Building Teacher Differentiation Self-Efficacy in the Classroom

The practice of inclusion has allowed more students with disabilities to participate with their peers in general education classrooms than ever before. However, research findings show that in many cases, educators have low self-efficacy when it comes to their ability to serve students with disabilities within their classrooms. Studies have documented a need for professional development to target inclusion and accommodations, showing that increased training increases teacher self-efficacy in implementing students supports. With this research in mind, a school improvement plan was developed that focuses on a professional development series to increase educator self-efficacy in implementing accommodations frequently included in the IEPs of students at the targeted campus. This school improvement plan provides a framework for gaining educator feedback on the most frequent accommodations in their building, creating, and executing professional development to target accommodations that have low self-efficacy within the building, and monitoring efficacy growth among staff

The Telecommunications Act of 1996

The author discusses the primary motivating factors behind the 1996 Telecommunications Act, examines how these factors influenced the final law, and critiques the Act by examining whether it is likely to advance public interest goals. Congress designed the Act to address two problems: technological convergence and legal balkanization. The Act attempts to remedy these problems by: (1) tearing down entry barriers so that legal balkanization no longer stands in the path of technological convergence; (2) changing the mandate of the FCC from deciding who should enter the market to monitoring the conditions under which entry takes place in order to control predators; and (3) protecting the most vulnerable from harmful competition. To the extent that the Act destroys entry barriers, it will be deemed a success while, to the extent that it creates or strengthens entry barriers, it will be deemed as failing