Special Education Law (2nd ed.)

Nikki L. Murdick - St. Louis University

Dr. Murdick is a full Professor of Special Education in the Department of Educational Studies. She received her master's degree in Special Education Curriculum Development at the University of Missouri - Columbia and her Ph.D. in the Education of Exceptional Children with an emphasis in Special Education Law at the University of Georgia - Athens. Dr. Murdick has served as a teacher of children with behavior disorders, learning disabilities, and mild to moderate mental disabilities; as a kindergarten teacher of high risk pre-schoolers; and as a demonstration teacher at the Georgia Retardation Center with adolescents identified as psychotic. Before her appointment to Saint Louis University, she taught and served in administrative capacities at the University of Arkansas - Fayetteville, Southeast Missouri State University, and Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville. She has taught undergraduate and graduate coursework in the areas of learning disabilities, mental handicaps, and behavior disorders, as well as ethics and legal issues in the field of disability studies. Dr. Murdick has published numerous articles in the areas of special education law and issues surrounding the inclusion of students with disabilities in regular education. She is a past president of the Legal Process and Advocacy Division of the American Association on Mental Retardation and presently is the President of the General Division of Region V of the American Association on Mental Retardation, and serves as a due process hearing officer for the State of Missouri in dispute resolution proceedings. Dr. Murdick recently had a textbook published on Special Education Law and a monograph on the Differentiation of Instruction in the General Education Classroom for Students with Developmental Disabilities. (From St. Louis University)

 

Barbara C. Gartin - University of Arkansas

Barbara C. Gartin is a Professor of Special Education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. She is also a faculty member of the Graduate Program in Public Policy. During the fall of 2004, she served as a visiting professor at Saint Louis University. She has also served as Interim Department Head for the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. Prior to coming to the University of Arkansas in 1989, Dr. Gartin was a classroom teacher for the Coweta School System in Newnan, Georgia. From 1971 – 1982, she worked in Athens Georgia at the Northeast Georgia Mental Health Center and at Kelley Workshop, a rehabilitation center for persons with disabilities. Dr. Gartin has held certification as a rehabilitation counselor (CRC) and vocational evaluator (CVE) in addition to her licensure as a science teacher, guidance counselor, and teacher of persons with mental retardation. Prior to her time in Georgia, Dr. Gartin worked in Huntington, West Virginia for Community Action-Neighborhood Youth Corp, Work Incentive Program, Women’s Job Corp, and the Huntington Boys Club.

Since coming to Arkansas, Dr. Gartin has served as an officer in Arkansas Council for Exceptional Children, Arkansas Subdivision on Mental Retardation, Arkansas Association on Mental Retardation, Region V Board of the Association on Mental Retardation, and twice as President of the International Division on Education in the American Association on Mental Retardation. She is currently the President of the Division on Developmental Disabilities. Dr. Gartin has received numerous honors and awards including her selection as fellow in the American Association on Mental Retardation in 2001. (From the University of Arkansas)

 

Terry Lee Crabtree - Judge, Arkansas Court of Appeals

Crabtree bio/obit