Special Education Collaboration: Inclusion and Co-Teaching

Students with disabilities are being taught more than ever in general education classrooms. This provides unique opportunities for special and general education teachers to work together to support these students in general education classrooms. However, general and special education teachers run the risk of falling short of their potential to impact students’ success unless they know how to effectively collaborate.

When the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) mandated that children with disabilities be educated with children who do not have disabilities, education in the United States changed. Education World writer Wesley Sharpe, Ed.D., wrote an article that looks at the characteristics of effective inclusion. Making inclusion work can be challenging, but with planning and effective collaboration, it can be successful for both the teacher and the student. Below are four ways inclusion benefits students with disabilities:

• Inclusion improves learning for both classified and unclassified students
• Children learn to accept individual differences.
• Children develop new friendships.
• Parent participation improves.

Sharpe believes that there is still work to be done in order to make all inclusion settings successful, including more research, better training for educators, and improved teacher education programs. Ultimately, the goal for effective inclusion classrooms is that inclusion be invisible.

Another popular inclusion practice is co-teaching. According to Dr. Richard Villa's article, Effective Co-Teaching Strategies, “a co-teaching team typically includes a general and a special educator who teach the general education curriculum to all students as well as implement Individual Education Programs (IEPs) for students with disabilities. Both educators on the co-teaching team are responsible for differentiating the instructional planning and delivery, assessment of student achievement, and classroom management.”

Pepper provides several Special Education Courses that focus on Inclusion and Co-Teaching. The Collaborative Practices that Support Inclusive Education course will provide special and general education teacher teams with tools and practices designed to support their teaming so all students can be successful in general education, inclusive classrooms. The Co-Teaching: Special Education Differentiation course is intended to guide and enhance special education and general education teachers understanding of co-teaching as a special education service delivery in the core classroom across all grade levels. The course offers clear and concise information, resources, and practical tools to considering co-teaching as a model of instructional delivery, and an opportunity to provide highly scaffolded differentiation of the core in the inclusive setting. Both of these courses, and others, are available for Special Education teachers K-12.

So, whether you’re a new Special Education teacher or a seasoned veteran, Pepper Courses and your Pepper Learning Community can be a great resource for implementing new ideas. Utilizing the experience and skills of teachers from around the country can provide unique opportunities for networking and sharing lesson ideas and classroom management tips.

Teaching Math Modeling for Problem Solving

The National Science Foundation has funded a pilot program to help elementary teachers learn to teach Math Modeling to their students. Elementary students learn from the beginning using modeling and manipulatives. But this concept is something greater. According to a recent article in Education Week, this type of mathematical modeling “is something different and more complex: It's the process of taking an open-ended, multifaceted situation, often from life or the workplace, and using math to solve it.” In keeping with new standards, the goal is help students see the relevance and application of math to everyday life. The focus is on critical thinking and problem solving with the outcome being sometimes “messy” - meaning there may not be one definitive right answer. Students are being taught to work logically through a problem and develop a solution that can be justified. 

This pilot program, the IMMERSION project, is part of ongoing efforts to improve student proficiency and critical thinking in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), project leaders say. The project is designed to provide professional development to teachers from three different districts over three years. According to an article on the project website, “IMMERSION will help K–8 teachers incorporate modeling into their mathematics teaching by providing intensive professional development training during the summer, followed by support and collaboration during the school year as teachers begin to implement mathematical modeling activities in their classrooms—a practice that can have far-reaching effects on how students perceive and use mathematics. The study will focus on increasing the achievement of all students, including special education and advanced students, students with limited English proficiency and economically disadvantaged students.” This focus on differentiating instruction in addition to the math modeling will prepare these teachers to better meet the needs of all students.

You can find a wide variety of professional development options for Math in the Pepper Course Offerings. All of these courses focus on helping teachers teach math in a meaningful and engaging ways. You will also find courses focused on ELL and Special Education.

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Five Creative Approaches to Helping Students with ADHD

Understanding ADHD at its core is essential to determining the best course of action for students who have it. Though teachers find students who take medication for ADHD to be less disruptive and more attentive, it may not be the only effective way to treat this "difference in cognition" as Dr. Richard Friedman, Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and Director of the Psychopharmacology Clinic at Weill Cornell Physicians, puts it. He doesn't consider ADHD a disorder. And, he wants to reframe the way we view ADHD and help us approach it in a more creative way.

Check out this informative article. It will help you, as an educator, work with these highly intelligent students who have enormous potential.

A Simple Swipe Can Change a Life

Many nonverbal students also exhibit behavioral issues because they can't communicate their needs and desires without great effort. Recently, a Fort Worth, Texas school district tested a new program in an effort to break the silence. Simply providing nonverbal students with an iPad with special software and a bit of simple instruction, students were able to swipe symbols on the pad to convert text to speech. For many, this was the first time to communicate in their lives. Those who exhibited poor behavior due to the frustration of not being able to communicate had great success and their behavior (in some cases) made a 360-degree turnaround. Read about a few of the students and the tremendous results of the study.

Common Core Resources for Special Education

Calling all special education teachers and administrators!

This wonderful website from the California Department of Education collects tons of great information about special education and Common Core. From webinars to presentations, resources to FAQs, this site can help you find what you need to know about making the transition to Common Core with your special education students.

CLICK HERE to go to the website, and be sure to take a few minutes to see what's offered!

FREE WestEd Webinar--Personalize Learning to Meet the Common Core

For educators who work with special education students, there are a number of questions about how Common Core State Standards will work in their classrooms. How can you balance the diverse needs of your students and meet the standards? How can you create personalized learning environments within your classroom?

This free 30-minute webinar from experts at WestEd can help you answer these questions and give you a better understanding of how personalized learning can support the Common Core.

CLICK HERE FOR THE WEBINAR and make sure to check out the supporting resources and PDFs as well.