Special Education and Teaching Commons^™

Educating Students With Learning Disabilities In Inclusive Classrooms, Jeremy Ford

Electronic Journal for Inclusive Education

There is great debate over including students with disabilities, in particular students with learning disabilities, in inclusive classrooms. Several strategies are available to support educating students with learning disabilities in inclusive classrooms including: co-teaching, differentiated instruction, and peer-mediated instruction and interventions. Theory suggests the practice of inclusion is congruent with social justice, but evidence suggests mixed results regarding academic achievement typically occur. However, results of providing separate pullout instructional services are not necessarily more likely to achieve desired results. Therefore, educators will need to make placement decisions considering the resources available in their school, in addition to the skill level …

Welcome, Patricia R. Renick Ph.D.

Electronic Journal for Inclusive Education

Welcome to the Spring/Summer 2013 Edition of The Electronic Journal for Inclusive Education. This edition is small but has two excellent research articles.

Dr. Stanard, Dr. Ringlaben, and Dr. Griffith describe secondary teachers’ knowledge of Response to Intervention (RTI). RTI is a new government mandate to identify and intervene with students who have learning disabilities. Their article provides some rich insight into the response of secondary teachers.

Dr. Potmesilova, Dr. Potmesil, Dr. Roubalova from the Czech Republic describe supervision as a prevention and support to teachers in inclusive setting. Their research focuses on sentiments, attitudes and concerns of educators working …

Secondary Teachers’ Knowledge Of Response To Intervention, Cherry M. Stanard Ed.S., Ravic P. Ringlaben, Kimberly Griffith Ph. D.

Electronic Journal for Inclusive Education

School systems across the United States have been required by federal laws to utilize scientific based interventions and instruction within the classroom to educate all students. Through the use of a multi-tiered model called Response to Intervention (RTI), school systems now have a model to implement the interventions within the environment. The purpose of this study was to investigate secondary teachers’ knowledge of RTI within a public school system in the southeastern United States. It is vital that the teachers and specialists who implement RTI be knowledgeable of the multi-tiered model. The teacher’s knowledge of RTI can help guide administrators …

Supervision As A Prevention And Support To Teachers In Inclusive Education, Petra Potmesilova, Milon Potmesil, Marcela Fojtikova Roubalova

Electronic Journal for Inclusive Education

The presented research was focused on the field of sentiments, attitudes and concerns of educators potentially working with pupils with impairment under inclusive settings.

This study was aimed at discovering whether the above stated parameters change after achieving qualification in special needs education. The results of research encompassing a period of two years aimed at describing a group of 794 educators from the point of view of the development of their attitudes, opinions and concerns while being focused on the process of inclusion. In accordance with the obtained results, supervision as a special psychological support is badly needed.

Welcome, Patricia R. Renick

Electronic Journal for Inclusive Education

Welcome to the Fall/Winter 2013 Edition of The Electronic Journal For Inclusive Education. This edition promises an array of interesting research into inclusive education.

Dr. Madan and Dr. Sharma from Azim Prmji University and the University of Delhi discuss the newly accepted inclusive movement in India. Their focus is on individual elementary school efforts to implement inclusion at its very beginning efforts to include children with special needs.

Mr. MacKichan of the Strait Regional School and Dr. Mary Harkins of Mount Saint Vincent University in Nova Scotia, Canada provide insight into parent involvement in the development of individual educational plans …

Inclusive Education For Children With Disabilities: Preparing Schools To Meet The Challenge, Ankur Madan, Neerja Sharma

Electronic Journal for Inclusive Education

It is now widely acknowledged that to achieve the goal of universal education in India and in order to fulfill provisions laid out in the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 ( Ministry of Human Resource Development, 2009) the education of children with disabilities cannot be put on the back burner. Inclusion or the education of children with disabilities in regular classrooms must be adopted both as an ideology and as a practical solution to support the Education for All adage, and to bring about equity in education in India. In this context, this paper …

Supporting Students With Autism Spectrum Disorders In Inclusive Settings: Rethinking Instruction And Design, Christopher B. Denning, Amelia K. Moody

Electronic Journal for Inclusive Education

The prevalence rate of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has grown more than ten-fold in the past two decades and is now estimated at about 1 in 88 children. These prevalence rates place increased demands on teachers to address core features and highlight the need for targeted supports. In addition, children with ASD are increasingly served in general education classrooms and teachers may not be prepared to meet their needs. Research-based supports can be used with an entire classroom within a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework in order to the needs of students with ASD in inclusive settings. …

Inclusive Education: Perceptions Of Parents Of Children With Special Needs Of The Individual Program Planning Process, Michael D. Mackichan, Mary J. Harkins

Electronic Journal for Inclusive Education

In inclusive education, students with special needs may access the curriculum through adapted or individualistic plans. Parental involvement in developing the individualistic plans is pertinent to the success of both their children’s education and the plan itself. Research from the United States offers insight into how parents perceive the process of developing individualist plans; however, limited research has been conducted with parents of children with special needs in Canada. This current study examines parental perceptions concerning the Individual Program Planning (IPP) process in Nova Scotia, Canada. Eight parents were interviewed using a guided interview format that consisted of 16 questions …

Heroes: Creating Classroom Environments, Presentations, And Activities That Positively Affect Student Motivation, Inclusion, And Retention, Virginia Heslinga

Electronic Journal for Inclusive Education

To help students of diverse needs learn, retain what they learn, collaborate in problem-solving, see value with inclusion, and grow in a desire to learn, teachers need to create environments conducive to active learning and filled with hope. Environments emerge from the time a student stands in the doorway of a classroom and continue through every element on display and encountered in interactions. Educators who understand they affect the environment will set the tone, present inclusively, provide meaningful activities, and do a heroic job of leading students. This article presents heroes with classic values in schools and communities through the …

Increasing Disability Awareness Through Comics Literature, Ewa Mcgrail, Alicja Rieger

Electronic Journal for Inclusive Education

When faced with negative attitudes and experiences in communication and interaction in general education classrooms, students with disabilities can exhibit high levels of stress and frustration or even depression, low self-esteem and impaired self-acceptance. These undesirable and destructive feelings, in turn, may affect these students’ social and cognitive development skills and well-being, as well as their academic performance in such environments. The recent scholarship on empathy supports the effectiveness of comics for identifying and fighting negative and stereotypical attitudes towards those with disabilities. This article discusses strategies for educating students about disability and disability issues with the help of comics …

Bibliotherapy And Autism Spectrum Disorder: Making Inclusion Work, Nancy D. Turner

Electronic Journal for Inclusive Education

As the incidence of autism spectrum disorder increases and as the emphasis on inclusion for students with autism continues in schools, it is critical that professionals, parents, and community members work to provide consistent evidence-based practices across settings. Based upon research conducted through the National Professional Development Center on Autism (2009), there are twenty-four evidence-based practices for students with autism. One important practice for inclusive classrooms is that of Peer Mediated Instruction and Intervention (PMII). With the goal to increase quality interaction between individuals with and without disabilities, an initial step of PMII is to familiarize neurotypical peers with age-appropriate …