University of Macau / Faculty of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Science in Information Technology in Education

Syftet med denna studie är att få kunskap om speciallärares erfarenheter av språkutvecklande arbete i skolan, med fokus på återkoppling till elever när datorn som skrivverktyg används. Studien baseras på en intervjuundersökning av tio speciallärare. Det är en sociokulturell ansats som har använts vid analys- och tolkningsarbetets genomförande. Resultatet av studien visar att elevers delaktighet i ett språkutvecklande sammanhang hade betydelse när återkoppling gavs. Det är i samspel och i dialog mellan lärare och elev som möjligheter och villkor för barns delaktighet har synliggjorts. Det är när återkopplingen har skett direkt, i processen, som det har funnits förutsättningar att möta elevers olika behov och möjliggöra lärande. Det är då som eleverna har fått vägledning om hur de kan ta sig vidare för att närma sig målen. När återkopplingen gavs mot ett färdigt resultat blev återkopplingen fördröjd och ledde bort från lärandeprocessen. Då synliggjordes svårigheter att möta elevers individuella behov. Den praktiska datorkompetensen hos lärarna har i studien visat sig ha betydelse för elevers möjligheter att närma sig sina lärandemål. / The aim of this study is to gain knowledge of special education teachers´ experiences from language development in schools, with focus on feedback to pupils when the computers is used as a writing tool. The study is based on interviews with ten special education teachers. A socio-cultural model was used during the interpretation and analysing phase. It is through interaction and dialogue between teacher and pupil, that possibilities and terms for the pupil´s participation has been made visible. It is when the instant feedback given during the process, that you can find the possibilities to meet with the needs of that particular pupil to enable learning. That is when the pupils has been given guidance how to further approach his or her goals. If feedback is only provided later and is more goal-oriented, the learning process is delayed, with greater difficulties to meet with the pupil´s particular needs. The study also shows that the practical competence in computer usage among the special education teachers is important for pupils´ possibilities of reaching their goals.

Co-teaching has been, and continues to be, a growing trend in American schools since the late 1990s. As the popularity of this service delivery model increases, there is an imperative need for empirical research focusing on how co-teaching affects academic outcomes of students who receive special education services. Evidence regarding the academic outcomes of co-teaching is limited, and reports mixed results. The purpose of this study is to provide a synthesis of research examining academic outcomes of co-teaching on students who receive special education services. Quantitative information from each research report was coded, an overall effect size was computed, and a moderator analysis was conducted. Results suggest a significant effect (g = .281, k = 32, p < .05) of co-teaching on the academic outcomes of students with disabilities when compared to students with disabilities who did not receive instruction in co-taught settings; though a larger effect was found among dissertation reports (g = .439, k = 25, p < .001). Additionally, a significant effect was found when examining the academic outcomes of students in co-teaching compared to the academic outcomes of students in a resource classroom setting (g = .435, k = 27, p < .001. Lastly, effects were stronger the longer these students were in co-teaching environments. Implications of findings and recommendations for further research are discussed.

The Common Core State Standards are a set of challenging learning goals in English language arts/literacy and math and their use in special education has been a controversial topic. On the one hand, many special education advocates have been pleased that the standards were written for all students, including students with disabilities. On the other hand, many special education teachers have been concerned that an overemphasis on the Common Core State Standards is limiting their students’ access to the full benefits of an Individualized Education Program, which is the central component of special education that makes it so special. Recent research conducted on teachers across the United States has shown that, overall, they believe that the Common Core State Standards are beneficial for students. However, there is a gap in the research documenting the specific views of special education teachers. It is important to understand their experiences because they have the unique task of balancing the general education curriculum with individualized instruction that may include skills not covered by the Common Core. This study aims to address this gap by answering several key questions about the experiences of special education teachers who use the Common Core State Standards with students with disabilities. A total of 476 special education teachers from across the United States were surveyed. This study found that they have a moderately strong understanding of the standards and they frequently used them to guide their teaching. The results of this study showed that while the majority of these teachers echoed the general belief that the Common Core State Standards are beneficial for students without disabilities, they did not believe that they are beneficial for students with disabilities. Strikingly, 86.9% did not believe that the standards provide adequate information about their application to students with disabilities. Of concern, 70.9% reported that, when using these standards, they are unable to address their students’ individualized goals—especially in the areas of social and functional skills. Moreover, when asked if they believed that the Common Core State Standards would help their students to be prepared for independent life, 79.1% said “no.” These results yield important information regarding current practice using the Common Core State Standards in special education and suggest important implications for teacher training courses related to the Common Core State Standards and students with disabilities as well as how the Common Core State Standards document and guidance materials may be revised to better meet the needs of students with disabilities.

Disproportionality in special education has been examined from various perspectives over a 50-year period. English Language Learner (ELL) students have been included in the discussion among researchers in the past two decades as a disproportionate number of ELL students are referred to special education. Though the problem of disproportionality has been acknowledged, documented and discussed over a period of decades, there is a lack of research from the voices of special educators. The purpose of this study was to describe special education teachers' experiences teaching students currently or previously enrolled in an English language learner program who are receiving special education services. This study explored teachers' views of what supports, resources and strategies contribute to student success and their views of the eligibility determination and referral process. In order to address this gap in the literature, an exploratory descriptive qualitative study was conducted by interviewing special educators. The results indicate the participants lacked support in all areas examined including professional development, resources, instructional strategies and the referral and assessment process. This study indicates structural inequity, a systematic bias in the form of a patterned and differential distribution of resources, contributing to limited opportunities for students who are English language learners who are receiving special education. Implications of the study to address structural inequity include the use of culturally responsive pre-referral strategies and knowledge of the acculturation process when considering the needs of an ELL student who is struggling academically and incorporating culturally responsive teaching methods in both general and special education.

The aim of this paper is to shed some light on to what extent the process of making reality of Inclusion, as stated in International Declarations and in Government policies, has reached the actual educational activities in the school system. My chosen method is a case study, in which I have combined a survey with interviews in order to retrieve enough data for my analysis. I have also studied a number of policy documents and relevant literature. My analysis concludes, for the school that I have chosen to study, that there is still a lot to be done before inclusion becomes a reality. There are many obstacles to overcome, for instance; a constant struggle to obtain enough resources and to reach relevant levels of competence within the personnel. My study indicates that the current municipality states educational policies, regarding inclusion, that rest on the principal that there will be additional resources available in the classroom. However there is little chance that the school will have the means to apply such extra resources without additional financial and educational support from the municipality. Another worrying fact that appears through my study is that the system for student admission, as stated by the munici­pality, lets new pupils, often with special educational needs, continuously and directly in to the school. This system makes it difficult for the school management to produce endurable plans and achieve a balance in resources that align with the given financial frame. The study also shows the importance of how the interpretation of the concept of inclusion is being made. In the case of the studied school the interpretation has lead to a massive workload on the regular classroom teachers, who have been given an extensive responsibility for the teaching and documentation of every student. This responsibility does not match the capability, which has lead to the up building of an extensive non-inclusive activity, just to be able to keep up and to be able to “survive”.

Within special education, there is a big dilemma where some mean that school should include all pupils in the same school class, regardless of the students' needs for assistance, while others believe that students with special needs to be placed in small adapted groups where students have similar needs is to exclude pupils. While others argue that the inclusion can sometimes lead to exclusion. The aim is to investigate what meaning teachers and special education teachers gives the concept of inclusion in school and what consequences it entails in teaching. This study is based on a number of qualitative interviews of teachers and specialist teachers to obtain answer of the following questions. Has the concept of inclusion and integration the same significance and meaning according to those asked teachers, special educators and special educators? Which students should be included, according to those asked teachers, special teachers and special teachers? What is required to work from an inclusive perspective, according to the asked teachers, special teachers and special teachers? Perceive the asked teacher, special educators and special teachers some disadvantages of inclusion? Which students receive special education instruction in the schools were asked? Do the asked teacher, special educators and special teachers think that there is a school for all? The results of this study is that teachers and special instructors have difficulty indistinguishing the concepts and that they puts the same emphasis on inclusion as the integration, the students must adapt to school and not vice versa. The teachers believe that schools today do not possess the skills and resources needed to meet students' needs. The results show that inclusion can have an opposite effect in the daily activities of the school.