Preparing Teachers to Educate Children with Disabilities in Inclusive Settings

1
Preparing Teachers to Educate Children with
Disabilities in Inclusive Settings

• Teacher Centered Modules Developed by the
  Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. Foundation
• April, 22, 2004
• The World Bank

2
The Foundations Mission

• Improve the lives of individuals who
  have intellectual disabilities through
• Identifying ways to prevent intellectual
  disabilities
• Providing funding for projects that will
  demonstrate new approaches
• Influencing public policy and public awareness

3
The Foundations Philosophy

• Persons with intellectual disabilities have the
  ability to live, learn, work, recreate and
  worship like everyone else. We recognize that
  people will intellectual disabilities may need
  assistance to do these things.
• We believe that families of people with
  intellectual disabilities, especially families of
  children with intellectual disabilities, benefit
  from support and information to successfully
  include their family member with intellectual
  disabilities in everyday community activities.

4
The Foundations History

• Over the course of its 48 year history, the
  Foundation has
• Established research, training and clinical
  facilities for the diagnosis and treatment of
  intellectual disabilities in universities
  nationwide
• Created the Special Olympics program to expand
  sports and recreation opportunities for persons
  with intellectual disabilities
• Sponsored programs and symposia on the ethical
  implications of intellectual disability in
  medicine
• Initiated the Kennedy International Awards for
  outstanding contributions in scientific research,
  service and leadership
• Influenced the development of public policy in
  education, civil rights, and research
• Funded hundreds of demonstration projects in the
  areas of medicine, health, education, employment,
  community living, public policy

5
The Foundations Key Assets

• Recognized as a national leader in the field of
  intellectual disabilities
• Able to leverage public and private resources
• A solid network of educational consultants
• Relationships with key leaders in governments
  across the globe

6
Recent International Initiatives in Education

• UNICEF
• Bosnia Herzegovina
• USAID
• El Salvador- EXCELL Project to improve school
  administrators leadership skills teacher
  education
• Guatemala
• Nicaragua
• Policy papers on key issues for educating
  students with disabilities in developing countries

7
Teacher Education Modules

• Began with the Foundations work in Bosnia in
  collaboration with UNICEF
• Seminar materials formalized into modules
• Designed to provide a process for individualizing
  instruction and model new approach to
  professional training
• Translated in Bosnian Serbian-Croatian and
  Spanish
• Adapted for use in Bosnia, Guatemala, Nicaragua,
  and El Salvador

8
Teacher Education Modules

• Bosnia
• UNICEF and Foundation supported 4 special
  education professionals studying one semester at
  U of Maryland and U of Utah
• Goal of the study plan was to adapt the modules
  for use in Teacher Centers as part of a
  comprehensive professional development plan.
• Presently being used as part of Step-by-Step
  training within Bosnia

9
Special Education in Latin America

• About 85 million people with disabilities live in
  the region and most have limited access to
  education
• Limits their participation in workforce, lowers
  their productivity, y thus, it promotes greater
  dependence (Porter 2001).
• Less than 10 children with disabilities in Latin
  America receives educational services and the
  most common service delivery model is the special
  education school (Porter, 2001).
• Between 11-18 of children in Central America
  have disabilities (CACL, 1997 Porter, 2001).

10
Special Education in Latin America

• Nicaragua 2.4 (3,600) of the 150,000 children
  with special needs are receiving services
  (Porter, 2001).
• El Salvador Less than 1 of the 222,000 children
  with special needs are being served (Porter,
  2001).
• Jamaica One third of children with special needs
  are receiving services (Porter, 2001).
• Chile The most common service delivery model is
  the special education school and approximately
  one third of the eligible population has access
  to special education (Milicic Sius, 1995).

11
Teacher Education Modules

• Inclusive
• Inclusive education v. inclusion as placement
• Build project as part of mainstream education
  reforms
• Efficient use of resources
• Leverage ongoing education development projects
• Negotiate how to infuse a focus on special needs
• Collaborative
• Local involvement in identification of needs and
  adaptation of materials
• Promote local ownership
• Sustainable
• Identify/involve local leadership in public
  NGO sectors.
• Secure official commitment and institutionalize
  project

12
Kennedy Foundation Modules Content

• Module 1 Introduction to mild/moderate
  intellectual disabilities
• History and definitions
• Legal framework and contemporary trends in
  special education
• Characteristics of mild/moderate ID
• Curriculum models
• Module 2 Functional assessment
• Introduction to functional assessment and
  planning
• Student centered planning process
• Applying functional assessment and planning

13
Kennedy Foundation Modules Content

• Module 3 Instructional strategies
• Development of individualized educational plans
• Effective instructional strategies
• Module 4 Behavior and social skills
• Disruptive behaviors and social skills
• Effective instructional strategies, behavior
  management techniques, and positive behavioral
  support.

14
Kennedy Foundation Modules Pedagogy

• Learning cycle based on problem solving and
  inquiry
• Bransford, J., Brown, A., Cocking, R. (2000).
  How people learn Brain, mind, experience and
  school. Washington, D. C. National Academy
  Press.
• Schwartz, D. L., Lin, X., Brophy, B.,
  Bransford, J. D. (in press). Toward the
  development of flexibly adaptive instructional
  designs. In C. Reigeluth (Ed.),
  Instructional-design theories and models New
  Paradigms of instructional theory (pp. 183-214).
  Mahwah, NJ Erlbaum.
• Schwartz, D. L., Brophy, B., Lin, X.,
  Bransford, J. D. (in press). Software for
  managing complex learning Examples from an
  educational psychology course. Educational
  technology research and development.

15
Kennedy Foundation Modules Pedagogy
16
Kennedy Foundation Modules Pedagogy

• A web-based application of the learning cycle has
  been developed at Vanderbilt specifically for
  special education IRIS Modules.
• IRIS content modules could be translated and
  used to supplement the face to face education.
• IRIS.peabody.vanderbilt.edu

17
Kennedy Foundation Modules Challenges

• Challenges traditional professional
  development/teacher education models
• Adaptation of modules to country needs is
  time-consuming leadership issues, language.
• Content is complicated by differences in
  classification, terminology, and systems within
  the schools
• Data on short and long-term change in teacher
  practices and impact on student learning in
  inclusive schools are needed but difficult to
  collect
• Sustainability