On The Mark
On the Mark presents a forum for candid conversations about meaningful and consequential work happening here at Towson University. Founded in 1866, Towson University is a top-ranked, comprehensive public research university recognized as Maryland’s #1 public institution by the Wall Street Journal. As greater Baltimore’s largest university, TU proudly serves as an engine of opportunity for nearly 20,000 students, the state of Maryland and beyond.
On The Mark
On the Mark: Dr. Rachel Billman and Dr. Kandace Hoppin
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
In this episode, President Mark Ginsberg is joined by Dr. Kandace Hoppin and Dr. Rachel Billman, associate professors in special education at Towson University, whose work focuses on supporting students with diverse learning needs and preparing future educators for inclusive classrooms. The group explores how educators are creating more inclusive learning environments and expanding opportunities for students with disabilities through innovative teaching and hands-on experiences.
The conversation highlights Camp InSpECT, a free five-day summer camp hosted at TU for students entering grades 1–10 with documented disabilities. Through engaging lessons in computational thinking and computer science, campers build confidence and new skills while TU students studying special education gain valuable real-world teaching experience. Together, Dr. Hoppin and Dr. Billman discuss the importance of accessibility, teacher preparation, and creating meaningful pathways for all students to succeed.
[Music]
[00:00:01]
Narrator: You're listening to a Towson University podcast.
[Music]
[00:00:08]
Mark Ginsberg: Welcome to On the Mark, where we have candid conversations about the meaningful and consequential work happening here at Towson University. I'm Mark Ginsberg. It's my honor to serve as president of TU. And of course, Towson University is located in Towson, Maryland. And on this podcast, we're introducing you to members of our university community who are engaged in high-impact teaching, research, and student success practices, and also deeply involved in our community.
[Music]
[00:00:40]
Mark Ginsberg: Today, we're exploring how educators are expanding access and opportunities for students with disabilities, and I'm joined by two guests whose work in Special Education are making an impact here in the Baltimore region and across the state of Maryland. First is Dr. Kandace Hoppin, an associate professor in Special Education at Towson University and a former public elementary school teacher. Dr. Hoppin's research focuses on supporting teachers with emotional, behavioral, and neuropsychiatric needs and preparing teachers to apply collaborative and inclusive practices and advanced computational thinking for students with disabilities. And also joining me is Dr. Rachel Billman, also an associate professor in Special Education in TU's College of Education. Prior to her work in higher education, Dr. Billman taught secondary math to students with disabilities. Her research explores math interventions, learning disabilities, Special Education teacher preparation, classroom technology, and computational thinking also for students with disabilities.
Together, Dr. Hoppin and Billman lead Camp Inspect, a free five-day camp hosted by Towson University for students entering grades 1 through 10 with documented disabilities. Campers learn the basics of computational thinking and computer science. They're taught by students here at Towson University studying the field of Special Education. And it's a meaningful learning experience, both for the students participating in the camp, but also for our TU students who are learning and gaining hands-on teaching experience. Kandace and Rachel, thank you for joining me. It's a pleasure to have you on On the Mark.
[00:02:17]
Dr. Kandace Hoppin: Thanks for having us.
[00:02:18]
Dr. Rachel Billman: Yes, thank you.
[00:02:19]
Mark Ginsberg: Let's start just to try to understand a little bit about Project Inspect. So, tell us and tell our audience, who I know are going to be very interested in the topic, what is Project Inspect and perhaps how it is it got started?
[00:02:30]
Dr. Kandace Hoppin: Yeah, I can take that one. So, we are a five-day camp and it's free for families to send their children with disabilities, and so as long as that kid has a documented 504 or IEP, an Individualized Education Plan, they can register to attend Camp Inspect. And our focus is on really filling a gap between the end of the school year and what is called extended school year for many students with disabilities, which is essentially like summer school.
[00:02:59]
Mark Ginsberg: Yeah.
[00:03:00]
Dr. Kandace Hoppin: So, we offer this the end of June. And then, as you shared, it's run by and facilitated by Dr. Billman and I and our other colleague, Dr. Nawash. We also coordinate with some other faculty across campus, including Dr. Sean Fullerton from Kinesiology.
[00:03:15]
Mark Ginsberg: Uh-huh.
[00:03:16]
Dr. Kandace Hoppin: And yeah, we've got 20 of our pre-service Special Education students who are essentially what we call camp teachers. And so, we prepare for two weeks before camp in what we call our professional development and preparation weeks. And then we run Camp Inspect. The campers show up on Monday. They're there Monday through Friday all day with us, engaging in fun activities, but also some computational literacy, computational thinking skills. But it's also a camp, so it's really fun and engaging. And our focus is to make it accessible and fun and a great opportunity for these families.
[00:03:52]
Mark Ginsberg: Yeah, so it sounds like it really has a dual purpose. One purpose is to provide an inspiring, engaging, and as you say, a fun experience, but also a learning experience for the students who are enrolled in the program. But it's also an opportunity for our own students here at TU to learn from the two of you and to have hands-on, direct, applied professional experiences, not just with this population, but also in this kind of structure of program that you've engaged. How did it start? Tell us about its history a little bit.
[00:04:20]
Dr. Rachel Billman: So, we started this program, well, we started our work in computational thinking and Special Education in, I believe, 2021.
[00:04:29]
Mark Ginsberg: Yeah, that's a core area of Special Ed.
[00:04:30]
Dr. Rachel Billman: Yes, yeah. So, we started back in 2021. Our first kind of experience with this research and with this project was to incorporate computational thinking into our Special Education teacher preparation coursework so that future teachers would have exposure to this content. And we started there in one or two of our courses, and we started to teach faculty about computational thinking within Special Education.
[00:04:54]
Mark Ginsberg: Sure, right. Uh-huh.
[00:04:55]
Dr. Rachel Billman: Because it's an area that many faculty weren't fully aware of either. It's kind of a new emerging content area, I would say. And then from there, it really took off. I think Camp Inspect really stemmed from the fact that we wanted to provide our pre-service teachers with more opportunities to get their feet wet and start to practice their teaching skills.
[00:05:16]
Mark Ginsberg: I see. So started to think about ways to further elongate the training of our own students.
[00:05:20]
Dr. Rachel Billman: Exactly.
[00:05:21]
Mark Ginsberg: But then it became a really significant community-engaged, I guess, service.
[00:05:26]
Dr. Rachel Billman: Yeah, absolutely. It started very small and grew extremely rapidly, and we have a lot of...
[00:05:32]
Mark Ginsberg: Shows you there's a great need for it.
[00:05:34]
Dr. Rachel Billman: Yeah, absolutely. And we have such a strong community now with our learners and with our families that are really responsive to the camp. They love it.
[00:05:43]
Mark Ginsberg: Well, it sounds like it's a fabulous experience for the students who are coming, but also for our own students.
[00:05:48]
Dr. Rachel Billman: Mm-hmm.
[00:05:48]
Mark Ginsberg: And you had mentioned to me earlier, before we started the conversation, that we have students who've come year in and year out. They have enjoyed the experience so much. And families have benefited from the experience too.
[00:05:58]
Dr. Rachel Billman: Yeah, we have some campers who have come every year. We've done this four years in a row now. We started out with a one-day pilot camp. And how many students were there?
[00:06:07]
Dr. Kandace Hoppin: Nine.
[00:06:08]
Dr. Rachel Billman: Nine students in 2023. It was a one-day pilot, and it went well, but we knew that there were more students out there who we wanted to have attend. We knew there was a need. And the following year, we had 35. Last year, we had 40 students. And this year, we intend to have 40 as well.
[00:06:24]
Mark Ginsberg: Wow, 40 students, 40 young people.
[00:06:27]
Dr. Rachel Billman: Yes.
[00:06:27]
Mark Ginsberg: And they're grades 1 through 10.
[00:06:30]
Dr. Rachel Billman: Yes.
[00:06:30]
Mark Ginsberg: So, it's a pretty wide age range that you have.
[00:06:32]
Dr. Rachel Billman: Mm-hmm.
[00:06:32]
Mark Ginsberg: How do you handle that age range? Because you're having children with many different abilities, not just disabilities, but abilities as well.
[00:06:37]
Dr. Kandace Hoppin: Yeah. It is. It's a wide range of needs. And essentially, what we do with our pre-service teachers is in those two weeks before camp begins, we put them in teams. So, they're also practicing collaboration and planning skills. And we do those teams, we group by kind of the ages and grades. So, we have an early childhood elementary.
[00:06:58]
Mark Ginsberg: I see.
[00:06:58]
Dr. Kandace Hoppin: We have an upper elementary, middle. And then we have a secondary groups.
[00:07:01]
Mark Ginsberg: Almost like pods.
[00:07:02]
Dr. Kandace Hoppin: Yeah, like they're in their own kind of like a teaching team. Or a professional learning community would be the terms we'd use in education.
[00:07:07]
Mark Ginsberg: Yes. Yes, a PLC, right.
[00:07:09]
Dr. Kandace Hoppin: And so that, I think, helps because they also are building that confidence and kind of planning and working together, but also that implementation. They've got a team. They're figuring this out. And it's different than when they get into their internships in the schools and they have a mentor teacher and they have a curriculum that's in place already that they're implementing and supporting. Our students get a lot of independence. Our hope is... Our Towson students get a lot of independence.
[00:07:31]
Mark Ginsberg: Yes, yes. Yes.
[00:07:33]
Dr. Kandace Hoppin: And they also can develop that self-confidence and that sense of autonomy in the decision-making process that goes into the everyday on-the-fly of teaching, but also while keeping it really engaging and accessible and fun. Because it's a camp setting. So, it's a really great informal education space to learn in.
[00:07:49]
Mark Ginsberg: Right. So, they have more independence, but they're also being well supervised.
[00:07:53]
Dr. Rachel Billman: For sure.
[00:07:54]
Dr. Kandace Hoppin: Oh, absolutely.
[00:07:55]
Dr. Rachel Billman: Yes.
[00:07:55]
Mark Ginsberg: The two of you and your peers are there.
[00:07:57]
Dr. Kandace Hoppin: We are.
[00:08:00]
Mark Ginsberg: To plan and engage and oversee essentially what's happening with the 40 young people every year.
[00:08:02]
Dr. Rachel Billman: Yeah. Yeah. And so, the two weeks leading up to camp are two full weeks of professional development for our pre-service teachers at Towson. And we bring them to campus. They're paid for their time as camp teachers and they get paid professional development. Sort of a crash course in Special Education practice.
[00:08:17]
Mark Ginsberg: Almost like a class.
[00:08:18]
Dr. Rachel Billman: Absolutely is.
[00:08:18]
Dr. Kandace Hoppin: Absolutely, yeah.
[00:08:18]
Mark Ginsberg: They've got two weeks of instruction and then a week of practice, essentially.
[00:08:22]
Dr. Kandace Hoppin: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
[00:08:23]
Dr. Rachel Billman: Yeah. We kind of consider it like a little bit of a lab school opportunity in many senses.
[00:08:27]
Mark Ginsberg: Good way to describe it. And for families, I mean, as a parent, I know how difficult it is to find summer activities for children, but it must be particularly challenging for a parent with a child with disabilities to find the right kind of experience and accessible, affordable experience for them.
[00:08:44]
Dr. Rachel Billman: Yeah. Our parents have shared with us that there are not many opportunities for their children over the summer that align with their children's needs.
[00:08:53]
Mark Ginsberg: Yeah.
[00:08:54]
Dr. Rachel Billman: They feel like there's many camps that are offered, but not necessarily camps that are open to working with students with more extensive needs and they might be ready to accommodate.
[00:09:05]
Mark Ginsberg: Yeah. That brings up another question. Talk a little bit about the range of issues and the range of challenges that students have who are participating in the program because that, too, must be a challenge is to find the right fit, to be sure it's a good fit for students.
[00:09:18]
Dr. Rachel Billman: Sure. So, we have students with a range of abilities that come to our camp and lots of assets that they bring, too, to our camp.
[00:09:25]
Mark Ginsberg: Sure.
[00:09:25]
Dr. Rachel Billman: It's really interesting to see some of the prior experiences that our students come in with, especially when they're so excited about coding and so excited about some of the things that they've learned in school, and they want to apply it. But we also see students come in with a range of disabilities such as learning disabilities, ADHD. We have students with autism. We have students with emotional behavior disorders. We have students who are...
[00:09:52]
Dr. Kandace Hoppin: Communication needs, yeah.
[00:09:52]
Dr. Rachel Billman: Yeah, communication needs, hearing, vision needs. So, it really runs...
[00:09:56]
Mark Ginsberg: Pretty wide range.
[00:09:56]
Dr. Rachel Billman: Yeah, yeah.
[00:09:57]
Dr. Kandace Hoppin: Yeah.
[00:09:58]
Dr. Rachel Billman: And so, it's a good opportunity for our pre-service teachers to meet the students where they are and try to figure out pretty quickly what abilities they have and their interests.
[00:10:07]
Mark Ginsberg: Talk a little bit also then about the preparation. I'm curious because the duality of purpose for the camp is really quite unique, that you're providing this incredible experience for children, and at the same time providing a very important applied professional experience for your students. So, for the two weeks before, you were saying they're planning. They're learning how to plan, but they're also planning for a very tailored experience for these youngsters.
[00:10:31]
Dr. Kandace Hoppin: Yeah, so we design it each summer. The first week is a lot, as Rachel mentioned earlier, almost like a crash course in Special Ed, but also in computational literacy, computational thinking. What does it mean when we talk about that process? What are problem-solving aspects? How can we integrate that into instruction across content areas? And so, it's been great because we've been able to collaborate. We mentioned some other faculty here at Towson, but also an educator at the Maryland School for the Blind who comes in and talks about accessibility, but also music and making that accessible, but also kind of connecting to patterns and rhythm and activities we can do to engage all of our learners. And then we also do a lot around supporting social-emotional and behavioral needs.
[00:11:15]
Mark Ginsberg: Yes, yes.
[00:11:15]
Dr. Kandace Hoppin: So, we mentioned camp is very fun, and it is very fun, but with a lot of fun and excitement also can come a lot of behaviors or a lot of things that come out of that excitement, and we're excited to do this, or we want to hold the robots up high.
[00:11:29]
Mark Ginsberg: Sure.
[00:11:30]
Dr. Kandace Hoppin: Things like that but also, it's a new space. And so, we do a lot of professional development. Many of our students may or may not have had maybe one course around classroom and behavior management, but not all of them have yet. Most of them are coming in as juniors or finishing their junior year. We have a couple maybe that are earlier. And then we have some graduates who finish their senior year and can work before they really leave TU.
[00:11:52]
Mark Ginsberg: Mm-hmm.
[00:11:56]
Dr. Kandace Hoppin: So it is, I think, just a great opportunity for all of them during those weeks to learn a lot and also build off of their prior coursework. Then the following week, we're still doing professional development, we're still reviewing things with them, but it's also a little bit more hands off because we want them planning, sharing their outlines together. What are your plans for the day? They're also preparing materials and decorating their doors, creating activities, setting a routine. So, it is real intentionally planned out all 10 of those days that happen before camp week.
[00:12:28]
Mark Ginsberg: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:12:29]
Dr. Kandace Hoppin: Yeah.
[00:12:30]
Mark Ginsberg: So, you've talked a little bit about how we prepare for it, and we've talked a little bit about the experience. Talk a little bit about what are some of the benefits? What are children not just experiencing, but what are they benefiting from this? Because it seems like there's all kinds of positive things that'll come about even from a short one-week experience for these kids.
[00:12:51]
Dr. Rachel Billman: It's kind of emotional sometimes to think back about the growth of many of the students over just the course of a week. Some of the feedback that they give us and some of the feedback that the parents give us.
[00:13:00]
Mark Ginsberg: Yeah. I'm sure.
[00:13:01]
Dr. Rachel Billman: Especially around making friends and those social-emotional skills that grow and develop as a result of being with kids who get them, being with kids who are excited to be there too. Being with teachers who understand them and are meeting them where they are and encouraging them. It is so, I don't know, it's a special thing for a lot of our students who attend the camp. And beyond that, it's just reaffirming that they have a lot to offer when sometimes school has been somewhat challenging for them.
[00:13:35]
Mark Ginsberg: Yeah, it's interesting. I was looking at some of the research on camp experiences, and one of the composites I read suggested that children who attend these programs, programs like yours, but I'm sure actually your program as well, feel less socially isolated and also more socially competent. That even a one week, a brief experience could help children to be less isolated. And we know that children with disabilities often feel very isolated and also not very competent socially. A greater sense of belonging.
[00:14:05]
Dr. Rachel Billman: Yeah, I know.
[00:14:06]
Mark Ginsberg: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:14:06]
Dr. Rachel Billman: When you see the...
[00:14:06]
Mark Ginsberg: And you experience that.
[00:14:07]
Dr. Rachel Billman: Oh, absolutely. Thank you for sharing that. I mean, it reaffirms what we're doing. But it's also just so wonderful to see our older students are sharing phone numbers at the end of camp, asking Mom and Dad, "Can I hang out with them this weekend?" Even though they might not be in the same school, now they're seeing kids from across school districts, from different schools in their community, and they're able to make those connections. And make connections with future teachers who might be... You know, they're like, "Oh, I might see this teacher in my school next year."
[00:14:33]
Dr. Kandace Hoppin: Yeah.
[00:14:34]
Mark Ginsberg: Yeah.
[00:14:34]
Dr. Rachel Billman: "There are teachers who get me," and I really, really like that about the camp.
[00:14:37]
Mark Ginsberg: Right. And being with peers, my hunch is there's something very important for these kids to be with kids who are very much like themselves. Yeah. Yeah. Fabulous. Fabulous. And how about the families? You mentioned some of their families. The families also find the experience to be not just gratifying for their children, but inspiring for themselves as well.
[00:14:56]
Dr. Rachel Billman: A lot of the families have shared with us that some of the information that we have imparted as part of participating in this camp, they're bringing back to their schools, kind of helping them to rethink some of the practices that they're seeing within the context of their IEPs, having some ideas to bring back to the schools. Especially around like, "Oh, I saw my student or I saw my child can really thrive in these types of environments with these types of supports. Can we try that during the academic year?" So, they're seeing how some things might be more...
[00:15:34]
Dr. Kandace Hoppin: Effective?
[00:15:34]
Dr. Rachel Billman: Yeah. More effective.
[00:15:35]
Dr. Kandace Hoppin: Yeah.
[00:15:35]
Mark Ginsberg: Yeah. Effective's a good word. Yeah.
[00:15:36]
Dr. Rachel Billman: Yeah. More effective with them during the camp, and it's something that they can bring back to the school year, but also, they have opportunities to make connections with one another. We see parents talking in the parking lot. We see parents talking with us after camp hours. And so, there's connections across the board being made.
[00:15:51]
Mark Ginsberg: Yeah, yeah. Now, I know your camp is full for this summer and we wish there was more funding and you could have more children engaged, but if you were to advise parents, a parent with a child who could benefit from a program like this, what are some of the things they might be on the lookout for in terms of their own children and how a child might benefit from a camp-based experience? Because there are some other opportunities around the region as well.
[00:16:14]
Dr. Rachel Billman: Yeah.
[00:16:15]
Dr. Kandace Hoppin: And we even in our earlier work as we were trying to figure out camp and how we would run it and get things started, we connected with some folks just kind of in other areas, I'd say like – I'll just say East Coast because there aren't too many – about other camps or other experiences like working with larger groups of students with disabilities in this informal camp environment. And so, I think what we'd say is really look for the accessibility aspect. That's really huge for us, that with a range of needs that anything that we're planning is accessible for all students to be able to participate in. And also look at an experience where they're going to consider your individual students. Again, the inter-strengths and needs, we reiterate that because we really focus with our Towson students about this strength-based perspective, right? Like we know the history and the damage that deficit-based perspectives have had in the disability community. So, really looking at these students as what are their strengths, what are their assets?
[00:17:13]
Mark Ginsberg: What they can do, not what they can't do.
[00:17:14]
Dr. Kandace Hoppin: What can they do, yeah. And what's a camp that's going to be a positive experience for that so that they can shine? Because I think also the parents benefit from seeing their kid be successful. So, that's really powerful. Yeah, look at something that's going to be a fit for your kiddo, but also where they're going to experience that success and it's connected to their interests and strengths so they can shine because they need that opportunity. They deserve it.
[00:17:37]
Mark Ginsberg: And have the positive experience that...
[Crosstalk 00:17:39]
[00:17:39]
Dr. Kandace Hoppin: Absolutely.
[00:17:40]
Mark Ginsberg: Something that's reinforcing, not debilitating.
[00:17:42]
Dr. Kandace Hoppin: Yeah, yeah.
[00:17:43]
Mark Ginsberg: It kind of leads me into another set of questions that I'd very much welcome to hear your perspective on. The two of you are highly accomplished Special Educators, and it seems like what you're doing with the camp may be consistent with some of the trends in Special Education. What's happening in your field? Obviously, we have many children with disabilities around the country. I think it's in the many millions around the country and growing. And we know that children who benefit from programs that are tailored to their needs do well. So, talk a little bit of Special Education in a more general sense, and how does your program reflect some of the trends in your field?
[00:18:20]
Dr. Rachel Billman: Yeah. Like we said earlier, I think that camp provides an opportunity to extend on the coursework that we provide in the Special Education Department. We focus on, to Kandace's point earlier, those strengths-based framework where we're looking at students' strengths as we approach their learning. And that is something that has been really well-received by the field, straying away from that deficit-based approach. Beyond that, I think also focusing more so on the UDL framework for approaching students with a range of needs.
[00:18:57]
Mark Ginsberg: UDL?
[00:18:58]
Dr. Rachel Billman: Universal Design for Learning.
[00:19:00]
Mark Ginsberg: Universal, talk a little bit about... What is that?
[00:19:02]
Dr. Kandace Hoppin: Yeah, I can take that one. The UDL framework came about and has been updated multiple times. Essentially, it guides thinking about, just like in actual physical spaces, in classroom spaces, making things universally designed so that everyone can access them. So, we can take an analogy of a curb cut on a sidewalk so that people with strollers or wheelchairs or bad knees can get off the sidewalk. To kind of that same concept, make that analogy in the classroom where we should have a pathway to success, to the learning goals, to the activities, so that all of our learners in the classroom can reach it. So, consider proactively, before you teach something, the needs of all your students and find the most accessible approach to get them to the learning goal. And so, in education, and Maryland has been leading this for a while, and many other states. Again, East Coast, shout out. But the UDL framework, getting it into pre-service and teacher education programs, but also getting it into schools so that all educators are informed around, how do we do that? How do we consider accessibility and universal design instead of just going with a one way, and I hope you can get to do this activity, right? And so, having options, choices, flexibility, doing things in different ways, but meeting the same goal or objective for learning. And that's totally connected to camp, too, because it's all about accessibility and designing activities for all these, a real range of needs.
[00:20:31]
Mark Ginsberg: Right. Right. Designing tailored activities that meet the needs.
[00:20:37]
Dr. Kandace Hoppin: Yeah.
[00:20:37]
Mark Ginsberg: It sounds to me, though, that that UDL design concept is germane, not just for children with special needs, but really highly relevant for any child.
[00:20:47]
Dr. Kandace Hoppin: Right.
[00:20:47]
Dr. Rachel Billman: Absolutely.
[00:20:47]
Mark Ginsberg: Any child.
[00:20:49]
Dr. Kandace Hoppin: And as like a foundation.
[00:20:49]
Mark Ginsberg: Developmentally appropriate practices, essentially.
[00:20:50]
Dr. Kandace Hoppin: For all learners should have that...
[00:20:52]
Mark Ginsberg: Sure.
[00:20:52]
Dr. Kandace Hoppin: ...access to universally designed learning environments.
[00:20:55]
Mark Ginsberg: Yeah. Regardless of one ability.
[00:20:56]
Dr. Kandace Hoppin: And that's really a... Absolutely.
[00:20:58]
Mark Ginsberg: Because the reality of it is children come to classrooms with many different...
[00:21:01]
Dr. Kandace Hoppin: Yes.
[00:21:01]
Mark Ginsberg: ...a range of abilities in a general sense.
[00:21:03]
Dr. Rachel Billman: Yeah.
[00:21:04]
Mark Ginsberg: Yeah. Yeah. Special educators often talk about the concept of inclusion. How does that relate to all this? And tell us a little bit about Special Education inclusion and what some of the engagements are in that domain.
[00:21:17]
Dr. Rachel Billman: So, inclusion is when a student with a disability is included in a classroom with learners without disabilities.
[00:21:22]
Mark Ginsberg: Right. Right.
[00:21:24]
Dr. Rachel Billman: And so that is very much so how many of the districts in Maryland operate. We have a bigger push for inclusive models within the state and across districts within the state. Our Camp Inspect is what we would consider not inclusive because we are only...
[00:21:42]
Mark Ginsberg: It's really a cohort program, essentially, yeah.
[00:21:43]
Dr. Rachel Billman: Yes, yes. We're just taking in students who are diagnosed with a disability and have documentation.
[00:21:48]
Mark Ginsberg: Sure. You're providing them with a unique experience tailored to their needs. Yet this concept of inclusion is kind of a broader concept that's been embedded in Special Education more in a general sense, I would think. So, are many of the children then coming to the camp, are they students who have been in an inclusive environment in their schools?
[00:22:05]
Dr. Rachel Billman: Yes. Yes.
[00:22:06]
Mark Ginsberg: They are.
[00:22:07]
Dr. Rachel Billman: So, we do get a general profile of our students before attending the camp. We ask our parents, "What percentage of the day would you say your child is in inclusive settings versus self-contained settings?"
[00:22:17]
Mark Ginsberg: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
[00:22:17]
Dr. Rachel Billman: Self-contained settings being the settings where only students with disabilities are in those classrooms.
[00:22:22]
Mark Ginsberg: Mm-hmm.
[00:22:22]
Dr. Rachel Billman: And I would say the vast majority of our students coming to camp are from inclusive settings. They're getting a tremendous amount of support in many instances in those inclusive classrooms, but they are coming to us from those general education classrooms where they likely have a general educator and a Special Educator providing support within the classroom.
[00:22:41]
Mark Ginsberg: So, they're coming from environments that when they come to camp, they have an opportunity to be with children who are very much like themselves.
[00:22:49]
Dr. Rachel Billman: Sure.
[00:22:49]
Dr. Kandace Hoppin: Yeah.
[00:22:49]
Mark Ginsberg: Which is probably very affirming for them and very, not only reinforcing, but comforting, I would think, right?
[00:22:55]
Dr. Rachel Billman: Yeah. In many instances.
[00:22:56]
Dr. Kandace Hoppin: Yeah.
[00:22:56]
Mark Ginsberg: Yeah, yeah.
[00:22:57]
Dr. Rachel Billman: And there's a wide array of disabilities within Camp Inspect as well. So, they're seeing teachers meet the needs of all the students in their classroom and they're seeing it happen in real time, and so they're like, "Oh, that kid right there might need some extra time doing this," and they're very cognizant of the supports that are provided to all the students in the classroom at camp. It's interesting to see them kind of make sense of it all in real time.
[00:23:20]
Mark Ginsberg: Yeah. So, as you look back on your experience, you've been running this camp for – how many years have you been doing it?
[00:23:25]
Dr. Rachel Billman: This'll be our fourth summer.
[00:23:25]
Dr. Kandace Hoppin: This'll be our fourth summer, yeah.
[00:23:26]
Mark Ginsberg: Our fourth year. So, you've learned things over the course of the year. What are some of the lessons that you've learned as professionals in the field?
[00:23:33]
Dr. Rachel Billman: I would say that in our first two years of camp, we did not focus as much on social-emotional learning and providing some professional development on behaviors before the camp.
[00:23:47]
Mark Ginsberg: Ah-hah.
[00:23:47]
Dr. Rachel Billman: And based on experiences that we saw happen in the camp, we realized that we needed to bring our camp teachers back together and help them to understand the nuances of behaviors within the context of the camp and what can they do to proactively work to lessen those behaviors as they arise and what to do as a result of a behavior arising within the camp. And that's been a big lesson learned for us, I would say. What else would you say, Kandace?
[00:24:18]
Dr. Kandace Hoppin: Yeah.
[00:24:19]
Mark Ginsberg: And those are – by the way, before you get off that – those are really big challenges for any teacher.
[00:24:21]
Dr. Rachel Billman: Oh, absolutely. [Laughter] Yes.
[00:24:23]
Mark Ginsberg: For any classroom teacher.
[00:24:24]
Dr. Kandace Hoppin: Absolutely, yeah.
[00:24:25]
Mark Ginsberg: But that challenge may be amplified, perhaps accelerated even for the Special Education classroom, yeah.
[00:24:31]
Dr. Rachel Billman: Oh, sure, sure. In camp, too, the student teachers might not have had any experience working with more challenging behaviors. So, they're seeing it happen in real time.
[00:24:41]
Mark Ginsberg: Sure. May be their first experience.
[00:24:42]
Dr. Rachel Billman: Absolutely. And they have to make those split-second decisions that teachers make every day.
[00:24:47]
Mark Ginsberg: Yes, yes.
[00:24:48]
Dr. Rachel Billman: And so, we're here to support.
[00:24:49]
Mark Ginsberg: Yes.
[00:24:49]
Dr. Rachel Billman: We're always there kind of overseeing things from afar. We're there as a backup if things go awry, which they don't very frequently. The students actually have to step in.
[00:24:59]
Mark Ginsberg: But if they can, if they do, there's a backup.
[Crosstalk 00:25:01]
[00:25:02]
Dr. Rachel Billman: The student teachers feel empowered to step in and make those decisions and try things and take some risks, which I think is really empowering for their professional development.
[00:25:10]
Mark Ginsberg: And it goes back almost to the duality of purpose. One is providing a high-level, important, educational, and fun experience for the students, the kids, and a learning experience for your own students. So, you're doing both.
[00:25:25]
Dr. Rachel Billman: Yeah.
[00:25:23]
Mark Ginsberg: Yeah.
[00:25:23]
Dr. Rachel Billman: Yeah.
[00:25:26]
Mark Ginsberg: Yeah.
[00:25:26]
Dr. Kandace Hoppin: I think that I would just add, I think kind of related to that, I think Rachel and I, too, have, since the first year, really reiterating that we want them to have that independence. And I think also ourselves being okay, like, "Wait an extra second. Let's see how this plays out."
[00:25:42]
Dr. Rachel Billman: [Laughter]
[00:25:42]
Mark Ginsberg: Take a breath.
[00:25:43]
Dr. Kandace Hoppin: Take a breath.
[00:25:43]
Dr. Rachel Billman: Yes.
[00:25:44]
Dr. Kandace Hoppin: Because I think we want to be supports and facilitators. We're coordinating the professional development weeks. But we really just want to be there as kind of like an offhand because it is. It is meant to build on our Towson students' teaching skills. And so that, I think, has also been a lesson learned, where there's that... We're both coming out of the Special Ed classroom. We're like, "We can jump in. We can support." But even for us to say, "This is helpful for them to struggle through," within means. And any time there's any kind of safety thing, we are right there. But it is, I think, good for us, too, to see them grow our Towson students from the first day to the very end and see that growth that happens, too.
[00:26:30]
Mark Ginsberg: Yeah, that's a great observation. So, as we said earlier, the young folks who are participating in this program, you can see palpable changes even over a week. And you see that with your own students as well.
[00:26:39]
Dr. Rachel Billman: Yeah.
[00:26:39]
Mark Ginsberg: So, it's a very formative, but a very high-impact experience for all who are involved.
[00:26:45]
Dr. Rachel Billman: Yeah.
[00:26:46]
Mark Ginsberg: So talk – we're beginning to run short of time, but I'd like for you to just say a few words. I know there's not space in the program this summer, but if families want to learn more about Project Inspect, how can they do that?
[00:26:58]
Dr. Rachel Billman: We have a Camp Inspect website.
[00:26:59]
Dr. Kandace Hoppin: It's linked on the Towson University campsite so that Towson's conferences and events and camps for summer opportunities...
[00:27:08]
Mark Ginsberg: So, they can even Google "Camp Inspect at Towson University."
[00:27:11]
Dr. Kandace Hoppin: Yep, yep.
[00:27:11]
Mark Ginsberg: You'll be able to find it right away.
[00:27:12]
Dr. Kandace Hoppin: And you'll find us. And that'll also take you then to kind of our separate website where you can find information. We will link to this podcast, which will be great. But also kind of hear about what's the purpose behind the camp and also get information so that you're ready for the next summer if you are interested in applying. We usually open up registration around end-ish of January, beginning of February.
[00:27:36]
Dr. Rachel Billman: Yeah.
[00:27:36]
Dr. Kandace Hoppin: And it's typically open for about a month. And then as soon as camp fills, camp is filled. And then, yeah, we hope to be able to run this into the future. So, as long as we have interest and supports and are able to, yeah, we would look forward to future campers.
[00:27:55]
Mark Ginsberg: Well, it's a terrific program. And I really applaud you both for developing Camp Inspect, for leading it, and for providing such an important service for the 40 children who are going to join you this summer and for our students at TU who are learning from you and having the experience of participating in the program. So, special thanks to Dr. Kandace Hoppin and Dr. Rachel Billman, who have developed and led Camp Inspect here at Towson University for the last four years. Appreciate you very much joining with me today on On the Mark. Best of luck with the camp this summer. I just have this sense that it's going to be not just a formative experience, but a highly consequential experience for your students, for the campers, and hopefully for the two of you, too, as you continue your learning and embedding some of the things you're learning in the experiences that we provide for our Special Education students. It's such an important part of education today.
[Music]
[00:28:47]
Mark Ginsberg: Thank you once again, Dr. Kandace Hoppin and Dr. Rachel Billman for joining me on On the Mark. And thank you for joining us and listening to a session talking about a very, very important topic, how it is that Camp Inspect provides an array of important services and programs and inspiring experiences for children with disabilities on the Towson University campus during the summer. Once again, thank you so much. Thank you for joining us. Thank you for listening.
[Music]
[00:29:17]
Mark Ginsberg: Thank you for listening to On the Mark. If you like what you've heard, please give us a follow or leave a review. It helps ensure that we can keep bringing you more candid conversations about the consequential impact of higher education. And if you have feedback about our podcast, feel free to send me a message at onthemark@towson.edu.
[Music]
Narrator: Founded in 1866, Towson University is a top-ranked comprehensive public research university recognized as Maryland's number one public institution by The Wall Street Journal. As Greater Baltimore's largest university, TU proudly serves as an engine of opportunity for nearly 20,000 students, the state of Maryland and beyond. Explore more than 190 top-ranked undergraduate and graduate degree programs and make our momentum yours at towson.edu.
