Teacher expectations are strongly correlated to student achievement. As such, what a teacher believes about a student may become the expected outcome, and this is true for students with disabilities as well (Hampton & Mason, 2003).
The Individual with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 2004), mandates public schools which receive federal funds to provide equal access to education for all children regardless of disability. Schools must evaluate students with disabilities and create an Individualized Education Program (IEP) with parental input, in order to educate students in the least restrictive environment (LRE), with the first educational placement consideration being a general classroom setting.
Today, 57% of students with disabilities spend more than 80% of their day in general education classrooms, yet general education teachers consistently report that they do not have the skills they need to effectively instruct diverse learners, including students with disabilities. (Blanton, et al., 2011).
How do we change the knowledge, skills and dispositions of teachers who are likely to work hundreds of students with disabilities throughout their career?
I remember the first time I learned from another colleague about Garret’s story. This story inspired me to think differently about how I prepare teacher candidates to work with students with disabilities, because I heard the experiences, struggles and dreams of a parent and their child who has Down Syndrome.
Here are a few tips for new teachers who are working with students with exceptionalities:
- Learn about students disabilities by reading their IEP, talking with the Special Educator, and parents and staying informed on current research such as on the IRIS site.
- Create a method of communication between you and the family such as using the Remind 101 app to effectively collaborate with families, share progress on IEP goals, and promote transfer of skills to home life.
- Spend time with your students get to know their interests, favorite things and what they do for enjoyment.
- Establish a relationship of trust and support and design instruction that will incorporate their interest for motivation.
- Design instruction to support IEP goals for academic and non-cognitive skills as well. For example a student with Autism spectrum disorder might have a goal for emotional regulation strategies to self-manage behavior.
- Use progress monitoring to collect data of students performance both behavioral and academic across time.
- Create a safe and structured classroom environment that is predictable, and consistent. Minimize distractions that create an unpredictable and confusing class environment.
- Use multiple representations to teach a concept, multiple ways for students to engage, and multiple ways for students to express what they know (UDL).
- Chunk information into small steps with illustrations, diagrams and cues to support learning.
- Incorporate visuals into instruction such as pictures, graphic organizers and multimedia.
- Show don’t tell (model your expectations) and always smile.
Do you work with students with exceptionalities? How has this experience shaped your perception about creating an inclusive environment?
Check out my latest publication for more information on how to prepare preservice teachers for the inclusive classroom.
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ReplyDeleteThank you, for sharing the 11 tips on supporting children with exceptionalities! Making connections, getting to know a child's interests typical or atypical is key to helping them succeed in the classroom. Visuals during transitions such as a sand timer and playing music during clean up time helped me support the needs to my students last school year. I also created a pocket size schedule that I would refer too after each activity. The pocket schedule was a huge benefit for my students who are in the spectrum during yard transition.
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ReplyDeleteYou can even enjoy an outing to the park. This will give your child something to look forward to throughout the day if he becomes nervous https://www.earlyeducationcentral.com. It will also give you a chance to reconnect as a family and ask how your child’s day went.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing "11 ways to Support Children with Exceptionalities." As an educator, there is not much training in schools about this especially as each child is unique and different. It is important to reference your recommendations on teachers communicating and getting to know the child and family thoroughly as this will in fact help the teacher build rapport and better understand what the child needs within their classroom. I liked that you mentioned "minimize distractions" and "create a safe and structured environment" for the student. This is such a helpful article, I will make sure to share with my colleagues!
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