The Special Education Consultant's primary role is to assist districts in programming and planning for the participation of students with special needs in the general education curriculum and in required assessments, such as the MAP and MAP-A, as required under state and federal law. The Consultant also provides trainings and workshops on a regional level through the RPDC as well as at the request of districts within the Southwest Region. Additionally, the Consultant collaborates with other programs in the RPDC to meet the needs of districts as they serve students with disabilities. Collaboration with Missouri Colleges and Universities is also part of the job embedded responsibilities assigned to the Consultant.
Districts should call on the Consultant to assist with comprehensive school improvement plans (CSIP), professional development, and other school based improvement efforts.
The position of Special Education Consultant is funded through a grant awarded by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) to the Southwest Regional Professional Development Center (RPDC) with support from Missouri State University.
About the Consultants
Lois Jones comes to the Southwest RPDC as an experienced educator and consultant. She holds a Master’s Degree in Special Education from Missouri State University. Her administration experiences include working in school districts as director of special services, vocational counselor, elementary and secondary counselor, and school psychological examiner. Her teaching experience includes working with students K-12 in various settings involving general and special education classrooms and Title 1 programs.
Kris Luginbill comes to the Southwest RPDC as an experienced educator in working with children with special needs. She has a Bachelor's of Arts in Communicative Disorders and Sciences and a Master's of Arts in Speech and Language Pathology from Wichita State University. Kris has provided special education services in the public schools, in the area of speech and language for children grades K-8, working with children with special needs including speech and language impairments, hearing impairments, mental retardation, emotional disturbance and learning disabilities. She independently taught a language arts replacement class for middle school children and co-taught in general education classes to meet the needs of special education students.
Bruce Renner joins the Southwest RPDC from another Missouri State University department where he headed up the Masters of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program. Prior to his work with MAT and the Title II federal grant, Bruce served from 1991 to 2001 as Dean of Student Development at Ozarks Technical Community College. Bruce was instrumental in establishing initial counseling, financial aid, recruitment and admissions offices, designed and expanded OTC’s scholarship program and supervised budgets and federal grants of over seven million dollars. Bruce contributed twenty-five years to Springfield Public Schools as a guidance counselor at Parkview High School and a K-12 special education instructor. He is also certified as a school psychological examiner and has taught college classes in psychology and education. Bruce has served as a member of the Springfield R-XII School Board since 1994, and the Missouri School Board Association/Board of Directors since 1997. He is currently president of that organization. Bruce is a valuable asset to his community having served on the boards of the City of Springfield, St Johns Marion Center/Mercy School and Habitat for Humanity.
Technical Assistance and Support to Your District
The Special Education Consultant can assist districts in addressing the needs of students with disabilities in any of the following ways:
· Regional Trainings through the RPDC
· District, Building or Department level staff development and training
· Analysis of APR's and MAP scores specific to participation of students with disabilities
· Planning for and addressing the improvement of MAP scores for students with disabilities
· Classroom Support and Assistance for implementation of instructional strategies
· Follow-up and technical assistance for implementation after training
· Other requests as made by districts, RPDC or DESE