Vivian I. Correa

A Historical Perspective on the Role of Collaboration in Teacher Education Reform Making Good on the Promise of Teaching All Students

This article provides an analysis of how collaborative teacher education has developed in terms of practice, discourse, and the relationship between general and special education across three historical stages. It explores how collaborative teacher education between general and special education has been positioned over time in relationship to larger national reform efforts in teacher education. Approaching the history of collaborative teacher education developmentally from these three perspectives sheds light on how today’s emphasis on collaboration and multiple certifications intersects with what it means to teach in a diverse society and what it means to prepare teachers to meet the needs of every student.

Preparing Teachers for Inclusive Education: The Development of a Unified Teacher Education Program in Early Childhood and Early Childhood Special Education

Advocates of developmentally appropriate early childhood education are increasingly interested in promoting inclusive programs of early education and care for both typically-developing children and children with disabilities. The success of such programs is contingent upon the availability of personnel trained to meet the individual needs of children with a wide range of abilities. There is currently a scarcity of teachers who are adequately prepared to meet such a challenge. In this article, we describe the collaborative conceptualization and implementation of a preservice teacher education program in early childhood and early childhood special education in the Departments of Special Education and Instruction and Curriculum at the University of Florida. Processes of program initiation and development are delineated, and factors that have supported and challenged the programs success are described The successes and pitfalls outlined here can inform others seeking to meet the challenge of preparing teachers to work with young children with and without disabilities in inclusive settings.

Preparing Early Childhood Special Educators to Serve Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Children and Families: Can a Multicultural Education Course Make a Difference?

There is no doubt that todays schools are faced with the challenge of educating an increasingly diverse school population. More teacher education programs address these challenges by adding courses in multicultural education and/or infusing content on teaching culturally and linguistically diverse students into the existing curriculum. This investigation reports on the changes in concepts and beliefs of 45 preservice teachers enrolled in a 17-week unified early childhood/special education multicultural education course. The course consisted of topics related to teaching students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Instructors used a variety of pedagogical strategies in the course including small group activities, case study illustrations, videotapes, thematic unit instruction, and traditional large group lectures. Students were asked to draw concept maps on “multicultural education” and write explanatory paragraphs on the first and last day of the course. Conceptual and belief changes were found in both the concept maps and supporting paragraphs.

Developing a Personnel Training Model for Meeting the Needs of Handicapped and At-Risk Language-Minority Students.

In the last decade educators have begun to focus upon serving students who are limited in English proficiency and have special learning needs. Policy makers and administrators planning appropriate educational programs for these students find a critical lack of school personnel trained to assist them. The University of Florida has developed a model for bilingual/English as a second language (ESL) special education training at the graduate and undergraduate levels. This model, INFUSION, is a collaborative research-based model of training. Strengths of this integrative model are presented, along with a description of the process by which bilingual/ESL components are infused into special education curriculum. Four new graduate-level courses specific to this field are described.

Culturally Responsive Social Skill Instruction for Latino Male Students.

Cross-cultural friendships and peer interactions are important skills for Latino students to become socially adjusted in U.S. schools. Culturally responsive social skill instruction allows educators to teach essential social skills while attending to the native culture and personal experiences of the students. The present study examined the effects of culturally responsive social skill instruction through a peer-mediated format on the social interactions of eight Mexican-heritage elementary Latino male participants with non-Latino students during recess. Four participants were trained to serve as tutors to deliver 12 computer-assisted social skill lessons with embedded video models on friendship building to their peers. Using a single case, multiple probe across student dyads design, the results of this study indicated that all participants increased the number of appropriate verbal social interactions with non-Latino peers. Implications for practice and future research are discussed in relation to culturally responsive social skill instruction for Latino students.

Effects of a Story Grammar Intervention With Repeated Retells for English Learners With Language Impairments

This study investigated the effects of a narrative intervention that employed repeated story retells and a Story Grammar Marker on the oral narrative skills of Spanish-speaking English learners with language impairments. Four third- and fourth-grade students participated in the study. Using a single-case multiple probe across participants design, the authors measured three dependent variables: narrative organization skills, narrative productivity, and syntactic complexity. As a result of the intervention, stories became more cohesive and scores for narrative organization increased by approximately 7 points from baseline to intervention across participants. Smaller effects for narrative complexity and syntactic complexity measures were noted. Implications for future research and for practice are provided.

Content-driven Faculty Development in Community College Early Childhood Education Programs

ABSTRACT Community colleges are key providers of early childhood teacher and paraprofessional education, and their programs include content knowledge that helps future educators work effectively with young children with and without disabilities in inclusive environments. In this article, we describe the Advancing Community College Efforts in Paraprofessional Training (ACCEPT) Project, a multi-year collaboration to infuse special education content into four North Carolina early childhood workforce education associate degree programs. The goals of the project included creating a climate that fostered and encouraged ongoing community college and university faculty collaboration around the planning, delivery, and assessment of special education content infused within multiple early childhood program courses. Project objectives are presented within the framework employed by Murray (1995, 1998, 1999, 2000) that includes climate, structure, connections with rewards, faculty ownership, colleague support, and perceived value by administrators. Implications for practice include the importance of content, project standards, and faculty ownership.

Effects of Functional Communication Training Using GoTalk NowTM iPad® Application on Challenging Behavior of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

This study investigated the effects of a functional communication training intervention consisting of systematic prompting and natural reinforcement on the challenging behaviors of two children with autism spectrum disorder aged 5 and 6 years old. Children who had a history of challenging behavior, consisting of self-injury and disruption, were taught to request preferred stimuli through the GoTalk Now™ application on an iPad ® . Using a reversal design, the findings demonstrated a functional relation between functional communication training with the use of the GoTalk Now application and the decreased levels of challenging behaviors. Specifically, one child demonstrated zero levels of challenging behaviors and one child showed a less substantial decrease of challenging behaviors during intervention phases. Directions for future research and implications for practice are discussed.

A Multi-Modal Intervention for English Language Learners: Preliminary Results.

Abstract:Finding culturally responsive practices that are engaging for students is even more important with the ever-increasing population of English Language Learners (ELLs) in the United States. The challenges of a language barrier can contribute to low achievement and high dropout rates. This 16-week study examined the effects of authoring and sharing dual-language identity texts on the narrative skills of 3 Spanish-speaking ELLs who were in the third grade. Specifically, we examined discourse length and lexical diversity. In this culturally responsive intervention, students authored and read dual-language identity texts. Language samples were elicited in the form of story generations prompted by randomly selected photographs. Results of the study indicate that 2 of the 3 participants made notable gains in vocabulary and narrative skill performance. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.