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January 21, 2000/7 Shevat 5760, Vol. 52, No.20
Educator strives to better lives of special-needs kids
TAMI BICKLEY
Associate Editor
Sharon Ziv
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Sharon Ziv has dedicated her life to improving the quality of children's education, and in many cases, their lives.
Her former students - adults who studied with the University of Phoenix Teacher Education program (TED) and are now teachers themselves - recently acknowledged Ziv's academically charged passion. When asked by the school to vote for the program's most outstanding faculty member, nearly all 125 students chose Ziv.
At a ceremony last month for TED students, Ziv was presented with a certificate recognizing her officially as an outstanding faculty member.
"It's an honor and a privilege to be recognized by other adults," says Ziv, an educator for 25 years. "This tells me that I'm accomplishing what I want to accomplish in the education field."
A faculty member at the University of Phoenix since 1996, Ziv serves as a faculty facilitator for special education, educational research, curriculum and instruction assessment.
Her TED students are adults who already have a bachelor's degree in another field and are redirecting their careers toward education. The non-degree program awards certification in either elementary or secondary education.
Ziv, who has advanced certification in special education and administration from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore plus experience working with children with special needs, also works with the Council for Jews with Special Needs, consulting with religious school administrators, teachers and parents. Local secular and religious schools occasionally call upon her when teachers encounter stumbling blocks in teaching these students.
The area of special needs is diverse and can be complex, encompassing a variety of sociological, mental and physical challenges, Ziv explains. For example, there are a number of different learning disabilities ranging from slight and hardly noticeable to severe; health impairments such as cerebral palsy, spina bifida and attention deficit disorder; traumatic brain injury resulting from an accident; and autism, which ranges in severity.
"It makes me feel wonderful that I am making a difference in helping these teachers help these special-needs children," Ziv says. "When a youngster is struggling in a learning environment and I can help make learning happen for that student, it's doubly rewarding. I enjoy working with other professionals and parents to accomplish these goals."
Ziv says that approximately 10 percent to 15 percent of students in every classroom have some degree of special needs - and that sometimes their inability to comprehend academic instruction goes unnoticed.
"People are becoming more aware of special-needs children than they were 20 years ago," she explains, "but there is probably not as much awareness as there could be." Ziv makes it her business to inform educators and parents about recognizing handicapping conditions and knowing how to address them. She leads group discussions, lectures and has written several books, including "Sparking Divergent Ability: A Sourcebook of Activities for Use with Young Children" (1985); "Word Lists for Reading and Spelling (1993); "Beginning Mathematics" (1993); "Reading Skills for Reading Success" (1993); and "How Do Children Learn?" (1993).
A native of Baltimore, Ziv received her bachelor's degree in French from the University of Maryland and her master's degree in elementary education from Goucher College in Towson, Md. in 1968. She earned an education doctorate in early childhood education in 1986 from Nova Southeastern University in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
From 1968 to 1993, she served variously as teacher, department chairperson and assistant principal in Baltimore County public schools in Towson.
She coordinated activities and taught Jewish education, including Hebrew, at Baltimore Hebrew Congregation for 14 years, and spent a year as a junior camp director and counselors-in-training trainer at Camp Milldale, an arm of Baltimore's Jewish Community Center.
From 1993 to 1995, Ziv was director of special education for the Council on Jewish Education Services in Baltimore.
In 1997, Ziv published a curriculum called "Guide to the Study of Israel" for the then-Board of Jewish Education in Baltimore.
Ziv moved to North Phoenix in 1995 with her husband of 15 years, Kenneth, a Social Security claims representative. She went to work as a volunteer consultant for the Cave Creek Unified School District, and helped the district's community relations department write grants.
Ziv then joined the faculty at the University of Phoenix and began consulting on behalf of the Council for Jews with Special Needs.
Through CJSN she initially consulted at Temple Chai, where "there are a number of students with a variety of special needs" from very mild, allergy or asthma-related complications to more complex needs. Today, the agency calls on her to assess individual situations regarding special-needs students.
"Council for Jews with Special Needs really does human service for these children," she says. "We are advocates (for children), are out in the community, and the agency that (Jewish) parents have as their contact." CJSN helps parents find appropriate physicians, community resources, education programs and summer recreation programs, she adds.
"(Ziv) is warm-hearted, compassionate and genuinely dedicated to providing Jewish education to each and every child," comments Becca Hornstein, director of CJSN. "If we could clone her, this city would be the best in Jewish special education."
Ziv says her students in the TED program express concerns about everything from how they will be viewed as teachers to the new implications of the Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards test (AIMS). But Ziv maintains that what is "near and dear to my heart is teaching children with diverse needs."
"It's a team effort, and there is still an incredible amount that needs to be done in terms of advocacy for these children."
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