Nancy Stockall

When an Aide Really Becomes an Aid Providing Professional Development for Special Education Paraprofessionals

T EA C H IN G E xc ep ti on al C hi ld re n , V ol . 46 , N o. 6 , pp . 19 7 – 20 5. C op yr ig ht 2 01 4 T he A ut ho r( s) . D O I: 1 0. 11 77 /0 04 00 59 91 45 37 20 2 Ms. Ruiz teaches in a 1:6 (1 teacher: 6 students) early childhood class for students with moderate disabilities. Some of her students have autism spectrum disorders, whereas others have intellectual disabilities. Ms. Ruiz also has a paraprofessional, Ms. Tyler, who works with students in the classroom. Although Ms. Ruiz was excited about having an extra adult in the classroom, she has discovered some problems that she feels she needs to address—namely, overdependence on the aide and adult attention. Although Ms. Tyler has established a strong connection with Carlos, who is 5 years old and has autism, and even though this connection is positive in many respects, Ms. Tyler is gradually assuming more responsibility for Carlos’s instruction. Rather than assisting Carlos with organizational skills, Ms. Tyler will often locate, retrieve, and pack Carlos’s supplies for him. Further, Ms. Tyler sits next to Carlos when in the general education classroom, restricting his access to peers and often providing answers for him. As a result, Carlos is regressing in selfmanagement, communication, and problem-solving skills. Sometimes, Ms. Ruiz feels as though her job would be much easier if she did not have a paraprofessional in her classroom. In 2012, the number of special education paraprofessionals in public and charter schools in the United States (Bitterman, Gray, & Goldring, 2013) was over 450,000, and this number continues to rise. Special education directors can attest to the immediate, insistent, and often desperate pleas from teachers to hire a classroom aide when discussing the placement of a student with a disability in a general education classroom. Teachers grapple with questions about how to meet the intensive needs of a child with a disability while teaching effectively in a class of 25 students. Parents often advocate strongly for the right to include their son or daughter in the general education classroom, but some parents worry that their child will be neglected without the support of a paraprofessional. Teachers and parents continue to consider paraprofessionals an essential support for students with a range of disabilities. Despite the belief that paraprofessionals are essential, Blatchford, Russell, and Webster (2012) reported little to no positive outcomes for students working with paraprofessionals. Giangreco (2010a, 2010b; Giangreco, Suter, & Hurley, 2011) found that students with disabilities felt stigmatized and rejected by their peers and that they faced inadequate instruction when working with paraprofessionals. In their review of 32 studies, Giangreco and colleagues 2011 highlighted the absence of preparation for paraprofessionals, yet other researchers reported positive effects when paraprofessionals were prepared for their support role (Hall, Grundon, Pope, & Romero, 2010). Knowing that paraprofessionals can be prepared to work effectively with students is an important finding—yet, how do teachers like Ms. Tyler prepare paraprofessionals to work most effectively with students with disabilities? Just as paraprofessionals have not been prepared, the same goes for the majority of special education teachers who are asked to supervise paraprofessionals (French & Pickett, 1997). Therefore, teachers who supervise paraprofessionals must use basic communication skills, which is the first step in both the preparation of and the work with paraprofesionals.

Right from the Start Universal Design for Preschool

design and implement a new and inclusive preschool program for children with and without disabilities in a local elementary school and has designated a former kindergarten classroom as the new preschool room. Although the room includes some universally designed equipment—such as an accessible bathroom with handrails, lever faucets, low sinks, and childsized cubbies, Ms. Adams must decide not only what equipment and supplies to order but also the way in which she will organize the class. Ms. Adams feels somewhat overwhelmed at the thought of designing the classroom without knowing the specific types of disabilities that she might encounter. Where can she begin?

Planning Literacy Environments for Diverse Preschoolers

licia has been teaching preschool children with disabilities for a number of years and she always takes a special interest in promoting literacy for all of the children in her classroom. This requires a great deal of creativity to meet the diverse needs of the learners, but she is committed to making children’s literature accessible and meaningful for all children. Alicia knows that her students will gain an important foundation for literacy long before they are able to identify letters and letter sounds. Next year will be somewhat different as she will be teaming with Meghan, the pre-K teacher, in an inclusive preschool program. As she reflects on their classroom, Alicia begins thinking of all of the things that she and Meghan will need to consider in setting up their classroom learning environment so that all children can participate meaningfully. Emergent literacy

Using Pivotal Response Training and Technology to Engage Preschoolers With Autism in Conversations

It is well known that children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) demonstrate a significant delay in language development that impacts their ability to engage in robust conversations. In this article the authors discuss two specific elements of pivotal response training—motivation and self-initiations—for children with ASD. Specific research-based intervention strategies are addressed for teaching preschoolers with ASD to ask questions leading to social conversations. Additionally, the authors suggest ways that teachers can embed technology, specifically the use of iPad apps, to further support conversations.

Photo-elicitation and visual semiotics: A unique methodology for studying inclusion for children with disabilities

The methodology in this paper discusses the use of photographs as an elicitation strategy that can reveal the thinking processes of participants in a qualitatively rich manner. Photo-elicitation techniques combined with a Piercian semiotic perspective offer a unique method for creating a frame of action for later participant analysis. Illustrative examples taken from a longitudinal research study of inclusion for children with disabilities demonstrate how participants used photographs to interpret the actions of students and how this ultimately affected their ideological beliefs in the process. This paper aims to contribute to understanding how visual semiotics can influence the construction and discovery of ideologies of inclusion for children with disabilities.

Seven Basic Steps to Solving Ethical Dilemmas in Special Education: A Decision-Making Framework

This article presents a seven-step framework for decision making to solve ethical issues in special education. The authors developed the framework from the existing literature and theoretical frameworks of justice, critique, care, and professionalism. The authors briefly discuss each theoretical framework and then describe the decision-making framework and guide the reader through the framework using an illustrative case approach.

Hidden voices: L2 students’ compensatory writing strategies

ABSTRACT This qualitative research study examines how 12 undergraduate second-language learners understood the concept of citations in academic writing. The following questions guided this study: What are the participants’ beliefs about citing research? How do students conceive the role and function of citations in their writing assignments? How do they make decisions about what and what not to cite? Results indicated that students believed that citations were a superficial accessory to the main text and only cited information to comply with teacher directives, thereby, sacrificing their own empowerment in the writing process. To overcome their unfamiliarity with academic prose, students created specific compensatory writing strategies. Although this study included only L2 students, the findings are consistent with the research involving monolingual students. This research can inform educators about the need to engage undergraduate students in participatory discussions about the role, function, and power of referencing within a privileged academic discourse.

Designing Homework to Mediate Executive Functioning Deficits in Students with Disabilities.

Designing homework to mediate executive functioning disorders of students with disabilities is critical to their future academic success. The article explains and defines different executive functions of the brain and how these impact students’ ability to benefit from homework assignments. Specific strategies are provided for designing differentiated homework assignments that mediate executive functioning skills.

Stop the Running Addressing Elopement in Young Children With Disabilities

Ms. Adkins, an early childhood special education teacher, teaches children who are between the ages of 3 and 5 years and have low incidence disabilities such as cognitive impairment, limited communication, and autism. Four of the children in her class are secondlanguage learners, in addition to having autism. The early childhood classroom includes young children with and without disabilities, and Ms. Adkins creates individual picture schedules to help children transition from one class to another. But on this day, the day was particularly hectic with a morning assembly, the music class, and the registration of several new children to the school. Esperanza, who is 5 years old and has an intellectual disability, looked at her visual support schedule and saw a picture indicating a transition to music class. Then, Ms. Adkins announced it was time for music. Esperanza watched the other children getting up and going toward the door. Suddenly, Esperanza jumped up and bolted out the door and down the hallway. Ms. Adkins went after her yelling, “Esperanza, stop!” But, Esperanza continued on, leaving the building and running to the playground. Ms. Adkins asked Ms. Reynolds, the paraprofessional, to notify the principal that Esperanza had left the building toward the playground. Ms. Reynolds supervised the rest of the children as they continued onto the music classroom. Ms. Adkins walked to the playground, wondering why Esperanza continued to run away during classroom transitions, and how she was going to get Esperanza back into the school building.