Supporting General Educators' Inclusive Practices in Mathematics and Science Education.
This paper describes a state-funded project at Southeastern Louisiana University that offered coursework and direct classroom assistance to general educators attempting to include students with disabilities for mathematics and science instruction. Thirty-five general educators in five parish school systems participated. A sequence of three credit courses was developed to include instruction in collaboration skills, in curricula/test accommodations, and in behavior management. The paper offers examples of how the general educator participants applied learned principles in inclusive settings including practical application of mathematics skills in a school coffee and beignet shop, mock elections, cultivating a school vegetable garden, collecting and analyzing water samples, and conducting field trips. The project was effective in dispensing information to general educators in curricular accommodations, behavior management techniques, and collaboration skills and participants were also successfully applying this information in their home classrooms. Preand post-testing indicated significant changes in attitudes toward inclusion and knowledge of special education. Twenty-three participants continued on to become certified in special education. Problems encountered included participant attrition, recruitment difficulties, and limited course options. (Contains 10 references.) (DB) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. Inclusion in Science and Mathematics 1 Supporting General Educators' Inclusive Practices in Mathematics and Science Education Rita Coombs-Richardson, Ph.D. Southeastern Louisiana University rrichardson@selu.edu and Sarah E. Al-Juraid, Project Inclusion Coordinator Southeastern Louisiana University
Student and teacher perceptions about using accommodations in the general science classroom
STUDENT AND TEACHER PERCEPTIONS ABOUT USING ACCOMMODATIONS IN THE GENERAL SCIENCE CLASSROOM By Rhonda Lee McKimpson By law, greater numbers of students with special needs are in a general classroom. Now general education teachers must provide accommodations so students with special needs can learn the same material as the general student population. Surveys were given in general classrooms to students with special needs, general education students, and science teachers to evaluate how both students and teachers feel about accommodations and other issues relating to students with special needs in a general science class. According to the students' self-reported survey results, students receiving accommodations and students without accommodations were equally likely to receive a grade of C or higher in science. The student survey results suggest that accommodations are most effective if the general education students in the class are not even aware that accommodations are being provided to some students. Sixty-one percent of the surveyed teachers felt forced to give the accommodations to students with special needs in a general science class. Teachers also reported that providing accommodations required more preparation. Accommodations appear to work when given appropriately to students with special needs.
Inquiring "Tree of Life" at Home: Persian Classic Literature in English Classes.
The recent decades of English Language Teaching (ELT) appear to be particularly concerned with the marginalisation caused by English linguistic, cultural, and academic colonisation and imperialism. Bold footprints of this academic monopoly can be seen in the wide incorporation of abridged or unabridged British and American literary works in foreign language settings. Such literary products are often legitimised as authentic materials authored by native speakers. Inspired by the idea of incorporating non-native literature and translated first language literature into English classes, the authors of this article sought to explore the possibilities of opening spaces for English translations of Persian classic works of literature in English as foreign language classrooms and tracing the language events that unfolded as a result of incorporating such literature. The participants of this two-semester long action research project were non-English major Iranian female university students, majoring in various fields at Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran. The sense of familiarity the students had with such national literary works led to the emergence of language instances lightened by sparks of virtue, vision, life and art.