Position
Academic Background
Sample Courses   
Teaching Philosophy
Research & Interests   
Notable Academic Appointments & Awards
Publication Highlights     
Selected Scholarly Presentations and Activities

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• Associate Professor of Education

Academic Background         

• Boston University - Boston, Massachusetts: Ed.D. in Special Education, 1994
• Boston College - Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts:
  • M.Ed. in Special Education, 1976
  • B.A. in Elementary / Special Education, 1975

• Assessment of Individual Differences 
• Autism: Theory and Practice
• Home/School Collaboration
• Inclusion: Issues and Practice
• Methods/Materials for Students with Mild/Moderate Disabilities
• Student Teaching Seminar

Teaching Philosophy

I believe that ALL students can learn and it is the teacher's responsibility to make that happen.  Teaching is a sacred contract between the professor and the student that promises a safe, engaging learning environment with knowledge presented from various perspectives. In my teaching, I try to bridge the gap between educational theory and school-based practice through personal examples, data analysis, and discourse.  My goal is to pair instruction that values different learning styles with clear instructional objectives and multiple types of assessment. My hope is that my students, our future educators, will also believe that all children can learn, including students challenged by disability, language difference, and poverty. 

Research & Interests

Issues related to the inclusion of students with significant disabilities into general education elementary classrooms have been a focus of my teaching, beginning with my own twelve years as a special needs classroom teacher.  For the past fifteen years, I have been studying issues related to inclusion -- how teachers themselves become more inclusive, the effective use of teacher assistants in inclusive schools, and the various inclusion challenges of students with developmental disabilities, including autism.  My new focus is more broad and related to community inclusion and how teachers with disabilities experience their work lives.  Marginalization in our school communities happens not just to students with disabilities but also to those who work with them.  My hope is that through qualitative research, I can give voice to those not often present in the research literature and therefore inform educators and policy makers.

• Appointed to the Rhode Island Special Education Advisory Board, June 2008 - present.
• Awarded CAFR grant, $2,456, for a qualitative study entitled, "The Careers of Teachers with a Visible Disability in Ireland and the United States," July 2006 - June 2007.
• Liaison and consultant to the Rhode Island Department of Education for issues related to the effective use of teacher assistants in schools, May 1999 - present.
• Elected Executive Board Member, Rhode Island Representative, New England Educational Research Organization (NEERO), July 2000 - June 2006.
• Awarded CAFR grant, $5,500, for a qualitative study examining special education in Ireland, specifically the roles and responsibilities of teacher assistants working in Irish classrooms, July 2002 - June 2003.

Publication Highlights

• Hauerwas, L.B. & Goessling, D.P. (2008).  Who are the interventionists?  Guidelines for paraeducators in RTI.  Teaching Exceptional Children Plus, 4(3) Article 4. Retrieved from http://escholarship.bc.edu/education/tecplus/vol4/iss3/art4
• Rice, C. & Goessling, D.P. (2005).  Recruiting and retaining male special education teachers.  Remedial and Special Education 26, 347-356.
• Goessling, D.P. (2000).  Tolerance to acceptance and celebration: Including students with severe disabilities.  In M. Winzer  & K. Mazurek (Eds.), Special Education in the Twenty-first Century:  Issues of Inclusion and Reform (pp.175-197).  Washington, DC: Gallaudet University Press.
• Goessling, D.P. (1999).  When Danny met Carla: Reflections on the film, The Other Sister.  Mental Retardation, 37 (5), 420-421.
• Goessling, D.P. (1998).  "Inclusion and the challenge of assimilation for teachers of students with severe disabilities.  Journal of the Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps (JASH), 23 (3), 238-251.

Selected Scholarly Presentations and Activities

• "Pity or Promise:  Using children's books on autism in the elementary inclusive classroom."  Paper presented at the American Education Research Association (AERA) annual Conference, San Francisco, CA with two PC students, C. Bodowski & S. Clarkin, April 2006.
• "Mentoring the use of assistive technology in the pre-service classroom."  Paper presented with Dr. Laura Hauerwas at the Teacher Education Division Conference of the Council of Exceptional Children, Portland, Maine, November 2005.
• "A Tale of Two Acts: Special Education Legislation in Ireland and the United States.  Invited presentation with Liam Lawlor, Principal, Catherine McCauley School, Limerick, Ireland. Irish Association of Teachers of Special Education Conference, St. Patrick's College, Dublin, Ireland, June 2005.
• "The evolving role of the special needs assistant in Ireland and the United States."
  Paper presented with Liam Lawlor, Principal, Catherine McCauley School, Limerick, Ireland at American Education Research Association (AERA) annual Conference in San Diego, CA, April 2004.
• "Characteristics of outstanding paraeducators working with students with disabilities."  National Conference on the Training and Employment of Paraprofessionals, Minneapolis, MN, May 2002.
• "'Cream puffs and sergeants:' Paraeducators' perspectives on first year teachers," American Education Research Association (AERA),  New Orleans, LA, April 2000. 

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