Classroom Placement and Twins’ Social Behaviors in Elementary School: Providing Empirical Evidence to Inform Educational Policy

Classroom placement of twins is an ongoing issue for educational policy. Many educational jurisdictions have standard policy most commonly founded in the belief that separation supports individual identity, personal development and academic opportunity. This study examined the effects of classroom placement in a sample of 560 twin pairs whose behaviors were assessed from ages 5 to 12 years. We found no detrimental effect of classroom sharing on twins’ social development. In contrast, this study provides evidence that educating twins together is associated with modest positive twins’ behaviors and social functioning at school. Implications for educational policies are further discussed.

Effective and Efficient Practices for Successful Inclusion in Public School Settings

Given the increasing diversity of students included in general education classrooms in public schools, the field must establish a clearer definition of what successful inclusion entails. This endeavor involves an analysis of best practices for inclusion, taking into account the knowledge and skillset required of teachers in their roles as instructional experts. With limited time and resources, teachers are challenged to maximize opportunities for individualized learning without creating the need for additional teacher-directed instruction. Teachers must therefore enact classroom practices in which students and their peers serve as mediating agents in their own learning. In addition, special and general education teachers must collaborate with one another, as well as with all members of the larger school community, in order to provide students with the least restrictive classroom placement along a continuum of options. All those involved must believe in, and advocate for, successful inclusion practices to support an increasingly diverse and accepting public sector.

Why Aren’t Students with Severe Disabilities Being Placed in General Education Classrooms: Examining the Relations Among Classroom Placement, Learner Outcomes, and Other Factors

Placement decisions for students with severe disabilities have often been based less on the students’ unique learning needs but more on beliefs and presumptions about student learning, entrenched school district policies that restrict program delivery options, and other variables unrelated to student needs. In light of the benefits associated with inclusive practices for students with severe disabilities, this article examines the foregoing factors to better understand how they affect placement decisions and to identify barriers to implementing at a national level more inclusive placements. The article also addresses systems change solutions, and several new federally funded initiatives that could contribute to authentic changes in placement practices.

Twins Switched at Birth: Frequency, Life Histories, Twin Relationships, and Critical Issues/Twin Research Reviews: Classroom Placement; Mirror Syndrome; Unusual Twinning; Parenting Stress/Human Interest: Triplet Film; Educational Achievement; Prison Release; Co-Twin Impersonation; Facial Recognition Technology

Twins switched at birth are a rare subtype of twins who grow up apart. The frequency with which this event occurs, as well as selected life history events, twin relationships, and critical issues generated by the nine recorded cases are reviewed. This is followed by summaries of recent studies addressing classroom placement for twins, mirror syndrome in mothers, unusual twin types, and parenting stress. The article concludes with a review of human interest items from the general media, namely a triplet film, educational achievement, prison release, co-twin impersonation, and facial recognition technology.

Clinical Entrepreneurship: A Student Teacher Assigning Desktop Documentary Making

This study examines a student teacher's assignment of a historical documentary project in her middle school classroom placement. Results reveal that this student teacher and her cooperating teacher collaborated together to assign the project as a means to foster a personal connection with students and that their mutual commitment to this purpose fostered an experimentalist type of student teaching experience. Despite experiencing adversity with assigning the documentary project, the student teacher was not deterred from completing the project nor from her desire to assign a documentary making project in the future. Implications of these findings are discussed.

The Balancing Act

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how data are used in classroom placement routines. The authors explore educators’ assumptions about the purposes of the classroom placement routine, detailing the ostensive (i.e. structure and template) and performative aspects of the routine itself, and the implications of data use for equity and leadership practices. Design/methodology/approach Using a multi-site case study involving in-depth interviews of teacher and school leaders and observations of meetings, the authors examined the role that data played in classroom placement routines in three elementary schools in the USA. Findings Findings show that educators across schools collected similar types of multi-dimensional data; however, analysis and decision-making processes varied based on their assumptions and goals. Assessing student needs holistically and balancing students across classes based on academic diversity, behavioral or socio-emotional needs, gender and teacher workload were consistent patterns. There was a distinct difference between collecting data and actually using it as a basis of decision making. Research limitations/implications These findings highlight the importance of using in-depth observations to understand data use in schools. Educators’ assumptions and philosophies about classroom placement contributed to the pattern of discussion and decisions made throughout the routines. Delving deeper into how data are used in specific routines and organizational contexts can illuminate how data use is socially constructed and enacted for equity. Practical implications Educators who guide school routines have the power to maintain taken-for-granted assumptions about students, or to create counter-narratives. Originality/value This study provides insights into classroom and student placement processes by emphasizing the social and interactional dimensions of data use as they unfold in practice. It also extends empirical knowledge about the purposes, dimensions, and uses of data-driven decision making models.

Diversity, Difference, and Disability: Conceptual Contradictions and Present Practice in Inclusive Schooling for Students with Disabilities

Debates about diversity, disability, and inclusive schooling redound in the contemporary field of special education. The argument in this paper holds that disability stands apart from other forms of diversity and cannot be viewed as simply one cross-cutting issue to be pursued alongside race, gender, ethnicity, language, and culture. Disability is governed by numerous contexts. The complex, variable, and contingent nature of disability demands different approaches and different remedies than those apt for other identity markers. We ground these ideas within the context of inclusive schooling for students with disabilities and conclude that the nature and needs of disability preempt the current stress on diversity and general classroom placement.

Virtually Ready? Pre-service teachers' perceptions of a virtual internship experience

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand the experiences of six secondary pre-service teachers that completed a semester long internship with a supervising mentor at a virtual school in the Southeastern United States. The secondary pre-service teachers in this study voluntarily chose a placement in the virtual school over a traditional classroom placement for completion of their initial licensure field experience. This study sought to examine why secondary pre-service teachers chose a virtual internship and what their experiences were like as online instructors. A total of six participants completed a sixty-minute semi-structured interview at the completion of the semester long virtual school internship. Results of the study indicated that secondary pre-service teachers' primary motivation for entering a virtual internship experience was "œconvenience". Additionally, participants felt prepared for future employment in virtual schools, but had some reservations about their prospects in a traditional classroom setting.

Co-Twin Controls: Facioplasty / Twin Research Reviews: Congenital Anomalies; Personality and Coital Orgasmic Infrequency; Physical Activity Participation / Newsworthy: Twins, Triplets and Quads; School Legislation Update; Premature Twins in Court

The usefulness of monozygotic (MZ) twins for studying the efficacy of different face lift techniques is described. The data suggest that no particular procedure out of four under consideration is superior to any other. Next, reviews of recent twin studies of congenital anomalies, personality traits and coital orgasmic infrequency, and physical activity participation are presented. Finally, timely topics of public interest are also described. They include a rare birth consequence of artificial reproductive technology, an update on state legislation regarding parents' rights to decide the classroom placement of their young twins, and medical malpractice lawsuits involving premature twins.