A Commitment to Change: One District’s Journey Toward Inclusion

Introduction by: Ellen Contopidis, PhD Associate Professor, Nazareth College As a teacher educator preparing future inclusive educators, I often find myself responding to my students’ experiences with inclusion as “bad examples of a good idea.” The common element of these bad examples is that they are often the description of a place, a classroom, a service, a teacher or a child. Never do these bad examples reflect a philosophy or a culture within a system. Dr. Harold Leve’s leadership of transforming his school to an inclusive instructional environment is founded in a strong vision of social justice. The tools of collaboration, coteaching, consultant models, common planning and quality professional development were all used along the journey. Yet, tools they were and would have been ineffective if not grounded in a vision that allowed a transformation to a “mindset of a more inclusive philosophy.” Hildenbrand and Leve are very pragmatic in their description of the journey. They provide specific details that can be replicated or morphed to be used in other school systems. They also clearly demonstrate that leadership is key to transforming a school’s culture. Active leadership is an important catalyst for system change

Learning Our Way Through: Collaborative Self-study in an Evolving Professional Development School (PDS) Partnership

Purpose of study: Professional development schools (PDSs) are essentially learning communities in which all participants increase their knowledge about how teaching and learning works and how best to manage the collaborative enterprise (Goodman, 2002; Horn, 2007; Mantle- Bromley, 2002; Patrizio & Gadja, 2007; Sue, 2002). The National Council for the Accreditation of Teachers (NCATE, 2010), identified PDS as an avenue through which aspiring teachers can be provided the opportunity to integrate theory with practice. In addition, PDS partnerships serve as a vehicle for the professionalization of teachers and systematic examination and evaluation of practice. However, according to the National Association of Professional Development Schools (NAPDS, 2008), many colleges and universities who participate in PDS partnerships do not fully understand the true meaning of PDS. This creates a void between the concept of PDS as originally proposed (Holmes Group, 1990), and the reality of the PDS as it operates in many of the partnerships (Webb-Dempsey, Steel, Shambaugh and Dampsey, 2007). In addition, while interorganizational collaboration is a PDS imperative, it remains complex, multilayered and labor-intensive for both school and university faculty (Patrizio & Gadja, 2007; Rice & Afman, 2002; Su, 2002). This situation calls for a clear understanding of the concept of PDS as well as frequent and systematic review of the goals and objectives of PDS partnerships. The purpose of this study was to better understand one teaching college\u27s collaborative relationship with the partner schools. The study is guided by the following questions. What was the nature of the collaboration between a teaching college and five urban-based PDSs? What were the individual and collective experiences of the faculty as well as other stakeholders in the collaboration? What factors, if any, impacted the collaboration

Implementing Service Learning in Pre-service Teacher Coursework

Service learning remains a topic of interest in higher education. It has become more prevalent in teacher preparation programs with the intent of providing the opportunity for pre-service teachers to become engaged with individuals who have different life experiences than their own. Lessons can be learned through a review of the literature and the examination of existing models of service learning, including an honest discussion of the advantages and potential barriers for all stakeholders

The Hows and Whys of Service Learning in Pre-Service Teaching Coursework

This session provides ethnographic research about integrating service learning into coursework. Through service learning, teacher candidates learn to advocate for students, families and the communities they serve. Pre-service teachers gained authentic knowledge while broadening cultural views

Designing effective experiences for preservice inclusion teachers for co-teaching: An action research study

The passage of current educational legislation such as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the more recent No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act has increased the desire for greater inclusion of students with disabilities in regular classrooms. Serving the need of all students in inclusive classrooms presents great challenges to educators. Related literature suggests that one way to overcome this inclusion challenge involves having two teachers (a general educator and a special educator) co-teach in inclusive classrooms; however, research also suggests that many teachers do not feel prepared to co-teach effectively. More specifically, the literature reveals that preservice teachers rarely practice co-teaching as part of their student teaching experience - something that is arguably an important component of teacher preparation. Employing action research as a methodology, this study was completed to explore how to best include a co-teaching student teaching placement experience in an inclusion elementary teacher preparation program, in order to better prepare inclusion pre-service teachers for co-teaching. The project included an intervention that provided both a solo and co-teaching student teaching placement for each of the eight participants. Another part of this project involved designing sections of the accompanying student teaching seminar in order to specifically address issues related to co-teaching. Data from these experiences were collected and analyzed to learn more about the benefits and limitations of these interventions. The following research questions guided this study: (1) What are the needs and concerns of student teachers as they co-teach in an inclusive placement? (2) What strategies help student teachers be more successful and comfortable in an inclusive, co-teaching placement? (3) What support can accompanying seminars offer to support student teachers in an inclusive, co-teaching placement? (4) How does the experience of co-teaching with another student teacher compare with the experience of student teaching in a solo placement? 7 complementary data sources were used in the study: a preliminary assignment done through email; audiotapes of the six seminar sessions; bi-weekly reflective journals done by the participants; field notes of classroom observations; a final summary reflective journal completed by each participant via email; a summary open-ended questionnaire for the supervising teachers in the co-teaching placements sent through email; and a researcher's joual. Qualitative analysis was used to analyze the data with the goal of revealing emergent themes that directly address the four research questions. Lave and Wenger's Situated Learning Theory and Mezirow's Transformative Learning Theory provided the theories that frame the study. The participants were active participants and gave input around the formation of discussion topics and seminar activities that supported them through the co-teaching placement

Looking back as we look forward: Using backward design to create inclusive teacher education program

The faculty of a newly formed Inclusive Education Department details the process of creating an innovative curriculum revision using backward design. This philosophical shift in programs presented problems to solve as well as extraordinary possibilities for inclusive programs based on research-based best practices, rigorous national and state standards, and collaboration

Looking back as we look forward: Using backward design to create inclusive teacher education program

The faculty of a newly formed Inclusive Education Department details the process of creating an innovative curriculum revision using backward design. This philosophical shift in programs presented problems to solve as well as extraordinary possibilities for inclusive programs based on research-based best practices, rigorous national and state standards, and collaboration

Student Teachers’ Management Practices in Elementary Classrooms: A Qualitative Study

This qualitative study of four student teachers completing certification in elementary and special education investigated the classroom management practices of the student teachers. This is an important area of study because management practices are essential for an effective classroom, and student teachers often lack confidence and skill in the area of management. Data was collected through a survey, observations, audio transcripts of seminar meetings, and written reflections. Findings revealed that three of four student teachers struggled with implementing positive classroom management strategies and had difficulty establishing a strong teacher identity. As a result, those three did not challenge school-based educator (SBE) management practices even when they disagreed with their SBE. One student teacher had a strong teacher identity and navigated trying new strategies. Findings establish that the praxis of student teaching, including managing relationships with SBEs, may inhibit many student teachers’ decision-making. Factors that affected teacher identity development included classroom climate and the relationships between student teachers and SBEs. Implications from this study: creating communities of practice in student teaching to support teacher identity development; recognizing that student teachers may not have fully developed teacher identities and therefore may not be ready to question SBE practices and decisions