General Education Environment Research Articles

A taxonomy for user models in adaptive systems: special considerations for learning environments

AbstractThis paper outlines the educational advantages provided by adaptive systems and stresses the importance of the user model in the task of adaptation. The paper also establishes a general taxonomy of user models thereby enabling classification of any model according to various features related to its structure and management. This taxonomy allows an exhaustive description of all user models, facilitating analysis and design of the corresponding adaptive systems. Subsequently, the taxonomy is used to describe the user modeling process in a concrete adaptive hypermedia system and to analyze the model of a student appropriate for use in a general educational environment.

An Introduction to Replication Research in Gifted Education

This methodological brief introduces readers to replication methods and their uses. Broadly defined, replication is the duplication of previously conducted research to verify or expand the original findings. Replication is particularly useful in the gifted education context because so much education theory and research are based on general education students and environments; the extent to which this prior work extends to gifted education contexts needs to be evaluated. The rationale, definition, implementation methods, and current state of replication in the social sciences generally, as well as in giftedness and creativity research specifically, are reviewed. Finally, guidance for conducting replications is provided, including recommendations on selecting important topics, engaging original authors, ensuring sufficient power, using appropriate measures and analyses, framing the manuscript, and submission planning.

The Role of Specialized Schools for Students with Visual Impairments in the Continuum of Placement Options: The Right Help, at the Right Time, in the Right Place

Introduction This study examined the current role of specialized schools for students with visual impairments and compares these results to a 1994 study. Methods Two surveys were used to gather data from specialized schools that were members of the Council of Schools for the Blind (COSB). The first survey gathered information about current enrollment in K-12, preschool, early intervention, and postgraduate programs. Data were also obtained from an ongoing longitudinal study of 2007–2012 graduates of specialized schools. Results Enrollment levels at specialized schools were the same as when measured in 1994. The sample had a higher percentage of students with additional disabilities than in the past, but academic programs still played a significant role at these specialized schools, with over 60% of students with visual impairment and no additional disabilities attending college after graduation. The study found that 80% of the specialized schools were involved in outreach activities, with nearly 50% providing direct instructional services to students attending school in general education environments. Specialized schools also provided consultations and in-service training sessions to educators who work in general education environments. Discussion The study shows that specialized schools continue to provide an essential placement option for some students with visual impairments at some time during their primary and secondary education. The majority of students at specialized schools have additional disabilities, but these schools continue to provide successful academic programs for the students who need them. Furthermore, the study shows that many of the specialized schools are involved in providing direct and indirect services to students being educated in general education environments. The continuum of placement options differs according to state. These differences result in varying degrees of involvement by specialized schools in the general education environment. It is critically important to ensure the continuum in each state affords every visually impaired child an appropriate education, although the location in which educational services are rendered may change with the needs of the student during his or her schooling.

Guest Editors’ Page

In this special issue of the Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness (JVIB), Service Delivery Models in Education: Specialized Schools and Itinerant Programs, readers will be challenged to examine a range of programs and models that meet the unique educational needs of students with visual impairments, including students with additional disabilities. It is our intent that the articles included in this issue will motivate professionals to reach beyond the status quo and consider innovative approaches and strategies for providing services to students with vision loss. The field of education for students with visual impairments (that is, those who are blind or have low vision) has had a long and progressive history. It was one of the first among disability groups to include its students in general education classes. Since the 19th century, youngsters who are visually impaired have been educated in specialized schools for blind students. As families and educators recognized the importance of having their students closer to home, a range of educational options for integrating these students into their communities and local schools began to emerge in the middle of the 20th century. With the advent of Public Law 94-142 in 1975, the Education of All Handicapped Children Act, it became a mandate that students with disabilities needed to be educated in the least restrictive environment alongside their nondisabled peers. Professionals in the field of visual impairment embraced the concept of a continuum of service delivery models from most restrictive to least restrictive, depending on the individual educational needs of students. However, in the 1990s, there was an advocacy movement to eliminate the continuum of placement options requirement in the law and place all students with disabilities in general education classes with support. The blindness community overwhelmingly rejected this perspective, affirming that due to the diversity of the characteristics of students and the unique educational needs among students with visual impairments, multiple models of service delivery were essential to providing these students with the education they needed. In addition, forward-thinking leaders created the National Agenda for Educating Children and Youths with Visual Impairments, Including Those with Additional Disabilities. This document created a framework for establishing quality service delivery and program models for educating students with visual impairments. In this special issue, readers will find evidence of the changing roles of specialized schools, particularly as these roles relate to working more closely with students who are being educated in general education environments. There is an example of this evolution in Daughtery's descriptions of the programs of the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired. Readers will also find an examination of students being educated in general education classes in Sweden and the successes and challenges that occur, particularly in relation to students with additional disabilities. Other articles address professional development, shared services, and examples of teaching models for the expanded core curriculum in the areas of recreation and leisure, technology, and career education. Although most students with visual impairments in the United States receive instructional services via an itinerant model, as guest editors of this Special Issue on Service Delivery, we were surprised to find a small number of submissions related to this model. Anecdotally, we know of the great work that is being done by teachers of students with visual impairments with respect to the instruction of braille and assistive technology. We also recognize the challenges that exist with the itinerant model: large caseloads, limited time to provide quality instruction, and lack of qualified personnel to provide services to students with visual impairments. We had hoped to have submissions that detailed innovative strategies and the challenges that itinerant professionals face in their work. …

Unwrapping Academic Standards to Increase the Achievement of Students With Disabilities

Over the past 15 years, students with disabilities have been included in the general education environment at markedly higher rates; however, their achievement is not increasing at the same pace. One reason for this lack of increased achievement may be that academic standards lay the foundation for instruction in this environment, but standards fail to address the component academic skills needed for academic mastery. This article presents a method for analyzing the academic standards and then unwrapping them to their component skills using a lattice task analysis. After employing this analysis, educators will be able to systematically plan instruction in the component skills to ensure achievement and growth for all students in the classroom environment.

Tools and Strategies for Making Co-teaching Work

A large percentage of students with disabilities are being educated in the general education environment for a majority of the academic day. Many educators have chosen co-teaching as the most appropriate method of educational service delivery to meet the needs of this population of students. To ensure the success of this delivery method, co-teaching teams should engage in active communication, co-planning and preparation, shared instructional delivery and assessment, and conflict resolution. This article presents a variety of tools and resources that co-teaching teams might use to establish a successful classroom environment for all students.

The Ambiguous Role of the Paraeducator in the General Physical Education Environment

The use of paraeducators has increased as a main mechanism to include more students with disabilities in the public schools in the U.S. Although the utilization of paraeducators is intended to be a supportive service delivery option, many concerns and challenges have resulted. The purpose of this study was to examine the role of the paraeducator in the general physical education environment from the perspectives of special education, physical education, and adapted physical education teachers and paraeducators. Data were collected from a phenomenological approach using questionnaires, interviews, and observations. Results indicate concerns about the clarity of the role of the paraeducator in physical education. Emerging themes include elastic definitions of student protection and teacher backup, contradictory expectations and mixed acceptance, and paraeducators' role ambiguity. Findings regarding the role of the paraeducator are essential in determining both best practice and legal policy for the appropriate utilization of paraeducators in physical education.

The Role of Education within a Knowledge Based Society: Teachers’ Perception on how e-Learning Systems can be integrated in Classroom Activities

The development of the interactive, collaborative and dynamic e-learning methods is considered the primary mode of evolution of the Romanian and international educational systems. Most of the studies have revealed the widespread benefits of these technologies and exemplifying their applicability and their evolution within the education systems. However, few studies clearly identify the role that e-learning platforms have in the improvement of teaching - learning and how these technologies can be integrated into the classroom. This article proposes a new approach related to the integration of these systems while providing educational acts, starting by identifying and understanding the perceptions that teachers have regarding this type of innovative technology, explaining and interpreting the results of a qualitative research conducted within Romanian educational market. Teacher’s perception on the role of e-learning education is interpreted as a factor, which influences the quality of the use and the integration of these technologies in the Romanian educational environment, reaffirming the need for a coherent implementation of these instruments at a specific school level but also at general educational environment integration.

Self-Monitoring During Spelling Practice: Effects on Spelling Accuracy and On-Task Behavior of Three Students Diagnosed With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

We used a multiple baseline across subjects design to investigate the effects of self-monitoring on the on-task behavior and spelling accuracy of three fifth-grade students diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) during an independent spelling practice period in the general education environment. We also compared their on-task levels to that of peers without disabilities in the same classroom context before and after the self-monitoring intervention. Our results showed that time on-task and spelling accuracy increased for the students diagnosed with ADHD during independent spelling practice after the teacher taught them how to self-monitor. These same students' on-task behavior also increased to levels comparable to that of their peers. Suggestions for educators interested in teaching their students self-monitoring strategies are included following a discussion of the results of the analysis.

RTI Progress Monitoring Tools

RTI Progress Monitoring Tools

Articulating Learning Disabilities in the Digital Age

In a 1986 study published in the Learning Disability Quarterly, Simmons and Kame'enui examined information found in popular periodicals about learning disabilities (LD) in an effort to understand what people learn about LD from these high-readership sources. After more than 20 years, advances in technology have brought significant changes to how people obtain and disseminate information. Therefore, we revisited the findings of Simmons and Kame'enui by investigating information about LD presented on the Internet. An analysis of the contents of 23 websites suggested that medically based etiologies are most frequently associated with LD, supporting the 1986 results. Unlike the 1986 findings, however, the interventions found on the Internet include a variety of educational supports designed to promote the success of students with LD in the general education environment. Situated in the context of the digital age, implications for LD organizations and future research are provided.

The Impact of Market Driven Staffing on Faculty Governance in a General Education Environment

The Impact of Market Driven Staffing on Faculty Governance in a General Education Environment

“Who's on First?”

As a growing number of students with disabilities are included within general education environments, it is important to plan ahead for the new and exciting social opportunities they will encounter in these environments. In addition to teaching programs designed to overcome basic communication deficits, it is important to give careful consideration to what students will talk about as they become fully participating members across a variety of new social environments. Students with disabilities often require repeated practice to acquire, generalize, and maintain social communication skills. A structured, reciprocal peer tutoring program can provide students with many opportunities to respond with immediate feedback. When implemented systematically, peer tutoring programs are able to support students as they practice the skills necessary for a conversational exchange. Therefore, this article describes how to create a systematic peer tutoring program with sports trivia content to teach and support social conversational skills for individuals with disabilities.

Identifying Essential Topics in General and Special Education Introductory Assessment Textbooks

We reviewed the five top‐selling introductory assessment textbooks in both general and special education to identify topics contained in textbooks and to determine the extent of agreement among authors regarding the essentialness of topics within and across discipline. Content analysis across the 10 assessment textbooks yielded 73 topics related to 13 categories: Decisions, Law, Technical Adequacy, Plan Assessment, Create Assessment, Score Assessment, Assessment Target, Assessment Type, Assessment Method, Interpret Assessment, Communicate Assessment Results, Assessment Population, and Computer‐Assisted Assessment. Many of the topics identified were consistent with traditional assessment expectations of general and special education environments, while other, arguably important, topics were not identified as essential. The idea of core assessment topics for all teachers is introduced.

Effect of Continuous Improvement Training on Student Interaction and Engagement

This article describes a preliminary study investigating whether a specific awareness and training for six teacher-paraprofessional teams would have an effect on the inclusion of six students with mild to severe disabilities in elementary general education environments. An experimental design employing a pretest-posttest control group with matched subjects was used to evaluate the effectiveness of training that emphasized the continuous improvement components of teamwork, goal setting, and data collection. Data focusing on student interaction and engagement were collected using MS-CISSAR. Results indicated an increase in teacher interaction and a decrease in paraprofessional interaction with special education students after the training component. Engaged behavior was not found to change noticeably for this group of students. Individual student strategies and benefits are also reported. The article includes a discussion of training format, key elements, and their relationship to long-term systems change.

An Examination of Functional Behavior Assessment in Public School Settings: Collaborative Teams, Experts, and Methodology

Recent literature regarding functional behavior assessment (FBA) in general education environments has been critical of the paucity of research in such settings, given the complex and often time-consuming nature of FBA. Less complex team-based FBA processes have been suggested as a realistic alternative for general education environments. This study describes an informal team-based FBA process implemented with 39 school-based teams who hypothesized behavioral function for students who had been referred. Data from these meetings was then supplied to three national FBA experts who attempted to generate hypotheses from the same information. Results indicate little agreement between teams and experts or between the experts themselves. Analysis of these data prompt a discussion of the possible effect that information sources, individual perceptions, and personal experiences play in the development of functional hypotheses.

Important Publications in the Field of LD in Light of Imminent topics

SYNTHESIS OF ARTICLES DISCUSSED AS APART OF THE RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM AT THE 24th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON LEARNING DISABILITIES SPONSORED BY THE COUNCIL FOR LEARNING DISABILITIES, OCTOBER 11, 2002. Newly nominated must reads can be found on the Web at: www.cldinternational.org/shortly after the October 9-11 conference. Click on scholarly initiatives. Readers of professional literature know how difficult it is to keep up with the volumes of information published annually. Many confess to having stacks of materials waiting to be read that instead get shelved when a stack finally topples over. A total of 1,005 scholarly-academic education journals are published annually in the United States (a number that jumps to 4,708 when including trade magazines, newsletters and papers). Seventy-five of these are devoted to special education topics (311 when including trade publications) (Ulrich's Periodicals Directory, January 29, 2003). Despite the fact that busy readers can barely sample all that is published, professional publications are a primary means for communicating research, theory, and policy within the profession. Keeping up is a daunting challenge. To help special educators keep abreast of recently published research, the Council for Learning Disabilities (CLD) Research Committee organizes a panel at CLD's annual conference to nominate important research publications on learning disabilities (LD) from the previous year. The audience, primarily teachers, learns about published research that is important to understanding the field of LD today. Invited panelists each year are leading researchers and practitioners from a variety of traditions and interests within the learning disabilities profession. Methods for the 2002 Panel Panelists for the October 2002 session held in Denver, Colorado, responded to the invitation to nominate three to five research publications on LD from the past year that they considered must reads. Selection criteria were not specified beyond that charge so that each panelist would be free to form her or his own standards for what is most important to read from among the stacks of research on LD that had accumulated over the previous year. Interestingly, the 2002 panelists demonstrated considerable overlap in their selection criteria and, in several instances, in the publications they nominated. In this article, the panelists present their nominations in relation to topics that dominate the special education field today. So often, researchers, teachers, and administrators fleetingly acknowledge evolving movements as they go about their business of doing what they know works. However, at times initiatives so fundamentally impact how practice can be done that they cannot be ignored. We are in such an era. Three major movements currently shaping the field of LD include the rapidly emerging debate on identification and eligibility criteria for services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the now familiar practice of inclusion, and concomitant concerns for access to the general education curriculum for students with LD. None of the three movements has just burst onto the scene but their presence demands attention more than ever. The practice of inclusion has steadily emerged since at least Assistant Secretary of Education Madeline Will's 1986 regular education initiative (REI), and has received a substantial boost by the 1997 Amendments to the IDEA, which require efforts to provide all special education in general education environments. The impending congressional reauthorization vote on the IDEA has already resulted in debate on the identification and eligibility criteria for LD that would force reconsideration of current practices (e.g., LD Summit, 2001). The push for meaningful access to the curriculum is both a product of and a catalyst for the other two movements, and is strongly tied to standards and high-stakes accountability efforts as well. …

A Collaborative Cohort Approach to Teacher Education: Modeling Inclusive Practices

This investigation used quantitative and qualitative methods to address preservice teacher education students' perceptions regarding a collaborative cohort experience where seamless instruction was provided by four faculty to illustrate effective collaboration fundamentals. Results of pre- and post-survey data as well as follow-up focus groups revealed that, in contrast to campus-based teacher preparation instruction, a collaborative cohort model improved preservice teacher attitude towards integrating effective collaboration, even while measured levels of actual collaborative behavior decreased. These changes related to an enhancement of the preservice teacher education students' perceived ability to meet the needs of diverse learners in a inclusive general education environment. Challenges that occurred as a result of the collaborative cohort model, as well as implications for teacher preparation, professional development internships, and future research are discussed.

Case Study Effectiveness in a Team-Teaching and General-Education Environment

This paper examines the effectiveness of the case study method in a team-teaching environment designed to augment a large capstone communications course that satisfies general education requirements. Results from a survey revealed that the use of case study enhanced the otherwise missing connection between the large lecture and the recitation classes. The authenticity of the case and students' overall satisfaction with the case assignment facilitated their learning. Authors discuss the implications of the results and offer suggestions for further investigation.

An elementary student with severe expressive communication impairment in a general education classroom: Sequential analysis of interactions

General systems theory (GST) formed the basis of this investigation that used sequential analysis to identify the patterns of interaction of an elementary student with severe expressive communication impairment (SECI) in a general education environment. While the student with SECI interacted with those in the environment, nearly 5 hours of exchanges were recorded on videotape. The videotapes were transcribed and then coded based on the partner, mode, and function of each interaction event. The interaction transition, composed of successive antecedent and consequent event pairs, was the basic unit of analysis. The investigation was able to describe in detail the reciprocal interactions of the student with SECI and his interaction partners, involving not only the effects of the partners on the student with SECI but also the effects of the student with SECI on his interaction partners. The pattern of interaction is also presented in graphic form. The discussion involves the distinct similarities and differences in the patterns of interaction, advantages and disadvantages of the methods, and broader issues involving concepts of disability.