Diane Lea Ryndak

Paraeducators in Inclusive Classrooms Their Own Perceptions

The perceptions of paraeducators regarding their roles and responsibilities in supporting students with moderate to severe disabilities in general education classrooms were the focus of this qualitative study. Sixteen paraeducators were interviewed using a semistructured interview guide to determine their understanding of their role, challenges they experienced, training needs, and relationships with other team members. Numerous roles and different types of responsibilities were described, such as teaching, adapting materials, facilitating interactions with peers, and implementing behavioral interventions. Paraeducators also reported a considerable degree of independence in decision making and implementation of programs. Although the critical importance of paraeducators in the support of students with severe disabilities is not in question, the independence while performing their role may not reflect desired practice, given their minimal training and lack of a teaching credential. Implications for the field concerning the use, training, and supervision of paraeducators are presented.

The Dynamic Relationship Between Context, Curriculum, and Student Learning: A Case for Inclusive Education as a Research-based Practice

This article used theory, historical records, and empirical research to make a case that inclusive education, in which students experience significant proportions of their day in the age-appropriate contexts and curriculum of general education, is a research-based practice with students who have extensive support needs. We begin by noting that there are regressive trends occurring in educational placements in our country and that these are causing alarm. Next, we establish guidelines for defining a useful, research-based practice. These guidelines include considering what education should be achieving for all students as a standard and using a view of scientific causality that acknowledges complexity. We then show how constructs from ecological theory and group processes theory, which provide accounts for human growth and learning, relate to location of educational services (i.e., context) and curriculum (i.e., content) decisions. Throughout this discussion, we show educating students using an inclusive education approach is supported by these constructs, whereas other widely used special education are not. We then review both historical and empirical data from institutions and schools and show that these data provide empirical support for the primary theoretical position of this article—that context, together with curriculum content, matter crucially when educating students with extensive support needs. We concluded that there is theoretical and empirical support for using general education contexts and curriculum content and for not using other contexts and curriculum content both in educating students with extensive support needs and in conducting related research.

Effects of using a photographic cueing package during routine school transitions with a child who has autism.

Making successful transitions from one activity to another is difficult for many children, particularly those who have cognitive, language, or behavioral disabilities. Appropriately terminating one activity and initiating another in a timely fashion is a skill important for young children to learn prior to entering kindergarten. The efficacy of teaching a young child labeled as having autism to make successful transitions in daily routines in three different school settings through the use of photographic cue package was examined. A multiple baseline across-settings design was used to evaluate the efficacy of the intervention. Implications for the use of photographic cue packages in teaching a variety of activities to young children are discussed.

Literacy before and after Inclusion in General Education Settings: A Case Study

This 7 year case study describes a young woman with moderate to severe disabilities and her use of literacy (i.e., reading, writing, listening, and speaking) during various stages of her educational career. Her use of literacy is described (a) when she was 15-years-old, after having received special education and related services in self-contained special education classes for 10 years and (b) during the proceeding 7 years, after the location in which she received services was changed to general education settings with nondisabled classmates, first in middle school, then high school, and finally in college. This change in location of services resulted in changes both in her instructional content and in the manner in which instruction and assessment occurred. Concomitantly, observable changes occurred in her social and learning behaviors. Significant changes resulted in the students reading, writing, listening, and speaking across settings, people, content, and activities. In addition, the students prior inappropriate social behaviors and refusals to participate in learning activities were replaced with appropriate behaviors in both instructional and social situations. Finally, the implications of the findings from this case study are discussed and recommendations are made for providing effective educational programs for students with moderate to severe disabilities, including literacy development.

Useful Practices in Inclusive Education: A Preliminary View of What Experts in Moderate to Severe Disabilities Are Saying.

We examined the opinions of experts in the field of moderate to severe disabilities on useful practices for inclusive education across nine categories of practices: Promoting inclusive values in the school; collaboration between general and special educators; collaboration between educators and related service providers; family involvement; choosing and planning what to teach; scheduling, coordinating, and delivering inclusive services within the school; assessing and reporting student progress on an ongoing basis; instructional strategies; and supporting students with challenging behavior. An examination of emergent themes within each category yielded a rich description of the depth and breadth of practices that are perceived by these experts as useful in promoting and sustaining successful school inclusion. Importantly, many of the identified practices require some level of educational service restructuring, including redefining the roles and functions of special education teachers, related services personnel, and classroom teachers. We also found that our sample of experts relied on sources of information other than empirical research in the development of their stores of wisdom on useful practices. Although preliminary in nature, our study contributes to the growing body of literature on inclusive education. It describes a range of practices perceived by a sample of experts to be associated with successful school inclusion. It also identifies a number of important themes that can inform future research in this area.

Parents' Perceptions after Inclusion of Their Children with Moderate or Severe Disabilities.

This study investigated the perceptions of parents of 13 children with moderate or severe disabilities in relation to their childs education in inclusive general education settings. Parents were all Caucasian and were from seven different school districts in western New York State. Their children ranged in age from 5 to 20 years, with nine having experienced educational services in self-contained settings prior to being included in typical classrooms. Audio-taped interviews of parents lasting from 60 to 90 minutes were transcribed and analyzed following qualitative research methodology. Findings indicated that, regardless of the age of their child, parents of all 13 children reported very positive perceptions. Parents whose children had been educated previously in self-contained classes reported many academic, behavioral, and social outcomes that they felt would not have happened without the transition to age-appropriate general education classes. The findings add to the growing literature on inclusion and support the trend to provide educational services for students with moderate or severe disabilities in general education settings.

Defining School Inclusion for Students with Moderate to Severe Disabilities: What Do Experts Say?.

The term inclusion is new to special education and currently has many uses in the literature and in the field. The evolution of the term and its various uses frequently lead to confusion and miscommunication during discussions of school inclusion. This study examined how experts in the field of school inclusion for students with moderate to severe disabilities defined the term for that population at one point in time. As part of a larger study, authors of relevant literature were asked to submit their definition of school inclusion. The content of these definitions was analyzed using qualitative methodology, and 7 themes emerged: (a) placement in natural typical settings; (b) all students together for instruction and learning; (c) supports and modifications within general education to meet appropriate learner outcomes; (d) belongingness, equal membership, acceptance, and being valued; (e) collaborative integrated services by education teams; (f) systemic philosophy or belief system; and (g) meshing general and special education into one unified system. The overwhelming incorporation of the first five themes listed previously indicates that these themes cannot be viewed in isolation when defining school inclusion for students with moderate to severe disabilities. That is, unless services for students with moderate to severe disabilities reflect all of the first 5 themes, those services cannot be defined as reflecting school inclusion. Descriptive statements expanding each of the 7 themes were developed, and areas for future research and inquiry were offered related to the relation among these themes.

Involvement and Progress in the General Curriculum for Students With Extensive Support Needs: K–12 Inclusive-Education Research and Implications for the Future

Abstract Since the passage of the Education of All Handicapped Children Act of 1975, educational services for students with extensive support needs (e.g., intellectual disability, autism, multiple ...

Access to the General Curriculum: The Mandate and Role of Context in Research-Based Practice for Students with Extensive Support Needs:

The reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act and the No Child Left Behind Act requires that students with extensive support needs have access to, participate in, and make progress on the general curriculum along with their grade-level general education peers. This article suggests that the terms used in this legislation have been interpreted differently across educational personnel, parents, advocates, and researchers, and that these differing interpretations have resulted in confusion and controversy related to services for this set of students. The purpose of this article was to initiate a discussion about the role of context when conceptualizing access to the general curriculum for students with extensive support needs related to communication, physical, and intellectual disabilities. It begins by discussing the federal mandate and regulations related to access to the general curriculum. It then presents differing interpretations of the concept of access to the general curriculum for students with extensive support needs, components that comprise access, and the impact of those interpretations on services. Next, it suggests an approach to conceptualizing educational services to guide policy makers, educators, and researchers as they develop, implement, and study effective practices that facilitate access to the general curriculum for students with extensive support needs. The article concludes with the suggestion that researchers, administrators, policy makers, and stakeholders must develop and hold a common understanding of the construct access to the general curriculum that is based on findings of the extant research; and that for all students, including students with extensive support needs, general education contexts are critical to accessing the general curriculum.

Educating Students with Severe Handicaps in Regular Classes

Many students with mild to moderate handicaps have been integrated into regular educational settings since the passage of Public Law 94-142. Students with severe handicaps, however, remain the most segregated group in American public schools. In this article we review the growing philosophical, legal, and empirical support for allowing students with severe handicaps to attend regular classes with their chronological-age peers. Advantages of integration for students with and without handicaps are presented. We assert that the resources and instructional technology needed to integrate students with severe handicaps effectively are currently available. Further, these resources could aid large numbers of nonhandicapped students who are failing in the current educational system. Examples including alternative teacher roles, flexible options for grouping students, peer tutoring, special-friends systems, and computer-assisted instruction are provided.