Universal Measures of School Functioning in Middle School Special Education Students

2004 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 359-371 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard E. Mattison
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Special Education ◽  
Special Education Students ◽  
School Functioning ◽  
Education Students

scholarly journals Implementation of Differentiated Instruction in Middle School Classrooms: A Qualitative Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 81
Author(s):  
LaToya Benjamin ◽  
Sunddip Panesar-Aguilar
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Special Education ◽  
Academic Success ◽  
Differentiated Instruction ◽  
Middle School Teachers ◽  
Special Education Students ◽  
Education Students ◽  
School Teachers ◽  
Inclusion Classrooms ◽  
Responsive Instruction

Despite research on the benefits of implementing Differentiated Instruction (DI) practices within an inclusive classroom, many teachers do not utilize the practice regularly. An instrumental case study that included teachers from 1 middle school in a rural school district in a southeastern state was used as the qualitative research design in this study. The purpose was to explore rural middle school teachers’ experiences and challenges with incorporating the components of DI to support special education students in inclusion classrooms. Tomlinson’s model of DI as it relates to teachers providing responsive instruction to meet the needs of each of their students regardless of their ability was used as the conceptual framework. A purposeful sample of 10 middle school teachers Grades 6–8 from various content areas in the school participated in interviews, observations, and submitted documents for review. Data were coded and thematic relationships and patterns related to the DI framework emerged. Themes included concerns regarding teachers’ lack of knowledge and professional development for fidelity of implementation of DI with special needs students, insufficient resources to support implementation of DI, and concerns with class size and accommodation of DI needs of all students within an inclusion-based classroom. Based on the results, the research may contribute to positive social change by helping middle school teachers use the components of DI in their inclusion-based classes and by providing instructional support to enhance learning and increase academic success for special education students.

Getting up to SpEED: Special Education Embodied Design for Sensorially Equitable Inclusion

2021 ◽  
pp. 114-136
Author(s):  
Sofia Tancredi ◽  
Rachel Chen ◽  
Christina Krause ◽  
Dor Abrahamson ◽  
Filippo Gomez
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
Inclusive Education ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
Special Education Students ◽  
Whole Body ◽  
Education Students ◽  
Design Based Research ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Design Speed

We present the implications of a novel approach to design-based research, Special Education Embodied Design (SpEED), for inclusive education. SpEED is a new way of thinking about how Special Education students can learn through whole-body participation (Tancredi et al., in press). The goal of SpEED is to update our thinking about special education and inclusion based on the latest developments in cognitive science. We illustrate the utility of embodied design to teaching and research on issues affecting learners in Special Education through examples centering different Special Education populations, including Deaf learners, learners on the autism spectrum, and sensory-seeking learners. Each project focuses on deepening the learning opportunities we offer students by using learners' existing embodied resources. We conclude with a commentary on considerations for implementing SpEED within the Italian educational system.

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