Balancing the need to prepare pre-service teachers with the skills necessary to effectively participate in Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) with the constraints of confidentiality as required by law has led one university to develop video scenarios that can be used as teaching tools. Three scenarios have been created, two at the secondary level and one at the elementary level. The videos, which can be streamed via the internet as well as through the university’s course management software, deal with the interpersonal interactions that occur during IEP meetings rather than paperwork completion. Thus, the use of the video scenarios serves to alleviate the concerns of pre-service teachers regarding an area that is often perceived to be secretive and daunting. To date, the scenarios have been used with classes in two different university departments and have resulted in richer and more in-depth discussions of what can be expected in actual IEP meetings.
Music-education majors often struggle when making classroom and curricular modifications for their lesson plans during their university coursework. This article offers behavioral, curricular, environmental, motivational, organizational, and presentational strategies for planning instruction for various disabilities in the music classroom.
Youth sports were created as opportunities for children to play, be active, and begin learning how to become better or more successful at a given sport. Unfortunately many children with disabilities may not get the same opportunities that are available to other children. There are a number of barriers that inhibit children with significant disabilities from either participating in the youth sport programming all together or have a strong impact their level of successful participation. This article both identifies key barriers as well as provides strategies to eliminate or minimize the impact of the given barrier. This problem-solution approach is meant to help to focus our attention on the root of the problem and begin using some practical strategies that will help better serve and provide opportunities for children with disabilities to help them “get into the game”.
This article examines the application of the popular Response to Intervention (RTI) approach to the early identification and service delivery for students with social, emotional, and behavioral difficulties in schools. The article begins with an explanation of the RTI model as applied to the social behavior domain, based on the empirical research base. It proceeds to share data from focus group interviews with exemplary urban special education teachers about RTI strategies used in their schools and classrooms and what it would take to implement RTI in this domain. The article then discusses implications for school personnel who are interested in adopting an RTI model in this domain.
Families in India face many challenges in caring for and educating their children with disabilities. India has enacted a landmark special education law, Persons with Disabilities Act of 1995, which provides schooling and services to all children. For some students with disabilities, however, integrated and special schools are providing schooling. This paper highlights one school, the Bethshan Special School, a private day-school for students with intellectual disabilities. At Bethshan, teachers provide quality academic instruction and job readiness skills for a range of children and young adults, as well as support programs for parents. Concluding this brief examination, several challenges and positive directions for Indian special education and teacher preparation are highlighted.
Sibling interactions are challenges that all families face on a daily basis. These interactions are significantly more difficult when one child has autism. With the apparent increase in diagnoses of autism, there are more families each year who are dealing with issues of relationships. Children learn, as part of the growing up experience, how to relate to their brothers and sisters. They also acquire future parenting styles by watching their own parents and how they relate to children with and without disabilities. This case study explores one woman’s childhood experiences with a sibling of undiagnosed Asperger’s Syndrome and the effects of her experiences as a parent of a son with Asperger’s Syndrome.
Children’s books with characters that have disabilities have been touted as an avenue to introduce children to their peers with disabilities. Children’s literature specialists have suggested that the use of these books may result in a more positive attitude on the part of children without disabilities toward their peers with disabilities. Working with fifth grade children in an urban school setting, structured book discussion groups were held during the reading of two books that feature a main character with a learning disability. Data was gathered using an attitude survey, audiotapes of group discussions and focus group interviews before and after the intervention. Results showed there was not a clear increase in positive attitudes toward peers with learning disabilities. In fact, the focus on the topic may have reinforced some children’s negative attitudes. Further study is warranted to examine the premise that these books will improve children’s attitudes toward their peers.
The purpose of this paper is to provide educators and counselors with a framework for understanding the academic self-concepts of gifted students. As academic self-concept is theoretically linked with other constructs, including academic achievement and aspirations, it is vital that educators and counselors are aware of the experiences gifted students may face. Implications for educators and counselors are discussed.
As teachers, administrators, and members of intervention teams use student performance data to inform instructional decisions and monitor implementation of tiered instruction in a Response to Intervention (RTI) model, assuring fidelity of implementation or treatment integrity continues to be a challenge. This article describes how one school district established a model of RTI including three mechanisms to enhance data-driven instruction and fidelity of implementation through the use of: (1) a student intervention tracking form, (2) reading coaches, and (3) teacher-made video clips.
There are many challenges for teachers today. One of the most difficult challenges for diligent teachers is reaching the needs of an increasingly diverse student population. In order for teachers to reach ALL students, teachers must begin where students are, which means recognizing indi-vidual differences. Differentiated instruction (DI) with the use of technology offers the opportu-nity for teachers to engage students in different modalities, while also varying the rate of instruc-tion, complexity levels, and teaching strategies to engage and challenge students. Differentiated instruction also allows teachers to begin to think and work “smarter” and more efficiently rather than trying to work harder to meet the needs of such a diverse student population. Keywords Differentiated instruction, technology, learning disabilitiesSUGGESTED CITATION:Stanford, P., Crowe, M.W., Flice, H. (2010). Differentiating with Technology. TEACHING Ex-ceptional Children Plus, 6(4) Article 2. Retrieved [date] from
Children with emotional and behavior disorders often have difficulties understanding social cues, responding appropriately in social situations, and initiating age-appropriate interactions with peers and adults. A real-life social activity that is often neglected in social skills training is dining. Dining involves dining etiquette, personal hygiene, mathematics, and social skills. Dining skills can be taught using a direct model approach that include introduction and instruction of the skill, modeling, peer involvement, role-playing, feedback, and reinforcement of desired social behaviors. Providing social skills training and real-life dining experiences for students with emotional and behavior disorders can provide many opportunities for students to learn appropriate interaction with peers and authority figures, recognize social cues, and learn social competence.
This article describes a lesson plan model that applies principles of universal design for learning (UDL) and multisensory learning centers to the framework of a traditional direct instruction spelling lesson for elementary students with learning, social, and attention problems. It reviews essential components of UDL and demonstrates how to incorporate multiple means of representation, engagement, and expression with elements of direct instruction. In a pilot project, a traditional lesson plan for teaching high frequency spelling words is expanded to account for student characteristics, their potential academic barriers to learning, and appropriate UDL supports for each. Three multisensory centers used during independent practice to activate auditory, tactile, kinesthetic, and visual senses and provide multiple opportunities for student access and participation are described. Step-by-step procedures for making and using whisper phones, sand trays, and magnet letter centers are presented. Also included are directions for students, a teacher checklist, and a video clip demonstration of each center.
Over the past several decades, there has been a steady increase in the use of medication therapy to help control student behavior within schools. While psychotropic medications do not “cure” mental illnesses, they have demonstrated efficacy in helping children function better at school and within their home environment. However, it is important educators understand these medications may also pose significant risks for children, with potential side effects ranging from mild discomfort to life threatening complications. In this article, the authors review the major types of psychotropic medications, discuss the therapeutic benefits and potential side effects of medications, and provide recommendations regarding how teachers can assist to ensure the safe use of these medications.
With the pressure of No Child Left Behind and state-ordered accountability initiatives building, local educators’ angst with the challenges of documenting improvement on the part of special education students, as a function of their performance on high stakes content assessments, continues to grow. One major tool used to identify academic needs and provide support is the Individual Education Plan, a model bolstered through the selection of accommodations particular to the individual student. How are those accommodations identified? What proof might be provided that they have been implemented successfully? And where is the data that might suggest that they be continued on the student’s IEP? Using data to identify, monitor, and evaluate the use of accommodations for individual special education students is a must if educators are to verify that those students are making progress academically. However, the system which is implemented to achieve this must be least intrusive for those who will use it so that it doesn’t suffer from reduced implementation fidelity.
Means-end behavior occurs when the child can carry out a sequence of steps, including the removal of a physical obstacle, to achieve a goal. The development of means-end knowledge occurs in three stages: transitional, intentional, and comprehensive. Comprehensive means-end is achieved when the child can generate solutions without demonstration of the solution by another and without trial and error. The achievement of means-end is considered a pivotal developmental milestone because of its strong positive correlation to intentional communication and its relationship to understanding the intent of other’s actions. It is important to create accessible opportunities for children with disabilities to observe others solving means-end problems. High interest and personalized materials that are age appropriate will motivate children to solve means-end problems. This article presents a review of research on means-end development in children with severe disabilities, information on how to assess and teach means-end, and two case studies (with lessons and video) to illustrate key concepts.
Co-teaching is gaining popularity as an instructional delivery service for supporting students in diverse classrooms. In spite of recent research indicating its effectiveness, co-teaching does not always realize its potential; often due to interpersonal or communication issues occurring between co-teachers. This article describes ways co-teachers can understand and respond effectively to their co-teacher’s interpersonal style in order to maximize the professional satisfaction and success of co-teaching.
Mathematics concepts are most often taught using auditory, sequential instructional methods. Not only are these methods ineffective when used with visual-spatial learners, they may be detrimental to both academic and emotional progress. Ways in which visual-spatial learners process information are explained. One child’s story is presented, illustrating both negative academic and emotional impact on a visual-spatial learner who possessed exceptional math ability but performed increasingly poorly in math class. An extensive list of effective strategies and resources for teachers is provided.
When students with disabilities are isolated socially and physically, their self-confidence and engagement may be low. Encouraging leadership and service in students who are often overlooked for these roles enhances peer relations, engagement, and self-confidence. Principles and strategies for fostering leadership and service are described.
Students are coming to schools with increasingly diverse academic, social, and emotional needs. Meeting each child’s social and behavioral needs can be challenging and overwhelming, especially in the era of high-stakes testing. No Child Left Behind and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEIA) mandate the provision of behavior intervention plans and the use of evidenced-based best practices to teach appropriate behavior to students with learning and behavior problems. This article describes how an innovative software program, eKidTools, was used to design intervention programs that addressed the social and emotional needs of students with disabilities who exhibited challenging behaviors in general education classrooms. Three case studies are provided in which eKidtools software tools were used to increase target behaviors.
