Special Education Advocacy websites are accessed by people within the field of education, parents of children with special needs and policy makers within the district, state government, and at federal levels.
An advocacy website’s purpose is to influence public policy and resource allocation decisions within political, economic, and social systems and institutions. It also connects those with similar concerns and interests. As a way of looking at websites, that advocate for children with special needs and their parents, five areas can be identified as part of the websites’ advocacies. These websites can:
1. Question the way policy is administered.
2. Create awareness on an issue, but also provide a plan of action to act on what is now known.
3. Be inclusive and engaging as a way of organizing other advocates.
4. Propose policy solution.
5. Open up space for public argumentation on a topic/issue.
In critiquing three advocacies’ websites, consider the above five items. In addition, discuss, on a more global level,
the rhetorical discourse. (How does the website choose to present the roles of those involved with students/children with special needs).
The perspective (s) evident. (Teacher, parent. Legislative, administrative…)
The steps of the process discussed within the narrative. (RTI, testing, IEP implementation, etc.)
Rubric Researching Advocacy Websites
Level III Target
Level II Acceptable
Level I Unacceptable
Technical quality is good. Paper is well written with no more than two typos/spelling errors/grammatical errors,
Technical quality adequate but not always clear. Three to four typos/spelling errors/grammatical errors.
Technical quality poor. Five or more typos/spelling errors/grammatical errors,
