March 8, 2017
To Whom It May Concern,
Department of
Counseling,
Educational Psychology,
and Special Education
Richard S Prawat
Chairperson
Michigan State University
447 Erickson Hall
East Lansing, Michigan
48824-1034
517/353-6417
FAX: 517/353-6393
MSU is an affirmative-action,
equal opportunity institution.
It is a pleasure to write this letter of recommendation for Shelby Hurst who is applying
for a teaching position in your school district. I have had the opportunity to work with
Shelby in several capacities, including as an instructor in our consultation and
collaboration class taken during the Internship year and as the MA Program
Coordinator for the Special Education Program at Michigan State University. In this
letter, I would like to provide you with a glimpse of the professional knowledge,
skills, and dispositions our students will bring to your school district, while also
speaking directly about this applicant.
Before I begin my formal description of our program, more generally, and my class
specifically, I would like to alert the Interview Committee to several aspects of
Shelbys academic performance and professional experience. First, a quick
examination of her background suggests to me that it may be working with individuals
with special needs that is her calling. Previously, Shelby worked as volunteer for the
Capital Area Down Syndrome Association (CADSA). She assisted with dances & also
their largest annual event, Step Up for Down Syndrome. Shelby was also an active
member of MSUs Read to Succeed Tutoring program. Through her experiences as a
special education intern, she has also developed lessons, lead and participated in IEP
meetings, and administered assessments for students in various grade levels. This
propensity to work with individuals with and without special needs makes Shelby
fairly unique in my experience. With her academic and scholarly talents, I think a
teaching position in a special or general education classroom would be an outstanding
fit for Shelby.
We believe that the special education program at MSU is providing comprehensive
and cutting edge professional preparation. Specifically, we have tried to prepare our
teacher candidates both broadly to encompass the many roles that special education
teachers now play in schools, but also with depth and quality within these critical
roles. Special education teachers today must be able to participate in at least four
areas, including (1) providing remedial instruction for students who have may have
significant skill gaps, (2) participating on any number of collaborative problem-
solving teams, such as Response to Intervention, co-teaching, IEPs, pre-referral
teams, and multidisciplinary evaluation teams, (3) provide access to the general
education curriculum within inclusive settings (i.e., instructional, behavioral, and
social interventions, accommodations, differentiated instruction, Universally Designed
Learning), and (4) transition programming, including key skills related to self-
determination, self-advocacy, and self-regulation as students make transitions
throughout the lifespan (grade level and school-to-post secondary).
In the Fall of 2016, Shelby was a student in my CEP 801a Consultation and
Collaboration course. This course is specifically designed to bring to the student the
skills and knowledge related to facilitating collaborative interactions and relationships
between individuals. Additionally, this course is designed to prepare special education
teachers to deliver effective collaborative and consultative services to students with
learning and behavior problems, their parents, general education teachers, and
ancillary personnel. This course has several overarching goals, including the
examination and critique of the various theories of collaboration and consultation that
have been utilized in the field of special education, developing a defensible knowledge
of what constitutes effective collaboration and consultation skills, and the awareness
and utilization of a wide range of specific skills, strategies, techniques, and activities.

Beyond the content curriculum of a comprehensive curriculum, I believe there are

intrapersonal and interpersonal skills that mark Shelby as an outstanding student. It is
evident to me that Shelby was an active learner in my classroom---she engaged with
the material with a critical eye. She also displayed a very even and professional
disposition, all characteristics of excellent collaborators and problem solversmy
sense is that Shelby maintains a level-headed approach, even when under duress.
Additionally, Shelby displays a positive energy that is contagiousshe is organized,
goal focused, and thoroughly enjoys learning about things that may benefit her
students. Finally, there is an important difference between young teachers who want
to help and those who maintain high expectations through personal responsibility. I
believe Shelby is in this latter groupand this is a key disposition for new teachers to
develop. Rather than creating a kind of co-dependence where too much support is
provided and not removed, I believe Shelby holds high expectations for all of her
students and expects effort from every child. If I were building a school from the
ground up, I would want people like Shelbypeople who are focused on improving
the lives of their students through rigorous learning, high expectation, and able to
share their expertise with others in professional learning communities of all kinds.

To conclude, I believe Shelby would be exactly the type of teacher you are seeking in
your school district. In this letter, I have tried to provide some detail about the
professional skills and dispositions that our students develop as part of their teacher
preparation program. We believe that Shelby will be an outstanding teacher and will
excel in your school. We are extremely proud of our teacher candidates and confident
that Shelby Hurst will make a good school betterand may even become a leader in
the area of Special Education. Of course, if you have any questions, please do not
hesitate to write (erinhami@msu.edu) or call (517) 432-0418.

Sincerely,

Erin M Hamilton
MA Program Coordinator
Special Education Program
Michigan State University