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Deborah Deutsch Smith
Director, IRIS-West
Professor, Special Education
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Education |
B.A., Pitzer College
Teacher Education, California State University – Northridge
M.Ed., University of Missouri – Columbia
Ed.D., University of Washington |
| Biography |
Deborah Deutsch Smith (Ed.D. University of Washington)
Professor, Special Education, School of Educational Studies, Claremont Graduate University (CGU)
Director, IRIS-West www.cgu.edu/pages/4993.asp
Deb Deutsch Smith, currently is principal investigator of an national evaluation effort, Special Education Faculty Needs Assessment (SEFNA) and the co-principal investigator of the IRIS Center for Training Enhancements. The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) funds both projects (Project Numbers H325U070001 and H325F060003). SEFNA is seeking to determine whether the nation has sufficient special education faculty to produce an adequate supply of new highly qualified special education teachers. The IRIS Center is charged with providing the nation with interactive modules and other training materials that focus on the education of students with disabilities. These resources are designed for use by education faculty in college courses and by professional development providers seeking to upgrade the knowledge and skills of practicing education professionals. These materials are available at no cost through the Center’s Web site: http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu.
IRIS-West, housed at CGU, serves as the national outreach component of The IRIS Center, providing technical assistance and training to faculty and professional development providers through a systematic scaling-up effort.
Dr. Smith has directed many federal, state, and local projects and has received over $30 million in funding to support those efforts. For 12 years, she directed the highly successful Alliance Project, a national technical assistance effort funded by OSEP to help faculty working at special education and related services personnel preparation programs housed at minority colleges and universities. The main purpose of that effort was to help these faculty members obtain external funding to support college students preparing to work with students with disabilities in school settings. She also served as the principal investigator of the Study of the Supply and Demand of Special Education Faculty, which is cited in the Congressional Record, in federal legislation, and in appropriations language. The study found that the nation was experiencing chronic shortage of special education doctoral graduates seeking careers in higher education. Findings also indicated that this imbalance in the supply and demand of new faculty was a major factor contributing to the special education teacher shortage nationally.
Dr. Smith has authored over eleven major textbooks, including a best selling introduction to special education text, Introduction to Special Education: Making a Difference, which is in its 6th edition, and is available in Spanish, and is being translated into Hebrew, Polish, and Mandarin Chinese. She has written over 31 chapters and book supplements, 50 refereed articles, and many instructional materials for children. Since 1984, Deb has served on the Board of Trustees for Pitzer College, Claremont Colleges, and was recognized as a Life Trustee in 2003 |
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Teaching Interests |
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- Special Education
- Disability Policy
- Learning Disabilities
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Research Interests |
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- “How People Learn” (HPL) Theory
- Learning outcomes of college students and instructional technology
- Supply and demand of special education faculty
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Publications, Projects, and Presentations |
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- Bryant, D.P., Smith, D.D., & Bryant, B. (2008). Teaching students with special needs in inclusive classrooms. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
- Smith, D.D. (2007). Introduction to special education: Making a difference (6th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
- Smith, D.D. (2006). Introduction to special education: Teaching in a time of opportunity (5th ed – IDEA ’04 update). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
- Smith, D.D., & Van Etten-Luaces, S. (2006). FastSort: Artic. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
- Smith, D.D., & Van Etten-Luaces, S. (2006). FastSort: Vocab. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
- Smith, D.D., Pion, G., Skow, K., Tyler, N.C., Yzquierdo, Z.M., Givner, C., & Brown, J. (2005). The IRIS Center for Faculty Enhancement: On-line course enhancement modules and materials for use in the preparation of education professionals. New Horizons for Learning, 11, 1-17.
- Smith, D.D., Pion, G.M., & Tyler, N.C. (2004). Leadership personnel in special education: Can persistent shortage be resolved? In H.J. Rieth, A. McCray, and P. Sindelar (Eds.), Critical Issues in Special Education: Access, Diversity, and Accountability (pp. 258-276). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
- Smith, D.D. (2003). Welcome to the TESE special issue: Study of Special Education Leadership Personnel. Teacher Education and Special Education, 26, 163-164.
- Smith, D.D., Pion, G.M., Tyler, N.C., & Gilmore, R. (2003). Doctoral programs in special education: The nation's supplier. Teacher Education and Special Education, 26, 172-181.
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Curriculum Vitae |
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Books:
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