Margaret E. King-Sears

Three Steps for Gaining Access to the General Education Curriculum for Learners with Disabilities.

The author presents a three-step process for helping teachers determine how accessible their general education curriculum is for students with disabilities. Checklists, examples, and rubrics guide teachers in analyzing and assessing those dimensions of the general education curriculum that hinder or enhance success for learners with mild to moderate disabilities. Suggestions for strengthening the curriculum and considering creative avenues for modifications are also provided. Special educators who use this process and collaborate with general educators to enhance weak curriculum attributes accrue two major benefits : (a) they improve learning for students with mild to moderate disabilities as well as typical students and students at risk for school failure and (b) they make placement decisions for students with disabilities that are more methodical and individualized, and that may result in the general education setting being the least restrictive environment.

Institutionalizing Peer-Mediated Instruction and Interventions in Schools: Beyond "Train and Hope"

The researchers featured in this special issue of Remedial and Special Education describe how they have worked toward the development, implementation, and institutionalization of peer-mediated instruction and interventions (PMII) that teachers find practical and useful for their heterogenous learners. In this article, the concept of institutionalization is examined as it relates to paradigms, systems change, and individual change. Guidelines for knowing when to institutionalize are provided, and generalization techniques familiar to special educators are linked specifically to institutionalization of PMII. Barriers and promoters of sustained PMII in schools are identified, with implications for how stakeholders need to continue to push forward on barriers and celebrate successes.

TECHnology and Literacy for Adolescents with Disabilities.

Students with disabilities benefit when technology is used to promote their literacy learning. The authors describe TECH, a framework educators can use to select, implement, and monitor the impact of technology in relation to literacy goals. The framework is shown in action for mathematics vocabulary and reading comprehension skills for a student with Aspergers syndrome and for a struggling writer with learning disabilities.

A Partnership to Alleviate Special Education Teacher Shortages: University and Public School Collaboration.

Collaboration between a university (IHE) and a local education agency (LEA) resulted in the selection and training of 12 nontraditional individuals to teach students with serious behavioral and learning problems. Candidates, recruited from within the LEA, participated in a two-year graduate program consisting of ten courses and two practica. The goal of the program was to alleviate teacher shortages in special education, particularly in regard to minority teacher underrepresentation. This paper details (a) the collaboration between the IHE and the LEA, (b) the specifics of the graduate program, (c) logistical issues involved in the implementation of the program, and (d) future directions planned for this successful collaborative effort.

Self-Management Instruction for Middle School Students with LD and ED:

Self-management instruction with a curriculum-based assessment (CBA) monitoring component was used with middle school students who had learning disabilities and emotional disturbance. Targeted behaviors included appropriate class participation and on-task performance. SPIN is described as a self-management design, instruction, and CBA monitoring process that teachers can use (a) with a variety of student behaviors in self-contained and inclusive settings, (b) to promote more independence and self-determination skills for students, and (c) with small and large groups of students.

An Exploratory Study of Universal Design for Teaching Chemistry to Students With and Without Disabilities

In this exploratory study, students in four co-taught high school chemistry classes were randomly assigned to a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) treatment or a comparison condition. Each co-teaching team taught one comparison and treatment class. UDL principles were operationalized for treatment: (a) a self-management strategy (using a mnemonic, IDEAS) for the multi-step mole conversion process; (b) multi-media lessons with narration, visuals, and animations; (c) procedural facilitators with IDEAS for conversion support; and (d) student workbooks mirroring video content and containing scaffolded practice problems. All students completed a pre-test, post-test, and a 4-week delayed post-test. There were no significant differences between conditions; however, there was an interaction effect between students with and without disabilities for post-tests. Social validity indicated students found IDEAS helpful. Implications for future research include continued focus on disaggregated learning outcomes for students with and without disabilities for UDL interventions, and refinements for UDL interventions that benefit students with and without disabilities.

Using Teacher and Researcher Data to Evaluate the Effects of Self-Management in an Inclusive Classroom

A student with moderate mental retardation included in a general education math setting was taught how to use self-management to increase his on-task behaviors. A researcher and special educator worked together to determine the content for self-management, and each collected 2 different types of data to monitor the impact of self-management. Results indicated (a) a correlation between the researchers and teachers data and (b) that self-management was effective for increasing the students on-task behaviors and decreasing the amount of time it took for him to begin tasks.

Are History Textbooks More “Considerate” After 20 Years?

Features of eighth-grade history textbooks were examined through replication of a 20-year-old study that investigated “considerateness” of textbooks. Considerate texts provide clear, coherent information and include features that promote students’ comprehension, such as explicit use of organizational structures, a range of question types dispersed within and at the end of chapters, and highlighted new vocabulary. Conversely, inconsiderate texts can impede student learning because comprehension is influenced by coherence and clarity between and among new vocabulary, sentences, paragraphs, and passages at macro and micro levels throughout texts’ chapters. Results of this study indicate areas where today’s texts are more clear and coherent than those 20 years ago, and areas where improvements within textbooks are still needed. Implications for practice are discussed.

Co-teaching Perspectives from Secondary Science Co-teachers and Their Students with Disabilities

An in-depth case study of one team of co-teachers’ practice from multiple perspectives is described. A high school science co-teaching team and their students with disabilities completed surveys about their perceptions of co-teaching. Additionally, observations of the two co-teachers occurred to determine roles and types of interactions for each co-teacher during science instruction. Observational data revealed effective teaching behaviors demonstrated by each co-teacher. Detailed descriptions of the co-teachers’ instruction are provided. The science educator was observed interacting with the large group twice as often as the special educator. The science educator also presented new content nearly three times as often as the special educator. The co-teacher surveys were consistent with the observational data. Both educators disagreed that the special educator was primarily the lead for instruction. Both educators strongly agreed they had an effective co-teaching relationship, although the science educator indicated stronger agreement for parity in roles and responsibilities than the special educator noted. Forty-three percent of the students identified the science educator as in charge of lessons, while 43% identified both educators. Most students thought teaching was divided in half, and all students enjoyed having two teachers in science. Eighty-six percent of the students indicated team teaching was the most frequently used co-teaching model, and 14% indicated one teach, one drift. Implications for co-teachers’ reflections on their collaboration, including the relevance of student perceptions (i.e., Who is the “real” teacher?), and the extent to which educators are prepared at preservice and inservice levels for co-teaching are discussed.

LD Summit: Important Issues for the Field of Learning Disabilities

This article summarizes nine White Papers that were commissioned by the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) and presented at the Learning Disabilities Summit — Building a Foundation for the Future, August 2001. The purpose of the article is to inform the membership of the Council for Learning Disabilities (CLD) of the issues identified by authors of the White Papers that promise to influence research, policy, and practice.