Jacqueline S. Thousand

The Many Faces of Collaborative Planning and Teaching

The rationale for and documented benefits of collaborative planning and teaching are explored in this article. When teachers collaborate on their planning and teaching, they are better able to meet the needs of diverse students and fulfill their legal responsibilities. In addition, the authors describe the multiple ways to collaborate and coteach, including working with students as collaborative partners. Readers are provided with answers to some of the frequently asked questions about collaborative planning and coteaching. The authors describe a method for assessing the effectiveness of teaching teams and provide tips for successful collaborative planning and teaching. The importance of professional development and other forms of administrative support are emphasized. The mutual responsibilities of university personnel preparing future teachers, school administrators, and individual educators are discussed.

Instilling Collaboration for Inclusive Schooling as a Way of Doing Business in Public Schools

This article provides a broad overview of the concepts of collaboration and inclusive schooling within the context of rapid change in public education. the authors examine the current definitions of collaboration and inclusive schooling. they review various rationale for collaboration, current legislation related to collaboration in schools, and the recent research (1989 to 1995) on the effectiveness of collaboration in achieving the outcomes mandated by the individuals with disabilities education act (idea). in addition, they discuss major barriers to and facilitators of effective collaboration and make several recommendations for the supports needed to establish a collaborative ethic and collaborative behavior in public schools. the authors argue that collaboration can no longer be considered a voluntary act.

Creating a Responsive Curriculum for Inclusive Schools

As school communities begin to serve students with significant disabilities in general education classrooms, there is a need to recognize and employ curriculum orientations and practices that interface with the purposes and principles of inclusive education. this article begins by offering reconstructionism---or the process of critique and reformulation of practice---as a useful orientation for viewing the design of curriculum in inclusive schools. sound theoretical foundations and the use of learner-centered, process-oriented, and communication-based instructional approaches are proposed as promising practices for designing a curriculum that is responsive to the needs of diverse learners. following this discussion, implications for future research are articulated.

Enhancing Success In Heterogeneous Classrooms And Schools The Powers Of Partnership

The purpose of this article is to identify and describe practices associated with successful schooling o students in heterogeneous groupings. Included are descriptions of outcomes-based instructiona models; instructional models using peer power; ef. fective use of heterogeneous and multi-aged group. ings; strategies for redefining the school organiza. tional structure; and training content that creates common conceptual frameworks, knowledge, anc language among local school staff.

Inclusion in Viet Nam: More Than a Decade of Implementation

This article traces the evolution of special education policies and services and the introduction of inclusive education as a service delivery model in Viet Nam. The impact of a series of inclusion initiation projects and resultant goals of the Ministry of Education and Training to expand inclusive education nationally are described along with the existing barriers to change and a proposed systems change model for facilitating the ongoing expansion of inclusive education throughout the country.

The Evolution of Secondary Inclusion

This article offers an alternative “Circle of Courage” paradigm of education, derived from Native American culture, for creating inclusive high schools that welcome, value, support, and facilitate the learning of adolescents with differing abilities. From this perspective, we examine (a) ways to reorganize the structure of secondary schools; (b) emerging best practices for improving curriculum, instruction, assessment, and student social life on campus; and (c) a process and set of communication tools to ensure needed supports for individual students. We conclude by discussing the application of the Circle of Courage paradigm of education.

Perspectives on a Freirean Dialectic to Promote Inclusive Education

Research and experience in both general and special education suggest that critical pedagogy and inclusion share much common ground, or at least some common goals. For example, one of the goals of critical pedagogy is to transform the world of education by establishing a dialogue between the self and the community of learners, where the individual must self-reflect and take action to experience a freer self while aiming to transform the world. A goal of inclusive education also is to transform schooling itself in order to welcome, value, and support the learning of all children in shared experiences. Table 1 provides definitions and comparisons among respective key concepts of critical pedagogy and inclusive

Addressing Individual Differences in the Classroom: Are We Up to the Job? A Conversation with Reid Lyon, PhD.

A. I feel that we do indeed have a significant crisis in professional preparation in education. Results of recent surveys and needs assessments conducted with teachers involved in inservice training projects in Wisconsin and Vermont support this notion. As many as 90% of both regular and special educators feel inadequately prepared to address individual differences in classrooms, particularly in the content

What the Research Says About Limiting or Avoiding Referrals to Special Education

The authors reviewed the research and practices related to systems that limit or avoid the referral of students for special education services. The major theme is that as mainstream education broadens its ability to tolerate individual differences, fewer students will need to be referred for services delivered outside the system. The review examines curricular and ecological adaptations of general education systems to ensure effective adaptation for special education students, teacher development strategies and administration strategies such as case management and consulting-teacher systems, and early intervention programs. The article concludes with recommended new directions for research, training, and policy.

What teachers need to know about the struggle for self-determination (conscientization) and self-regulation: adults with disabilities speak about their education experiences

The purpose of this paper is to help teachers better understand the struggles that people with disabilities experience in attaining their educational goals and to encourage the development of teaching and learning strategies that help to respect and facilitate the struggle itself. The authors share the generative themes that emerged using a critical pedagogy approach (dialogic interviews) to elicit the voices of adults with disabilities speaking about their public school experiences. In discussing the implications for teachers, the authors show the intersections of educational psychology’s concept self-regulation and critical pedagogy’s concept conscientization and special education’ s concept self-determination. Why the &struggle’ itself is important (from the perspectives provided by conscientization, self-regulation, and self determination) is discussed. The major question is whether or not teachers can structure the awareness process that results in learners becoming aware enough to verbalize, ‘I have di