Bible Theory or Biblical Living: What are Christian Schools Providing for Families with Children with Special Needs?

Private Christian elementary and secondary schools, along with Bible training and Bible exercises, have been a part of the United States and international community since the 1800s. This article examines these questions: (1) What Biblically-based principles are in evidence in Christian schools’ treatment of children with special needs; and (2) how do Christian schools work with the parents of these children. Results from the Christian schools that participated in this study indicate although that they were attending to their children with special needs, these schools may actually be missing many more students who are in need of services. This is a reprint of a piece originally published in Volume 5 issue 1 (2010) of the ICCTEJ

Bible Theory or Biblical Living: What are Christian Schools Providing for Families With Children With Special Needs?

Private Christian elementary and secondary schools, along with Bible training and Bible exercises, have been a part of the United States and international community since the 1800s. This article examines these questions: (1) What Biblically-based principles are in evidence in Christian schools’ treatment of children with special needs; and (2) how do Christian schools work with the parents of these children. Results from the Christian schools that participated in this study indicate although that they were attending to their children with special needs, these schools may actually be missing many more students who are in need of services

“You Want Me To Do What?” The Benefits of Co-teaching in the Middle Level

Exemplary middle schools use interdisciplinary teaming which often involves some level of co-planning, co-teaching, and co-assessing. In addition to this collaborative foundation, federal mandates for supporting students have led to frequent co-teaching between special educators, bilingual/bicultural specialists, and regular classroom teachers. Given that middle level educational frameworks, current inclusion practices, and demands for differentiation are all dependent upon teachers working together, increasing the presence of co-teaching within middle level teacher education program is both pragmatically sound and connected to foundational theories of middle level education. Middle school teachers and university faculty members who engage in co-teaching with teacher candidates can provide candidates with practical experiences tied closely to the work that will be expected of them as public school teachers. Early exposure to co-teaching models can better equip our students for their future work in today’s schools. This study highlights the benefits possible from the implementation of a co-teaching model within a middle level education program. Benefits of co-teaching for middle level teacher candidates, classroom teachers, and university faculty are included. The results of this study may provide a unique framework of co-teaching which enhances interactions among educational constituents for improved teacher preparation, professional development for practicing teachers, and improved instruction for middle grades students

Improving Professional Relationships in the Classroom: Teachers and Interpreters Working Together

Interpreters placed in mainstream settings are not just there to provide access to communication between the hearing counterparts and the deaf students. They are there as “integral members of the team” (Ohtake, Milagros, & Fowler, 2000, p. 16) and should be recognized as equals with the teacher in the classroom (Boys Town, n.d.). This research investigates professional relationships and how they can be established and maintained, the types of relationships mainstream teachers and educational interpreters have within Clark County, and how working together can result in educational benefits for everyone in the classroom. Interpreters are a member of the educational team and should be utilized to help support education (Ministry of Education, 1994). They have first-hand interactions with the client which enables them to know and understand the client(s) thoroughly. According to Siple (1994), interpreters listen to the lesson at hand and breakdown the message’s meaning to match the student’s language level and learning style so that they may comprehend the lesson. Interpreters are there to pass the teacher’s message to the deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) students. They are the first to recognize whether that message was understood, if interpreter expansion is needed, or if teacher clarification is needed to ensure comprehension. Responses from teachers and interpreters gathered from the online survey, as well as previous findings, will be examined to see how they work together as an effective team and how their united efforts could impact students’ education. The techniques that teachers and interpreters indicated enabled them to successfully establish and maintain professional relationships with each other, how they clearly defined their roles, and the educational impact their teamwork had will be explored

Teaming Up For Advocacy: How To Effectively Use A Collaborative To Drive Change

This guide captures the wisdom of philanthropic leaders who have participated in multi-party advocacy collaboratives. It synthesizes information to dig deeper and understand the pain points and levers of success tied to funding advocacy and donor collaboratives. Examples have been anonymized to ensure candor and clarity, as well as to broaden the appeal and applicability of wisdom derived from a specific collaborative example. Each bite-sized chapter is intended to make this work easy to reference and share, and to read as a full body of work or in pieces as is helpful and relevant to your work

Parents’ perceptions of school multidisciplinary team meetings and collaboration

Multidisciplinary teams in schools often include both school-based staff and parents. Legislation requires schools to make decisions regarding educational planning and special education that include parents. Parent involvement in education has a positive impact on student achievement. Fostering parent involvement through collaborative teaming is critical in creating effective home-school relationships. This study explored a qualitative look at the perceptions of participants’ experiences during meetings. Individual parent interviews were conducted after parents participated in a school-based team meeting (either a Student Based Referral Team meeting or an eligibility team meeting). Interview questions included questions regarding meeting context and organization, relationship factors, communication factors, problem-solving factors, and parent emotional factors. Results indicate parents report positive experiences with multidisciplinary teams, though there are many parental emotional factors that that can contribute to the effectiveness of multidisciplinary teams