EDUC
508:
Inclusion: Special Needs in General Classrooms
Instructor Name: Dr. Florah Luseno
Phone: 509-891-7219
Office Hours: 9
a.m. to 5 p.m. PST Monday - Friday
Email: florahl@virtualeduc.com
Address: Virtual
Education Software
Technical Support: support@virtualeduc.com
* THE EXAMINATIONS FOR THIS COURSE CAN ONLY BE TAKEN ONE TIME*
Introduction
Inclusion: Special Needs in General Classrooms was written to help
teachers understand concepts and terms related to educating students in
inclusive classrooms. The course also helps teachers learn about the continuum
of placements school systems can use in providing special education services to
students with disabilities. The course helps you understand the federal
definition of students entitled to special education services, as well as procedures
you can use in determining whether these students can be educated in the
regular classroom. The course also identifies and describes the roles and
responsibilities of special and general educators in providing special
education services to students educated in inclusive classrooms.
This
interactive computer-based instruction (CBI) course is designed to help special
and general educators gain a better understanding of inclusion, one of the
current educational reform movements that advocates for educating students with
disabilities in the general education classroom.
Course Materials
Title: Inclusion: Special Needs in General
Classrooms
Author: Dr.
Florah Luseno
Publisher: Virtual
Education Software, Inc. ©2002
Instructor: Dr.
Florah Luseno
Please keep the CD. There is a
$25 replacement fee for CD-roms if you need to replace yours due to theft,
damage, misplacement, etc. Call
1-800-313-6744, with your credit card information, if you need a
replacement.
Academic Integrity
Statement
The
structure and format of most distance-learning courses presume a high level of
personal and academic integrity in completion and submission of coursework.
Individuals enrolled in a CBI distance-learning course are expected to adhere
to the following standards of academic conduct.
Academic Work
Academic
work submitted by the individual (such as papers, assignments, reports, tests)
shall be the student’s own work or appropriately attributed, in part or in
whole, to its correct source. Submission of commercially prepared (or group
prepared) materials as if they are one’s own work is unacceptable.
Aiding
Honesty in Others
The
individual will encourage honesty in others by refraining from providing
materials or information to another person with knowledge that these materials
or information will be used improperly.
Violation of these academic standards may result
in the assignment of a failing grade and subsequent loss of credit for the
course.
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Level of Application
This course is
designed as an informational course for K-12 regular and special education
teachers. Information is provided to help you better understand current
educational models being used to educate students with disabilities in
mainstream settings. This course will
allow you to compare and identify how school districts in your own area are
implementing inclusion programs, handling current inclusion issues, and some of
the practices teachers are using to educate students in inclusive
settings.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Course
Objectives
·
List and describe the federal definition of students with
disabilities and the criteria used to determine if they qualify for special
education and related services;
·
List and describe key concepts and terms related to
educating students with disabilities in inclusive classrooms;
·
Describe the continuum of placements school systems can use
to provide special education and related services to students with
disabilities;
·
Identify and describe federal legislation and court cases
that have contributed to the movement toward educating students with
disabilities in inclusive classrooms;
·
List and describe the advantages (pros) and disadvantages
(cons) of educating students with disabilities in inclusive classrooms;
·
List and describe procedures IDEA, Sect 504, and
·
List and describe the special education and related
services school systems are mandated to provide to students with disabilities;
·
Describe procedures special and general educators can use
to determine whether a student with special needs can be educated in the
general education classroom;
·
List and describe the characteristics of effective
inclusive programs;
·
Identify and describe the roles and responsibilities of
special and general educators in providing special education and related
services to students educated in inclusive classrooms;
·
Define the term “collaboration” and describe strategies
special and general educators can use to work together in providing special
education and related services to students in inclusive classrooms;
·
Describe the importance of differentiating instruction for
students in inclusive classrooms and the components of instruction special and
general educators have to consider in determining what to do;
·
List and describe instructional and assessment
accommodations and modifications special and general educators can provide to
students educated in inclusive classrooms;
·
List and describe factors that may result in students’
inappropriate classroom behavior;
·
Define “functional assessment” and describe procedures
special and general educators can use to evaluate their classroom settings and
identify variables that cause students’ classroom behaviors;
·
List and describe behavioral management strategies special
and general educators can use to structure their classroom setting and increase
students’ appropriate classroom behavior and decrease inappropriate classroom
behavior; and
·
List and describe theoretical models that specify the
relationship between students’ behaviors and learning and the reason that it’s
important for teachers to know these models.
Course Description
Information provided in this course has been divided
into six chapters, which should be completed in the order in which they are
presented in the program. Once you have completed these six chapters, you
should have a better understanding of the concept of inclusion and how it came
about. You are strongly encouraged to read additional journal articles, books,
and research materials outside the course material to gain a better
understanding of current issues related to educating students with disabilities
in inclusive classrooms.
Chapter
1 of this course focuses on the definition of students with
disabilities, factors that have influenced the movement toward educating
students in general education classrooms, and the advantages (pros) and
disadvantages (cons) of inclusion. After reading information provided in this
chapter, you should be able to:
·
Describe the federal definition of students with
disabilities;
·
Describe the criteria school systems can use to determine
whether a student falls under one of the categories of disabilities;
·
Describe key concepts/terms like
“normalization,” “de-institutionalization,” “integration,” “mainstreaming,” and
“inclusion”;
·
List and describe federal legislation and court cases that
have contributed to the movement toward educating students with disabilities in
the regular classroom;
·
Describe the terms “Free Appropriate Public Education” and
“Least Restrictive Environment”;
·
List and describe the continuum of settings school systems
can use to educate students with disabilities; and
·
List and describe the advantages (pros) and disadvantages
(cons) of inclusion.
Chapter 2 focuses on federal laws and
regulations that grant parents of students with disabilities civil rights and
specify procedures school systems are mandated to go through in evaluating and
identifying students with special needs and the special education and related
services that must be provided. After reading the information provided in this
chapter, you should be able to:
·
List and describe legal procedures IDEA 2004, Sect 504 of
the Rehabilitation Act, and the Americans With Disabilities Act - ADA require
school systems and educators to use in evaluating and identifying students with
disabilities and the special education and related services needed;
·
List and describe the provisions specified under IDEA and
the mandate each provision specifies school systems must use in working with
students with special needs;
·
Describe the special education and related services school
systems are mandated to provide to students with disabilities;
·
Describe the civil rights parents and students with
disabilities are granted under IDEA, Sect 504, and
·
Describe the purpose of an Individualized Education Program
(I.E.P.) and an Individualized Family Service Plan and the components or
information that needs to be specified in each document;
·
List and describe the similarities and differences between
regulations specified under IDEA, Sect 504, and
·
List and describe procedures school systems are expected to
go through at the pre-referral and referral stages;
·
Describe the roles and responsibilities of teachers,
school-based problem solving team members, and the multidisciplinary (I.E.P)
team in identifying and providing special education and related services to
students with special needs; and
·
Describe procedures special and general
educators can use to determine whether students with disabilities can be
educated in the general education classroom.
Chapter 3 focuses on the
impact the movement toward educating students with special needs in the general
education classroom has had on the roles and responsibilities of special and
general educators, strategies teachers can use to work collaboratively, and
procedures teachers can use to determine whether students need accommodations
and modifications. After reading information provided in this chapter, you
should be able to:
·
Describe
the impact the movement toward educating students with special needs in the
general education classroom has had on teachers;
·
Describe
the role and responsibilities of teachers in terms of educating students with
disabilities in inclusive classrooms;
·
Define
the term “collaboration” and describe different collaborative models special
and general educators can use to provide special education and related services
to students educated in general education classrooms; and
·
List
and describe procedures special and general educators can use to determine
modifications students may require in inclusive classrooms.
Chapter
4 focuses on the reasons that special
and general educators need to differentiate instruction and provide
instructional and assessment accommodations and modifications to students
educated in inclusive classrooms. After reading the information provided in
this chapter, you should be able to:
·
Specify
regulations that mandate that students should be provided with adaptations;
·
Define
the term(s) “differentiated instruction,” “accommodations,” and “modifications”;
·
List
and describe instructional accommodations and modifications teachers can
provide to students educated in inclusive classrooms; and
·
List
and describe types of assessment accommodations teachers can provide for
students during testing.
Chapter 5 focuses on
procedures special and general educators can use to structure their classroom
environment and manage students’ behaviors. After reading information provided
in this chapter, you should be able to:
·
List and describe factors that may result in students’
inappropriate classroom behavior;
·
Define “functional assessment” and describe procedures
special and general educators can use to evaluate their classroom setting; and
·
List and describe strategies special and general educators
can use to structure their classroom setting and increase students’ appropriate
classroom behavior and decrease inappropriate classroom behavior.
Chapter 6 will focus on theoretical
models that specify the relationship between students’ behaviors and learning.
After reading the information provided in this chapter, you should be able to:
·
List and describe the importance of identifying the
relationship between students’ behaviors and learning;
·
List and describe the behavioral, sociological, social
learning, ecological, biomedical, psychodynamic, and cognitive-behavioral
theoretical models of human behavior; and
·
List and describe (according to the behavioral,
sociological, social learning, ecological, biomedical, psychodynamic, and
cognitive-behavioral theoretical models) the relationship between students’
behaviors and learning.
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Student Expectations
As
a student, you will be expected to:
·
Complete all information chapters, showing a competent understanding of
the material presented.
·
Complete all chapter exams, showing a competent understanding of the
material presented.
·
Complete a review of any chapter on which your examination score was
below 70%.
·
Complete all course journal article and essay writing assignments with
the minimum word count shown for each writing assignment.
·
Complete a course
evaluation form at the end of the course.
Examinations -- THE EXAMINATIONS FOR THIS COURSE CAN ONLY BE TAKEN ONE TIME.
At
the end of each course chapter, you will be expected to complete an examination
designed to assess your knowledge. You may take these exams a total of three
times. The software will save the last score, not the highest score. After your
third attempt, each examination will lock and prevent further access. Your
final grade for this course will be determined by calculating an average score
of all exams. This score will be printed on your final certificate. As this is
a self-paced computerized instruction program, you may review course
information as often as necessary. You will not be able to exit any
examinations until you have answered all questions. If you try to exit the exam
section before answering all questions, your information will be lost. You are
expected to complete the entire exam in one sitting.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Writing Assignments
This course has two required writing components.
To save your essays:
Macintosh: When you select the
question or article you wish to write on, simple text or text edit will
automatically be launched. When you are finished, simply click on FILE>SAVE.
Do not select SAVE AS. You do not
need to give the document a name before saving. When you are done, select
FILE>QUIT. You must quit before you
write another essay.
Windows: When you select the
question or article, Notepad will automatically launch. When you are finished,
click on FILE>SAVE. Do not select
SAVE AS. You do not need to give the document a name before saving.
1)
Essay
Requirement: Critical Thinking Questions
There is a critical thinking question for each
chapter or section. You will do research
on the question and write a brief essay relating it to the course content (and
your personal experiences when possible).
To view the questions, click on ESSAY REQ, and then on CRITICAL THINKING
QUESTIONS. You will see the questions,
one for each chapter or section. Click
on the question you would like to work on; this will bring up a screen where
you can enter your essay. You must write
a minimum of 500 words per essay.
2) Essay Requirement: Journal Articles
This task requires you to
write a review of three journal articles of your choice on a topic related to
this course. You may choose your topic
by entering the Key Words (click on the Key Words button) into a search engine
of your choice (Google, Dogpile, Yahoo, etc.). Choose three relevant articles
and write a 200-word review of each. You may also access the ERIC system and
choose a related topic from a journal listed in that system. Or you can access www.scholar.google.com or www.findarticles.com .Write a critical
summary of the information given in each article, explaining how the
information relates to, supports, or refutes information given in this course.
Conclude your paper with your thoughts and impressions. (200 words per journal
article minimum.) Be sure to provide the journal name, volume, date, and any
other critical information to allow the instructor to access and review that
article.
To write your essays, click
on ESSAY REQ. In the dialog box below that, click on JOURNAL ARTICLE
ASSIGNMENT; this will expand the folder which contains links to the screens
where you can write your reviews. When
you are ready to stop, click on FILE>SAVE.
You may go back at any point to edit your essays. For more information on the features of this
assignment, please consult the HELP menu.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Instructor Description
Dr. Florah Luseno, an
associate professor at Chicago
State University State
University
Contacting the
Instructor
You
may contact the instructor by emailing florahl@virtualeduc.com or by calling
(509) 891-7219 Monday through Friday. Calls made during office hours will be
answered within 24 hours. Phone conferences will be limited to ten minutes per
student, per day, given that this is a self-paced instructional program. Please
do not contact the instructor about technical problems, course glitches, or
other issues that involve the operation of the course.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Technical Questions
If you have questions or problems related to the
operation of this course CD, please try everything twice. If the problem
persists please check our support pages for FAQs and known issues at
www.virtualeduc.com and also the Help section on your course disk.
If you need personal assistance then email support@virtualeduc.com
or call (509) 891-7219. When contacting
technical support, please know your course version number, it is printed on the
CD label, your operating system and be seated in front of the computer at the
time of your call.
Minimum Requirements
Macintosh Operating Systems
Mac
OS 9.x or OS 10.x, 256MB of RAM and 5MB of free hard disk space, 15" or
larger color monitor with a minimum resolution of 800x600, CD
driver 4x minimum speed and a printer connected to your computer.
Windows Operating Systems
Windows 2000, XP Home, Professional or newer, 256MB of RAM and 5MB of
free hard disk space; 15" or larger color monitor with a minimum
resolution of 800x600, CD driver 4x minimum speed and a printer connected
to your computer.
Please
contact VESi if you have any questions about the compatibility of these
systems.