Jack J. Hourcade

Cooperative Teaching: A Model for General and Special Education Integration

A variety of social and educational forces are resulting in significant changes in the traditionally dichotomous relationship between general and special education. One service delivery model that may be especially useful for reducing the gap between the two delivery systems is cooperative teaching, in which general and special educators work in a systematic and coordinated fashion in educationally integrated settings. This article describes cooperative teaching and outlines various arrangements through which it might be implemented.

A History of Augmentative and Alternative Communication for Individuals with Severe and Profound Disabilities

Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) is a prominent component in the development of support services for individuals with disabilities, especially those with severe disabilities. In this article we provide an overview of the historical development of AAC services, tracing their evolution over the past half-century through four specific themes: social change and legislation, assessment, intervention, and family and cultural issues.

Family-centered Decision Making in Assistive Technology

Throughout the country, school teams increasingly are adopting culturally sensitive family-centered practices in planning for assistive technology (AT) for children with disabilities. Over the past two decades evolving research has revealed the importance of considering family and cultural issues when planning AT interventions for children with disabilities and their families. This paper presents an overview of selected family and cultural issues, and suggests ongoing questions. The potential for interactive multimedia in helping teams and families make AT decisions is reviewed. The paper concludes with a description of a newly available interactive CD-ROM designed to provide to both families and professionals basic information on augmentative and alternative communication decision-making, including an overview of relevant family and cultural issues.

Cooperative Teaching: Pictures of Possibilities

Cooperative teaching, in which a general educator and a special services provider (e.g., a special educator, Chapter 1 teacher, speech and language therapist) teach together simultaneously in a general education classroom composed of academically heterogeneous students, has rapidly emerged as an effective way to facilitate the inclusion of students with diverse curricular and instructional needs. In this article we provide an overview of cooperative teaching, note problems experienced by some participants moving into cooperative teaching, and offer practical suggestions for enhancing the effectiveness of cooperative teaching.

Cooperative Teaching: The Renewal of Teachers

ittle has affected American education as dramatically as the growing sense that the way education has been structured in the past is less than adequate today and will be even more inadequate in the future. The increasing cultural, linguistic, academic, and behavioral diversity of Americas classrooms is challenging longestablished approaches to curriculum and instruction. In terms of cultural and linguistic diversity, the state of California may be the best example of what America will look and sound like in the future. As of 1997, students with limited English proficiency composed 25 percent of Californias total school population, up from 15 percent less than ten years earlier (California Department of Education 1997). Such growth in diversity is increasingly common throughout the nations schools. By the mid-1990s, of the nations ten largest central city school districts, white enrollment ranged from a high of 31 percent (San Diego) to a low of 6 percent (Detroit) (Orfield et al. 1997). In fact, in several states, including California, Hawaii, New Mexico, Texas, and Mississippi, so-called minority students actually constitute a majority of the school populations (U.S. Department of Education 1996). As students with disabilities are increasingly placed in Americas general education classrooms, teachers are also encountering greater diversity in student ability and achievement levels. During the 1995-96 academic year, 45 percent of students with disabilities received the entirety of their educational programs in regular classrooms, and another 29 percent were in resource room programs. Thus nearly three-fourths of students with disabilities received most or all of their education-

Selection of Appropriate Technology for Children with Disabilities.

Discibilities and calculators are used by ind ividuals with visual problems, allowing them to ac cess important information that sigh ted people often take for granted. These and many other technological advancements are greatly improving the quality of life for individuals with disabilities. More specifically, the se technologies enhance their independenc e and productivity and increase their ability to participate in the main stream of society (Garner & Campbell, 1987; Vanderheiden, 1985). Most schools have had some experi ence in providing devices and equ ip-

Nursing Attitudes Toward Geriatric Alcoholism

Nurses play a critical role in public education regarding the assessment of medical problems related to alcoholism or alcohol abuse. Nurses must assess their personal attitudes toward the disease concept of alcoholism before they can effectively provide services to geriatric patients who are alcoholics or who abuse alcohol. Among the geriatric population, there is a constellation of medical problems related to alcoholism and alcohol abuse. Potentially dysfunctional attitudes exist among nurses and other health-care professionals who are involved in the provision of medical care to geriatric patients who have alcoholism or who abuse alcohol.

Family Issues and Assistive Technology Needs: A Sampling of State Practices

In part as a result of federal legislation in the 1980s and 1990s, preschoolers with disabilities and their families increasingly have access to augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices. However, to date much is still to be learned about the degree to which various factors impact the many decisions inherent in prescribing AAC devices for these children. This survey of the 58 Part H coordinators throughout the nation queried respondents on services provided; factors considered during evaluation; the role of families in this process; and the consideration of the characteristics of the child, the technology, and the service system. The results are discussed in light of the necessity for sensitivity on the part of professionals to family issues.

Family-Centered Assistive Technology Assessment

Outlines a family-centered, culturally sensitive approach to working with young children with disabilities and their families

Special Educators and Mathematics Phobia: An Initial Qualitative Investigation

Abstract Special educators are uniquely challenged to be content experts in all curricular areas, including mathematics, because students in their caseloads may require academic instruction in any area. However, special educators with math phobia may be limited in their ability to provide effective instruction to their students with mathematical deficits or needs, and they may experience additional challenges in their professional and personal lives. This qualitative study seeks to better understand the nature of math phobia in two special educators through extensive interviews, journaling, and observations in math experiences, with a number of primary themes identified. Several potential resolutions for the issues emerging from math phobia in special educators are identified and discussed.