Massachusetts FOCUS Academy
Registration for the spring 2012 courses is now closed. Thank you for your interest in the Massachusetts FOCUS Academy. Please check our website in May 2012 for a listing of courses to be offered in Fall 2012.
Introduction
In 2007, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education was awarded a five year federal grant to develop a cost free statewide professional development system for educators. This initiative, called Massachusetts FOCUS Academy (MFA), is designed to improve the outcomes for students with disabilities while increasing the retention of highly qualified personnel.
MFA courses are delivered through the Massachusetts Online Network for Education (MassONE). This forum contains several components including a virtual hard drive, discussion boards, personal storage space, survey tools, and email communication. Course providers facilitate the online discussion board as well as provide feedback to individual participants on course projects.
General Course Information
In the spring term, nine courses will be offered online through MassONE. In some cases, there will be face-to-face meeting time in addition to the online discussion forum. Participants will be notified by the course instructor of face-to-face meeting time once they are enrolled in the course.
Participants will receive 67.5 PDPs upon course completion and will also have the option to purchase graduate level units at a discounted rate through each of the partnering institutions of higher education.
Courses will be taught using the Moodle online learning platform. Some technical assistance will be provided, but participants are expected to have basic understanding of the internet and basic computer knowledge and skills. Participants must also have regular access to the internet. The courses are asynchronous, and content is delivered through assignments, weekly reading and an online discussion board. This does not mean that these are self-paced courses. Participants are expected to regularly attend class by logging into MassONE and interacting with the course instructor and their peers (posting questions, thoughts, assignments, etc.). As these are graduate level courses, participants should expect to spend 6-9 hours per week completing coursework.
Spring 2012 Course Descriptions
The course is designed to provide participants with a framework for understanding how to use primary, secondary and tertiary prevention and intervention strategies to create positive classroom and school environments. Please note: this course is a 90 PDP or 4 credit course and requires 7-10 hours per week. This course will be taught by experts in the field from Framingham State University. Graduate credit is available through Framingham State University.
This course is designed to improve the ability of educators to increase the number of students who succeed in their classrooms by designing learning environments that meet their diverse needs. This course will be taught by experts in the field from Ribas Associates and Publications, Inc. Graduate credit is available through Fitchburg State University.
Participants will review the history and development of career planning and service delivery models for students with disabilities as well as current transition education models and the legislation that guides them. This course will be taught by experts in the field from the Institute for Community Inclusion (ICI) at the University of Massachusetts-Boston (UMass-Boston). Graduate credit is available through UMass-Boston.
This course is designed to expand the knowledge and skills required to develop and strengthen collaborative partnerships with families of middle and high school students with disabilities, in order to assist students to successfully transition to adulthood. This course will be taught by experts in the field from the Federation for Children with Special Needs. Graduate credit is available through Fitchburg State University.
This course will provide educators with competencies that enable them to work effectively to design and implement collaborative co-teaching approaches, and to facilitate the delivery of research-based instruction to students with disabilities. This course will be taught by experts in the field from the Collaborative for Educational Services. Graduate credit is available through Fitchburg State University.
Participants will enhance their knowledge of disability rights, self-determination, IEP planning, employment, assessments, post secondary education, independent living, and medical transition planning. Discussion of issues specific to adolescence, family systems, and cultural competence will be an important component of the course. This course will be taught by experts in the field from the Federation for Children with Special Needs. Graduate credit is available through Fitchburg State University.
  This course will provide an overview of transition-related laws and will include strategies to promote self-determination, interagency collaboration, and family involvement in the transition planning process. Additional topics include guardianship, social security and disability benefits, healthcare issues that impact transition, community living options, social networks, transportation, technology and accommodations, transition assessments and assisting in the realization of person centered planning.
The focus of the first course is on the instructional paradigm shift to Universal Design for Learning (UDL). This course presents the principles, applications, and research background of UDL including the convergence of assistive technologies and UDL and an overview of Lesson Design through the UDL lens This course will be taught by experts in the field from the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST). Graduate credit is available through Salem State University.
While focusing on the principles, applications, and research background of UDL including the convergence of assistive technologies and UDL and an overview of Lesson Design through the UDL lens, this UDL course is designed to equip math educators with principles, applications and research background of UDL through the lens of mathematics. This course will be taught by experts in the field from the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST). Graduate credit is available through Salem State University.
Eligibility/Criteria for Selection
Completeness and quality of online application
Appropriateness of role of applicant
Please note:
- Priority will be given to applicants from targeted districts.
- As space is limited, the Department will consider regional and district representation when selecting course participants and preference will be given to colleagues who apply from the same school.
- The project design of this grant targets middle and high school educators. For this reason, the Department will give priority to middle and high school practitioners.
How to Apply
Complete an application by selecting the course for which you would like to apply.
- Creating Positive Learning Environments: Part I (Closed)
- Differentiated Instruction (Closed)
- Generalist Transition Planning I (Closed)
- How to Partner with Families of Middle and High School Students with Disabilities to Achieve Success (Closed)
- Implementing Collaborative Teaching (Closed)
- Parent and Professional Partnerships: Transition Planning for Students with Disabilities in Middle and High School (Closed)
- Topics in Transition (Closed)
- Universal Design for Learning (101): Meeting the Needs of Diverse Learners (Closed)
- Universal Design for Learning Mathematics (M101): Meeting the Needs of Diverse Learners (Closed)
Fax or mail a completed Principal Support Statement to the ESE contact listed for the individual course to which you're applying. Provide a MassONE username. A MassONE account is required for acceptance into MFA. MassONE administrator contact information can be found at http://massone.mass.edu/teachers/register.html. If you already have a MassONE account, and need to access your username or reset your password please go to: https://massone.doemass.org/passreset/. Please Note: All Boston Public School teachers have access to MassONE through their MyBPS account only.
All parts of the MFA application (online application, principal support statement, and MassONE username) are due Wednesday, January 18th, 2012. Incomplete applications will not be considered.
Some courses will begin the end of January and others the beginning of February. Participants who are accepted will be notified at least one week prior to the start of their course.
Space is limited. Completed applications will be considered on a first-come, first-serve basis. Eligible applicants who are unable to be enrolled due to space constraints will be placed on a waiting list and notified. Waitlisted applicants may be accepted as late as the week of January 23rd. Those applicants who are unable to be enrolled this fall will be enrolled in spring courses.
If you have any questions, please contact Lisa Hanafin at lhanafin@doe.mass.edu or 781-338-3367
last updated: January 23, 2012
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