Publishing Successful Practitioner (Teaching Techniques) Manuscripts for the Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

The Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities (JSESD)d is the premier journal focusing on the intersections of science education for students with disabilities. JSESD provides valuable content and context for teachers and researchers on what works in advancing science access, practices, and knowledge for all students across settings, grades, ages, and exceptionality. One way in which JSESD supports teachers and researchers is through publication of practitioner manuscripts also referred to as Teaching Techniques. These manuscripts focus on the how-to portion of science education. That is, JSESD practitioner publications give detailed information on how-to provide science instruction or how-to implement instructional strategies or supports, hence Teaching Techniques. The purpose of this paper is the provide guidance to authors on what to include (or not include) in Teaching Techniques practitioner manuscript submissions to JSESD for successful publication

Stemming on STEM: A STEM Education Framework for Students with Disabilities

There has been increased attention paid to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics also known as STEM. The focus on STEM has been both educational and occupational. Unfortunately, students with disabilities perform below their peers without disabilities in math and science. The authors discuss issues related to STEM and students with disabilities. These issues include (1) traditional views of STEM education, (2) the importance of STEM education, and (3) students with disabilities performance in STEM. The authors posit a framework for STEM education for students with disabilities and promote the incorporation of the arts to increase students’ STEM knowledge and achievement

Leading through Following: Understanding the Intersection of Followership, Leadership and Collaboration

There is a popular saying around education that, a bad principal can convince a teacher to leave a good school; while a good principal can convince a teacher to stay at a bad school. In a blog post titled Teachers Quit Principals, Not Schools, Barnes (2017) writes about teacher and administrator interactions and how those relationships effect personal decision-making and school climate. Both the popular educational saying and Barnes\u27s writing, while not directly, speak to the relationship between leaders and followers and how that dynamic sometimes plays out in educational settings. Broadly speaking, the dynamic between leadership and followership is important, yet historically in education, only leadership has seen emphasis and examination

Effects of Inquiry-Based Instruction on Science Achievement for Students with Disabilities: An Analysis of the Literature

In comparison to the past, more students with disabilities are being included in the general education classroom for science instruction. Though inquiry-based instruction has not shown to be an effective practice for students with disabilities, it is vastly becoming the dominant practice in science education. The purpose of this review is to examine the effects of inquiry-based instruction on science achievement for students with disabilities. The twelve studies, meeting selection criteria, report improvement in science achievement using inquiry practices. The participants and settings, variations of inquiry-based instruction, science achievement measures, and teacher training were addressed in this review. Two major contributions have resulted from analyzing the twelve studies. First, students with disabilities require supports to participate in an inquiry-based lesson and demonstrate progress on science achievement measures. Second, science achievement improves when components of explicit instruction are utilized in both the general and special education setting for students with disabilities

Effects of Teacher Praise on Attending Behaviors and Academic Achievement of Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disabilities

Students with emotional and behavioral disorders exhibit high levels of inappropriate behaviors. As a consequence, engagement in class as well as academic progress suffers. A review of the literature was conducted to examine the effects of teacher praise on attending behaviors and academic achievement of students with emotional disabilities. Results of ten studies meeting inclusion criteria were analyzed. Findings suggest teacher praise positively affected attending behaviors with increases in on-task behaviors and decreases in disruptive behaviors. A relationship between teacher praise and academic achievement could not be established due to confounding variables; however, a relationship between teacher praise and student age emerged. Teacher praise affected attending behaviors of younger participants more than older participants. Limitations, teaching implications and future research are discussed

Using Argument-based Science Inquiry to Improve Science Achievement for Students with Disabilities in Inclusive Classrooms

Students with disabilities have long lagged behind their non-disabled peers when it comes to science achievement. The increased emphasis on STEM related careers and the use of science in everyday life makes learning science content and concepts critical for all students especially for those with disabilities. As suggested by the National Resource Council (2012), more emphasis is being placed on being able to critically think about science concepts in and outside of the classroom. Additionally, the Next Generation Science Standards are asking teachers and students to better understand how science is connected to the everyday world through the use of inquiry-based methods. The manuscript focuses on the use of an structured argument-based inquiry approach to science instruction called the Science Writing Heuristic (SWH). The SWH approach has shown some initial success in improving science achievement for students with disabilities. The current study compares treatment and comparison groups of students with disabilities in the area of science achievement. Treatment group students were taught using the SWH approach, while the comparison groups were taught using traditional science teaching. The authors found that students in the SWH groups scored significantly better than the comparison groups on post-test science achievement scores. The authors also found stronger effect size results for SWH groups as well. Implications for teaching science to students with disabilities are discussed

Culturally Sustaining Math Word Problem Instruction with Hip-Hop Story Schemas

On August 11, 2023, Hip-Hop celebrated its 50th anniversary. In honor of this milestone, we share an activity that is designed to harness the power and art of Hip-Hop to support learning in mathematics for students with and without exceptionalities. Using a vignette, we examine why culturally sustaining practices are pivotal to learning and how teachers can collaborate with middle-school students to strengthen an evidence-based practice such as schema-based instruction by honoring the funds of knowledge that students possess. The activity includes (a) the creation of culturally relevant word problems in mathematics, (b) schema-based instruction for solving additive-type word problems, and (c) the development of Hip-Hop rhymes to communicate problem-solving math schemas. Schema-based instruction supports students’ mathematical reasoning and word-problem solving by teaching students to identify underlying problem structures and reasons for addition/subtraction or multiplication/division and is an evidence-based practice for supporting word problem solving skills for students with exceptionalities. Herein we provide a practitioner-ready guide for implementing these activities so that educators may replicate or adapt them to meet their students’ needs. Although we focus on schema-based instruction, the Hip-Hop pedagogical tools shared could be applied to enhance instruction in other academic areas

A Synthesis of the Daily Behavior Report Card Literature from 2007 to 2017

Daily behavior report cards (DBRCs) have shown to be effective in addressing academic and behavioral challenges for a variety of students in past literature. The purpose of this literature review and analysis is to update and summarize findings on the use of DBRCs on academic and social behavior for students considered to have disruptive behaviors or identified with disabilities. We identified eleven studies in the literature examining DBRCs with 390 participants with attention‐deficit hyperactivity disorder, specific learning disabilities, emotional behavioral disorders, speech and language, multiple disabilities, other health impairments, or considered to have disruptive behavior in Pre‐K through sixth grade academic settings. We also calculated effect sizes overall for each study and student‐based characteristics. Findings suggest that using DBRCs have a range from weak to strong impact on the academic and social behaviors of students considered to have disruptive behaviors or students with disabilities in classroom settings. We present implications for research and practice

Promoting Anti-Racism Practices and the Cycle of Critical Consciousness within Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports Frameworks

Note this manuscript has supplementary files that will only be available online and does not need to be included in the printed version. text for online abstract: The interpretation of behavior of from marginalized backgrounds is susceptible to prejudice, bias, and racist ideology. This is especially true when evaluations include subjective assessment of perceived challenging behaviors which has historically led to overrepresentation of student from marginalized backgrounds at-risk of or with an emotional disturbance. While Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports (PBIS) frameworks are increasingly used in schools to support students behaviorally and decrease the need for special education services, students of color continue to be overrepresented as needing supports within these frameworks. One possible cause for this overrepresentation is implicit bias in evaluation and intervention of behavior for marginalized students. In an effort to increase the cultural responsiveness of PBIS frameworks, we describe the incorporation of anti-racist actions and the concept of critical consciousness in evaluating student behavior