Culturally Competent Practices and Implications for Special Education Leaders

2022 ◽  
pp. 153-171
Author(s):  
Katherine Sprott ◽  
Clementine Msengi
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
General Education ◽  
Educational Leaders ◽  
Effective Instruction ◽  
Academic Standards ◽  
Frames Of Reference ◽  
Culturally Competent ◽  
Education Leaders ◽  
Unites States ◽  
Cultural Frames

The over-identification of minorities in special education in the Unites States continues to exist. Such over-representation separates these students from their general education peers to the degree that they may not have access to challenging academic standards and effective instruction. Factors impacting these students include a systemic lack of understanding of cultural frames of reference and curriculum and leadership issues that influence the referral and placement processes in special education. This chapter will address the five culturally competent practices with regard to inclusion and special education. Implications for educational leaders will be discussed.

Culturally Competent Practices and Implications for Special Education Leaders

2019 ◽  
pp. 141-166
Author(s):  
Katherine Sprott ◽  
Clementine Msengi
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
General Education ◽  
Educational Leaders ◽  
Effective Instruction ◽  
Academic Standards ◽  
Frames Of Reference ◽  
Culturally Competent ◽  
Education Leaders ◽  
Unites States ◽  
Cultural Frames

The over-identification of minorities in special education in the Unites States continues to exist. Such over-representation separates these students from their general education peers to the degree that they may not have access to challenging academic standards and effective instruction. Factors impacting these students include a systemic lack of understanding of cultural frames of reference and curriculum and leadership issues that influence the referral and placement processes in special education. This chapter will address the five culturally competent practices with regard to inclusion and special education. Implications for educational leaders will be discussed.

Leading through a critical lens: The application of DisCrit in framing, implementing and improving equity driven, educational systems for all students

2020 ◽  
Vol 58 (5) ◽  
pp. 489-505
Author(s):  
Elizabeth B. Kozleski ◽  
Inna Stepaniuk ◽  
William Proffitt
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
General Education ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Organizational Systems ◽  
Educational Systems ◽  
Transformative Change ◽  
Special Education Leadership ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Education Leaders

PurposeThis article focuses on the strategic importance of framing cultural changes in special education through a critical lens. The article explores why cultural responsivity must be understood from a critical perspective that accounts for the historical sedimentation of racism that exists within special education organizational policies and practices. This sedimentation affects current and future organizational features that sustain historical, persistent and pernicious racial and ableist structures, relationships and outcomes.Design/methodology/approachBy examining the role of power within organizational systems, the authors trace its contribution to reproduction of these systems through special education leadership. Special education leaders along with their peers in general education can frame transformative change through a systemic lens designed to address structural, regulatory and cultural practices that perpetuate raced and ableist outcomes. The pernicious and sustaining structures and practices that have created unequal outcomes in our educational systems need strategic intervention, prevention and re-creation to create equitable supports and services programs.FindingsBy examining the role of power within organizational systems, the authors trace its contribution to reproduction of these systems through special education leadership. Special education leaders along with their peers in general education can frame transformative change through a systemic lens designed to address structural, regulatory and cultural practices that perpetuate raced and ableist outcomes.Practical implicationsWith clear outcomes that are responsive to all students, including those identified with dis/abilities, education leaders can make consequential shifts in access, opportunity and the distribution of social and intellectual capital throughout education.Social implicationsThe pernicious and sustaining structures and practices that have created unequal outcomes in our educational systems need strategic intervention, prevention and re-creation to create equitable supports and services programs.Originality/valueThe application of DisCrit to educational leadership practices offers an opportunity to frame leadership through a powerful equity lens.

scholarly journals Education Leaders’ Perspectives on Special Education Research: A Priority Setting Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (15) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Baumbusch ◽  
Jennifer E.V. Lloyd ◽  
Yu Chyi David Liou ◽  
Danjie Zou
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
Priority Setting ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
Educational Leaders ◽  
Research Priorities ◽  
Knowledge Mobilization ◽  
Students With Special Needs ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Research Priority ◽  
Education Leaders

Research priority setting, an element of knowledge mobilization, makes knowledge users integral to the development of research agendas. To date, the use of research priority setting in educational research has been minimal. The purpose of this study was to explore educational leaders’ perspectives on research priorities in special education. We conducted a cross-sectional research priority setting survey with educational leaders from 60 public school districts in British Columbia, Canada. Seventy-one participants completed the survey. Results of a pre-set list of questions indicated that the top three research priorities were: grade-to-grade transitions, high school graduation, and time to designation. In terms of designation, or student categorization, participants were most interested in “Intensive Behaviour Interventions/Severe Mental Illness.” When asked about other priorities, participants identified research on types of support/interventions. These results have implications for developing a research agenda that can support informed decision-making around policy-development and programming for students with special needs. 

Inclusion of All Students in General Education? International Appeal for A More Temperate Approach to Inclusion

2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
James M. Kauffman ◽  
Marion Felder ◽  
Bernd Ahrbeck ◽  
Jeanmarie Badar ◽  
Katrin Schneiders
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
General Education ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
World Wide ◽  
Effective Instruction ◽  
Best Interests ◽  
Important Goal ◽  
Full Inclusion ◽  
Wide Issue ◽  
The Common

Abstract Including students with disabilities in general education when appropriate is an important goal of special education. However, inclusion is not as important as effective instruction, which must be the first concern of education, general or special. Full inclusion, the claim that all students with disabilities are best placed in general education with needed supports, is a world-wide issue. Full inclusion does not serve the best interests of all students with disabilities. Including all students in the common enterprise of learning is more important than where students are taught.

scholarly journals Evaluating Teacher Language Within General and Special Education Classrooms Serving Elementary Students with Autism

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Sparapani ◽  
Vanessa P. Reinhardt ◽  
Jessica L. Hooker ◽  
Lindee Morgan ◽  
Christopher Schatschneider ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
General Education ◽  
Receptive Vocabulary ◽  
Social Impairment ◽  
Second Grade ◽  
Individual Student ◽  
Teacher Language ◽  
Autism Symptoms ◽  
Social Abilities ◽  
Students With Autism

AbstractThis study examined how teachers and paraprofessionals in 126 kindergarten-second grade general and special education classrooms talked with their 194 students with autism, and further, how individual student characteristics in language, autism symptoms, and social abilities influenced this talk. Using systematic observational methods and factor analysis, we identified a unidimensional model of teacher language for general and special education classrooms yet observed differences between the settings, with more language observed in special education classrooms—much of which included directives and close-ended questions. Students’ receptive vocabulary explained a significant amount of variance in teacher language beyond its shared covariance with social impairment and problem behavior in general education classrooms but was non-significant within special education classrooms. Research implications are discussed.

Explaining the Decline in Special Education Teacher Employment From 2005 to 2012

2017 ◽  
Vol 83 (3) ◽  
pp. 315-329 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jim Dewey ◽  
Paul T. Sindelar ◽  
Elizabeth Bettini ◽  
Erling E. Boe ◽  
Michael S. Rosenberg ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
General Education ◽  
Special Education Teachers ◽  
Public Law ◽  
General Educators ◽  
Special Education Teacher ◽  
Teacher Preparation Programs ◽  
Preparation Programs ◽  
Disability Prevalence ◽  
Constituent Elements

Demand for special education teachers grew continuously from the passage of Public Law 94-142 in 1975 through 2005, when this trend reversed. From 2005 to 2012, the number of special education teachers employed by U.S. schools declined by >17%. The primary purpose of this investigation was to determine factors that contributed to this decline. We parsed change in number of special education teachers employed into four constituent elements and found that these recent reductions were fueled by decreases in disability prevalence and the relative ratio of teachers to students in special versus general education, which favored the latter. These changes have important implications for teacher preparation programs’ efforts to adequately prepare special and general educators and for policies designed to improve teacher quality.

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