scholarly journals Striving to Include the Excluded: A Case Study of a Special Education Initiative in Rural Honduras

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda Ketner Weissman
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
General Education ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Physical Disabilities ◽  
General Education Teachers ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
General Education Setting ◽  
Education Initiative

Despite the existence of national policies that allow students with disabilities to be taught in the general education setting in Honduras, there is a gap between policy and practice as students with disabilities experience worse learning outcomes than their peers. Previous work has shown that this is due in part to a lack of knowledge among general education teachers on how to work successfully with students with disabilities. This paper examines the effectiveness of an approach to address this in rural Honduras by providing professional development for fifteen in-service teachers in eight schools to impart techniques for working with 56 students with both learning and physical disabilities. Through a combination of surveys, interviews, and observations, results show benefits to the teachers

Teacher Perceptions of Mainstreaming/Inclusion, 1958–1995: A Research Synthesis

1996 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas E. Scruggs ◽  
Margo A. Mastropieri
Keyword(s):  
General Education ◽  
Teacher Perceptions ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
Item Type ◽  
Geographical Location ◽  
Skills Training ◽  
Research Synthesis ◽  
General Education Teachers ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
General Classroom

Twenty-eight investigations were identified in which general education teachers were surveyed regarding their perceptions of including students with disabilities in their classes. Research synthesis procedures were employed to summarize responses and examine the consistency of responses across time, geographical location, and item type. Overall, we found that about two thirds of general classroom teachers supported the concept of mainstreaming/inclusion. A smaller majority were willing to include students with disabilities in their own classes, but responses appeared to vary according to disabling condition and implicit obligations on the teacher. Although about half or more of the teachers felt that mainstreaming/inclusion could provide some benefits, only one third or less of teachers believed they had sufficient time, skills, training or resources necessary for mainstreaming/inclusion. Reported attitudes did not appear to covary with either geographical region or time of publication. Implications for policy and practice are provided.

scholarly journals Perspectives on inclusion in the general education classroom

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Kimberly Kesler
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
General Education ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
Elementary Principal ◽  
General Education Teachers ◽  
General Education Classroom ◽  
Social Justice Theory ◽  
Appropriate Education ◽  
District Administration

The focus of this case study involves inclusion of students with disabilities in the general education classroom. The emphasis is on 7th-12th grade general education teachers and administrators' perspectives regarding inclusion. Laws, such as Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and Every Student Succeeds Act, ensure all students receive an appropriate education. Inclusion would provide instruction for students with disabilities in the general education environment to the maximum extent possible. This appropriate education must be received in the least restrictive environment. Students with disabilities should receive appropriate accommodations and modifications in the general education classroom in order to be successful. The IEP team, which consists of general education teachers, special education teachers, administrators and parents, determine the appropriate placement for individual students.This case study is centered around Social Justice Theory. Under Social Justice Theory all students have equal access to instruction and resources in the learning environment. Students are supported and held to high expectations. Leaders should create a learning environment in which all students can be successful.This case study focuses on teachers and administrators of grades 7th to 12th. The researcher chose these grade levels because there seems to be difficulty implementing accommodations and modifications for students with disabilities in these grades in the school district under study. This difficulty could be due to the short amount of time teachers have students. Each class period is 50 minutes long. Students begin receiving credits for graduation in the 9th grade. How assignments are modified may affect the content learn by students. The amount of time students with disabilities take to learn content and the actual content they are learning may be why general education teachers struggle with inclusion of students with disabilities in the classroom.The elementary principal was included in this case study because this position is part of the district administration team. The district administration team is the decision-making body for the school district. The researcher included the elementary principal for this reason.

Teacher Quality Gaps by Disability and Socioeconomic Status: Evidence From Los Angeles

2020 ◽  
pp. 0013189X2095517
Author(s):  
Ijun Lai ◽  
W. Jesse Wood ◽  
Scott A. Imberman ◽  
Nathan D. Jones ◽  
Katharine O. Strunk
Keyword(s):  
Los Angeles ◽  
General Education ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
Teacher Quality ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
Value Added ◽  
General Education Teachers ◽  
School Level ◽  
Quality Teachers ◽  
Evaluation Scores

Although most students with disabilities (SWDs) receive instruction from general education teachers, little empirical work has investigated whether these students have suitable access to high-quality teachers. We explore the differences in teacher quality experienced by SWDs and students without disabilities (non-SWDs) in the Los Angeles Unified School District, examining how access varies within schools as well as across school-level disadvantage rates. We leverage several different indicators of teacher effectiveness for general education teachers who instruct both SWDs and non-SWDs. We find that SWDs are significantly more likely to have teachers with lower math value-added (–0.024 standard deviations) than their non-SWD peers, and we find emerging gaps in teacher evaluation scores and exposure to novice teachers. In general, these gaps do not vary by school-level disadvantage.

Enhancing Professional Development for Educators: Adapting Project ECHO From Health Care to Education

2020 ◽  
pp. 875687052096044
Author(s):  
Canyon Hardesty ◽  
Eric J. Moody ◽  
Shira Kern ◽  
Wendy Warren ◽  
Mary Jo Cooley Hidecker ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Hub And Spoke ◽  
Project Echo ◽  
Professional Development Workshop ◽  
Rural Settings ◽  
Behavioral Supports ◽  
Support Students

Adequately prepared educators are critical to the success of children in rural settings, but many educators receive little training on how to support students with disabilities. Professional development for educators is challenging in rural areas due to the lack of opportunities and travel requirements. Project ECHO™ was originally developed to overcome similar challenges facing physicians. The ECHO Model overcomes these challenges by creating a hub and spoke network that connects local providers with experts. These networks meet regularly over teleconferencing technology to conduct a short professional development workshop, followed by a case-study from one of the local sites. We adapted the ECHO Model for use in education and since 2014 implemented four networks: autism, assistive technology, secondary transitions, and behavioral supports. Educators found ECHO highly acceptable and reported improved skills and knowledge. ECHO for Education is effective and has the potential to improve capacity of education systems in rural settings.

Learner-Centered Professional Development: A Model to Increase Inclusion for Students With Moderate Intellectual Disability

Inclusion ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bree A. Jimenez ◽  
Tammy Barron
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
General Education ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
Severe Disabilities ◽  
Individual Student ◽  
Learner Centered ◽  
Teacher Skills ◽  
Universal Accessibility ◽  
Rate Of Increase ◽  
Moderate To Severe Disabilities

Abstract In the current climate of universal accessibility, it is not surprising that more students with disabilities are being served in inclusive contexts. Although the reported increase in inclusion rates are promising, the rate of increase of students with moderate to severe disabilities is thought to be much lower and inclusion is still a struggle for the students with the highest needs. Questions emerge regarding the effectiveness of teaching practices in relation to progress towards specific curricular goals, at least in part because of concerns about dependence on sophisticated teacher skills for meaningful inclusion to occur. General consensus in the field is that professional development may provide support to teachers to adequately serve students with disabilities. We sought to implement a model of professional development which first explored the unique strengths and needs of an individual student or small group of students with a moderate or severe disability who were already being served in the general education classroom. We were able to tailor the learner-centered professional development package based on the needs of the team as they work directly with this population to implement embedded instruction and team collaboration to address the content areas.

Attitudes and Attributes of General Education Teachers Identified as Effective Inclusionists

1997 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Myrna R. Olson ◽  
Lynne Chalmers ◽  
John H. Hoover
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Preparation ◽  
General Education ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
Special Education Teachers ◽  
Special Educators ◽  
School Principals ◽  
General Education Teachers ◽  
Administrative Practices ◽  
Insufficient Time ◽  
Interpersonal Warmth

School principals and special education teachers identified general education teachers who were the most skilled at including students with disabilities in their classrooms. After 10 individuals identified by both principals and special educators were interviewed, seven themes emerged. These teachers (a) described their own personalities as tolerant, reflective, and flexible; (b) accepted responsibility for all students; (c) described a positive working relationship with special educators; (d) reported adjusting expectations for integrated students; (e) indicated that their primary inclusionary attitude was showing interpersonal warmth and acceptance in their interactions with students; (f) felt that there was insufficient time available for collaboration; and (g) expressed reservations about fully including all students. Results are discussed in terms of teacher preparation, administrative practices, implications for increased inclusion, and suggestions for further research.

scholarly journals Rethinking Mentoring: Comparing Policy and Practice in Special and General Education

2010 ◽  
Vol 18 ◽  
pp. 32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leah Wasburn-Moses
Keyword(s):  
General Education ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Special Education Teachers ◽  
General Education Teachers ◽  
Teacher Mentoring ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
High Quality ◽  
High Quality Research ◽  
Quality Research ◽  
Policy Information

Although teacher mentoring is now mandated in most states, high quality research in mentoring remains scarce (Rockoff, 2008). There is a great need to understand how such policies are implemented (Smith, 2007), particularly in teaching areas with high shortages. The purpose of this study is to compare state and district mentoring policies with the mentoring experiences of practicing special and general education teachers. Survey data were collected from 232 teachers in one state and compared with policy information from the Teacher Rules, Roles, and Rights (TR3) database. Results indicated uneven implementation of policy, in that some stated policy was not adhered to consistently, and consistency in practices was seen in the absence of other policy. Further, special education teachers reported much less mentoring than general education teachers. A new model is proposed to encourage implementation of research-validated practices in teacher mentoring.

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