<p>Children with disabilities are more than ever placed in the general education class settings. While special educators are responsible for drafting and writing the IEP, General education teachers are responsible for implementing the IEP in the general education class setting. Studies show that general education teachers lack knowledge, support, and training of the IEP, which affects their attitudes toward inclusion. The purpose of this study was to identify what teachers know about the IEP and the challenges that they face with implementing them in their classrooms. In this study, data was collected from general education teacher surveys, and the results of the data were analyzed. From the data, it was determined that teachers face many challenges with the implementation of the IEP in their classes. From the data collected a handbook was created for general education teachers to utilize as a guide to overcome these challenges that they face when implementing the IEP in their classrooms was completed.<u></u><u></u></p><div><br></div>

I läroplanen för förskolan (Skolverket, 2018) står det att förskolan ska främja alla barns lärande och utveckling och de barn som tillfälligt eller varaktigt behöver stöd och stimulans har rätt till en utbildning som är anpassad och utformad så att de utvecklas så långt som möjligt. I Skollagen (SFS 2010:800 §9) står att läsa att det är rektorns ansvar att barn ges stöd men skriver inget om hur. I examensordningen finns specialpedagogens yrkesroll definierad i form av kunskaper, förmågor och förhållningssätt som utbildningen ska ge. Med anledning av detta har vi valt att studera hur några rektorer ser på specialpedagogens arbetsuppgifter samt vilka förväntningar de har på specialpedagogens yrkesroll eftersom specialpedagogens kompetens kan bidra med att skapa en inkluderande och stödjande lärandemiljö som gynnar barns utveckling och lärande. Det är en kvalitativ studie och handlar om tio rektorers beskrivningar där resultaten utvunnits ur tematisk analys på semistrukturerade intervjuer. I resultatet kan vi bland annat utläsa att rektorer anser att specialpedagogen har en viktig roll i förskolan och tycker att deras arbete är betydelsefullt då flera rektorer upplever att deras kunskap inte räcker till. Vi ser även att specialpedagogen är en viktig samtalspartner och bollplank till pedagoger i mötet med barn och vårdnadshavare i förskolans verksamhet. Rektorerna uttrycker en önskan om en verksamhetsnära specialpedagog som finns lättillgänglig men ser att det är en utmaning då denne ofta hör till flera rektorsområden. Trots det har rektorerna höga förväntningar både på specialpedagogens kunskap, arbetssätt och vad det ska ge i verksamheten. I vår analys har vi för att försökt tolka och förstå utifrån tre specialpedagogiska perspektiv, det kategoriska, relationella samt dilemmaperspektivet. Vi har även använt oss av sociokulturell teori samt systemteori.

Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur speciallärare i matematik ser på extra anpassningar och särskilt stöd i matematikundervisningen. Studien har en hermeneutisk ansats och semistrukturerade intervjuer har genomförts med fyra speciallärare i matematik verksamma på F-6 och 7-9 skolor för att få en förståelse för hur speciallärare i matematik ser på de nya direktiven i skollagen kring stödinsatser.   Som analysverktyg har gällande skollag, Lgr 11 samt Skolverkets allmänna råd använts men även olika specialpedagogiska perspektiv. Resultatet i studien visar att tre av speciallärarna i matematik ser extra anpassningar som ett enklare mellansteg mellan elevens behov och särskilt stöd men att anpassningar inte upplevs som en ny företeelse bland lärarna. Däremot är det ingen av speciallärarna i matematik som upplever att arbetet med extra anpassningar har minskat den administrativa bördan.   I resultatet framgår även att speciallärarna i matematik inte upplever någon tydlig gräns mellan extra anpassningar och särskilt stöd utan det är insatsens karaktär som är avgörande. Resultatet visar också att omfattning, varaktighet och ingripande karaktär är viktiga parametrar i definitionen av särskilt stöd. I studien kan också olika specialpedagogiska perspektiv urskiljas vars betydelse framträder i speciallärarnas beskrivningarna av konsekvenserna för såväl skolans arbete som i förhållningssättet till elever i behov av stöd.   För att de nya bestämmelserna kring stödinsatser ska få önskad effekt är det av betydelse att speciallärare i matematik har den kompetens som krävs för att bedöma och tolka extra anpassningar och särskilt stöd i syfte att kunna vägleda matematiklärare i arbetet mot att elever ska nå målen för utbildningen. / The aim of this study is to investigate special adjustments and special support in the mathematics education from a special education teacher in mathematics perspective. The study has a hermeneutical approach. Accordingly, semi-structured interviews with four special education teachers in mathematics from grade F-6 and grade 7-9 has been used to gain an understanding of how special education teachers in mathematics view the new directives in the school law regarding support measures.  The analytical tools that has been used are the Swedish School Law, the curriculum (Lgr 11) , general advice from the Ministry of Education and perspectives on special education. The result of the study shows that three of the special education teachers in mathematics see the special adjustments as a path between the students’ needs and special support but the teachers doesn´t regard it as anything new. However, none of the special education teachers in mathematics notice any decrease in administrative burden in the work of special adjustments. Also noticeable from the results, is that the special education teachers in mathematics experience make no difference between the special adjustments and special support. Rather, it was the character of the special educational support that was definitive. The result also shows that the width, length and level of involvement are important indicators when measuring special support. In the study different perspective on special education can be noticed in the special education teachers in mathematics descriptions of the consequences for both the school's work as in the approach to students in need of support. So, if the new laws regarding special educational support will have the desired effect, it is necessary that the special education teachers in mathematics have the required level of competence to interpret what special adjustments and special support is and being able to guide teacher in mathematics to be able to guide students to achive the educational goals.

Studiens syfte var att undersöka framgångsfaktorer för undervisning av elever med språkstörning i ämnet svenska och därför intervjuades fem klasslärare. För att en elev ska få möjlighet att lyckas i klassrummet behöver läraren ha kunskap om språkstörning, språkteori samt hur man utvecklar en läskompetens. Det är även bra att vara förberedd och ligga steget före för att skapa en positiv lärmiljö. Resultatet analyserades med utgångspunkt i det sociokulturella perspektivet och då framkom att ett framgångsrikt lärande ofta sker genom att man får härma, antingen genom att barnet visas en metod via scaffolding eller samspel med andra vuxna eller kamrater. Det är också betydelsefullt att alla elever får vara med i den gemensamma lärandeprocessen och att skolan har en inkluderande undervisning. När eleven sedan ska arbeta på egen hand kan dock uppgifterna vara individanpassade utifrån elevens proximala utvecklingszon. Ett sätt att få denna nödvändiga kunskap, som klasslärare, är genom specialläraren som då kan hjälpa till med reflektioner, men även för att stötta läraren praktiskt i klassrummet på olika sätt. / The aim of this study was to find out how education in the subject of Swedish for pupils with Specific Language Impairment could be successful. Five interviews were therefore conducted with class teachers. The result shows that it's very important that the theacher has knowledge about Specific Language Impairment, linguistics and how children develop basic reading skills. It's also important for the teacher to be prepared and stay ahead to create a positive learning environment. The results were analysed using a sociocultural perspective, which revealed that successful learning was likely to take place in situations where the child is given the chance to imitate; either in interaction with a teacher or classmates, or in situations where the teacher uses scaffolding and shows the pupil how something is done. It's wssential that most classroom activities are common to all, but when the child is to work on her/his own, one can use individualised tasks in the next zone of proximal development. Special education teacher could help the class teachers gain knowledge by using reflection and helping the teacher with insights/methods that could be useful in practice when teaching pupils with Specific Language Impairment.

The presence of challenging and violent behaviors that pose risks to the overall safety and the educational learning experience in the public education setting have been on the rise in recent years. Traditional reactive, coercive, and punitive measures to address these behaviors have been futile. Congress responded to the national increase in violent behaviors by implementing several acts, including zero tolerance policies, in an effort to diminish the rise in violent behaviors. Of significance to this study was the inclusion of Functional Behavior Assessment in the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in 1997. Unfortunately, FBA has the least legal grounding of all the disciplinary provisions of IDEA and has been questioned by experts in the field if sufficient empirical support exists for the generalization of the technology to all students and whether or not school personnel have the skills required to conduct FBA with integrity (Drasgow, Yell, Bradley, & Shriner 1999; Quinn, 2000; Scott et al., 2005; Skiba, 2002). The purpose of this research study was to obtain and analyze information regarding the perceptions of special education teachers in the Commonwealth of Virginia on the use of Functional Behavior Assessment with students with high incidence disabilities in public schools. A nonexperimental survey design using an online self-report survey was conducted with special education teachers in the eight superintendent regions in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The study examined the behaviors that most frequently prompt a FBA, if a relationship exists between the type and frequency of training and the perceived effectiveness of FBA, the relationship between teacher attributes of beliefs and self-efficacy and the overall perceived effectiveness of FBA, and how teachers perceive the overall FBA/BIP process in public schools. The survey was distributed electronically to special education teachers through the office of the special education director in each of the 132 school divisions in Virginia. A total of 373 special education teachers responded to the survey. Respondents perceive the extent to which FBA contributes to the effectiveness of interventions that reduce challenging behaviors of students and the effectiveness of current FBA methods in increasing positive replacement behaviors and improving learning/academic achievement in public schools moderately effective. Congruent with the literature, special education teachers reported that chronic problem behaviors and physically aggressive behaviors were most likely to prompt an FBA. Respondents indicated their knowledge base, training experiences, and background in FBA. Overall, the majority of special education teachers reported that the training that they have received in FBA was moderately to very effective. Respondents indicated that further training in all areas of FBA was needed using a dynamic team based process with post training support. The most frequently reported area of FBA that requires more training was developing function-based interventions while the least reported area of need was developing hypotheses about the functions of the behavior. Teacher beliefs and self-efficacy were examined to determine if these attributes predict a special educator’s perceived effectiveness of FBA. High levels of teacher self-efficacy were associated with increased views of perceived effectiveness of FBA in public schools. Two belief items were found to correlate with the perceived effectiveness of FBA. The results of this study have important implications for personnel development and training for future and current special educators as well as information that can be applied to the exploration of a standardized process for conducting FBA in public schools in Virginia.

Title: Role of special education teacher at higher secondary school Abstract: The diploma thesis is addressed to the role of a special education teacher at higher secondary school. The diploma thesis suggests both theoretic and practical incentives for special education consultancy and as well as the way of supporting students and teachers. The questionnaire analysis illustrates the contribution of special education teacher for the educational process at higher secondary school. Key words: higher secondary school, special education teacher, special education consultancy, supporting students and teachers

A teacher's disposition is a valued factor in special education; however, preservice teacher training in California higher education institutions does not require a focus on dispositions. The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to examine whether common dispositions were associated with retention among teachers with comparable experience and preparation in special education. The study was grounded in constructivist learning theories including experiential learning, transformational learning, reflective practice, communities of practice, and situated learning. Data collection included responses to the Teacher Dispositions Index survey from 28 teachers in the partner school district. Results of multiple regression analyses indicated that effective communication and commitment to ethical professional behavior were common dispositions among persistent special education teachers. This research study affirmed special education teacher dispositions are difficult to define and assess. Future research is recommended regarding the dispositions of effective communication, commitment to ethical professional behavior, and supplemental dispositions present in the teaching profession. The doctoral project included a professional development seminar to foster persistence among special education teachers. Results may be used to increase percentages of persistent teachers in special education programs.

L'éducation spécialisée est traversée, depuis une dizaine d'années, par de profondes mutations institutionnelles. Les éducateurs spécialisés, qui en sont des acteurs parmi d'autres, ont tendance à leur imputer les effets de la « crise identitaire » qui gagnerait leur profession. Nous démontrons, pour notre part, que celle-ci est surtout la résurgence d'une disjonction originelle entre leur identité pour soi et leur identité pour autrui. Plus qu'une déprofessionnalisation, nous soutenons la thèse selon laquelle les éducateurs spécialisés, sous l'effet des changements à l'œuvre, sont confrontés aux limites de leur professionnalisation historiquement inachevée. Nous montrons ainsi que nos enquêtés jouent de leur autonomie, se saisissant des opportunités offertes par ces mutations institutionnelles, pour réduire les brouillages originels de leur identité sociale et professionnelle. Il reste que l'enjeu identitaire n'est pas un objet de négociation ordinaire puisqu'il engage des conceptions professionnelles, la perception de son utilité sociale et, plus fondamentalement encore, l'image de soi. Présentant les caractéristiques majeures de l'éducation spécialisée et des mutations systémiques en cours, nous exposons, dans notre première partie, les fondements de notre problématique de recherche. Dans la seconde, nous dévoilons les dynamiques de négociation institutionnelles et organisationnelles dans lesquelles sont engagés nos interviewés au sein de leurs établissements ou services. Enfin, dans notre troisième partie, nous démontrons que les dynamiques identitaires de nos enquêtés participent de la recomposition des pratiques et de la profession d'éducateur spécialisé elle-même. / In the last ten years, the field of special education has undergone profound institutional changes. The special education teachers, who are among the actors of this field, would tend to attribute the effects of the « identity crisis » that could be encroaching on their profession to these changes. We shall demonstrate that this crisis is essentially the re-emergence of what is first a disjunction between their personal identity and their virtual identity. In our thesis, we shall defend the idea that, rather than a de-professionalization, special education teachers, under the influence of on-going changes, are confronted with the limitations of their historically incomplete professionalization. We shall thus show that our interviewees use their personal autonomy to seize opportunities proffered by these institutional changes, to reduce the gap between their personal and virtual identity. Nevertheless, identity is not a matter of ordinary negotiation as it involves professional conceptions, perception of one's social utility, and even more fundamentally, one's self-image. With an introduction to the main features of the field of special education and the on-going system changes, we shall outline the basis of our research analysis in the first part. In the second part, we shall reveal the dynamics of institutional and organisational negotiation that our interviewees are involved in, in their respective institutions or service centres. Finally in our third part, we shall show that the identity-based dynamics of our interviewees play a role in reconstructing practices and the job of special education teacher itself.

Background: The school's mission is to promote the development and learning of all students and that special consideration should be given to those who have difficulty achieving the purpose of the studies. One way to find ways to support all learning is through conversations with special education teachers. According to the degree ordinance, the special education teacher with a specialization in language reading and writing development must be a qualified conversation partner regarding the same. My problem area is about the special education teacher's role as a qualified conversation partner and counsellor in matters of language, reading and writing development. The purpose of this work is to contribute knowledge about how some teachers, principals and special education teachers describe the special teacher's relational competence in the role of qualified conversation partner and advisor in matters of language, reading and writing development. Method in the study is semi-structured interviews of six respondents. Two special education teachers, two teachers and two principals. The interview results have been analyzed on the basis of Aspelin's (2018) analytics relational competence and on the basis of KoRP, the communicative relational perspective (Ahlberg, 1999). The results show that all respondents give examples of relational competence in the special education teachers. It also emerges that the special education teacher, in consultative conversations, is perceived as clear and structured. Half of the respondents feel that the conversations are important for the teaching of Swedish, and one of them states that he always makes changes in his teaching after the conversations. Conclusions: Both special teachers want to see more profound changes in the classroom after conversations. I see it as important that the special education teacher, with the support of the school management, is given the opportunity to develop their conversational role together with colleagues in continuing education. In different ways, the special education teacher's conversational role, for example through observations of classroom work and subsequent conversations, needs to be developed. The special education teacher’s importance as a conversation partner for language writing and reading development in school should be clarified and worked into the daily work at school. / Bakgrunden: Skolans uppdrag är att främja alla elevers utveckling och lärande och att särskild hänsyn ska tas till de som har svårt att nå målen. Ett sätt att utveckla former för att stödja alla elevers lärande är genom samtal med speciallärare. Enligt examensordningen ska specialläraren med inriktning mot språk- skriv-och läsutveckling vara en kvalificerad samtalspartner och rådgivare gällande detsamma. Mitt problemområde handlar om innebörden av speciallärarens roll som kvalificerad samtalspartner och rådgivare inom språk- skriv och läsutveckling. Syftet med detta arbete är att bidra med kunskap om hur några lärare, rektorer och speciallärare beskriver speciallärarens relationskompetens i rollen som kvalificerad samtalspartner och rådgivare i frågor om språk- skriv- och läsutveckling. Metod i studien är semistrukturerade intervjuer av sex respondenter. Två speciallärare, två lärare samt två rektorer. Intervjusvaren har analyserats utifrån Aspelins (2018) analysverktyg relationskompetens samt utifrån KoRP, det kommunikativa relationsinriktade perspektivet (Ahlberg, 1999). Resultaten visar att alla respondenter ger exempel på relationskompetens hos speciallärarna. Det framkommer även att specialläraren, i rådgivande samtal, upplevs som tydlig och strukturerad. Hälften av respondenterna upplever att samtalen har betydelse för undervisningen i svenska, och av dem är det en som uppger att han alltid gör förändringar i sin undervisning efter samtalen.Slutsatser: Båda speciallärarna önskar se mer djupgående förändringar i klassrummet efter samtal. Att specialläraren, med skolledningens stöd, får möjlighet att utveckla sin samtalsroll tillsammans med kollegor i fortbildningar ser jag som viktigt. På olika sätt behöver speciallärarens samtalsroll, t ex genom observationer av klassrumsarbete och därpå följande samtal utvecklas. Speciallärarens betydelse som samtalspartner för språk- skriv - och läsutveckling i skolan bör tydliggöras och arbetas in i det dagliga arbetet på skolan.

Syftet med detta arbete är att bidra med kunskap kring framgångsfaktorer samt utvecklingsområden gällande övergången mellan årskurs 3 och 4 för elever i språklig sårbarhet. Bakgrunden till studien är min egen erfarenhet kring den utmaning som elever i någon form av språklig sårbarhet hamnar i under denna övergång. Studien genomfördes genom en nätbaserad kvalitativ och kvantitativ enkätundersökning riktad till verksamma speciallärare/specialpedagoger i årkurs 3 och 4. I studien valdes kommunala grundskolor F-6 i södra Sverige slumpmässigt ut.De teoretiska perspektiven som denna studie vilar på är det sociokulturella perspektivet, det relationella perspektivet samt ramfaktorteorin. Resultatet i min studie visar att det finns ett flertal framgångsfaktorer vid övergången mellan årskurs 3 och 4. Det som bland annat framkommer är att specialläraren/specialpedagogen och mentorn/klassläraren deltar vid övergången vilket bidrar till att eleverna ges en kontinuitet i till exempel fungerande arbetssätt, bemötande och extra anpassningar. Studien visar även att det finns en tydlig ansvarsfördelning samt vilken information som ska föras över i övergången, vilket bidrar till att den språkliga sårbarheten för eleverna minskar. Resultatet visar även på en god övergångskompetens i övergången beroende på kommunikation och samverkan mellan de som deltar i övergången. Studien ämnade även att undersöka elevers delaktighet vid övergången. Resultatet visade att elevers delaktighet är mycket begränsad. En specialpedagogisk implikation blir därför att öka elevernas möjligheter till delaktighet då denna är viktig för att främja deras kunskapande och måluppfyllelse. / The aim of this study is to contribute with knowledge about success factors and areas of development concerning the transition between year 3 and 4 for pupils in language vulnerability.The background of the study is my own experience of the challenges that pupils in any form of language vulnerability are being exposed to during this transition. The study was carried out through an internet based qualitative and quantitative survey aimed for practising special education teachers in year 3 and 4. In the study public schools from preschool class to year 6 in the south of Sweden were chosen randomly.The theoretical perspectives in the study are based on the sociocultural perspective, the relational perspective and the framefactor theory. The result in my study shows that there are a number of success factors during the transition between year 3 and 4. What is shown is for example that the special education teacher and the class teacher take part in the transitions which contributes to giving the pupils a continuity in form of for example successful ways of working, treatment and extra adaptation. The study shows that there is an explicit allocation of responsibility and which information is supposed to be conducted during the transition which makes the language vulnerability lessen för the pupils. The result also shows a good transition competence during the transition due to communication and interaction between those who take part in the transition. The study also aimed to investigate the participation of pupils during the transition. The result shows that the participation of pupils is very limited. An implication for special education is therefore to increase the possibility for pupil participation since this is important in order to support their knowledgeability and attainment.