Special Education Integration: The Arezzo Approach

Interviews were conducted in three schools in Arezzo, Italy to determine progress in the integration of students with a disability in regular class settings. Thirteen parents, seven teachers and three school administrators were interviewed. Findings indicated strong teacher and administrative support for integration, a good collaborative relationship between regular and special education teachers, and a focus on social development in the elementary grades. Concerns were expressed about insufficient supportive services at the middle and secondary school levels as well as less tolerance for students with a disability. Arezzo has made significant progress toward integration but program development is needed at the secondary level.     

How universities can enhance student mental wellbeing: the student perspective

ABSTRACT

The growing prevalence and severity of mental health difficulties across university student populations is a critical issue for universities and their wider communities. Yet little is known about student perspectives on the stressors in university environments and the steps that universities could take to better support student mental wellbeing. This article reports on a study that collected and analyzed 2776 student responses to the question: What can be done to improve student wellbeing? Students made diverse recommendations that fell into seven categories: Academic teachers and teaching practices; student services and support; environment, culture and communication; course design; program administration; assessment; and student society activities. The findings from our study offer important insight to university educators and administrators about the role they can play in better supporting student wellbeing and preventing the high rates of psychological distress. We argue that the process of seeking and acting on students’ suggestions fosters students’ sense of inclusion and empowerment, and this is critical given that the goal of improving student mental wellbeing can only be achieved through an effective partnership between students and institutional actors.     

Supporting students with impairments in higher education: social inclusion or cold comfort?

This paper uses a discursive analysis to examine the experience of ‘inclusion’ from several stakeholder groups in one university. The research team included disability support staff at the institution, external disability consultants and academic researchers. A critical focus group investigation centred on four groups: students who were identified as having an impairment (SWIs), academic staff (teachers), administrators and students who did not identify as having an impairment (non‐SWIs). Interviews had facilitators with both research and disability expertise. Groups recounted different experiences of inclusion. SWIs, drawing on a rights discourse, emphasised a lack of resourcing and barriers created by the teaching staff. In contrast, teachers, administrators and (to a lesser extent) non‐SWIs emphasised the importance of social inclusion, reflecting discourses around needs and humanist notions of care and support, which largely seemed to miss the core of SWI concerns about recognition of their technical competence. For all groups, questions around disclosure of disability were of greater concern than tensions between needs and rights or the recent publication of a Code of Practice for the higher education sector. The findings challenged some of the researchers’ own assumptions, with unexpected implications for practice.     

A University Program with “The Whole World as a Focus”: An Icelandic Response to Globalization

The International Studies in Education program at the University of Iceland illustrates how one university is responding to global trends in higher education. Through a case study we examined the significance of an innovative B.A. program, which is taught in English, aligned with values affirmed in critical multiculturalist scholarship, and designed to respond to demographic changes including a sharp increase in Iceland’s immigrant population. The experience of students, teachers, and administrators raises important questions about institutional responsibilities, both local and global; about the role of English in an international studies program; about de facto segregation of students; and about the significance of local context in global trends in higher education.     

Market Forces and Strategic Adaptation: The Influence of Private Scholarships on Planning in Urban School Systems

While the current debate about the effects of vouchers focuses on the effects of private schools on achievement, it is also important to examine how the introduction of need-based scholarships influences change in school systems. This study uses a qualitative method to examine the influence of a privately funded scholarship program on strategic adaptations within urban public and private schools in a major metropolitan area. The study revealed that senior administrators in public and private schools rapidly adapted their strategies to contend with the new program: suburban public schools prevented scholarship students from enrolling; urban public schools increased choices for public school students; and private schools actively recruited students. However, the scholarships had little influence on the ways these administrators viewed school choice.     

Different paths for inclusion in Thailand: improving special teachers as leaders in the development of inclusive education

This study investigated how support from other organisations compliments or reinforces the activities of teachers and parents in order to optimise the development and improvement of students in inclusive classrooms in Thailand. The objectives of this study include: (1) investigating the changes in teachers and parents who joined a municipal Human Resource Development (HRD) program in Khon Kaen Municipality; (2) evaluating the success of the program against its expected results; and (3) analysing the results and proposing improvements to the program to benefit students with disabilities. In order to examine the overall outcomes of the program for the concerned parties, qualitative survey‐based research involving questionnaires, interviews and focus group discussions, employed with school administrators, teachers and parents, was used. The major findings are that school administrators and teachers paid more attention to students with a diversity of needs after joining the program, although participating parents’ acceptance of students with disabilities was low. The program evaluation revealed that participating teachers managed their classrooms better. Lastly, in order to improve the program in the Thai context, more acceptance and awareness must be created among both teachers and parents.     

An analysis of first year engineering students’ satisfaction with a support distance learning program in mathematics

An online support distance-learning program in Mathematics was developed to aid first year engineering students for their transition from the secondary to the tertiary education in order to reinforce deficiencies they may have in mathematical knowledge. The aim of the present study is to examine, firstly, to what extent the attendance of such a program helped students to familiarize themselves with distance learning programs. In addition, the students’ satisfaction with the material of the program was examined as well as their attitudes towards a conventional support learning program in Mathematics. The structure and part of the material developed is presented in detail. The basic methodological tool was an appropriately structured questionnaire. The results indicate that students responded positively to the program, which was a basic way of acquainting themselves with distance learning, and were satisfied with the material. The students’ attitudes towards a conventional program was found to be related to their prior experience in distance learning programs. Statistical analysis of the research data yielded 4 basic factors related to the students’ beliefs regarding the support online learning program in Mathematics. These factors were student’s development and progress, satisfaction with the parts of the online support program, their attitudes towards a conventional program while being in the online support program and their familiarization with online distance education. These factors as well as the targeted identification of the students’ needs should be taken under consideration while designing and implementing support online distance learning programs in Mathematics.     

Teacher and student responses to interdisciplinary aspects of sustainability education: what do we really know?

That the value of interdisciplinarity in sustainability education is largely taken for granted reflects widely held views about the inherent complexity and uncertainty of sustainability issues and the need for holistic responses to them. Although there is an extensive literature on interdisciplinarity, there has been relatively little investigation of the ways in which teachers and learners deal with and respond to this central aspect of sustainability education. This paper presents data from two case studies of masters course in sustainability education, one in an English university and one in a Chinese university, and examines some of the contextual factors that support or limit their attempts to go beyond the bounded ways of thinking associated with more traditional academic disciplines. While some learners respond enthusiastically to interdisciplinarity, others experience forms of ‘cognitive dissonance’. Interdisciplinarity requires individual teachers to operate as members of teams and to find ways of promoting dialogue between different perspectives, discourses and methods of approaching problems. The key to interdisciplinarity is an open attitude, a willingness to learn and an ability to engage with different ways of thinking about issues we face in common.     

Expanding Learning Opportunities for High School Students With Distance Learning

The purpose of the Synchronous Interactive Video Conference Distance Learning pilot program was to use emerging technologies to expand learning opportunities for students at an urban public high school. Through grant funding, students were able to enroll in Advanced Placement and foreign language courses through an online learning provider. Using case study methodology, the pilot program was thoroughly examined through the analysis of multiple sources of data such as surveys of multiple stakeholders, interviews of program administrators, and the examination of student course documentation. The attrition rate was high at 61.9%. The combination of insufficient time for planning and preparation, lack of support for students, and poor communication was detrimental to the program.     

Science in the schoolhouse: the critical role of the school leader

School-level administrative support has been identified as an essential component of programs that promote research to practice. In this discussion, I address the critical role that school leaders play in supporting special educators and ensuring effective instruction for students with learning disabilities. Emphasis is placed on the need for teachers to be supported by administrators who are knowledgeable about special education and for administrators to receive the preparation and guidance they require to support science in contemporary schools.     

ENHANCING FACULTY AWARENESS AND KNOWLEDGE OF STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES

An increasing number of students with disabilities are enrolling in postsecond‐ary institutions. To better serve these students, faculty, administrators and counselors must develop an understanding of the needs of students with disabilities and how to make accommodations for their success. An inservice program that targeted skills in enhancing awareness of student needs, meeting legal mandates for accommodations, and developing a team approach to serving students is presented. As a result of participation in the inservice program, all community colleges in the Commonwealth have instituted an advisory council that addresses the academic environment and needed support services for students with disabilities.     

Readiness to Lead: Perspectives of Graduates and Advanced Doctoral Students on Answering the Call to Lead in Community Colleges

Community colleges are facing a shortage in qualified individuals to fill the projected gaps in leadership roles, as the industry is facing an upcoming wave of vacancies due to the retirement of faculty and administrators. This phenomenological, qualitative study explored leadership readiness perspectives of graduates and advanced doctoral students of a cohort-based educational leadership doctoral program. Five doctoral graduates and five advanced doctoral students constituted the participant group for this study. Five themes emerged from the data analyses which include communication, collaboration, leadership, relationships, and support. The findings from this study indicate that the participants value collaborative action and community relationships, support cohort-based stud,; recognize the value of suppor; hold high confidence levels in their leadership ability to address associated leadership challenges, and consider themselves ready to lead.     

Career education needs of students with exceptionalities: one state's case

A survey of 1,826 special education teachers and administrators from North Carolina was conducted to determine (a) the extent to which career education skills are actually being taught to children and youth with handicaps, and (b) the extent to which they need to be taught. Findings include: (a) teachers tended to perceive their schools' programs in career education at a higher level than did the administrators, yet teachers felt a greater need for additional instructional emphasis than did the administrators; (b) females' perceptions of their personal impact on students remain far behind those of males; and (c) neither inservice workshops nor college courses were the predominant way in which teachers acquired knowledge about career education.     

Framing the socialisation process of the DBA candidate: what can universities offer and what should candidates bring?

In Australia, the Doctorate of Business Administration (DBA) remains a popular program but considerable anguish persists within the university sector over just what it is offering students. In this article, we use the process of postgraduate socialisation to understand how candidates, supervisors and administrators navigate pathways to successful completion and offering of a DBA program. We identify four modes of knowledge applicable to the DBA and suggest that universities and candidates may draw on one another's cultural capital to determine which mode(s) can be offered. We also illustrate how candidates exercise agency through their cultural and social capital as they move through the program. We present a conceptual framework to help guide future research, and resource allocation on the DBA.     

University of Virginia Graduate Mentoring Institute: A Model Program for Graduate Student Success

This study examines an innovative model program for the mentorship of diverse graduate students entitled the Inter-Ethnic/Interdisciplinary Mentoring Institute for Graduate Education (i.e., Mentoring Institute), which was established by the Graduate Student Diversity Programs in the Office of the Vice President for Research at the University of Virginia (UVa). The Mentoring Institute was created to promote an inclusive environment for graduate students from diverse backgrounds as well as to provide support for and increase the number of students of color who successfully matriculate and graduate from UVa. A comprehensive program evaluation was conducted that assesses the mentoring experiences of UVa graduate students who participate in the Mentoring Institute. The evaluation data reveals how graduate students’ involvement in the Mentoring Institute has positively impacted their academic and social experiences as well as their feelings of connectedness to UVa's professional community. The evaluation also assesses ongoing activities, professional trainings, workshops, and other support mechanisms provided for graduate students by the Mentoring Institute. In all, graduate students who participated in the Mentoring Institute evaluation indicated that the program has contributed significantly to their academic success, social well being, and feelings of connectedness to the UVa graduate school community. This study should particularly benefit administrators, faculty, students, and higher education professionals who are interested in multicultural graduate student development at predominately White institutions of higher education.     

Collaborative Consultation: The San Juan Unified School District Project

Critically needed in the area of school consultation are field-based, evaluation reports of outcomes of actual implementation of school consultation. This article is such a report, describing how the Resource/Consulting Teacher model was implemented with resource specialists in a pilot program in Sacramento, California. We describe: (a) the procedures necessary to bring about such an implementation, (b) the district itself, and (c) the training efforts made to prepare the resource specialists for the new role. Emphasis is placed on how 13 resource specialists formed a collaborative working group among themselves, as well as their efforts to engage in collaborative consultation with classroom teachers and building administrators to assist certain special education students and certain students at risk for school failure. Preliminary evaluation data are included that describe the progress of individual students and groups of elementary students (N = 79) who received specialized remedial reading instruction, and individual students who received intervention to increase appropriate social behaviors. The specialized reading and behavior instruction was provided to special education students in resource rooms and general classrooms; the at-risk student instruction was in general education programs. As a result, 29 special education students were mainstreamed back into their general education reading classes, 7 students were nearly ready to be returned, and 9 students were totally dismissed from the special education program and reinstated as general education students.     

Interdisciplinary science research and education

Science history shows us that interdisciplinarity is a spontaneous process that is intrinsic to, and engendered by, research activity. It is an activity that is done rather than an object to be designed and constructed. We examine three vignettes from the history of science that display the interdisciplinary process at work and consider the implications for education. We consider recent examples of interdisciplinary science education, including where interdisciplinarity involves students in authentic scientific research. We conclude that the reconciliation of research and education is a meaningful role for interdisciplinary practice in science education.     

Construction and validation of a classroom climate scale: a mixed methods approach

Students’ perceptions of their classroom climate have been found to relate significantly to students’ learning outcomes. The purpose of the present study was to construct an instrument for assessing elementary-school students’ perceptions of classroom climate, based on a previous instrument that was being used in Chile by a public national school mental health program as a tool for aiding teachers in improving classroom management, but which showed poor psychometric properties. We used a six-staged mixed-methods approach to construct relevant items and dimensions based on this measure and by adapting previously-existing scales. Item development included participatory construction of items involving program officials, focus groups with students, and a pilot study. The final version was administered to a sample of 6813 elementary-school students. Results showed adequate reliability and construct validity, convergent validity with school climate, and divergent validity with peer victimisation. When consequential validity was explored through semi-structured interviews with program officials and school administrators, we found that the instrument was being used as a tool for helping teachers to improve their school climate and management skills. We discuss the importance of constructing instruments using a mixed-methods approach.