Elizabeth Fleming to Lead College Special Education Programs
01.16.2009
LONGMEADOW, Mass.—Elizabeth Fleming, DA, of Wellesley has been named director of special education programs at Bay Path College. In this capacity, she will oversee Bay Path’s Graduate Program in Special Education, which offers the Master of Science (MS) in Education and Specialist in Education (EdS), both with licensure in special education. The accelerated graduate program will offer online, on campus and hybrid courses with a majority offered on a weekend model at all three Bay Path campuses—Longmeadow, Burlington, and Central Massachusetts (Sturbridge/Charlton, MA) .
Bay Path’s Graduate Program in Special Education prepares graduate students for their roles as highly trained teachers and human service professionals who provide designed instruction and services to children with various special needs. Under her direction, the program will instruct graduate students about the use of multiple teaching strategies, which ensure all students with special needs reach their learning potential. Bay Path graduate students will also acquire knowledge in articulating theories, concepts, and methods of assessing the physical, emotional, intellectual, and social development of children and adolescents, as well as gain experience in designing and adapting curriculum, instructional materials, and environments for students with special needs. The program also provides graduate students with various options that can expand their professional credentials.
“I am delighted to lead Bay Path’s innovative program, and play a role in the graduate education of future special educators and human service professionals; two of the most rewarding careers that have a positive influence on children and adults with disabilities,” said Dr. Fleming. “Our extensive and demanding coursework prepares graduate students for the multiple areas of specialization within special education as they pursue careers that provide essential support to those with special needs who require individual teaching approaches, equipment or care.”
A nationally recognized leader in the field of special education, Fleming served as assistant dean, chair and director of the Department of Special Education—undergraduate and graduate—at Simmons College in Boston prior to joining Bay Path as the Dean of Faculty for the Burlington campus. She has been the principal investigator on several federal grants; conducted numerous program curriculum evaluations; chaired college accreditation evaluations; and served as a grant reader for several state and federal grants in Washington, DC; and was a participant at the CISSLM-IMLS International Research Symposium discussing the impact of school libraries on student learning in New York. Currently, she is co-editor of the Journal of the National Association for Alternative Certification, an education publication, and is a member of the national CEC finance committee for the Council of Special Education Administrators.
Fleming’s research interests are in the areas of special education, professional development, and inclusionary practices for both educators and students. She has conducted national and local presentations and initiated programs for the practice of inclusion, and she is actively committed to training professionals to expand educational skills to educators at all levels.
The Bay Path Graduate Program in Special Education will also be offering courses in Foxboro and Williamstown. Bay Path College will host an Graduate Program in Special Education Open House at the Reading Institute, 430 Main Street in Williamstown at 4:30 p.m. The Open House is free and open to men and women who are interested in completing their graduate college degree in special education. For more information about programs in Foxboro and Williamstown, contact the Burlington Campus at 781.272.0222.
