About the Brehm Center
The Delores Soderquist Brehm Center for Special Education Scholarship and Research is housed within the Department of Special Education and Communication Sciences and Disorders at Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, Michigan.
Vision
Creating transformational research and the next generation of leaders in special education and speech language pathology.
Mission
The Delores Soderquist Brehm Center for Special Education Scholarship and Research explores best and emerging practices in special education and speech language pathology and develops caring, dynamic, and critical leaders.
Principles
The Delores Soderquist Brehm Center for Special Education Scholarship and Research is based on two mutually supporting principles of transformational education:
- Research
- Scholar/Teacher/Leader Development.
The goal is to create special education/speech language pathology professionals and researchers whose focus is on understanding and exploring best practices for supporting people with disabilities. These individuals collaborate with families, people with disabilities, and educational or health care organizations to identify and share best practices, and ultimately transform services by way of their leadership in these organizations.
Principle #1: Research
The Brehm Center's approach to research is interdisciplinary, based in both theory and practice. Faculty and students collaborate to develop research partnerships with families, people with disabilities, policy makers, health care organizations and schools, to explore best and emerging practices for supporting people with disabilities and their families in a democratic and diverse society. Research symposia and monographs provide opportunities for dissemination of their inquiry.
Principle #2: Scholar/Teacher/Leader Development
Each year, ten Scholars and two Fellows are selected from a pool of applicants. These Brehm Scholars and Fellows spend one year focusing on leadership development and the skills needed to become critical teacher-researchers.
Program Elements
The Delores Soderquist Brehm Center for Special Education Scholarship and Research is comprised of four elements; all aimed at the development of future professionals utilizing best practices for the transformation of the field of inclusive special education and speech language pathology.
- Delores S. Brehm Endowed Scholarship in Special Education. The Delores S. Brehm Endowed Scholarship in Special Education supports a total of ten exemplary Special Education students each academic year. Students may be undergraduate or graduate students. Students may be enrolled in any of the programs offered in the Department of Special Education.
- Delores S. Brehm Endowed Research Fellowship in Special Education. This Fellowship supports two students each academic year. Candidates for the Fellowship must have received a Brehm Endowed Scholarship in a previous year and be currently enrolled in a Graduate program within the College of Education, Eastern Michigan University.
- Annual Brehm Scholars Research Planning Conference. The Brehm Scholars Research Planning Conference is a three (3) credit-hour experience under the supervision of Department of Special Education faculty, held generally in the Summer A term, for the ten new Brehm Scholars selected by the Department each spring. The scope of the Conference covers research methods and practice for special education professionals, and also is intended to cultivate professional collaboration amongst the new Scholars. An important result will be the Scholars' decisions regarding the selection of Projects for the coming academic year.
- Annual Brehm Scholars Research Partnership Projects. The Brehm Scholars Research Partnership Projects is an annual program of research projects involving selected Department of Special Education and Communication Sciences and Disorders faculty members and the ten Brehm Scholars.
Because dissemination is an essential part of the research process, the annual Brehm Scholars Research Symposium and accompanying monograph provides an opportunity for the ten Brehm Scholars to share their research. The Symposium is held towards the end of the Scholars' year of research where each may present his/her research to faculty, family, and friends. A monograph of the presented papers is published for this event.