Curriculum issues and benefits in supportive co-taught classes for students with intellectual disabilities

Contextual antecedents of co-teaching efficacy: Their influence on students with disabilities' learning progress, social participation and behaviour improvement

“…Since 2000, Greek legislation (Law 2817/2000) has provided a co-taught model in a move to improve the quality of education for students with disabilities within mainstream classes and to promote inclusion. However, research on the development of co-teaching as a means to inclusive education in Greece is very limited (Strogilos & Avramidis, 2013;Strogilos & Tragoulia, 2013;Strogilos et al, 2015).…”

“…In addition, Lee, Wehmeyer, Soukup, and Palmer (2010) found that students with disabilities increase their engagement in academic-related responses, while they decrease their competing behaviours, and that teachers perform fewer classroom management activities if curriculum modifications are used. Yet, many research studies in this area report lack of curriculum modifications in co-taught classes for students with disabilities (Antia, 1999;Buckley, 2005;Strogilos et al, 2015). It appears that the education of students with disabilities in the co-taught class lacks appropriate teaching materials, differentiation in activities and opportunities for individualising the teaching process (Scruggs et al, 2007).…”

“…Although co-teachers have indicated several positive outcomes for themselves and their students with disabilities (Saloviita & Takala, 2010;Scruggs, Mastropieri, & McDuffie, 2007;Strogilos, Tragoulia, & Kaila, 2015;Thousand et al, 2006), research on the efficacy of co-teaching remains limited (Cook, McDuffie-Landrum, Oshita, & Cotheren-Cook, 2011;Murawski & Swanson, 2001). Research results on the efficacy of co-teaching is still considered sparse and inconclusive (Cook et al, 2011), since some studies have indicated a medium to strong positive relationship between student outcomes and co-teaching (McDuffie, Mastropieri, & Scruggs, 2009;Murawski & Swanson, 2001;Rea, McLaughlin, & WaltherThomas, 2002), while others have failed to identify benefits for students with disabilities in co-taught classrooms (Boudah, Schumacher, & Deshler, 1997;Murawski, 2006).…”

The value of differentiated instruction in the inclusion of students with special needs/ disabilities in mainstream schools

“…Among these factors are the lack of content knowledge necessary to extend and differentiate the core curriculum content areas; the lack of time to adjust the curriculum for the students with SEN, or those with gifts and talents; teachers' difficulty to locate and use effectively the appropriate resources; and even their perception that students do not differ in how they learn (Hertberg-Davis, 2009;Van Tassel-Baska, & Stambaugh, 2005). With regard to students with special needs/ disabilities many research studies in differentiated instruction report a lack of curriculum modifications in mainstream classrooms for these students (Buckley, 2005;Strogilos & Stefanidis, 2015;Strogilos, Tragoulia, & Kaila, 2015), and consequently, according to Scruggs, et al's (2007) literature review, the education of these students in general classrooms lacks appropriate teaching materials, differentiation in activities and opportunities for individualizing the curriculum. Similarly, Wehmeyer, Lattin, Lapp-Rincker, and Agran (2003) indicated that teachers were adapting their materials in less than 3% of their observations for students with intellectual disabilities.…”

“…Similarly, Wehmeyer, Lattin, Lapp-Rincker, and Agran (2003) indicated that teachers were adapting their materials in less than 3% of their observations for students with intellectual disabilities. Also, Strogilos, Tragoulia, and Kaila (2015) identified limited curriculum modifications for students with SEN in their descriptive observations in mainstream classrooms. In addition to the limited use of curriculum modifications in co-taught classrooms, teachers indicated a moderate endorsement towards the curriculum modifications for students with special needs/ disabilities (Strogilos & Stefanidis, 2015).…”