<p> This research examined the co-teaching method of instruction for students with disabilities in the inclusion classroom setting. Quantitatively, the study sought to explore the impact of co-teaching on student achievement growth and performance. Achievement growth and performance was measured using STAR scores and TCAP assessment scores. Qualitatively, the researcher investigated teacher beliefs and attitudes toward co-teaching using a survey including Likert-scale and open-ended questions. Co-teaching was found to be beneficial, since both special education students and general education students made equal academic progress in the inclusion classroom. A teacher perception survey provided the researcher with insight into the benefits, challenges, and beliefs about co-teaching.</p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to determine the student outcomes of implementing schema-based instruction on students in grades 3-8 identified with an educational disability and ascertain how students&rsquo; developed mathematical problem solving skills. After special education teachers in a metropolitan school district in the Midwest administered a pre-assessment, the researcher used the results to select 21 students with an educational disability to participate in the mixed-methods study. Special education teachers implemented Asha K. Jitendra&rsquo;s (2007) educational program titled, Solving Math Word Problems: Teaching Students with Learning Disabilities Using Schema-Based Instruction, during the 2013-2014 school year and taught participants using these techniques. The researcher measured student achievement by using both a pre and post-assessment and M-CAP benchmark scores on mathematical problem solving. In addition, the researcher gathered perceptions of schema-based instruction via surveys and interviews with special education teachers, general education teachers, and student participants. The analysis of quantitative data from the pre and post-assessments of students participating in the schema-based program as well as the analysis of qualitative data from student participant surveys supported a positive outcome on the use of schema-based instruction with students with an educational disability; the findings of this study reinforced the then-current literature. However, the student participants' M-CAP assessment data did not demonstrate the same amount of growth as the assessment data from the schema-based program. In addition, the analysis of survey and interview data from the two teacher groups also displayed discrepancies between special education teachers&rsquo; and general education teachers&rsquo; overall perceptions of the schema-based instructional program. Despite this, the preponderance of evidence demonstrated most students who participated in the study did learn as a result of the schema-based instruction and developed mathematical problem-solving skills. Therefore, the findings of this study corroborated the then-current literature and supported the continual use of the researched program; Solving Math Word Problems: Teaching Students with Learning Disabilities Using Schema-Based Instruction, by Jitendra (2007). The researcher concluded this program a valid research-based intervention to increase mathematical problem solving skills for students with an educational disability.</p>

<p> The purpose of this research project was to compare the effectiveness of co-taught teaching classrooms to non-co-taught teaching classrooms through an analysis of grades in geometry classes. Data for this project was collected through the use of a high school's grading software system. During the 2016&ndash;2017 school year, special education students had the opportunity to be placed in a co-taught geometry classroom. For the 2017&ndash;2018 school year, the high school no longer offered co-taught geometry classes. Special education students participated in geometry with no special education teacher. </p><p> All grades for special education students were printed for each marking period. This was done for both the co-taught geometry classes for the 2016&ndash;2017 school year, and the non-co-taught geometry classes for the 2017&ndash;2018 school year. In order to see if co-taught teaching is more beneficial, and aids in student success in the subject area of geometry, for students with special needs, grades were compared.</p><p>

Teachers in a school district in a southeastern state are being challenged to meet the needs of students who have learning disabilities (LDs) and who require an individualized education program with a mathematics goal. The students are in danger of not passing state, district, and classroom mathematics tests, and not all the schools are meeting adequate yearly progress (AYP). Funding from the federal government is denied if a school does not achieve AYP; the school personnel must then complete a school improvement plan. The purpose of this study was to explore which differentiation instructional (DI) practices inclusion teachers were using to promote math academic achievement for underperforming students with LDs in inclusion math classrooms. A grounded theory approach was used to explore inclusion teachers' perceptions on the effectiveness of DI with students with LDs in inclusion math classes. Survey and interview protocols were developed and administered to collect data. Data were open, axial, and selectively coded, and were synthesized into categories and subcategories following emerging themes and patterns. Triangulation, member-checking, and an audit trail were used to validate the findings. A theory of effective instructional practice is presented from the teachers' viewpoint. This study may impact positive social change by identifying instructional practices that allow better access to mathematics for students and thereby has the potential to impact student achievement.

The demands of national educational reforms require high school biology teachers to provide high quality instruction to students with and without special needs. The reforms, however, do not provide teachers with adequate teaching strategies to meet the needs of all students in the same context. The purpose of this grounded theory study was to understand high school biology teachers' perspectives, practices, and challenges in relation to teaching students with special needs. This approach was used to develop a substantive model for high school biology teachers who are challenged with teaching students with and without special needs. Data were collected via in-depth interviews with 15 high school teachers in a Midwestern school district. The data were analyzed using open coding, axial coding, and selective coding procedures in accordance with the grounded theory approach. Essential model components included skills and training for teachers, classroom management strategies, teaching strategies, and student skills. The emergent substantive theory indicated that that teacher preparation and acquired skills greatly influence the effectiveness of inclusion implementation. Key findings also indicated the importance of using of a variety of instructional strategies and classroom management strategies that address students' special needs and their learning styles. This study contributes to social change by providing a model for teaching students and effectively implementing inclusion in regular science classrooms. Following further study, this model may be used to support teacher professional development and improve teaching practices that in turn may improve science literacy supported by the national educational reforms.