Attitudes Toward Teaching Disabled Students in Inclusive Classes

904 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Reflections on teaching students with disabilities

Purpose and Hypotheses of the Study

The purpose of the study by DeSimone & Parmar (2006) was to scrutinize the beliefs and knowledge of general education teachers of mathematics at the middle school level concerning teaching learning disabled students in inclusive classes. The study explored the following four questions:

1. What are the generally held beliefs of general education teachers of mathematics in the middle school toward including learning disabled students in the general education classroom?

2. What knowledge base does the general education teachers of mathematics in the middle school have about the learning needs of learning disabled students who are in their class and their skill at adapting instruction?

3. What is the impression of the general education teachers of mathematics in the middle school concerning administrative support and resources allocate for inclusion classes?

4. What is the impression of the general education teachers of mathematics in the middle school concerning the preparation they have received in their pre-service programs for teaching in an inclusive class?

Sample

Names of possible participants were obtained through professional organizations and school districts. Surveys were sent nationwide to 361 middle school mathematics teachers with inclusion classes. The researchers received 228 responses from 19 different states from all over the United States. The sample appeared to be a reasonable representation of middle schools across the country (DeSimone & Pamar, 2006). The respondents were approximately 71% female, 80% completed or pursuing a Master’s degree, with varying years of experience from one year to 15 or more.

Methods and Procedures

The survey consisted of a three-part...

... middle of paper ...

...ssues. Most of the participants had limited understanding of specific strategies that could be used to increase the success of the student with learning disabilities in the mathematics class. The second issue revealed was that teacher collaboration was the most valuable resource for the general education teacher, specifically special education teachers, aides, and school psychologists. The third issue was the inadequacy of pre-service and in-service training that teachers receive. The training the general education teacher receives is severely limited in addressing skills or strategies that are needed to teach all students (DeSimone & Pamar, 2006).

Works Cited

DeSimone, J. R. & Parmar, R. S. (2006). Middle school mathematics teachers’ beliefs

about inclusion of students with learning disabilities. Learning Disabilities

Research & Practice, 21(2), 98-110.

Show More
Related

  • The Benefits of Co-Teaching

    1855 Words  | 4 Pages

    Collaboration in the world of education has become an increasingly popular method of addressing a variety of school issues, such as curriculum design, behavioral plans, professional development and management of resources. One of the areas in which collaboration is becoming more popular is co-teaching in special education, where special education teachers and general education teachers share the planning and instruction responsibilities for inclusion classrooms (Friend & Cook, 2010). As academic standards for the education of students with disabilities are held to the same standards as their typical peers due to the No Child Left Behind Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the co-teaching model has been increasingly implemented to meet those needs. Most research has shown co-teaching to be effective in the inclusion classroom, though there are a few studies which have refuted its significance and identified reasons for problems in implementing a successful co-teaching program.

    Read More

  • My Personal Philosophy of Special Education

    1036 Words  | 3 Pages

    Students with learning disabilities can learn; each student has his or her own strengths and weaknesses. Educators must continue to focus on the strengths of each student and building on them, creating a stronger student and person. Identifying the weakness is at the core of getting a student help with their learning disability, but after this initial identification and placement, the focus should shift to the strengths and adjusting the student’s schoolwork to reflect these strengths. For instance, if a student is weak in reading but has wonderful group interaction skills and is good with his or her hands, the students' reading tasks should then be shifted to reflect these st...

    Read More

  • English Language Learners

    1899 Words  | 4 Pages

    Peterson, J. Michael and Hittie, Marie Michael. Inclusive Teaching : Creating Effective Schools for All Learners. Pearson Publishing. (2003)

    Read More

  • From Inclusion to Friendship

    1876 Words  | 4 Pages

    Downing, J. E., & Peckham-Hardin, K. D. (2007). Inclusive Education: What Makes It a Good Education for Students with Moderate to Severe Disabilities?. Research and Practice for Persons With Severe Disabilities (RPSD), 32(1), 16-30.

    Read More

  • Inclusion of Students with Disabilities

    2994 Words  | 6 Pages

    In order for inclusion to be implemented properly it is important that teachers, parents, and administrators to know the definition of inclusion. An inclusion program means that the student spends all or most of their school time in the general education classroom rather than a self-contained classroom. However, the students will still receive the support and interventions they would have received in a self-contained classroom. There are different types of inclusive classrooms where different types of teaching occur. There is co-teaching where there is both a general education teacher and a special education teacher that co teach. Both will work with students that have an individualized education plan (IEP) and the student will receive more support. In addition, an inclusive classroom can have a general education teacher but has the special education teacher as a resource or aid, which qualifies as a collaborative model of inclusion.

    Read More

  • Adults with Learning Disabilities

    1701 Words  | 4 Pages

    Reiff, H. B.; Ginsberg, R.; and Gerber, P. J. "New Perspectives on Teaching from Successful Adults with Learning Disabilities." Remedial and Special Education 16, no. 1 (January 1995): 29-37. (EJ 497 555)

    Read More

  • Learning Disabilities Case Study

    1045 Words  | 3 Pages

    Students with learning disabilities in the regular classroom may have challenges that require special attention. If the teacher is able to identify the disabilities and the features associated with them then the teacher can tailor the lessons to meet the needs of the students. These may include differentiated instruction and facilitating an inclusive classroom which will see inclusive strategies employed that will cater to the needs of students with learning disabilities. These inclusive strategies can range from individualized learning programs to team and co-teaching. In some cases, the teacher can arrange for a special education teacher or arrange for a pull out program to assist students who have learning disabilities. Strategies that will also cater to learning disabilities may also include the use of technology. According to Ford 2013 ‘In some situations it may be best for students with LD to be taught in separate pull out classrooms with a teacher who can provide targeted skill instruction in areas where a student is struggling.’ ‘When provided appropriate support within this setting, many of these students can achieve academically and develop positive self-esteem and social skills. (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association 1991). They also recommend that schools should ‘require in-service programs for all school personnel to give them the knowledge and skills necessary to provide education for students with learning disabilities in the regular education classroom.’ Schools should include activities to help participants learn strategies to meet individual needs of students, foster attitudes conductive to educating students with learning disabilities in the regular education classroom, and promote

    Read More

  • Assistive Technology

    2100 Words  | 5 Pages

    Warger, C. (2002). Helping students with disabilities participate in standards- based mathematics curriculum. ERIC Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education, Council for Exceptional Children. 1-5. Retrieved October 3, 2004, from ERIC Digests full-text database.

    Read More

  • Inclusion Of A Special Education Classroom

    1880 Words  | 4 Pages

    Inclusion of all students in classrooms has been an ongoing issue for the past twenty-five years (Noll, 2013). The controversy is should special education students be placed in an inclusion setting or should they be placed in a special education classroom? If the answer is yes to all special education students being placed in inclusion, then how should the inclusion model look? Every students is to receive a free an appropriate education. According to the Individual Education Act (IDEA), all students should be placed in the Least Restrictive Learning Environment (Noll, 2013).

    Read More

  • Learning Disability Course Analysis

    447 Words  | 1 Pages

    This course has being an rude awakening of how much reading and math skills are so important for the students to be able to succeed academically in all the subject areas, by demonstrating different approach to help the students’ progress in different areas of need. The course overall give many different ways that a student with a learning disability is able to be a participant in the general educational instructional context. Five important practices that were discuss in the course that will help me in my teaching are working in collaboration with the general education teacher, how to help student to promote social acceptance and managing behavior, how to assess the students and teach phonological awareness, phonics, and word recognition, ways

    Read More

  • Inclusion in the Classroom

    1625 Words  | 4 Pages

    Inclusion in classrooms is defined as combining students with disabilities and students without disabilities together in an educational environment. It provides all students with a better sense of belonging. They will enable friendships and evolve feelings of being a member of a diverse community (Bronson, 1999). Inclusion benefits students without disabilities by developing a sense of helping others and respecting other diverse people. By this, the students will build up an appreciation that everyone has unique yet wonderful abilities and personalities (Bronson, 1999). This will enhance their communication skills later in life. Inclusive classrooms provide students with disabilities a better education on the same level as their peers. Since all students would be in the same educational environment, they would follow the same curriculum and not separate ones based on their disability. The main element to a successful inclusive classroom, is the teachers effort to plan the curriculum to fit all students needs. Teachers must make sure that they are making the material challenging enough for students without special needs and understandable to students with special needs. Inclusive classrooms are beneficial to students with and without special needs.

    Read More

  • People with Disabilities Need Inclusion

    2230 Words  | 5 Pages

    Inclusion is a basic human right for all students and differences are what make us unique. These differences should be embraced, not shunned. A student with extra educational needs may very well be capable of great things, but only if we, the educators, allow them the chance to be. Inclusion is the way forward

    Read More

  • What Does Inclusive Education Means?

    1617 Words  | 4 Pages

    To be truly inclusive teachers, we need to first know the student and identify the real reasons for any individual to be classified as having a learning disability.

    Read More

  • Teaching Students with Disabilities

    984 Words  | 2 Pages

    Education is a profession which requires a teacher to be able to communicate with a multitude of students on a variety of levels. There is not a class, or student for that matter, that is identical. Therefore, teachers must be able to identify and help educate students from all different types of backgrounds and at different levels. Teaching a singular subject presents difficulties, but teaching students with disabilities should not be one. There are three main teaching areas that need to be focused on when teaching a student with a learning disability. Teachers need to focus on the strategies that will assist students with reading comprehension skills, writing skills, and maintaining appropriate behaviors in a classroom setting.

    Read More

  • Special Education Reflection

    1322 Words  | 3 Pages

    As a prospective secondary mathematics educator, I felt that it was unfair that I would have special education students in my classes. I would rationalize my attitude by saying that I signed up to teach “normal” students, and that the special education students were not my problem or responsibility. I did not want to deal with them. I did not see them as individuals who seek meaning through learning.

    Read More

More about Attitudes Toward Teaching Disabled Students in Inclusive Classes

Open Document