Response to Intervention in the State of Florida

The 2004 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act led to an era of educational reform that called for scientifically based curriculum and data-driven decision-making when devising instructional strategies. Response to intervention was subsequently endorsed. Because students with disabilities were being included within the general education setting during this time, many states like Florida, made use of the multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS). This process was used to plan and problem-solve effective teaching strategies to improve student performance in reading and in mathematics. This chapter explores how Florida has used MTSS to narrow achievement gaps and create educational opportunities for all students.

Technology of modeling current and prospective roles and responsibilities of teaching staff for general education settings

Introduction. This study analyses how changing requirements for results and processes of general education determine new or updated roles and responsibilities of teachers in the context of building a qualification framework in the field of education. The purpose of the research is to develop and test a technology for modeling roles and responsibilities and corresponding professional qualifications of general education teachers determined by changing requirements of the labor market and employers. Materials and Methods. The study follows the process approach and methodology of structural and functional analysis of professional practice. The authors applied the following research methods: modeling, questionnaires, approbation, comparative analysis, generalization, classification, interpretation as well as methods of graphical representation of information in data processing and interpretation. In order to collect empirical data, the authors developed a questionnaire through modeling roles and responsibilities of teaching staff based on legislative materials as well as theoretical and practical evidence reflecting the requirements for processes and results of general education in the Russian Federation. Results. The article presents a technology for modeling prospective roles and responsibilities and corresponding professional qualifications of general education teachers developed and tested by the authors. The system of current roles and responsibilities of subject teachers, class teachers and academic counselors has been established. The authors developed a set of prospective roles and responsibilities for education practitioners, the institutionalization of which is required for an appropriate response of a general education setting to changing requirements for processes and results of its work. The study reveals how employers evaluate the importance of current roles and responsibilities of education practitioners and the demand for prospective ones. The authors summarize the ideas of employers about pursuing a career in the field of education. The study reveals an apparent discrepancy between the employers’ recognition of diversification of professional activities within educational settings and the stable professional and social stereotype of a ‘universal teacher’. The hypothesis about the hybridization of teachers’ roles and responsibilities as a basic way of developing the qualification framework in the field of education has been tested and confirmed. Conclusions. The efficiency of the developed technology for modeling prospective roles and responsibilities and corresponding professional qualifications of general education teachers in accordance with the changing requirements of the labor market has been proved.

The Special Education Teacher Pipeline: Teacher Preparation, Workforce Entry, and Retention

We used data on the student teaching placements, degrees, teaching credentials, and workforce outcomes of more than 1,300 graduates of special education teacher education programs in Washington to provide a descriptive portrait of specific measures of special education teacher preparation and their relationships with workforce entry and early-career retention. Although rates of workforce entry and retention for these special education candidates were high, we documented considerably lower rates of entry into and retention in special education teaching positions for candidates who hold a dual endorsement in special education and another subject. These patterns have potential implications for the state’s new dual-endorsement requirement and for dual-licensure programs more broadly. Student teaching with a cooperating teacher who is endorsed in special education was also associated with a higher likelihood of becoming a special education teacher, even when controlling for whether the placement was in a special or general education setting.

Emergent Concepts of Inclusion in the Context of Committed School Leadership

Inclusion of students with disabilities within general education settings is increasingly accepted as the desirable response of school systems to student learning differences. It has triggered districtwide reforms that are differentially enacted and realized within different schooling contexts. This study explores meanings of inclusion that were produced when three school leaders in a large urban school district adopted buildingwide initiatives to facilitate inclusion. We interviewed building leaders, families, and teachers within three public schools over a period of approximately 11 months. Data disclosed that the enactment of initiatives at each school reflected particular understandings of disability as well as relations with teachers and families. Our analysis showed that schoolwide commitments to inclusion can simultaneously produce forms of exclusion, erase dis/ability as a form of diversity, and neglect to understand parents and families as “experts” on their children. We argue that the structural implementation of inclusion premised on placement of students with disabilities in a general education setting leaves intact and unquestioned school-based norms of ability that render both students and families as lacking.

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

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

Integrating Effective Practices Into Co-Teaching: Increasing Outcomes for Students With Disabilities

Co-teaching is the most popular model for supporting students with disabilities in the general education setting. However, the limited research that supports this framework as effective for increasing outcomes for students with disabilities may indicate co-teachers have difficulty providing students with specialized instruction to meet individual learning needs. In this article, co-teachers are provided a model for integrating effective practices strategically within various co-teaching models to increase educational outcomes for students with disabilities.