Accommodating Students With Special Needs in General Education Classrooms

Changing Disciplinary and Instructional Practices in the Middle School to Address IDEA

“…However, owing to a traditional "twobox" system of teacher preparation-one curriculum for general educators and another for special educators-most general educators have limited knowledge of ways to make curricular or instructional modifications (Baker and Zigmond 1990; Brown et al 1991; Wilson et al 1998) or to eliminate "curriculum gaps" found in a mixed-group of students (Arllen, Gable, and Hendrickson 1996;Whinnery, Fuchs, and Fuchs 1991). The standard cumculum is the focus of traditional instruction; teachers feel obligated to teach it and students are held responsible for learning it (Fuchs and Fuchs 1994).…”

“…Because low academic achievement and social and conduct problems go hand-in-hand (e.g., Kauffman 1997), however, it is essential that teachers are familiar with specific strategies for making curricular accommodations and modifications (Arllen, Gable, and Hendrickson 1996). Both preservice preparation and inservice training should emphasize that errors in learning and behavior can be addressed through a variety of "precorrective" interventions, such as the teacher's having clear rules and expectations (see Colvin, Sugai, and Patching 1993).…”

“…The success of "stay-put" regular classroom instruction of students at-risk and with disabilities hinges on teachers, who must have sufficient knowledge and support to instruct a heterogeneous group of students (Arllen, Gable, and Hendrickson 1996; Schumm and Vaughn 1995). However, owing to a traditional "twobox" system of teacher preparation-one curriculum for general educators and another for special educators-most general educators have limited knowledge of ways to make curricular or instructional modifications (Baker and Zigmond 1990; Brown et al 1991; Wilson et al 1998) or to eliminate "curriculum gaps" found in a mixed-group of students (Arllen, Gable, and Hendrickson 1996;Whinnery, Fuchs, and Fuchs 1991).…”

“…ow ever, there 1 997 IDEA emphasize understanding why thatthe use of aversives in the absence of systematic numerous strategies that teachers can use to differentiate instruction. Those strategies relate to organization ( e g , physical arrangement of the classroom, grouping students for instruction); curriculum and instruction (e.g., varying the difficulty level and amount of material, oral versus written responses); and evaluation (e.g., administrative format, student response mode, criterion) (Arllen, Gable, and Hendrickson 1996). Other strategies focus on increasing student capacity to acquire, accumulate, and retrieve the content of instruction (e.g., note-taking skills, work retention skills, mnemonic devices) (Rogan et al 1995).…”

Interdisciplinary Teaming: Solution to Instructing Heterogeneous Groups of Students

“…Such team collaboration means that educators can come together to find ways to meet the diverse instructional needs of heterogeneous groups of students (e.g., Arllen, Gable, and Hendrickson 1996;Gable, Korinek, and Laycock 1997). Problem solving in teams serves a twofold purpose.…”