scholarly journals Perspectives on inclusion in the general education classroom

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Kimberly Kesler

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.

Author(s):  
Amanda Ketner Weissman

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


2015 ◽  
Vol 117 (7) ◽  
pp. 1-40
Author(s):  
Michael A. Gottfried ◽  
Morgan S. Polikoff

Background/Context Though the development of social skills in kindergarten is critical, a research gap exists in how the context of the general education classroom may influence the social skills outcomes of students with disabilities: None have considered the role of peer effects in this domain. This gap is critical to address, as multiple high-needs groups are increasingly present in the same general education classroom settings. Purpose/Objective This study asks two key research questions: (1) In kindergarten, to what extent do the classroom social skills outcomes of children with disabilities differ based on the number of ELL classmates? (2) In kindergarten, to what extent do the classroom social skills outcomes of ELL students differ based on the number of classmates with disabilities? Population/Participants The data are sourced from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Class (ECLS-K), which is a nationally representative sample of students, teachers, and schools. Information was first collected from kindergartners (as well as parents, teachers, and school administrators) from U.S. kindergarten programs. This study utilizes data collected at the fall and spring of kindergarten. Research Design This study combines secondary data analyses and quasi-experimental methods. There are three social skills outcomes: (1) approaches to learning, (2) interpersonal skills, and (3) self control. The study begins with a baseline, linear regression model. To address issues pertaining to omitted variable bias, the study employs multilevel fixed effects modeling. Findings The coefficients indicate that students with disabilities tend to have improved social skills with an increase in the number of ELL classmates. The effects remain significant even after accounting for multiple omitted variable biases. Notably, the reverse relationship does not hold: The number of classmates with disabilities has no significant influence on the outcomes of ELL students. Conclusions/Recommendations This research offers more in-depth insight into how the classroom context and the effects of classmates may have a unique relationship for specific high-needs groups such as students with disabilities—a strand of research in this area that is often overlooked. School practices can thus be guided by determining not simply if one group of students performs better or worse on average, but rather by asking, better or worse for whom in particular?


1995 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 279-287 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANTONIS KATSIYANNIS ◽  
GREG CONDERMAN ◽  
DAVID J. FRANKS

Inclusion, which promotes educating all students with disabilities in the general education classroom setting, has triggered an intense debate in the field of special education. the purposes of this study were to highlight issues regarding inclusion, present findings on state practices on inclusion, and explore implications for practice and further research. findings from state surveys indicated great variety in state policy, acceleration in inclusion activity, a commitment to providing inservice and technical assistance, emerging teacher certification guidelines specific to inclusion, and minimal empirical research regarding the benefits of inclusion.


1996 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas E. Scruggs ◽  
Margo A. Mastropieri

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.


Author(s):  
Vardan Mkrttchian

With the push to include all students, despite disability, in the general education classroom, general education teachers need to be trained in ways to adequately educate intellectually disabled students alongside their nondisabled peers. Many students with an intellectual disability are capable of learning in an inclusive environment if provided with proper support, such as through instructional methods like project-based learning. Project-based learning actively involves learners in investigating real-world issues and answering related questions. This chapter focuses on how to use the project-based learning method to teach children with intellectual disabilities within the framework of inclusive education, using biology as an example subject area.


Author(s):  
Aleen Kojayan ◽  
Aubrey L. C. Statti ◽  
Kelly M. Torres

This qualitative case study investigated the influence of technology integration in a special education classroom for students who have ADHD. Technology has shown to have a positive influence on student academic, social, and emotional growth in a general education classroom. This study sought to understand the influence technology has for students struggling with ADHD. This study aimed to understand if technology can play a role in the development of students with ADHD specifically in the domains of academic and social growth. Through observations, interviews, and focus group sessions, six themes were deduced: importance of consistency in using technology, impact of group size, increased interest, increased independence, task initiation/time efficiency using Chromebook, and overall confidence academically and socially.


2020 ◽  
pp. 0013189X2095517
Author(s):  
Ijun Lai ◽  
W. Jesse Wood ◽  
Scott A. Imberman ◽  
Nathan D. Jones ◽  
Katharine O. Strunk

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.


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