Educational disabilities of NICU graduates are influenced differently by perinatal and sociodemographic variables. Researchers must take into account both sets of these variables to ascertain the long-term risk of educational disability for NICU graduates. Birth weight alone should not be used to assess NICU morbidity outcomes.
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the results of a study we conducted with our former special education student teachers during their first and second years of teaching. We investigated these beginning special educators' problems of practice and the influence of the school context on teachers' abilities to solve their problems. The results indicated that novice special educators were troubled by issues related to instruction and curriculum, understanding the system, mainstreaming and inclusion, and exhaustion. The results also indicated that these teachers received little support from their general education colleagues or administrators; most of their support came from other special educators. Implications for teacher education are discussed.
The purpose of the current study was to examine beginning special educators' experiences in their attempts to implement two key requirements associated with reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Act of 1997: access to the general education curriculum and participation in general education programs. We conducted in-depth interviews with 36 beginning special educators. Eighty-one percent of the teachers reported facing significant barriers in implementing the two IDEA 1997 requirements. Specific barriers are reported with implications for changes in teacher preparation and organizational structures in schools to support teachers in meeting the requirements of federal legislation supporting individual with disabilities.
Collaborative problem solving is an activity in which special education teachers and other school professionals work together to solve the academic or behavioral problems of their students. The purpose of this study was to understand preservice teachers' perceptions of a collaborative problem solving activity they implemented with other professionals (e.g., general education teachers, school counselors, and speech and language pathologists) during their student teaching semester. These students formed a collaborative relationship with a school professional in an effort to assist the pair in supporting children with learning and/or behavior problems in general education settings. Findings from this study suggest that the problem-solving project expanded student teachers' definitions of collaboration by increasing their awareness of facilitators and obstacles to it. However, collaboration in practice was not an easy task for student teachers, with school context variables playing a role in facilitating successful or less than successful collaboration.
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