Educational Service Provision for Students with Mild Intellectual Disability: Curriculum and Programming, Teaching Strategies and Classroom Management

Abstract

This paper is the second of two which report the results of a three stage study of educational services to students with mild intellectual disability in two NSW Department of School Education regions. The three phases of the study involved a teacher questionnaire, a teacher interview and classroom observations. This paper reports results in the areas of curriculum and programming, teaching strategies and materials, and classroom management techniques within the special class setting. The study found that 85% of teachers would like a specific curriculum for students with mild intellectual disability and a similar percentage saw a need for greater inservicing and feedback on their programming. While teachers reported the use of a variety of teaching techniques including small group instruction, classroom observations showed that individual or whole class instruction was commonly used with no evidence of data-based instruction, cognitive, metacognitive or problem solving strategies. Some teachers found that classroom management took a considerable amount of their time while others, including those observed, had strong classroom control. Recommendations based on the findings in each of the three areas are also reported and discussed.