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The problem of this study.was the relationship of selected abilities to gross motor performance of educable mentally retarded students at different chronological age levels.

In March 2020 schools in Sweden had to reorganize their organization due to the covid-19-pandemic. The uppersecondary school had to undergo a quick transformation from a traditional education in a brick-and-mortarsetting to distance education in an online setting. Even though this way of organizing education was new toSwedish upper secondary school the Swedish Department of Education (Skolverket, 2020a) argued that studentswith disabilities and in need of special support in school were supposed to be given the same opportunities indistance education as in traditional education.Previous research suggests that distance education could be a challenge to these students in terms of lack ofstructure and motivation. It also shows that there is a lack of competence among teachers regarding this way ofteaching. On the other hand, previous research also shows that some of these students could be favored in thisway of teaching and that it could result in a higher attendance and a more favorable educational setting.The aim of this study is to contribute with knowledge about different professions perceptions regarding distanceeducation and the impact of distance education when it comes to students in need of special support within theSwedish upper secondary school. This is a qualitative study based on 9 semi structured interviews with 3 specialeducation teachers, 3 special educational needs coordinators and 3 teachers.The results suggests that there are certain challenges with distance education, such as a lack of overview of thestudents in the classroom, less time to prepare lessons and a lack of continuity when organizing teaching. Thefindings also suggests that distance education have been positive for certain students who might have had aproblem earlier when it comes to distractions in the school setting. The results also point towards the importanceof realizing that the teaching environment is different in distance education compared to the traditional settingand that is something that needs to be addressed, a development of school staff’s knowledge about onlinelearning is of the essence in order to fully make use of distance education and especially in order to teachstudents in need of special support. In conclusion, there are both benefits and challenges with distance educationand also a need of development in order to fully make use of distance education for students in need of specialsupport and the teaching of these students would probably benefit of future research regarding how to merge thetraditional brick-and-mortar teaching with distance education when it comes to their respective strengths andweaknesses.

Shortages in the teaching field are greatest among special education teachers. This may be due to recent regulations and an increase in the number of students diagnosed with disabilities, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of administrative support, stress, and self-efficacy on special education teachers' intent to remain in the profession and to determine whether special education teachers of students with ASD experience the same retention obstacles that other special education teachers do. The conceptual framework for the study was social cognitive theory, which states that people are proactively involved in their life choices and make conscious decisions based on external environmental factors, internal personal factors, and their behaviors. In the Northeastern United States, 128 elementary, middle, and high school special education teachers, of which 60 work with students with ASD, completed an adaptation of the survey, Teacher Efficacy Belief System-Self. Four research questions examined the relationships among administrative support, stress, self-efficacy, and intent to remain in the teaching profession. Their answers were analyzed using Pearson product moment correlation, ordinal logistic regression, and 1-way ANOVA. Results indicated that special education teachers for students with ASD experienced a higher level of stress, which, in turn, was negatively correlated with intent to remain in the teaching field and administrative support. This study is expected to contribute to positive social change by highlighting the interplay among administrative support, self-efficacy, and stress; it could also inform the development of effective plans to support new teachers and increase their intent to remain in the field.

The purpose of this study was to contribute to increased knowledge about how and to what extent special educators in preschool describe that they work with the implementation of, for example, guidelines, concepts, working methods and materials. The study also aimed to make visible the collaboration of special educators with other professional roles and how this in turn may affect the work with implementation. The theoretical starting point for the study is based on systems theory. The previous research that was considered relevant to the study is presented based on three different areas: The role of the special education teacher - not entirely clear, Implementation research and Implementation within educational activities. The study is based on qualitative interviews with 9 special educators who are all active in the preschool. To analyze the data and present the results, thematic analysis has been used. The result of the thematic analysis led to three main themes that together depict the informants' description of the work with and their thoughts on implementation. The three main themes that were created based on the data were: Different paths to decisions, The active role of the special education teacher and Implementation in a changing world. The results indicate that knowledge of implementation and implementation processes is important for the special education professional role but also for other professional roles in the preschool, such as the principal. The result also indicates that more knowledge about implementation and how different professional competences can cooperate regarding implementation is needed in preschooleducation. Awareness of how individuals are affected by change is also important for special educators in the work with implementation. / Syftet med denna studie var att bidra till ökad kunskap om hur och i vilken utsträckning specialpedagoger i förskolan beskriver att de arbetar med implementering av exempelvis riktlinjer, begrepp, arbetssätt och material. Studien syftade också till att synliggöra specialpedagogers samverkan med andra yrkesroller och hur det i sin tur kan komma att påverka arbetet med implementering. Den teoretiska utgångspunkten för studien grundas i systemteori. Den tidigare forskning som ansågs relevant för studien presenteras utifrån tre olika områden: Specialpedagogens roll – inte helt självklar, Implementeringsforskning och Implementering inom pedagogisk verksamhet. Studien bygger på kvalitativa intervjuer med 9 specialpedagoger som alla är aktiva inom förskolans verksamhet. För att analysera data och presentera resultat har tematisk analys använts. Resultatet av den tematiska analysen ledde till tre huvudteman som tillsammans skildrar informanternas beskrivning av arbetet med- och deras tankar om implementering. De tre huvudteman som skapades utifrån datamaterialet var: Olika vägar till beslut, Specialpedagogens aktiva roll och Implementering i en föränderlig värld. Resultatet tyder på att kunskap om implementering och implementeringsprocesser är viktig för den specialpedagogiska yrkesrollen men också för andra yrkesroller i förskolan, såsom exempelvis rektor. Resultatet tyder också på att mer kunskap om implementering och hur olika yrkeskompetenser kan samarbeta beträffande implementering behövs i förskolans verksamhet. Även medvetenhet om hur individer påverkas av förändring blir betydelsefullt för specialpedagoger i arbetet med implementering.

The Individualized Education Program (IEP) is intended to serve as a planning tool to ensure that school teams provide students with disabilities a free and appropriate public education (FAPE) (Blackwell & Rosetti, 2014). An essential step in the IEP process includes the development of meaningful and measurable IEP goals based on students’ present levels of performance and specific areas of need (Christle & Yell, 2010). Despite the significant role that the IEP plays in meeting legal requirements of the IDEA, research has shown that the quality of IEPs for students with disabilities is generally low (Blackwell & Rosetti, 2014; Rakap, 2015), especially for students with autism (Etscheid, 2003). Research evaluating IEP quality for students with autism revealed that many IEPs failed to include goals and objectives that addressed students’ deficits in social communication or social interactions (Ruble, McGrew, Dalrymple, & Jung, 2010) despite explicit recommendations for best practices (NRC, 2001). The purpose of this study was to train pre-service teachers to use results from a curriculum-based assessment to write quality IEP goals and objectives for students with autism. The study used a randomized group design in which undergraduate students (N = 32) enrolled in an introductory special education course were randomly assigned to a training group. Participants assigned to the Captivate Group (n = 16) participated in a series of interactive eLearning modules in which there were opportunities for the learners to respond to questions and engage in various learning interactions. The training provided to participants in the Video Group (n = 16) served as a treatment-as-usual condition in which participants viewed video recordings of the eLearning modules, but did not have opportunities to engage in any learning interactions. A two-way mixed analysis of variance was conducted to examine within group differences from pre- to post- test and between group differences based on the method of eLearning training received. Additional analyses were conducted in order to compare the quality of goals and objectives written for academic skills and goals targeting communication skills. Results indicated significant improvement for both groups on the quality of written goal and objectives from pre- to post-test . Although the Captivate Group performed slightly better on the post-test, there was no significant effect for training received. Additional analyses examining group outcomes on specific quality indicators revealed some noteworthy differences between groups. The data also confirmed statistically significant differences between participants’ total academic scores and total communication scores at pre-test, meaning that goals and objectives written for academic skills met more quality indicators compared to goals and objectives written for communication skills. A second paired samples t-test on participants’ post-test totals showed significant differences in quality for the Video Group, but not the Captivate Group. / Special Education

I denna studie undersöktes hur samarbetet mellan speciallärare och ämneslärare kan se ut i matematik- respektive språk-, läs- och skrivutveckling på en högstadieskola med en inkluderande specialundervisning samt hur man bäst kan utnyttja de båda yrkesgruppernas komplementära kompetenser. Som metod för datainsamling gjordes observationer på lektioner där speciallärare och ämneslärare samarbetade. Observationerna följdes av enskilda intervjuer av speciallärare och ämneslärare i matematik och språk samt rektor och samordnande specialpedagog. Avslutningsvis genomfördes en gruppintervju med speciallärare och ämneslärare. Till analys användes Abbotts teori om olika yrkesrollers kamp om vem som ska göra vad på arbetsplatsen samt Laviés teori om lärares olika inställning till samarbete.   Resultatet visade att speciallärare och ämneslärare har olika arbetsuppgifter i klassrummet och i planeringsarbetet. Medan ämnesläraren har rollen som ledare blir specialläraren mer som en assistent. I studien framkom att det viktigaste för att utveckla ett lyckat samarbete mellan speciallärare och ämneslärare är relationen mellan personerna. Förutom relationen är även förmågan till flexibilitet och viljan att ta varandras roller betydelsefulla faktorer. Ett sätt som lyftes fram för att utnyttja speciallärarens kompetens i det inkluderade klassrummet är specialpedagogisk handledning. / This study focused on the cooperation between special education teachers and subject teachers in mathematics development and language-, reading- and writing development. The study was carried out at a comprehensive school with an inclusive special education and aimed at investigating how to use the teachers’ complementary competences in the best way. The method used was observations of lessons when special education teachers and subject teachers cooperated. These observations were followed up by individual interviews with special education teachers, subject teachers in mathematics and languages as well as with the headmaster and the coordinating special education teacher. Finally a group interview was carried out with the special education teachers and subject teachers. Abbott’s theory about various professional roles and their struggle about who should do what at the work place was used together with Lavié’s theory about teachers’ attitudes to cooperation.   The result showed that special education teachers and subject teachers have different roles in the classroom and also in the planning of lessons. The subject teacher often takes the role of the leader whereas the special education teacher acts more as an assistant. The study showed that the most important factor in developing a successful cooperation between the special education teacher and the subject teacher is the relationship between the individuals.  Two other important factors are flexibility and the willingness to take each other’s roles when needed. Another way of taking advantage of the competence of the special education teacher is to let him/her coach the subject teachers.

Den här studien fokuserar sig på lärares uppfattningar kring deras förutsättningar i arbetet med elever med funktionshinder. Material hämtas från fem kvalitativa semistrukturerade intervjuer i södra Sverige. Det insamlade materialet analyseras med hjälp av läroplansteori och genom en tematisk innehållsanalys. I resultatet visade det sig att lärarnas förutsättningar att arbeta med elever i svårigheter och funktionsnedsättningar försvårades på grund av olika faktorer. En faktor var lärarnas tid vilket kunde begränsa deras arbete att så bra som möjligt anpassa undervisningen för elever i svårigheter. En annan faktor var att ett bra samarbete med speciallärare och specialpedagogen på respektive skola saknades vilket minskar förutsättningarna att utföra ett så bra arbete som möjligt. Lärarnas specialpedagogiska kompetens kritiserades av dem själva då de i sin utbildning på universitet saknade en bra kurs inom detta område. I intervjuerna kom det fram att lärarna ställde sig positiva till arbetet med dessa elever även om det fanns faktorer som innebar svårigheter i arbetet.

The new special education teacher degree program was launched in Sweden in 2008. The term new was used since the content was new, but the name stayed the same. Knowledge about the new content, based on the regulations of degree, would have contributed to make the different skills of special education teachers visible. The purpose of this study has been to visualize the consensus about how headmasters, SENCOs and teachers look at the assignment for special education teachers with focus on language-, writing- and reading development. The opinions of the various occupational groups have then been compared with the existing regulations of degree. The study showed that their opinions mainly corresponded with the existing regulations of degree. The quantitative nature of the study is based on empirical data, collected by a survey, with 240 informants. The statements the informants had to consider was largely based on the regulations of degree. Headmasters, SENCOs and teachers show a large coherence within their own group in what they think a special education teacher´s duties should consist of. On the other hand, there is less consensus between these professions. This disagreement could possibly be influenced by different perspectives on special education.

Syftet med studien är att undersöka specialpedagogers uppfattning kring inkludering i förskolan, och vilket stöd de kan erbjuda förskolläraren. För att samla in data gjordes kvalitativa intervjuer med fyra specialpedagoger i olika kommuner. Den teorianknytning som använts för att analysera resultatet är den sociokulturella teorin, där vi tar stöd i socialt samspel, verksamhet och verktyg. Resultatet visar att specialpedagogerna kan uppfatta inkluderingsbegreppet som svårt och komplext. Trots detta så visar resultatet också att det finns en samsyn på inkludering, att alla barn ska känna tillhörighet i ett socialt sammanhang. Informanterna talar om vikten av det sociala samspelet. Vidare beskriver specialpedagogerna de olika former av stöd de kan erbjuda i verksamheten. Dessa stöd innefattar rådgivning, handledning, fortbildning, samt fysiska hjälpmedel i form av AKK (Alternativ och kompletterande kommunikation) och anpassningar av den materiella kontexten som kan underlätta arbetet med inkludering av barn i behov särskilt stöd. Just den fortbildande delen beskrev specialpedagogerna som förebyggande och denna del kan förändra arbetssituationen för specialpedagogen och sättet förskolläraren ställer sig till det inkluderande arbetet.