Planning for Andrew: the use of COACH and VISTA in an inclusive preschool program

This case study chronicles the use of two educational planning tools, COACH (Choosing Outcomes and Accommodations for Children: A Guide to Educational Planning for Students with Disabilities) and VISTA (Vermont Interdependent Services Team Approach: A Guide to Coordinating Educational Support Services) for Andrew, a 4‐year‐old child with Down syndrome, who attends a general education preschool. The article documents the decisions his team made using COACH and VISTA and describes the findings of follow‐up interviews with his parents, preschool teacher, special educator, and speech/language pathologist. The findings offer insights into the benefits and limitations of these approaches at the preschool level. Implications for facilitating communication and decision‐making among team members are discussed.     

Salvadoran campesinos/as’ literacy practices and perceptions of the benefits of literacy: A longitudinal study with former literacy participants

This article uses data from longitudinal, ethnographic research to examine how, six years after attending literacy classes, 12 adults in rural El Salvador used literacy, their perceptions of the temporary and longer-term psychosocial and economic benefits of literacy education, and their memories of literacy classes. The findings support prior research highlighting the unpredictable consequences of literacy education. Although some personal changes were ephemeral, learners nevertheless identified long-term psychosocial and interpersonal benefits, which they attributed mainly to the rituals of social interaction they practiced in literacy classes. These findings underscore the social dimensions of literacy education.     

德语国家普通教学论的核心命题与时代课题

德语国家(德国、奥地利以及瑞士)普通教学论历史悠久,对整个教育学科的建立与发展意义重大。普通教学论作为系统性、普遍性的教学理论,强调自身理论的主体性、师生对话的意义建构、教师清晰的指导与管理、教学的反思性实践。新的时代背景下,德语国家普通教学论的发展既坚守传统,又积极转向,系统分析其优劣特质可以发现:相关理论一方面具有整体性、独特性、指导性、反思性、规范性等特征;另一方面也面临着诸如学科地位下滑、缺乏实证研究支撑、自身理论发展缓慢、缺乏课程研究支持等问题。为应对信息技术时代学校教育的异质性、融合教育、移民教育、健康教育、数字化教育等新兴教学情境,相关研究呈现出新的发展趋势,转向"技术支持下团队合作"、"多主体协同建构"、"制定数字化教学新标准"。     

Students with disabilities in higher education: a biographical-narrative approach to the role of lecturers

This article presents an analysis of how lecturers respond to students with disabilities, the initial question being: do lecturers aid or hinder students? Findings pertain to a broader research project being developed by a multidisciplinary team employing a non-usual research methodology in higher education (HE) research and students with disabilities: biographical-narrative methodology. The general aim is to analyse – by listening to the students themselves – barriers and support identified as affecting access, academic performance and overall perception of the HE experience. The present paper analyses lecturer-centred data to focus specifically on one of the objectives of our research project: the role that lecturers play in the inclusive education of students with disabilities. Unlike other international research, this article explores the barriers and support differentiating between five fields of knowledge: health sciences, experimental sciences, social sciences (law and education), engineering and technology and humanities. Findings are organized in four topic areas: lecturer attitudes, practices in the classroom, curricular adaptations and faculty training. Key findings are discussed in the conclusions section, together with a discussion of contributions made by earlier studies.     

What is meant by ‘support’ in higher education? Towards a model of academic and welfare support

This paper focuses on academic and welfare support for students in higher education, and specifically what makes that support effective. It draws on data from a research project which aimed to explore networks of support for disabled and non‐disabled students. Part of the research focused on the nature and sources of support that were identified as important by students, as well as the kinds of support that were available within the higher education institution (HEI). What emerged as of particular interest was the question, ‘What do we mean by support?’ Drawing mainly on the voices and experiences of the students, perceptions of support were explored and the effects of support on the students’ experience of higher education were considered. Through a focus on more generic support structures as well as support which was specific to individual (disabled) students, the research aimed to understand ‘support’ and its importance from the student perspective.     

Institutional separation in schools of education: Understanding the functions of space in general and special education teacher preparation

The purpose of this spatial study is to understand the function space play in a combined credential program in the US in helping or hindering the program’s inclusive mission. The study examines how physical and social manifestations of general and special education are (re)organized in the new program. The data provides evidence for the pervasive separation between general and special education within the new program. This study points to the importance of examining space in relation to teacher education reform as a way to highlight where policy, institutional, programmatic, physical, and pedagogic changes are needed to support inclusive teacher preparation.     

Principals’ qualifications in special education and students with and at risk for disabilities’ reading achievement growth in kindergarten

To effectively teach reading to students with and at risk for disabilities, special and general education teachers depend on principals who support effective specialized reading instruction. Yet, extant research indicates that principals have inadequate preparation for supporting specialized instruction. To address this issue, scholars have recommended that leader preparation programs should provide prospective leaders with more preparation in special education. However, research to date provides limited indications of whether more preparation would in fact support more effective leadership for special education. Therefore, we examined data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study to determine whether principals’ qualifications in special education and in reading predicted struggling readers’ and students with disabilities’ reading achievement growth in kindergarten. We found no effects; principals’ coursework in special education, coursework in reading, prior experiences as a special education teacher, and experience in school leadership did not predict reading achievement growth among students with or at-risk for disabilities.     

School-Based Behavioral Consultation: Delivering Treatment for Children's Externalizing Behavior in the Classroom

This study examined the efficacy of school-based behavioral consultation as a method of delivering treatment for children with externalizing behavior problems. Behavioral consultation was conducted with teachers of 3 general education students identified as exhibiting clinically significant externalizing behavior in the classroom. An A-B design with replication across participants and a follow-up phase was used to analyze the effectiveness of consultative treatment on students' disruptive behavior. Direct observation and behavioral checklist data indicated a significant decrease in externalizing behavior from baseline to treatment. Teachers indicated satisfaction with consultation services and viewed the treatment plan as appropriate, fair, and reasonable for their students. The results are taken as general support for the effectiveness of school-based behavioral consultation as a method of delivering treatment for children with significant behavior problems. Limitations, implications for consultation practice, and future research are discussed.     

Accessing mainstream: examining the struggle for parents of children who have learning difficulties

In the past decade Ireland has witnessed substantial changes in policy and provision for children with general learning difficulties as government policies and legislation increasingly underpin the move towards more inclusive provision. Despite this series of policy initiatives parents of children who experience Down syndrome and general learning difficulties can encounter serious obstacles in gaining access to mainstream education for their children.
This research project was a study of the experiences of a small sample of parents of children who experience Down syndrome and general learning difficulties in relation to their efforts to access appropriate education and education supports for their child in the mainstream school setting. These parents had to invest extraordinary levels of time, energy, and resources in their struggle to get these children into mainstream school and to support their progress there. At local school level these parents and children had positive experiences, but life has taught them that society offers acceptance as a favour, so they cannot confidently expect acceptance by schools and teachers as a right.     

University student perspectives on institutional non-disclosure of disability and learning challenges: reasons for staying invisible

ABSTRACT

Students with disabilities (SWD) in Australian higher education need to disclose to their institution to access a range of ‘reasonable adjustments’ to support their learning. Nationally, 5.8% of the university population disclose their disability to their institution. It is suspected that there is a much larger population of students who choose non-disclosure, and therefore decide not to access support. Very little is known about the reasons for non-disclosure as this group represents a hidden population in higher education. The research reported here is based on a survey of undergraduate students in one regional Australian university where disability was reframed as ‘learning challenge’. This identified the institutionally non-disclosed group. This research identified that there were sound reasons for non-disclosure, students continually weigh up potential disclosure during their study, and students have difficulty with the disclosure process. We conclude that institutions need to understand that they have an invisible group of non-disclosing SWD in their student populations and that, to meet their learning challenges, universities need to support changes to policies, procedures and curriculum design.     

美国网络高等教育的学习支持服务研究

目前,美国有近90%的传统高校开展网络教育,而且对学术质量的要求与在校生完全相同,其中网络教育中的学习支持服务为其质量保障做出了巨大的贡献.同时,学习支持服务也是远程教育中一个非常重要的研究方向.本文着重研究了美国网络高等教育的学习支持服务情况,将美国网络高等院校的学习支持服务分为学术支持服务、对网络学习者的管理服务和对学习者提供学习资源及技术支持服务三种类型.并分别加以论述.     

General theories in education: A twenty-five year perspective

Theories and paradigms of educational research as well as of educational philosophy in general were strongly affected by the dynamic development in the late 1950s and 1960s, when education enjoyed a spectacular increase in resources. Educational research was seen as a prime in strument in bringing about educational reforms and social change. Certain major changes in general theoretical orientation are identified: (1) A movement towards a cross-disciplinary approach as reflected in the establishment of comparative education and economics of education. (2) A broadening of the theoretical perspective from the classroom level to embrace the “ecology” of education in its entirety. (3) A movement from strict quantitative-statistical methods towards a qualitative and more holistic approach. The skepticism and disenchantment with educational research in recent years is partly ascribed to lack of workable theories and failure to implement promises to provide recipe solutions to classroom problems. The latter is an example of the role heuristic theory can play in providing the context and guidelines for fruitful interpretations and in discovering and reformulating problems that without basic research tend to be neglected.     

Predictors of quality in family child care

This study of 231 regulated family child care providers proposed a theoretical model to explore the effects on quality of: (1) provider level of general education; (2) provider degree of intentionality; (3) provider training and experience in family child care; (4) provider use of support services; and (5) provider work environment. Hierarchical linear regressions confirmed the predictive power of the provider's degree of intentionality, level of education in early childhood education or a related discipline and use of support services. All these variables had a positive relationship with quality as measured by the Family Day Care Rating Scale (FDCRS). Higher level of general education in any field was a predictor until a college or university credential in ECE or a related discipline was included in the model. None of family child care training, length of experience as a provider, or any of the variables in the work environment block emerged as predictors. The data also supported the proposed associations between intentionality and the use of support services, training and the use of both support services and the work environment, and the use of support services and the work environment. While not totally supported by the data, the proposed theoretical model has value as a framework for further research. The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for governments.     

加州大学伯克利分校通识教育态势研究简

结合教育整体环境、高校战略发展和本科生跨学科课程需求,以通识教育的时代新挑战为背景,分析加州大学伯克利分校通识教育支撑机制中的执行机构、决策机构和顾问机构的组织职责,总结其通识教育课程的要求和通识教育研讨班的特征。结合其通识教育规划中的教学标准、课程集群、全球维度和能力培养,从治理制度和机制、课程配置、多样化发展、学习结果等角度入手,探讨研究型大学在从自身校园传统及发展现状出发进行通识教育改革及规划时应获得的实践性启示。     

近五年我国基础教育改革及其研究的进展报告

“十一五”期间,我国基础教育改革与发展取得了巨大成就。在课程与教学改革及研究方面,高中新课程、中考改革、课程领导等问题引起较多关注,进入第二个五年的新课程改革在深度反思中继续推进与深化;在基础教育公平与均衡研究方面,除一般性研究外,对弱势群体的研究成为关注的焦点;学校层面上,变革涉及组织、制度和文化等多个维度,生命教育...     

Is Inclusion an Illusion? An Examination of National and State Trends Toward the Education of Students with Learning Disabilities in General Education Classrooms

The inclusion of students with learning disabilities (LD) remains one of the more controversial issues in special education. Although research evidence seems to reveal that students with LD should spend most of the school day in the general education classroom, little data are available regarding the extent to which states are moving toward educating these students in less restrictive settings. This investigation was conducted to examine national and state data related to changes that occurred during the 1990s in educating students with LD in less restrictive settings. The results revealed that little change occurred across the United States as a whole, and that only 15 states moved toward educating students with LD in less restrictive settings during this time. The findings of this investigation further revealed that much of the apparent movement toward educating students with LD in general education classrooms is largely an illusion, explained primarily by the increasing identification rate for students with LD. The implications of these findings for future research and practice are discussed.     

Parental Involvement in Prekindergarten At-Risk Programs: Multiple Perspectives

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among the attitudes and perceptions of parents, teachers, and family support staff toward parental involvement in prekindergarten programs for children identified as being at risk for later school failure. Focus group interview data identified, from multiple perspectives, factors that encourage or discourage parents from assuming an active role in their young children's education. Results are discussed in terms of future research and program development efforts aimed at helping family support professionals and early childhood educators better meet the needs of the diverse groups of children and families represented in prekindergarten programs.     

Current status of learner support in distance education: emerging issues and directions for future research

This study examines the literature on learner support with the aim of helping institutions of higher education plan and implement support services for distance learners. The following issues emerged as areas of particular importance to future research in distance learner support: 1) the lack of research on cost-effectiveness; 2) the lack of empirical research; and 3) the need for a learner-centered approach in designing and implementing learner support. These issues are discussed in detail to enhance our understanding the role of learner support in post-secondary level distance education programs. It is further argued that future research should focus more on developing and refining methods for cost-benefit analysis of learner support, developing a general framework of the learner support model in dual-mode institutions, and developing systematic methods to identify, analyze, synthesize, and assess the needs of distance learners.