Exceptional Students: Preparing Teachers for the 21st Century ISE

Lydia R. Smiley, Ph.D, is a professor of Exceptional Student Education at Florida Atlantic University. She received her doctorate in Special Education from Georgia State University. Dr. Smiley co-authored Language delays and disorders: From research to practice (1998) and has also written several articles and chapters on a variety of topics. She taught both undergraduate and graduate classes and was the recipient of several teaching awards and the CLD Professional of the Year award. Her current interests are in methods of teaching students with mild/moderate disabilities and language disorders. Stephen B. Richards, Ed.D, is Associate Professor of Education at West Liberty University in West Virginia. He currently teaches in the undergraduate special education certificate program at West Liberty University, a regional comprehensive university in West Virginia’s northern panhandle. He received his doctorate in Special Education from Florida Atlantic University. He has coauthored three textbooks, Intellectual/Cognitive Disabilities: Historical Perspectives, Current Practices, and Future Directions (2015), Collaboration Among Professionals, Students, Families and Communities (2016), and Single Subject Research and Design: Applications in Educational Settings (in press, 3rd ed.), in addition to journal articles on a variety of topics. His current interests are in assessing the preparation of pre-service teacher education candidates for their first year in teaching.