Denise M. Gudwin is currently an adjunct professor at Florida International University and consultant for the Bureau of Educational Research. She retired from Miami-Dade County Public Schools after thirty years of service, July 2008. Her past experiences in the fourth-largest school district include teacher, district curriculum support specialist, district instructional supervisor of programs for learning disabilities, and district executive director, Office of Professional Development and Center for Professional Learning.She is past president of Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), Miami Chapter 121; newsletter editor, Florida Council for Exceptional Children (FCEC), and conference… chair for the 2007 State FCEC Conference; and past president for FCEC Florida Division of Learning Disabilities (DLD).Gudwin�s graduate work includes a master�s degree in reading and a PhD in education leadership with a focus on teaching reading to students with learning disabilities. Her areas of interests are literacy, learning disabilities, teacher support, and research.
Magda D. Salazar is currently the Special Education Chairperson and Teacher at an elementary school in the fourth-largest school district of the nation. Her past experiences include special education teacher; inclusion teacher; curriculum support specialist, Division of Special Education, District Office; professional development support specialist; and adjunct professor at Florida International University and Barry University. She is a former Rookie Teacher of the Year and is in her tenth year in the field of education. Salazar is vice-president of Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), Miami Chapter 121; newsletter editor, Florida Council for Exceptional Children (FCEC); and local… program chair for the 2007 State FCEC conference. Her publications include ERIC Document #491545 Review of Single Subject Research Design: Applications to Special Education and Psychology, as well as ERIC Document #491410, entitled, What Do the Experts Say about Urban Special Education Issues? She is also the author of Professional Development: Assisting Urban Schools in Making Annual Yearly Progress (September 2007 - the Journal of Urban Learning, Teaching, and Research), A Qualitative Study of New/Early Career Special Education Teacher Retention in a Multicultural Urban Setting (Spring 2008 - Florida Educational Leadership Journal), and Urban Co-Teaching Practices: A Mixed Methodological Examination (Spring 2008 - The National Journal of Urban Education and Practice). She has contributed articles to Dade Dispatch (the quarterly newsletter for Dade Reading Council); ESE Connection (ne wslett er for The Florida Council for Exceptional Children), and authored a column entitled Multicultural Corner. In addition, she was co-editor of the GATE Gazette (a monthly newsletter for beginning teachers and their mentors). Salazar's graduate achievements include a master's degree in reading. She is a doctoral candidate at Florida International University, Miami's first Research I Public University. She is pursuing her doctorate. in urban/special education in the Urban S.E.A.L.S project at Florida International University. Her areas of interests are new/early career teachers, special education, legislation and compliance in special education, learning disabilities, overrepresentation of minorities in special education, literacy, and research.