Bryan G. Cook

Teachers Attitudes toward Their Included Students with Disabilities

This investigation examines teachers attitudes toward their included students with disabilities. Seventy general education teachers of inclusive elementary classrooms nominated three of their students to prompts corresponding with the attitudinal categories of attachment, concern, indifference, and rejection. Consistent with predictions based on a theory of instructional tolerance, chi-square analyses indicated that included students with disabilities were significantly underrepresented in the attachment category, and significantly overrepresented in the concern and rejection categories. Greater experience teaching in inclusive classes was also associated with higher rates of concern nominations for included students with disabilities. Results are discussed in regard to their implications for inclusive policies and practice.

Inclusive Attitudes, Strengths, and Weaknesses of Pre-service General Educators Enrolled in a Curriculum Infusion Teacher Preparation Program

The inclusive attitudes of 181 undergraduate preservice general educators were measured using modified versions of the Opinions Relative to Integration of Students with Disabilities scale. A series of 4

Improving career re-entry outcomes for people with multiple sclerosis: a comparison of two approaches

4 ANOVA equations indicated that (a) pre-service teachers were more positive toward the inclusion of students with learning disabilities than of students with behavior disorders, mental retardation, and multiple disabilities and (b) pre-service teachers of different class standings did not have significantly different attitudes toward inclusion. In addition, four themes emerged from the comments of 136 participants regarding their strengths and weaknesses related to inclusive teaching. The most frequently mentioned strengths were in the area of Personal Characteristics, Dispositions, and Talents. The most commonly noted weaknesses were in regard to Teaching Experience, Teacher-training, and Instructional Knowledge and Skills. A chi-square analysis indicated that strengths and weaknesses did not differ corresponding to class standing with the exception of seniors tending to express more strengths related to Experiences Unrelated to Teaching or Teacher-training than expected by chance. The implications of these results and infusion models of teacher preparation for inclusion policies are discussed.

Special Educators' Views of Community-based Job Training and Inclusion as Indicators of Job Competencies for Students with Mild and Moderate Disabilities

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Chapter 1 Evidence-Based Practices in Learning and Behavioral Disabilities: The Search for Effective Instruction

The article presents findings from a career re-entry project for people with multiple sclerosis (MS). The effects of two job placement strategies on accommodation self-efficacy, employability maturity and employment status were compared. At a 16-week follow-up, 11 of the 37 participants (all of whom were unemployed at the inception of the project) had re-entered the labor force, an outcome that compares favorably with the 25% nationwide employment rate reported by people with MS.

Classroom Behavior, Contexts, and Interventions

This study examines the perceptions of 173 pre- and in-service special education teachers regarding the job competencies of hypothetical high school students with mild and moderate disabilities. Participants rated one of nine student descriptions that varied by school experiences related to transition and disability category in five areas of vocational competence. The student was described as being placed primarily in separate special education settings, being fully included in general education classes, or being involved in community-based work experience and placed primarily in separate special education settings. Next, the student was described as having a learning disability, a behavioral disorder, or mild mental retardation. Results indicate that the student described as having a behavioral disorder received lower ratings regarding social coping than did the student described as having mild mental retardation (p = .04). The type of transition-related school experience did not affect special educators ratings of job competencies. It is recommended that special educators receive training to enhance their knowledge of the benefits associated with effective transition practices such as community-based work experience.

Inclusion and Students with Mental Retardation: Theoretical Perspectives and Implications

The gap between research and practice in special education places an artificial ceiling on the achievement of students with learning and behavioral disabilities. Evidence-based practices (EBPs) are instructional practices shown by bodies of sound research to be generally effective. They represent a possible means to address the research-to-practice gap by identifying, and subsequently implementing, the most effective instructional practices on the basis of reliable, scientific research. In this chapter, we provide a context for the subsequent chapters in this volume by (a) defining and describing EBPs, (b) recognizing some of important limitations to EBPs, (c) introducing a number of ongoing issues related to EBPs in the field of learning and behavioral disabilities that are addressed by chapter authors in this volume, and (d) briefly considering a few emerging issues related to EBPs that we believe will become increasingly prominent in the near future.

Employment Expectations as a Differential Indicator of Attitudes Toward People with Insulin-Dependent Diabetes Mellitus

Intended to be of interest to clinicians, teachers, researchers, graduate students, and others who work with students with learning and behavioral disabilities, this book focuses on identify and review issues and outcomes associated with behavioral concerns of students with learning and behavioral disabilities.

Instructional Practices with and without Empirical Validity: An Introduction

Summary The present article examines the implications of inclusion for students with mental retardation. An overview of inclusion terminology and recent changes in the definition and classification of individuals with mental retardation are presented. The academic and social outcomes of students with mental retardation in inclusive settings are examined by employing tolerance theory, a joint model of outcome production, and a model of differentiated expectations. The analyses examine how inclusion interacts with the unique learning needs and characteristics of students with mild and severe mental retardation. The authors recommend implementing partial, not full, inclusion for most students with mental retardation; to consider the interaction of severity of disability and student variance in making inclusive placements to maximize social outcomes; and to continue to conduct theory-based research in an effort to provide the most appropriate education to students with mental retardation.