INTRODUCTION
I am Professor of Special Education at California State University Los Angeles. I joined the faculty in 2002 in the Mild to Moderate Disability Program. Since 2005, I have directed the Joint Doctoral Program in Special Education between CSULA and UCLA and received three federal grants to support students in the program. My primary areas of expertise are special education law and policy, the education of children in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems, and systemic change in institutions serving children with disabilities. I have published over fifty books, articles, and monographs and made numerous presentations across the country on these topics For the last 17 years, I have worked on grant-funded initiatives in California to improve education outcomes for children in foster care. From 2004 to 2009, I was a special education monitor for a Memorandum of Agreement between the U.S. Department of Justice, Los Angeles County, and Los Angeles County Office of Education to assess compliance in the three county juvenile halls. Prior to coming to CSULA, I was Education Specialist at Mental Health Advocacy Services, Inc., a private nonprofit law office that represents poor and low-income individuals with disabilities.
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TEACHING INTERESTS
My primary teaching interest is in the area of special education law and policy. I also am interested in education laws related to race, langauge, and gender. I help students understand the historical bases for these laws and use them to benefit students and support teachers. In addition, I have a strong teaching interest in research and practice related to special education teacher education programs. Another teacing interst relates to mental health conditions of students with emotional and behavioral disorders and the programs and services to support these students.
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RESEARCH
My research focuses on educational outcomes of children in the foster care system, barriers that hinder educational progress for foster youth, and how to improve the educational prospects for this population of children. I have studied the effects of using an education liaison to troubleshoot problems and support the education of children in the foster care system in four California Counties. I also have studied in seven California Counties the barriers to children in foster care receiving an appropriate education, and strategies for removing these barriers. My research also focuses on institutional change in juvenile detention facilities. I have studied the course of reform of special education practices at Los Angeles County juvenile halls in relation to ongoing monitoring required by the U.S. Department of Justice. I currently am part of a research team studying the effect of interventions in the Los Angeles County juvenile halls to provide appropriate services to youth with developmental disabilities.
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SELECTED PUBLICATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS
Zetlin, A. and Weinberg, L. (2013). Placed At Risk by the System: The Educational Plight of Children and Youth in Foster Care. Hauppauge, NY: Nova.
Nagano, M. & Weinberg, L.A. (2011). The legal framework for inclusion of students with disabilities: A comparative analysis of Japan and the United States. International Journal of Special Education, 27(1). Available from http://www.internationaljournalofspecialeducation.com/articles.cfm?y=2012&v=27&n=1
Leone, P. & Weinberg, L. (2010). Addressing the unmet educational needs of children and youth in the juvenile justice and child welfare systems. Washington, DC: Center for Juvenile Justice Reform, Georgetown University. Available at http://cjjr.georgetown.edu/pdfs/ed/edpaper.pdf
Weinberg, L. A., Zetlin, A.G., & Shea, N. M. (2010). Removing Barriers to Educating Children in Foster Care Through Interagency Collaboration: A Seven County Multiple Case Study. Child Welfare, 88(4), 77-111.
Weinberg, L. A. (2007). The Systemic Mistreatment of Children in the Foster Care System: Through the Cracks. New York, NY: Routledge Mental Health
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HONORS AND AWARDS
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EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND
Postdoctoral Scholar Special Education 1980 – 1981 UCLA Los Angeles, CA
Ph.D. Philosophy of Education 1978 UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
M.A. Philosophy of Education 1973 UCLA Los Angeles, CA
B.A. Spanish 1969 UCLA Los Angeles, CA
Dissertation
Thesis
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