, students and alumni are doing related to the inclusion of students with special needs. From working with athletes with hidden disabilities to creating a workforce training program for young adults with special needs, our college is making a positive impact on some of the most vulnerable populations.

As Lisa Friedman, an award-winning disability inclusion expert, once said, “Inclusion is a philosophy that embraces the idea that everyone has something of value to contribute and that everyone has a right to belong.” Here in the FSU College of Education, we all play a part in making both classrooms and communities places where everyone is included.

I hope you enjoy this issue of TORCH, and as always, we would love to hear from you. Please send us your good news and accomplishments at education.communications@ fsu.edu. Best wishes for a healthy, safe and successful year.

Go Noles!

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Damon P. S. Andrew, PhD, FNAK, FNAKHE Dean and Professor College of Education Florida State University

SEEDS OF SUCCESS

If you take a walk down any city street, you will inevitably see little flowers forcing their way up through cracks in the sidewalk. It’s a nice reminder that good things grow even in the toughest of environments. And the last few years have certainly been a tough soil for even the most resolute individuals and best ideas to sprout. Yet despite it all, the partnership between the FSU College of Education and Leon County School’s Adult Community Education (ACE) Summer Institute is healthier than ever and has flourished into a remarkable success story.

Established in the summer of 2021, the partnership helped provide the ACE Summer Institute with educators and gave FSU special education students an opportunity to gain experience. Since then, the program has grown and adapted to various challenges and has truly begun to realize its vision as a model transitional service program for Florida.

BREAKING THROUGH

The ACE Summer Institute had to contend with concerns and restrictions regarding COVID. That should come as a surprise to

By Josh Duke

no one; what aspect of life did not get changed or altered in some way by the pandemic? What did surprise Jenny Root, associate professor of special education, was just how important their work with the ACE Summer Institute would turn out to be.

“In the summer of 2020, we pivoted to virtual classroom, and that was when everyone was just figuring out what that meant and what to do,” she said. “And those teachers that year, they were the first teachers in Leon County to think about, ‘How can we provide synchronous instruction all day to students with disabilities?’ and they did an awesome job.”

Using evidence-based practices, the team from FSU, headed by lead teacher and FSU doctoral student Deidre Gilley, found ways to make sure that students with disabilities received not just an education, but engagement during the challenging times of those first months of the pandemic. Their approach was so successful that the paraeducators then went on to provide training to all the other paraeducators in the district. When classrooms returned to in-person instruction, educators were so impressed with the success of these

engagement plans that they began to incorporate them into their face-to-face instruction.

The challenges faced by the institute also made Root aware of key areas that needed to be taught to students, including digital literacy skills. The team quickly realized the “importance of [the students at the institute] being able to navigate and understand interacting in a video or digital space, so we talked a lot about etiquette for video calls, a lot of focus on social skills, like what are appropriate topics of conversation when you’re talking to a new colleague versus a friend versus your boss.”

Finally, now that instruction has returned to face-to-face, Root is excited for the return of in-person, community-based instruction. These experiences involve taking attendees to local destinations and businesses like Publix or the park for them to practice skills. Furthermore, thanks to the lessons they learned during virtual instruction, the special education program will be able to have students in FSU’s online autism spectrum disorder master’s program participate in virtual instruction to give them experience as well.

FSU student works with ACE student at the Summer Institute

FRESH GROWTH

With the challenges facing everyone, no one quite knew how successful the ACE Summer Institute would be, and yet Gilley says that the program has grown every year—not just attendees, but increased staff and peer mentors as well. Gilley, who is also the director and mentor coordinator for the Institute, believes that much of this growth can be attributed to the partnership with the FSU School of Teacher Education: “The partnership is a huge reason why the summer institute is as successful as it is today.”

And it’s not just the program itself that is growing. Both Root and Gilley say that they watch everyone involved grow as people, too. “I’ve seen a great range of accomplishments from our attendees, including obtaining and maintaining a job, increased confidence in their abilities, independence in the community, increased self-determination skills, and more,” said Gilley. “I cannot put a number on the amount of times that families and caregivers have reached out to our staff and expressed the observed growth of their attendees.”

Root also added that the FSU students involved in the partnership flourish during and after working at the institute. “Every year, we ask students, ‘What do you want to teach?’” said Root. “They’ll say elementary, and they often are very unsure about working with adults with disabilities and with middle and high school students. “I think some of that just comes from the fact that they’re very close in age. What we try to really provide [at the institute] is an opportunity to feel comfortable with young adults with disabilities, how to talk with them and teach them in a way that’s age respectful.”

Root pointed out that this is particularly important, as students earn a K-12 license in special education, meaning that they must feel comfortable working with students at a variety of age levels.

PROPAGATING THE INSTITUTE

The partnership with Leon County has given Root and Gilley a new perspective on

transition programs like the ACE Summer Institute. It has always been Root’s intention to make this partnership a model that can be replicated across Florida, which is why on top of documenting the success of the partnership and collecting data, the pair has been presenting at several conferences on the success of the program.

Root has been working with individuals in Leon County Schools (many of them FSU graduates) on creating plans to manualize the program, as she calls it. “There are many universities with teacher preparation programs in special education. They all have transition courses, so how can we work together for that?”

SUCCESS IN BLOOM

Gilley knows firsthand that working at the ACE Summer Institute leads to unexpected growth. Having started with the program in 2020, she has watched her dreams branch out in new directions. While she always knew she wanted to work in special education, she now dreams of starting her own transition program at the university level, on top of her dream of being a tenuretrack faculty member.

It is the everyday successes that fuel her aspirations, the simple beauty of everyday moments working at the institute: when an attendee has a breakthrough; when a family member thanks the team for their work and talks about what a difference they have made; when, despite all the challenges and tribulations, young adults gain the skills they need to live a better life.

These are not moments that will make headlines in the turbulent times that we live in, but like the little yellow flowers breaking through the sidewalk slabs, their beautiful resilience offers deep-rooted hope that even the toughest times cannot deter good ideas—and people.

Interested in working at the Summer Institute? Paid and volunteer mentorship positions are available. Those interested should contact Deidre Gilley at dgp17c@my.fsu.edu or visit summerinstitutetally.org n

Deidre Gilley addresses the audience of legislators and community members at the 2021 Summer Institute

ACE students at the Summer Institute

ACE student learning how to navigate video calls

Compassionate Coaching

Hidden Disabilities and Conditions in Athletes

By George Kantelis

Many coaches are well-prepared to handle situations where athletes are injured or otherwise physically unable to compete. Timothy Baghurst, professor and director of FSU’s Interdisciplinary Center for Athletic Coaching (FSU COACH), and Christopher Stanley, research associate in the Florida Center for Reading Research (FCRR), are helping coaches prepare to work with athletes who have disabilities and conditions that are sometimes less noticeable.

HOW THE BALL FOUND THE PEACH BASKET

Their book, “Reach Every Athlete: A Guide to Coaching Players with Hidden Disabilities and Conditions,” began to plant its roots in their minds when they met several years ago.

“Tim and I initially met when Tim assumed the director role of the FSU COACH program in the College of Education,” said Stanley. From there, he noticed similar trends in their research. “Tim had been co-authored on a systematic review paper that had analyzed and reviewed the coaching literature and noted gaps related to working with athletes with disabilities. I had actually just begun a systematic review of the sports psychology literature within the last decade and noted approximately the same gaps and relative scarcity of research.”

After developing a dialogue on their research, Baghurst had the idea to work on a piece together, but they had a communications issue to solve. “We wanted to get this in the hands of coaches—not just in classrooms for students—but actual coaches that are in the field and practicing,” said Baghurst. “We could have written an article for one of those journals, but that wouldn’t have necessarily reached the audience that we wanted.” And so, they landed on a book as the best way to accomplish their goal.

“Reach Every Athlete: A Guide to Coaching Players with Hidden Disabilities and Conditions” details two key components in supporting athletes with Hidden Disabilities and Conditions (HDCs): creating a coaching environment that helps athletes feel safe enough to come forward with their needs, and then adjusting coaching strategies based on the needs of the athletes.

A SAFER COURT

We often don’t entertain the thought that athletes on our television screen may have HDCs, but it’s a coach’s duty to support athletes at all levels. “It’s almost assumed that athletes don’t have any kind of hidden disabilities or conditions, but they do,” said Baghurst. He highlights an important

Above: Christopher Stanley; Below: Timothy Baghurst

first step in considerate coaching. “If we are not able to find them or even consider looking for them, how are we going to help those athletes who have needs?”

Certain psychological HDCs may not strike us as immediately relevant to athletic ability, but Stanley maintains that “these conditions and disabilities always directly relate to sport participation performance because of the cognitive, sensory and muscular demands of sports.” While certain HDCs like colorblindness may cause an athlete to misread plays, other HDCs like ADHD can inhibit an athlete’s ability to learn the sport. Some HDCs may even exist more simply as sensitivities to certain noises or stimuli. “I don’t like the traditional start gun in races,” said Baghurst. “I used to tense up waiting for this gun to explode right next to me, and I hated it. It affected the way I ran.”

Given an environment where the athlete feels safe, listened to and heard, they may be more willing to speak with their coaching staff about any struggles they are experiencing. This, of course, can benefit team success, but it also supports the individual success of the athlete and the involved coaches. The natural question arises: how can coaches, as Baghurst put it, “create an environment within your coaching where athletes feel comfortable coming and talking to you?”

The answer is ultimately one of the mission statements of the book. Of course, coaches aren’t able—or expected—to participate in the diagnosis of their athletes. Consequently, it’s their responsibility to maintain a healthy rapport and a safe atmosphere for the athletes. “It’s about being open,” said Stanley. “It’s about dialoguing with that athlete and those parents or guardians and making plans to help that athlete succeed in practice and in competition scenarios.”

PICKING UP THE PLAY

The second goal of “Reach Every Athlete” is to educate coaches on different HDCs and advise them on how they can support athletes who are experiencing them. Being made aware of the HDC and understanding how it works is vital, but it is only part of the equation. Coaches also need to understand how any given HDC can impact in-game performance and what strategies, drills and adjustments can be made to create a more accommodating and successful practice environment.

“What can we do to have a more realistic conversation with that athlete and his or her parents or guardians?” said Stanley, posing the million-dollar question. “Who else can we bring in for support? What are some simple things that we could do to alter practice scenarios to help support them and get them to a place of more full, long-term participation and performance?”

To give some examples, one chapter of “Reach Every Athlete” discusses potential strategies to use when working with athletes who have visual impairments, including color blindness, low vision and complete blindness. The chapter offers dozens of researchbacked options and strategies to accommodate the needs of a visually impaired athlete for nearly every conceivable sport: being more considerate with the use of printed materials, emphasizing

vocal communication amongst the team as opposed to body language, and enhancing certain drills and activities with auditory cues to enable visually impaired students to comfortably participate. Appropriately introducing new ideas, strategies and exercises into coaching sessions can create a more fulfilling and safe experience for athletes with HDCs. These small adjustments can make a world of difference to an athlete’s comfort level and—by extension—their performance. “You have to find ways that promote your understanding of [the HDC], whether it be posters on the wall or having guest speakers come in and talk about some of the challenges they’ve experienced as athletes so that the athletes understand that this is OK, that it’s normal,” said Baghurst.

HDCs can be either physical or psychological, but they can be difficult to discover in either case. Whether it be a learning disability, autism spectrum disorder, growing pains or juvenile arthritis, Stanley and Baghurst’s research continues to encourage considerate, compassionate coaching. Coaches who can create nurturing, safe environments for their athletes are not only advancing the potential of their athlete’s and team’s successes, but they are advancing coaching as a discipline. n

Stanley and Baghurst’s book was published in January 2022

Project Wordy

Reading Interventions for Students with Dyslexia

By George Kantelis

Skilled readers may not give a second thought to the way that certain words are pronounced. Even though the word “breakfast” would be sounded out as “breek” and “fast,” proficient readers read “breakfast” as “brekfuhst” instead of “breekfast.” Multisyllabic words that have these inconsistencies in how they are spelled versus how they are pronounced can be referred to as “complex words,” and, according to Laura Steacy, an assistant professor of special education and researcher at the Florida Center for Reading Research, they can be especially important for students with dyslexia.

Steacy specializes in early reading development, which focuses on early predictors of achievement in reading and interventions for students at risk of reading challenges. Through a project called Project Wordy, she is working to provide resources to students and teachers to make complex words more accessible. She is particularly interested in students with dyslexia because they experience significant difficulties developing ageappropriate word recognition and spelling abilities. Without adequate instruction by well-trained teachers, many students with dyslexia will struggle with literacy activities thoughout life.

FINDING THE ROOT WORD

Project Wordy, which began in 2019 and will run through 2023, compares two different instructional methods for teaching complex words. “One method focuses on helping children understand how morphology— or the construction of word parts based on meaning—is represented in our spelling,” explained Steacy. “The other is focused on something called ‘set for variability,’ which is the ability to problem solve when there is a mismatch between what a child generates during the process of sounding out a new word and its actual pronunciation (think back to breakfast).”

Having taught children to learn to read, Steacy understands that these words can be particularly challenging. “When I was

Laura Steacy

teaching, I noticed that there were some children who were having significant difficulties learning to read and weren’t responding to the instruction that they were receiving. That’s what inspired me to do this work to figure out ways to help those students.” Steacy’s background in teaching and research blend together seamlessly to work towards Wordy’s ultimate goal: “To explore different instructional techniques that can be used to support students with dyslexia when they encounter complex words in texts and to find the best instructional supports for teachers to help support these students.”

INVENTIVE INTERVENTIONS

While we understand that English can be a frustrating language at times, many speakers don’t necessarily consider why that’s

the case. According to Steacy, the writing system is the culprit: “In English, we have what’s sometimes called a quasi-regular writing system, which means that the letters and sounds don’t map perfectly onto each other.” As she explains, complex words (again, think back to “breakfast”) require a bit of flexibility on the reader’s end. Of course, being flexible when encountering new and complex words doesn’t often come naturally to young learners with dyslexia. Being unable to arrive at the correct pronunciation of a word by applying typical sounding out strategies makes complex words a frequent area of frustration. That said, complex words are so ubiquitous across English that they can’t be easily ignored. These complex words—and what kinds of interventions and instruction are best used when confronting them in the classroom—are central to Project Wordy’s ongoing research.

There are two sides to every classroom, though. Steacy and her team aren’t only concerned with providing reading and decoding strategies to students: they’re also interested in supporting teachers. “Often times I hear teachers express frustration that when students get to longer multisyllabic words, they don’t have as many tools in their toolkit. This is especially true for students who have dyslexia and other reading difficulties.”

SUPPORTING TEACHERS

Project Wordy needs to work closely with classroom teachers in order to effectively offer them resources and strategies. Over the course of the last several years, Steacy’s team has been carefully collecting data in local schools and in schools that are part of “The Dyslexia Foundation” network of schools. This data collection is essential to create conclusions that have a widened scope about reading difficulty, which pulls more details that help develop credible interventions. Steacy emphasized her satisfaction working with teachers from different schools to

develop the projects. “Being able to come together with teachers in the field and work on things together has been a real highlight.”

Steacy and her team are beginning to spread their research findings into classrooms and develop teaching tools out of them. They aim to give teachers across Leon County—and eventually across Florida—the teaching resources that she saw a need for as a classroom teacher herself. “I think the results from this study will inform our understanding of whether including these instructional supports helps students to read complex words, which could then potentially inform whether something like this should be part of a larger instructional program.”

If the research from Project Wordy is successfully implemented into classrooms, it could create a permanent, positive shift in the way that young learners with dyslexia are taught when learning to read complex words. This would alleviate the typical growing pains that these students suffer from through systematic, curated learning and teaching strategies supported by Steacy’s research.

To learn more and keep up with Project Wordy’s work, visit fcrr.org/projects/project-wordy-0. n

“When I was teaching, I noticed that there were some children who were having significant difficulties learning to read and weren’t responding to the instruction that they were receiving. That’s what inspired me to do this work to figure out ways to help those students.”

By Jennie Kroeger

Side by Side, Unified Special Olympics at FSU

Sports can serve as a conduit for people of different backgrounds to come together to reach a common goal and build a sense of community. Participation in sports, whether it’s on a community league or a school team, allows you to meet people you may not otherwise have the opportunity to meet.

Such is the case at Florida State, which is home to the Special Olympics at FSU club. Founded in the fall of 2019 by FSU students Lindsay Jones and Hannah Harrison, the Special Olympics at FSU club was created to promote inclusion both at Florida State and in the community through sports training, competitions and campaigns for people with and without intellectual disabilities.

Jones, who has served as club president for the past three years, had the hope that other FSU students would find their home away from home with Special Olympics as she did.

“I joined Special Olympics in my sophomore year of college during a time when I felt lonely and out of place at FSU,” said Jones, who is a student in the special education BS/MS program. “After just one season with my Special Olympics soccer team, I knew I had found my group of people in Tallahassee. Being a part of Special Olympics has allowed me to meet some of the most genuine, loyal and loving friends I have ever had.”

Though students from FSU have been participating in Special Olympics Florida-Leon County (SOFL-Leon)

sports for years, the fall of 2019 is when FSU created its first unified intramural team with both FSU students and SOFLLeon athletes. Through this partnership between FSU Campus Recreation, the FSU College of Education and Special Olympics Leon County, “lifelong bonds and experiences keep people coming back and the energy is unmatched to anything like it,” said Brittany Mueller, FSU Campus Recreation Intramural Sports coordinator.

“Our club members are not ‘helping’ people with disabilities. We are actively working alongside Special Olympics athletes as teammates and friends to get things done. Their presence and input in all club matters are as equally important as the presence and input of FSU students in the club.

Jones, who was chosen as Unified Partner of the Year for SOFL-Leon this spring, doesn’t think of Special Olympics at FSU as volunteering. “Our club members are not ‘helping’ people with disabilities. We are actively working alongside Special Olympics athletes as teammates and friends to get things done. Their presence and input in all club matters are as equally important as the presence and input of FSU students in the club.

“Inclusion needs to happen at all levels of club functioning,

Lindsay Jones was chosen as the Unified Partner of the Year for SOFL-Leon

not just during sports,” she continued. “Special Olympics athletes’ input and collaboration with the club is crucial in planning, organizing and running events and campaigns.”

The Special Olympics at FSU club hosts events like FSUnified Day, which aims to promote social inclusion through sports like basketball, flag football, volleyball, soccer and kickball, where individuals with and without disabilities play on Unified Sports teams as teammates and friends. They also participate in the Spread the Word Campaign to promote inclusion for all people.

This past fall, Florida State’s commitment to inclusion was highlighted by Special Olympics with the designation of Florida State University as a National Banner School—the first university in Florida to achieve this recognition.

As a Special Olympics Unified Champion School, FSU provides an inclusive school environment and exudes a sense of collaboration, engagement and respect for all members of the student body and staff. A Unified Champion School that receives national banner recognition is one that has demonstrated commitment to inclusion by meeting 10 national standards of excellence that were developed by a

national panel of leaders from Special Olympics and the education community.

“[The committee] was blown away by FSU’s application,” said Danielle Kent, manager for Unified Champion Schools, Health & Fitness with Special Olympics Florida. “FSU is going above and beyond on campus and doing really amazing events that are including the community.”

With the National Banner School recognition, it’s full steam ahead for Special Olympics at FSU and continued inclusion efforts on campus. And according to Jones, it’s just the beginning.

“Unified Sports are awesome, but they are just the start of the process of creating an inclusive society,” said Jones. “[Special Olympics] has increased my understanding of what it truly means to be an ally and a friend to people with disabilities. Despite majoring in special education, I feel like participating in Special Olympics has taught me more about the incredible abilities and unique perspectives of people with disabilities than school ever could.”

To learn more about Special Olympics at FSU, visit fla.st/ KB9RTG1P. n

L-R: Maddy Walther, partnership coordinator; Melanie Dammel, graduate student leader; Lindsay Jones, president; Derica Parathundil, vice president; Katie Matzar, treasurer

BRIDGING THE GAP

Kayla and The Uncanny Chronicles

By George Kantelis

As an educator, it can be incredibly difficult to visualize the learning disabilities of students—how they work, how they make learners feel and how they specifically affect instruction. As learners, it is often impossible to find stories that properly illustrate and characterize learning disabilities. This lack of representation can create a barrier of understanding between learners with disabilities and those around them. This is where “The Uncanny Chronicles” bridges the gap.

“The Uncanny Chronicles” is a comic book series that combines research-backed education with engaging storytelling. The series was developed by Yaacov Petscher (M.S. ’04, ’05), associate professor of social work and director of the Florida Center for Reading Research (FCRR); Nicole Patton Terry, Manuel and Olive Bordas Professor of Education and director of FCRR; illustrator Daniel Hooker and writer Stephen Smith. The story follows Kayla, a young reader who struggles with dyslexia, school and all the other things that many young learners encounter.

Yaacov Petscher

THE FIRST EDITION

It might not be immediately obvious as to why “The Uncanny Chronicles”—commercially known as “The Kayla Chronicles”— was created as a comic book series as opposed to a traditional children’s book. “Daniel and I created the idea because we’re both huge comic fans,” said Petscher. There is an important strand of intentionality here, though. Petscher insists that young readers are likely to be drawn to the format and style of comic books and graphic novels due to their recent surge in popularity. “I grew up collecting comics with my brothers,” Petscher adds, “and something that was very niche has now become very mainstream.”

There are some functional benefits that make comic books a natural fit for “The Uncanny Chronicles” as well. “The other great thing with comics is you get that inner monologue,” said Petscher, noting that an inner monologue makes character relatability and realism easier to achieve. He also emphasized the importance of thought bubbles as a tool to incorporate translational science. “With comics, you get the thought bubbles, so we can shine a spotlight on the thought bubbles and infuse them with science.”

In creating “The Uncanny Chronicles,” the team hopes to deliver educational, accessible and entertaining stories to its young readers. “Because we’re at the Florida Center for Reading Research, we’re in the College of Education, we’re in social work, we’re really concerned with families, kids and their reading development,” said Petscher. “We saw that a lot of our science goes into peer review publications, but that’s only helping scientists think about science.” Petscher identifies a clear gap between the research process and the function of research. Research about dyslexia—methods for instruction, learning and reading—aren’t functional until students and educators see it for themselves. This is where the idea of translational science, a point of passion for Petscher, Patton Terry and the rest of the Uncanny Chronicles team, comes into play.

IT’S A BIRD! IT’S A PLANE! IT’S SCIENCE!

One of the main challenges of writing “The Uncanny Chronicles,” according to Petscher, is blending the FCRR’s research with engaging characters and consistent storytelling without overstepping in one direction or the other. “We talk about the science first,” said Petscher. “Ultimately, though, we’re trying to look almost like a braid. We need a scientific and creative braid. We want story consistency.” When writing for young readers, it’s clear that one braid cannot exist without the other; purely academic, educational writing exists at the risk of boring readers, and purely entertaining writing exists at the risk of failing to teach its readers. Petscher and team “wants [‘The Uncanny Chronicles’] to operate at the intersection of entertaining and educating.”

In addition to education and entertainment, there is a third thread that Petscher stresses as an important element to Kayla’s story: realism. “We want to bring this ecological reality to the story that kids could relate to,” said Petscher. “We want to be able to show the reality of what things are like.” By including a realistic bend to “The Uncanny Chronicles,” Petscher and the team at FCRR can accurately and appropriately “normalize and affirm the experience of someone who’s struggling to learn how to read.” This emphasis on affirmation speaks to importance of ensuring that children with reading difficulties feel heard and understood by their peers, educators and guardians.

STILL IN PRINT

Each issue of “The Uncanny Chronicles” concludes with a list of evidence-based resources for parents and caregivers that are relevant to that issue’s story. Since Kayla’s adventures often align with real-world problems that young learners face, it’s often the case that a given issue can align with a relevant situation that the reader is experiencing. When this is the case, the team behind “The Uncanny Chronicles” wants to make sure that the adults in the reader’s life have resources available should they need to follow up on the topic.

“At the end of each issue, we try to point to evidence-based resources at the National Center of Improving Literacy—our grant funders—but also to other partners who have done great scientific work in creating tools and resources as well,” said Petscher. The team is also actively creating iOS games to continue to foster relevant engagement with the core story and lessons from the comics.

Along with these resources, “The Uncanny Chronicles” has also been made available as a video series. Narrated by Zehra Fazal (Big Hero 6: The Series, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power), the video series exists to act as an inclusive and accessible version of Kayla’s story.

“The Uncanny Chronicles,” still less than a year old, has already garnered heavy praise from educators. “We’ve gotten emails from teachers who’ve said it’s a great resource in their classroom,” said Petscher. “We’ve also gotten emails from reading clinics that have The Kayla Chronicles in the waiting rooms, and they’ve said that parents are reading them with their kids and having a great time.”

By accessibly delivering academic research to the people who need it and by helping educators and caregivers better understand and assist their young learners, “The Uncanny Chronicles” is bridging the gap between research and practice. Read, watch, or download issues of “The Uncanny Chronicles” at improvingliteracy.org/kid-zone/uncanny-chronicles n

Different Lived Experiences Oksana Kozlova & Toni Jo Mason

By Kevin Derryberry

Toni Jo Mason committed her life and career to ensuring that all people were recognized for their abilities. She focused on providing encouragement, equal opportunities and the support needed to dream, to learn and to achieve an individual’s full potential.

Mason earned her B.A. in social studies and English from West Liberty University in 1960, followed by an M.A. in guidance and psychology from Marshall University in 1964. She then earned a specialist degree in counselor education and psychology from the University of North Carolina in 1972 and a Ph.D. in educational leadership at FSU in 1982.

Over the course of her career, Mason taught at the elementary and secondary school levels and developed curricula and

career education programs nationwide. She also worked for the U.S. Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services and introduced the U.S. Office of Special Education to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

In Tallahassee, she served as a director of the Americans with Disabilities Act, where she was responsible for conducting a comprehensive survey to determine Leon County School System’s ADA status and then developed and implemented a master plan to make all Leon County School System playgrounds handicap accessible and compliant with all ADA requirements.

“I had the privilege to work with Dr. Toni Jo Mason while we supported The Walt Disney Educator Seminars,” said Chris Iansiti, College of Education graduate (instructional systems

Toni Jo Mason

M.S. ’94) and distinguished alumnus (’11). “Toni made it a team and came to the office with a big smile on her face every time. I remember her saying once, ‘I’m here, now let’s get busy and have fun.’ That was Toni, she enjoyed getting the job done with a lot of laughs along the way.”

In her memory, the Toni Jo Mason Foundation has created scholarships for people with physical disabilities at several schools and colleges affiliated with Mason, including here in the FSU College of Education. In 2022, Oksana Kozlova, a master’s student in the higher education program, became the first Dr. Toni Jo Mason scholar at FSU.

Kozlova first came to the U.S. from her native Russia in 2016 thanks to the Year of Exchange in America for Russians (YEAR) program. The YEAR program is funded by the U.S. Embassy in Moscow and seeks to foster greater cultural understanding between the U.S. and Russia. Oksana spent a year at the University of Wyoming after being selected through a competitive process that considered her outstanding academic record, leadership potential, excellent English skills and strong interest in learning about U.S. culture.

In particular, she was interested to see how the U.S. handled accessibility, noting that “Russia is very different for accessibility.” In Wyoming, she studied “linguistics and language courses, English for foreign students, and American Studies,” then taught English for students of foreign languages in Russia before looking to return to the U.S. for a master’s degree.

“There are no student affairs [offices] in Russia,” said Kozlova, so she sought an American program in higher education and began looking at schools across the country. “Let’s be honest, weather was an issue,” she joked, regarding her decision to come to Florida after her years in Russia and Wyoming. She had also looked over the faculty profiles and was excited by the work of Associate Professor of Higher Education Brad Cox.

“I saw Dr. Cox was working on autism spectrum, so there would be enough experience relating to my disability experience,” she said. Cox is the founder and executive director of the College Autism Network (CAN), a national non-profit organization dedicated to using evidence-based advocacy to improve experiences and outcomes for college students with autism.

At FSU, Kozlova secured a graduate assistantship in the Office of Accessibility Services working with students to ensure they have the accommodations that they need. She continues to be fascinated by the cultural differences she observes in the classroom. “Russian kids just see right and wrong,” she said. “Here they have the opportunity to share different experiences.”

Kozlova had the opportunity to take a course from Toni Jo Mason Foundation advisor and FSU College of Education

alumnus (higher education Ed.S. ’96, Ed.D. ’99) J.R. Harding. “Oksana is a wonderful addition to FSU, the College of Education, and the student body as a whole,” said Harding. “She is an outstanding student and emerging scholar. I had the pleasure of working with her during the fall of 2021 with my IDS 1107 course that focuses on academic and social success for freshmen with disabilities. As an international student who also happens to have a disability, her perspective was unique and comments in the class were spot on. We were most fortunate to have Oksana contribute to the curriculum, mentor the students, and be unafraid to share her story.”

Recognizing the value of a different lived experience is precisely what the Toni Jo Mason Foundation celebrates and supports with the Dr. Toni Jo Mason Endowment for Excellence in the College of Education.

In 2011, West Liberty University inducted Mason into their Wall of Honor. She passed in 2013 at the age of 74, having made a significant impact on her community and the lives of those who knew her. The Toni Jo Mason Foundation was established via her estate and continues her mission of supporting educational opportunities for all.

Mason believed that the ability to overcome obstacles required an attitude of “stick-to-it-ness,” which meant never giving up on dreams, no matter how long or how hard a pathway to achievement might be. “She sort of was a mentor for me to always keep going, to push forward in a positive way,” said Iansiti. “As I think about Toni and all of her abilities (not disabilities), I think that mindset drove her—to always be pushing forward with a smile on your face—and boy, did she ever!” n

Oksana Kozlova

How did you discover the field of visual disabilities?

The way I discovered the field of visual disabilities education was serendipitous. It all started when I was working as a paraprofessional for the school district of Hillsborough County, where I worked alongside certified teachers in self-contained and general education classrooms assisting those students with special needs. I fell in love with it so much that I decided to pursue a college degree to become one of those certified teachers.

After graduating with my associate degree at a community college, I continued on to the University of South Florida for a bachelor’s in special education where things all changed. As I was completing practicum hours for a course, I decided to attend Braille Challenge—an annual competition for students with visual impairments to put their braille skills to the test. Upon walking in, I immediately found myself caught up in wonder as I’ve never been around those with visual impairments before. The sounds of travel canes tapping through the halls, teachers and parents in conversation about how well their students are brailling and students laughing together as they explore the various activity tables at the event—I had to know more about it.

What made you choose FSU?

When I was at Braille Challenge, I was approached by Sue Glaser (M.S. ‘01), the statewide educational specialist for visual impairments from the Florida Instructional Materials Center for the Visually Impaired and talked with her about all the wonderful things happening at the event. It came to my attention that she was also an advisor for Florida State’s visual disabilities education satellite program based out of St. Petersburg, Florida and she gave me all the information about how to apply. So, in all reality, FSU chose me. Being accepted to Florida State was such an honor, and as a first-time university student (and now graduate) in my family, receiving that acceptance letter meant the most to my late mother and myself.

Tell us about a memorable experience you’ve had in the program.

Our program has a course dedicated to independent living skills and how to teach these skills to those who are blind or visually impaired. In this course, my colleagues and I were placed under blindfold and were asked to teach or complete various tasks relating to general living skills, such as eating, cooking, cleaning,

organizing, etc. Anything relating to being a self-sustaining individual in terms of taking care of oneself—just one aspect our students with visual and/or multiple impairments need direct experience with to understand and gain conceptual knowledge about. Otherwise, other people will continue to do everything for them and will instill a sense of learned helplessness.

As we rounded out the semester in that course, my colleagues and I were asked to participate in a dinner while blindfolded. What a daunting task! Putting myself in the shoes of an individual with a visual impairment and taking all the skills I had learned thus far and putting them to the test (I was only a junior at the time and fresh to the program). I cannot tell you how frustrating the experience was. I never knew if the waiter was speaking to me or someone else, or if she was even next to me when I was ordering, my food and drink were placed in front of me without me even knowing (so that was a mess), and when trying to pay, I had no idea where I was signing. Good thing I had everything organized so I knew which card I was using while paying!

This all goes to show you what these individuals who are blind or visually impaired have to contend with on a daily basis when just leaving their house, and how blissfully unaware we were to how prepared and organized one must be to just leave the house! But this is where we as educators come in; we have to teach these skills not only to accommodate for their visual impairment, but to also accommodate for the unintentional ignorance of others. Introduce oneself, make it known you’re there. If you want to help someone with a visual impairment, offer assistance verbally first. And if you’re going to set down a tray of drinks next to me while I’m blindfolded, make sure you let me (or anyone with a visual impairment) know, or the entire section of the restaurant will have to be mopped. It’s up to you.

What are your plans for after graduation?

I expect to jump straight into work and hone these skills I have been adding to my repertoire to help educate those students with visual and multiple impairments. It’s been a while since I was last in a classroom, and I miss it terribly. This time, however, I will be back with a new, more specialized purpose to help these students gain the skills they need to live as much of an independent life as possible, provide unique, individualized instruction tailored to the needs of my students and to have fun doing it.

What’s something about this field that you want people to know?

I want people to know that these students, or anyone with a visual impairment, are much more capable than what people tend to give them credit for. We as future teachers of the visually impaired, as parents, as students, or as a society must start seeing individuals with visual impairment as who they really are: regular people. These individuals have likes and dislikes, work 9 – 5 jobs, attend AP classes and crush their courses and travel the globe, but they have a visual impairment and do it with a white cane. The stigma

must end, but the fight for equity must continue as we advocate for the rights of our students and clients.

What would you tell someone who’s considering a career as a teacher of the visually impaired (TVI) or orientation and mobility (O&M) specialist?

If you have any interest in becoming a teacher, a special education teacher, or specifically have an interest in visual disabilities education, I would say pay the program a visit and check us out online at  education.fsu.edu/visual-disabilities. This would give you an idea of what we do here as students and faculty and how much dedication we put towards helping individuals with visual impairments learn the skills necessary for an independent life (as much as possible while maintaining personal safety). As one of my previous professors stated before, “We want to teach ourselves right out of a job,” meaning we want to teach the skills needed by an individual and for them to master those skills completely so that they no longer need us to function as a fully capable individual. And if you feel like this last statement may be the most rewarding of all, then I believe this field may be a good fit for you and encourage you to apply. n

Student Spotlight: ZELLAYNE HUTCHINS

Program

Special Education (Ed.S.)

Hometown

Blakely, Georgia

When did you first discover your passion for working with children with special needs?

I have been comfortable rubbing shoulders with persons with disabilities for as long as I can remember. I was really close to my aunt who possibly had a dual diagnosis of mental illness and intellectual disability. She was my playmate and first friend.

In college, I volunteered at a sheltered workshop and just enjoyed being present with persons with disabilities. My major was education, but I didn’t realize that I wanted to work in the field of special education until I was a substitute in general education elementary classroom. I was certain that it was not who I wanted to be with and applied to the special education program at Florida State University.

Tell us about a memorable experience you’ve had as a teacher.

There are so many memories after teaching for over 29 years! One memory in particular involves one of our students who had great self-care skills and typically went about his morning independently. One day, he laid down to go to sleep which had never happened in the five years that I’d known him. He looked staff in the eye and said he needed help; he needed the doctor. As it turned out, his skull was cracked. He didn’t have the language to describe how he got hurt, but he was able to ask for help. This is probably the most important skill that student can gain—to tell someone that they need help or to have a way to advocate for themselves.

What has kept me coming back year after year is the encouragement I receive from my students’ achievements. While they make gains academically, it’s the additional things, such as learning to communicate in socially acceptable ways, that keeps me going.

What made you choose FSU for your degrees?

Honestly, I chose FSU for my bachelor’s and master’s because it was close to home. I received my B.S. and M.S. in the early 90s, but I kept working at my craft, taking advantages of opportunities to learn more. In 2019, I decided to pursue my specialist degree after I was presented with information about the K-12 Individuals with Developmental Disabilities (KiDDs) grant project. The purpose of this grant was to prepare current teachers to better support students with extensive support needs to be active learners in general curriculum classrooms. Even though my students were not going to be included in general education classes, I wanted to see what new information was floating around in special education and if there was anything that could be used with my students that needed extensive support. I was so excited to hear that there have been many gains in establishing evidenced-based practices for students just like mine. For the first time, I felt that my students were the focal point of the knowledge that I was gaining instead of being an afterthought. As a result of what I’ve learned, I’m ready to have a greater impact than just in my classroom. I believe I will have the skills to help others in their quest to engage students in high-quality instruction, providing them multiple opportunities to respond and show what they know.

Tell us about your research.

My research interest lies in impacting instruction for students with extensive support needs by supporting paraprofessionals through

professional development in evidence-based practices. I am targeting paraprofessionals because they are a valuable resource. While they may not be the teacher of record, they are most definitely teachers. Paraprofessionals enter special education classrooms because they want to help students, but often they are ill-prepared. Like all of us, we are left to our personal experiences apart from training and being presented with new knowledge. Students are placed in special education because they need more than what works for the general population. If we want paraprofessionals to make the biggest positive impact in our classrooms, we must provide training for them in evidenced-base practices. Just like teachers, paraprofessionals may not be paid their worth, but if they see their students making progress, they will keep their commitment to help students because they see that they are making a difference.

What are your plans for after graduation?

I plan to continue to serve students with extensive support needs in some way. My skill set is highly specialized, but I know there is a need to share what I’ve learned. I would really like the opportunity to partner with teachers of students with extensive support needs to help them provide rigor using high leverage practices.

What advice would you give to someone thinking about becoming a special education teacher?

I tell teachers to examine their hearts to ponder why they are considering being special education teachers. They must want to do it to serve students. One critical aspect of special education is progress monitoring. While on the surface it may seem like a chore, it allows you to see how far your students have come. When you can see their achievements in color, it really motivates you and validates your practice.

Anything else you’d like to add?

All students need good teachers. Students with disabilities need the best and brightest teachers. This is a profession that makes a difference. It’s not easy, but the students are worth every effort.  n