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
Perceptions of co-teaching by content area and special education teachers with and without experience
Schools are required by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 (IDEA) to include students with disabilities in the general education classroom. Recently there has been emphasis on co-teaching as a method to comply with this mandate. Co-teaching is a technique geared at utilizing a special education teacher and a content area teacher to concurrently instruct both students with and without disabilities in the general education setting. It is well established in the literature that it is vital that together both the content area teacher and special education teacher in these settings be effectively trained to meet the needs of the students with disabilities without hindering the progress of the students without disabilities (Fleming & Bauer, 2007; Goor, 1994; Dieker, & Murawski, 2003). This study investigated the perceptions of special education and content area teachers with and without experience co-teaching of co-teaching. Twenty-two content area and fifteen special education teachers with and without co-teaching experience and currently enrolled (academic year of 2012-2013) in the graduate course of ED530 Teacher as a Researcher at Bridgewater State University responded to an 82-item survey to identify their experience and perspectives on co-teaching. Results of this study identified several features of content area and special education teachers’ experience and views of co-teaching. Recommendations are offered for future research in the area of co-teaching and co-teaching professional development.
Validity and Reliability of a Scale Assessing Attitudes toward Mainstreaming
With the advent of Public Law 94-142, teachertraining institutions have been faced with the task of preparing students to teach handicapped pupils in the regular classroom. As course content and requirements change and mainstreaming of exceptional children becomes more commonplace, it is increasingly important to assess the attitudes and behavior of student teachers toward special education and their potential pupils and to modify negative attitudes and practices. For the most part, instruments used in behavior-attitude studies have been unique to an individual effort and make no mention of scale reliability or validity. More recently, however, several scales of attitudes toward mainstreaming have been constructed with attention given to psychometric considerations (Berryman & Neal, 1980; Larrivee & Cook, 1979; Reynolds & Greco, 1980; Schmelkin, 1981). These instruments have not as yet been subjected to extensive validation. They have not been validated by use with sample groups other than those employed in development, nor has their relationship with other attitudinal measures been examined. The present investigation examined the validity and reliability of the Larrivee and Cook (1979) Attitudes Toward Mainstreaming Scale (ATMS). In the initial phase of this study, the ATMS was subjected to a principal components analysis and its reliability calculated. To assess the degree to which attitudes toward mainstreaming could be predicted from related concepts, the second phase of the study involved the correlation of the ATMS with four conceptually related measures. The Larrivee and Cook scale was chosen for investigation because of (a) its development for use specifically with the regular classroom teacher, (b) its sensitivity to institutional variables, and (c) the adequate scale reliability reported.