Search

The theoretical base for culturally responsive practices is well established. This strong foundation can be strengthened through the identification and description of the empirical work demonstrating the utility of these practices when used to promote skill development in children. The purpose of this qualitative review of the literature was to identify empirical studies that implemented a culturally relevant literacy practice. Twelve journals that publish work in reading/literacy were selected for review, between 2006 and 2018. Articles were coded using a system based on the culturally responsive framework identified from the extant literature detailing the theoretical base for culturally responsive pedagogy. Nineteen articles met inclusion criteria for the review. Three themes emerged related to teaching and learning. Teachers often utilized materials that were culturally specific as a part of their instruction. Students tapped into their cultural identities/backgrounds as a framework to build meaning and used their home language in class to ease discussion or reflection on readings. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

In this special section of "Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities" ("RPSD"), the intersection of race, ethnicity, culture, and language influences schooling (i.e., what is taught, how, and where) for students of color with significant cognitive disabilities is explored. Contemporary issues facing people of color with severe disabilities are introduced with attention paid to a call for a "way forward."

In-service general education teachers receive limited pre-service training in Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) systems and strategies. Therefore, pre-service training should expose general education teacher candidates to the field of AAC and its benefits. This study investigated the efficacy of an online professional development session intended to teach knowledge of AAC and required AAC competencies for general education pre-service teachers. It questions the effects of an online professional development session on general education preservice teachers' knowledge of AAC and their ability to identify AAC support needs for children with disabilities with a pre- and post-assessment. The results indicate a significant difference between participants' mean scores on the pre- and post-assessments. Findings suggest that interactive online training methods can be used to support general education pre-service teachers in gaining further knowledge of AAC systems and strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: College students with Intellectual Disability (ID) are afforded many educational opportunities through Inclusive Post-Secondary Education (IPSE) programs, including employment training. Competitive employment can contribute to a rich independent life, thus more employment training opportunities can be beneficial. Low employment rates for adults with ID have motivated these efforts to develop proper employment training. In the past, on-the-job (OTJ) training with a job coach was one of the only supports for adults with ID in the workplace. Now, there are a variety of evidence-based strategies that can be used in the workplace or in other community settings, such as Covert Audio Coaching (CAC), to teach adults with ID the skills they need to maintain a job. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine if CAC would increase on-topic workplace communication skills for college students with ID. METHODS: This study used a multiple probe design to examine the effects of CAC on teaching workplace communication skills to college students with ID in a real-world setting. In this study, students interned in an office setting and spoke to a co-worker at their work setting while the interventionist used a two-way radio system to provide coaching statements to the student during their conversations. RESULTS: All students in this study increased their on-topic communication exchanges and these results demonstrate that CAC is an effective intervention for this population. CONCLUSION: CAC can be used as an employment support for adults with ID, specifically in the community setting. Limitations and implications of this study were further described at the end of the article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inclusive education for students with severe disabilities has and continues to spark intense debate. To what extent should students with severe disabilities be educated in nonsegregated environments, particularly the general education environment? For some, there is no question, but history indicates many do not agree. Agran and colleagues provide a clear, concise summation of the rationale for continued segregation of students with severe disabilities. This commentary extends those arguments, speculating on how perceptions about people with disabilities manifest in society and in schools in particular, often resulting in continued segregation and far less inclusion than might be expected or warranted. [For "Why Aren't Students with Severe Disabilities Being Placed in General Education Classrooms: Examining the Relations among Classroom Placement, Learner Outcomes, and Other Factors," by Agran et al., see EJ1246688.]

Many adults with intellectual disability (ID) do not learn the skills needed to maintain safety of people within their communities. In a pair of studies, a total task presentation with a least-to-most error correction procedure was used to teach four college students with ID how to safely remove personal protective equipment (PPE) (gloves), and how to administer hands-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). A multiple probe design was used to evaluate the effects of both studies. Results for the first study showed that students' accuracy with PPE removal increased after the intervention, and maintained after the intervention was removed. During the second study, student accuracy of hands-only CPR increased, and the CPR skills also generalized to a novel setting. Social validity data for both studies indicated that students believed they learned and were able to demonstrate the skills, however staff impressions were more variable. Implications and limitations are discussed.

Adults with intellectual disability may not learn safety skills needed to maintain the safety of those within their communities. Basic life-saving skills are valued by community members and increase independent and integrated living and employment opportunities. This study used an instructional package consisting of modeling, task analysis, and simultaneous prompting to teach college students with intellectual disability a basic life-saving skill, specifically how to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) with the use of an automated external defibrillator (AED). Phase 1 of the study used the instructional package to teach the students to perform CPR. Once mastered, Phase 2 of the study taught students to use an AED, incorporating it into the CPR chain. Results showed that the students' accuracy with the tasks increased after the introduction of the instructional package, generalized to a novel environment, and maintained once the instructional package was removed. Implications and future research are discussed.

Microenterprises in the classroom provide a unique way to incorporate academic goals within transitional skill instruction for students with developmental disabilities. The purpose of this article is to discuss how the principles of microenterprises can be used by classroom teachers to practice these skills as well as an overview of how to create a microenterprise. Vignettes are used to illustrate this process.

There is a large collection of students who experience difficulty with the development of reading fluency and comprehension. Many students receive little to no benefit from non-systematic instructional methods. In order to become proficient readers many students need explicit instruction in fluency to serve as a building block to comprehension. The creation of both inclusive schools and classrooms has lead to expectations for educators who must instruct all students regardless of ability levels to read fluently with appropriate corresponding comprehension skills. Until recently, a great deal of reading instruction has narrowly focused on comprehension with little attention paid to the direct teaching of fluency. This narrow focus may be an insufficient approach to reading instruction for many students. Instead, students with reading difficulties can benefit from a comprehensive empirically supported reading program in which teachers directly teach and ultimately enhance reading fluency skills. The aim of this article is to describe eight practices for developing fluency through empirically supported approaches appropriate for use in the inclusive classroom. (Contains 1 figure and 3 tables.)

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of training special education teachers in the process of functional behavioral assessment (FBA) and subsequent development of recommendations to promote behavior change. An original evaluation instrument was developed that included measures of special education teachers' knowledge of function of problem behavior and their ability to generate recommendations to promote behavior change. The instrument was distributed to elementary, middle, and high school special education teachers in a large urban school district. Teachers trained by the school district in the FBA process were compared to untrained teachers. The study incorporated a post-test only design, with data analyzed using a factorial ANOVA. Those teachers who were trained in the district FBA program answered multiple-choice questions related to the function of problem behavior more accurately than those who did not receive training. There was no significant difference between trained and untrained teachers on their ability to make recommendations to promote behavior change. The results of this study have implications for the development of initial and sustained training efforts for teachers in functional behavioral assessment methods. (Contains 6 tables.)

A review of State Department of Education and school district websites was conducted to determine how policy related to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) was communicated to teachers of students with severe disabilities. Four states were selected: California, New York, Illinois, and Pennsylvania. State Department of Education websites and three local school districts within each state were chosen for review using locale codes to ensure representation of city, suburban, and rural districts. A total of 16 websites were analyzed using an original instrument designed to capture information about CCSS implementation efforts. Results indicate that there is little information about students with severe disabilities or instructional/pedagogical guidance for teachers in regard to the CCSS on these sites. Thus, it may be difficult for teachers, based on this sample of websites, to translate standards into educational programming for students.

We evaluated the efficacy of an instructional procedure to teach young children with autism to evacuate settings and notify an adult during a fire alarm. A multiple baseline design across children showed that an intervention that included modeling, rehearsal, and praise was effective in teaching fire safety skills. Safety skills generalized to novel settings and maintained during a 5-week follow-up in both training and generalization settings.

The theoretical base that supports human universals served as a model for proposing special education teacher education universals. The human universals model is explained and put forth as a basis for identifying special education teacher education universals. Twenty-four English language journals from different countries representing four continents were searched for special education teacher education universals, represented by four broadly defined categories: (a) policy, (b) practice, (c) pedagogy, and (d) teacher preparation/co-curricular activities. Each journal was searched from 2004 to 2015, and articles were coded using the aforementioned categories. Results indicated an overwhelming presence of teacher preparation/co-curricular descriptions, representing 51% of the total (n = 815) articles categorized. The implications of these results are discussed in relation to defining and describing special education teacher preparation universals.

Many schools use computer-based testing to measure students' progress for end-of-the-year and statewide assessments. There is little research to support whether computer-based testing accurately reflects student progress, particularly among students with learning, performance, and generalization difficulties. This article summarizes an investigation of a reading strategy on comprehension of expository and narrative text; comprehension was assessed using both paper- and computer-based tasks. Results showed that students increased their learning strategy use and reading comprehension accuracy when using the strategy on computer-based assessments with expository text. Also students generalized their strategy use to paper-pencil assessments with narrative text. Reading comprehension of narrative passages also increased. The results suggest the value of teaching a reading strategy to students who struggle with both paper-pencil and computer-based assessments of comprehension.

This study assessed the use of WatchMinder™, a vibrating prompt watch, and self-graphing on the on-task behavior of students with autism spectrum disorder in an elementary special education setting. Using a multiple baseline across subjects design, results showed an immediate increase in on-task behavior when the intervention was introduced. Participants maintained high levels of on-task behavior during the follow-up phase. Implications for expanded self-monitoring treatment packages are discussed.

In this introduction to the special issue on evolving changes in our field, we have intentionally chosen to use the power of a vastly different metaphor to promote deep reflection. Specifically, we will introduce the notion of selection pressures and its impact on an evolutionary process, illustrating how special education teacher education has changed or evolved. We discuss these changes in the context of the 21st century and contextualize this explanation by representing special education teacher education as an avatar, thereby borrowing from the virtual world. We borrow concepts from natural science and the virtual world to help promote a new understanding of the nature of special education teacher education. Several selection pressures have been identified as affecting and moving forward special education teacher education such as (a) professional development/course delivery, (b) field experiences/mentoring induction, and (c) performance assessment. Each factor is considered with regard to its influence on the evolving nature of the 21st-century special education teacher education.

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often struggle with features of adult life, including obtaining and maintaining gainful employment. Many factors seem to contribute to this issue, such as: (a) access to financial resources, (b) interaction between the unique characteristics of ASD and employment settings, and (c) curriculum and instructional practices in secondary special education that may not focus specifically on the procurement of employment. An additional area that may be a factor is the paucity of research on employment development for students with ASD while attending middle and high school programs. This article examined the research on teaching strategies used to develop employment skills among secondary students with ASD between the ages 14-22. Twelve studies were identified with a total of 55 participants with ASD. A summary of the articles meeting the inclusion criteria is provided along with recommendations for future research.

Research on the effects of Direct Instruction (DI) among students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has only recently emerged. A benefit of DI is that it can be implemented with groups of students, which makes it potentially a cost effective method of instruction for some skills. In this study, we examined the effects of DI on teaching secondary students with ASD to answer three 'wh-' questions. Using a multiple probe design across behaviors, results indicated the participants mastered two of the three 'wh-' question types and made progress with the remaining question type. These results are discussed along with implications for educators instructing students with ASD., Author(s): Jessica N. Cadette[sup.1] [sup.2] , Cynthia L. Wilson[sup.3] , Michael P. Brady[sup.2] , Charles Dukes[sup.2] , Kyle D. Bennett[sup.4] Author Affiliations: (1) 3200 College Avenue, ES 218, 33314, Davie, [...]

For a number of students, early failure is highly predictive of later failure, severely limiting the development of skilled reading. Students who do not read fluently generally do not become good readers. In addition, students with inadequate fluency are likely to avoid reading because of fear of failure and negative attitudes--and students who avoid reading have less exposure to ideas and vocabulary in books and may lose academic ground, causing them to be twice disadvantaged. Students who are at risk for reading failure often require comprehensive reading instruction. As reading is the one area where children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds experience some of the greatest failure, it seems clear that reading instruction must be expanded. In 2000, the National Reading Panel issued a report to help parents, educators, and policy makers understand the skills necessary for the successful development of reading. The panel reviewed over 100,000 documents, including hundreds of empirical studies, and identified five key components--phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension--necessary to help children become proficient readers. In this article, the authors demonstrate how a teacher might incorporate all five components of reading into one lesson plan. The preplanning process includes asking some challenging yet necessary questions about the content of the lesson. In designing the lesson itself, the teacher needs to consider the five components of reading and how each will be introduced into the lesson. (Contains 1 table.)

In order to help teachers understand the importance of intentional design for inclusive education, this article describes the design process an engineer might use when designing a new project. If teachers learn to think like engineers, it is possible for them to design inclusive education. This conceptual design can then be combined with subsystems and mechanisms that reliably assist teachers to move from merely embracing inclusive philosophy to the implementation of inclusive practices. This differentiation between philosophy and practice is especially salient on the secondary level where inclusive practices are often discussed in a positive light but may not be implemented with any real enthusiasm (Keefe & Moore, 2004). Before discussing the merits of the engineering metaphor, inclusive education on the secondary level is briefly examined. (Contains 1 figure.)

The call for practice on the basis of evidence is slowly impacting the link between research and practice. Accompanying the call for evidence-based practice, concerns have been raised about constructing research questions that address the reality of applied settings, as well as arguments for including additional measures to ensure the internal and external validity of intervention studies. Because intervention research continues to evolve, now may be an appropriate time to begin posing questions about considerations of racial and ethnic diversity in this body of work. Validity is one of the most significant aspects of research and there seem to be few definitive notions about children with moderate to severe disabilities from diverse backgrounds. In an attempt to explore this issue, we chose a small part of the extant literature, specifically, the development of literacy, in an effort to examine how scholars report on diversity (e.g., race, ethnicity, culture). In this article we offer commentary on taking account of diversity in empirical research using the development of literacy in children with moderate to severe disabilities as an example. In addition, we also discuss the implications for future research and offer recommendations for taking account of diversity as a means to push the collective knowledge base forward. (Contains 1 table.)

It has been about 9 years since the last special issue on diversity in "Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities" ("RPSD"). The obvious question people ask: What progress has been made to awareness, respect, and inclusion of people from diverse backgrounds in their society? Specifically, has any progress been made for individuals with severe disabilities from diverse backgrounds? In spite of what are seemingly similar goals, social justice for underrepresented and often excluded people, advocates of multicultural education, and advocates of effective services and supports for children and adults with severe disabilities seem to be working on parallel nonconvergent paths. Perhaps this is attributable to a lack of broad organizational collaboration, or perhaps the issue reaches deeper and is a symptom of continued efforts to frame clear perspectives on both disability and diversity with the intent of addressing both. Essentially, both disability and diversity are seen as so salient to one's values, actions, and potential outcomes that it is often difficult to see one as more salient than the other. In this article, the authors discuss some of the issues on diversity in the context of efforts to design, implement, and evaluate services and supports for children from diverse backgrounds with severe disabilities.

The ills of urban schools are well documented. The challenges of recruiting and retaining quality teachers, student mobility, poor conditions of school facilitates, and lack of parent involvement are only a few of the issues related to urban schools. Large comprehensive high schools are a staple of many urban school districts. This model of educating a large number of students in one school has come into question. The reduction in size of schools, especially large comprehensive high schools is now the focus of many school reform efforts. Lost in this discussion is the consideration of special education services and how special education services can be effectively integrated into any small school or small learning community restructuring efforts. A possible model of how special education services can be integrated into high schools restructured into small learning communities is presented, including considerations of benefits for students with and without disabilities.

The 21st century has ushered in a set of challenges for education administrators. A greater emphasis on accountability for an increasing number of students requiring intensive supports is commonplace. Currently, the student population is changing, reflecting society's ever-increasing diversity. Many administrators need assistance responding to student diversity and creating a learning environment where all students can make academic progress. In an effort to create an inclusive learning community, administrators must engage in a rigorous developmental process, requiring specific knowledge and actions that will ultimately result in the creation of a learning community where diversity is valued and celebrated. Administrators can accomplish this goal by working on two different levels. First, they work on the school level by considering the impact any change will have on the organization and function of the school. Second, administrators must work with teachers, providing ongoing assistance to respond to student diversity. In this article, the authors describe how administrators should gain the necessary knowledge and skills to work effectively with teachers to promote cultural competence, which can be defined as the knowledge, disposition and skills one uses when interacting with those from different racial and ethnic backgrounds. (Contains 2 tables.)

INTRODUCTION: The transition to exploration missions places a heightened risk on behavioral health and performance in spaceflight crew. Isolation in extreme environments, such as Antarctica or Greenland, have provided key insights into behavioral challenges such as confinement, increased autonomy, distance from family, and psychosocial stressors. Although serious psychiatric emergencies during spaceflight have been rare, long duration missions increase possibility of genetic predisposition to mental illness, grief, isolation, helplessness, loss of child or family member, or catastrophic events. Complicated grief and bereavement are associated with the highest rate of suicidal ideation. In recent years, ketamine is increasingly used as an emergent intervention for acute suicidality, promoting its stability, ease of administration, safety profile, and outcomes for reduction of suicidal intent. The goal of this study was to review current literature and collate the understanding of ketamine as a safe, effective pharmacological adjunct for acute suicidality in spaceflight. METHODS: This retrospective review of published literature was conducted to gather data related to ketamine use for acute suicidality. In addition, this review gathered information on stability, limitations and utilization of ketamine within extreme environments. RESULTS: 55 publications were reviewed for relevance including at least 18 randomized-control trials for ketamine use in behavioral emergencies. DISCUSSION: Ketamine is a diverse pharmacologic agent with multiple advantageous indications, including acute suicidality, pain, and sedation. Terrestrial use of ketamine in emergent acute suicidal ideation suggests a rapidly efficacious medication for reduction in mortality, morbidity, and functional impact. Including a multifaceted pharmaceutical in future long-duration mission formularies offers optimization of vehicle storage and expands indications for use with a favorable safety profile. As behavioral stressors expand related to extreme isolation and extended missions, contingencies for suicidal ideation and serious behavioral emergencies become increasingly important to recognize. Although this review is not intended to re-develop current ISS intervention strategies, it is the first to discuss the benefits of ketamine in spaceflight as a potential safe, effective multifaceted tool for future exploration missions and in particular, as a treatment for acute suicidal ideation. Learning Objectives 1. The audience will gain an appreciation of the current literature on terrestrial ketamine use in acute suicidality. 2. The audience will gain an understanding for consideration of ketamine as a possible safe, multifaceted pharmaceutical intervention in spaceflight. 3. The audience will gain an understanding of key features of extended duration, exploration missions that increase the possibility of a behavioral emergency, such as acute suicid [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]