IDEA and Inclusive Education

Federal mandates, most notably the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), guarantee education rights for children classified under one of the 13 categories of disabilities, ensuring that they are educated with their peers in the general education classroom as much as possible based on their ability and needs. State educational agencies and local educational agencies are responsible for ensuring that the pedagogical needs of all children with a disability are met in accordance with the law. This chapter discusses IDEA and the concept of inclusion and how special and general educators must increase their efforts to promote and support equitable opportunities for all students.

Cognitive Load Theory: An Applied Reintroduction for Special and General Educators

There are numerous reasons why students with disabilities struggle in school. A key reason is professionals in the field may not pay enough attention to students’ overwhelmed cognitive capacity. Cognitive load theory explains that all humans have limited capacity at any given time to use their auditory, visual, and tactile inputs (independently or collectively) to acquire new information and store it in long-term memory. When available cognition is overwhelmed – which can be caused by any number of reasons – learning cannot occur. In this article, we introduce the key aspects of cognitive load theory and give specific examples of how special educators can use this information to shape their instruction to support students’ unique needs.

Sufficiency of Teachers’ Access to Resources and Supports for Students With Disabilities

Students with disabilities are served by both special and general educators, yet teachers often feel unprepared to meet the needs of these students in their classrooms. Using data from a nationally representative survey, we examined the sufficiency of teachers’ access to supports available for meeting the needs of students with high-incidence disabilities, their access to development opportunities, and the sources teachers used to access interventions. We explored differences in teachers’ experiences by grade band, service delivery model, and teacher preparation model. We found teachers of students with disabilities rated the sufficiency of access to supports between somewhat insufficient and somewhat sufficient, with the lowest ratings for planning/release time and training and information. Teachers reported greater rates of access to collaboration than professional development. Colleagues were sources for resources related to academic interventions and administrators were sources for nonacademic intervention resources. There were few significant differences in these results by teacher characteristics.

Peningkatan Teknologi Pendidik Pesantren Anak Sholeh melalui MEMRiSE: Coaching & Training

Mastering technology improvement is something that educators have to continue to strive for on an ongoing basis. A teacher is required to master the use and applicate the science and technology development along the revolution industrial era 4.0. To continue improving the quality of self, a teacher needs to be given coaching and training. The training activity with the theme "Introduction to English Language Learning Technology at the Pesantren Anak Sholeh, a kindergarden and primary school in Ponorogo" was attended by Ustadz and Ustadzah of the Pesantren Anak Sholeh for PAUD and Elementary School levels with a total of 12 participants. The coaching and training was carried out on Saturday, August 7, 2021 by introducing MEMRiSE as a very easy learning application that children can do to improve their English and Arabic vocabulary. Participants were given the opportunity directly to practice downloading and trying the MEMRiSE application and practice it. Based on the results of the activities, participants showed high enthusiasm in practicing the use of MEMRiSE and stated the ease of learning to increase children's vocabulary. In general, educators at the Sholeh Children's Islamic Boarding School have carried out creativity and learning innovation using MEMRiSE. The results of the responses from the coaching and training participants also showed 100% that MEMRiSE was motivating, fun for learning and very effective in learning trough online in the covid-19 pandemic situation.

CONSTRUCTIVE THINKING AND TEACHING SELF-EFFICACY OF GREEK SPECIAL EDUCATORS: PARALLEL OR CROSSOVER TOPICS?

In the present study we investigated the relationship between Epstein’s components of constructive thinking and Teaching Self-Efficacy of Greek special educators. For that purpose, a web questionnaire was sent to special and general education teachers and a research causal model was designed to define relations between variables. The research sample consisted of 214 special educators and general education teachers from the public education system in Greece. Data gathered by utilizing Constructive Thinking Inventory [CTI] and The Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale [TSES] research tools. Data analysis revealed a statistically significant correlation of various components of constructive thinking with Teaching Self-Efficacy. In addition, it has been found that a high degree of constructive thinking increases the Teaching Self-Efficacy of special educators. Finally, we compared the teaching self-efficacy between special and general educators. <p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0860/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

“We Sort of Dance Around the Race Thing”: Race-Evasiveness in Teacher Education

The racial and linguistic diversity of U.S. classrooms has drawn attention to the intersecting dynamics of race, racism, and language learning in teacher education. While most studies in this vein focus on teachers, almost no research has focused on teacher educators themselves. Therefore, this study draws on interviews with teacher educators to document how they addressed—or more often, evaded—the topics of race and racism. Participants ( n = 33) were instructors for state-mandated courses on teaching emergent bilinguals for general educators across the state of Massachusetts. Through the lens of poststructural discourse analysis, the findings of this study demonstrate that race-evasiveness is not a byproduct of passive omission, but instead involves active, discursive effort. These findings underscore the importance of individual and collective efforts to disrupt race-evasiveness, but also illustrate the limits of surface-level race-intentionality for advancing antiracism in teacher education.

Google Classroom as Perceived by Educators: An Overview

Learning Management System (LMS) is gaining prominence in how education is delivered today due to the increased popularity of remote and online distance learning and the unimaginable COVID-19 pandemic that stuns the world. One of the more popular LMSs in the world is Google Classroom (GC). Due to its popularity, it is essential for the perception of its users particularly educators to be gauged as it is believed that their perception could determine what they do in their teaching and learning sessions. This paper reviewed eleven selected past studies about educators’ perception on the use of GC. The content of these studies was analyzed and coded into themes and specific categories by using the Atlas.ti Software. In general, educators seem to hold a positive perception on the use of GC with their students. However, some reservations about the use of GC have also been expressed. Several recommendations about how GC could be improved were also offered by the participants in the studies. The gaps in the past studies might provide some ideas on how the educators’ perception of GC could be better ascertained in future.

General Educators' Involvement in Interventions for Students With Intellectual Disability

General educators are crucial players in efforts to support inclusive education for students with intellectual disability. In this systematic review, we examined the roles of general educators within interventions delivered and evaluated in their middle and high school classrooms. Among these 40 intervention studies, the involvement of general educators could be characterized as mixed and often minimal. Across studies, general educator involvement spanned six different areas: developing the intervention, arranging peer involvement, implementing intervention components, providing perspectives, collecting data, and delivering class instruction. The ways in which general educators have contributed to the delivery of interventions in their classrooms remains uneven. We offer recommendations for research and practice aimed at increasing the involvement of general educators in providing support to students with intellectual disability.