Quality of the Literacy Environment in Inclusive Early Childhood Special Education Classrooms

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the quality of the literacy environment in inclusive early childhood special education (ECSE) classrooms (N = 54). The first aim was to describe the quality of the literacy environment in terms of structure (i.e., book materials and print/ writing materials) and instruction (i.e., instructional support). The second aim was to examine the interrelationships among teacher and classroom factors and the quality of the literacy environment. Results showed that, on average, the quality of the structural literacy environment was low to moderate, and the quality of the instructional literacy environment was generally low. Only one factor, the number of children who were dual-language learners, related to the quality of the structural literacy environment, whereas the quality of the instructional literacy environment was positively associated with two teacher-level factors (teacher education and self-efficacy) and negatively associated with one teacher-level factor (the number of language and literacy workshops attended). Study findings suggest the need to examine ways to improve the literacy environment of ECSE classrooms and to better understand sources of variance with respect to the literacy environment.

Κατασκευή, Ανάπτυξη Και Ψυχομετρική Αξιολόγηση Κλίμακας Για Την Εκτίμηση Της Αυτοαποτελεσματικότητας Των Εκπαιδευτικών Στη Διδασκαλία Της Ανάγνωσης

“…Μελέτες, ωστόσο, καταδεικνύουν ότι οι πεποιθήσεις διδακτικής αποτελεσματικότητας για αυτή είναι σημαντικές και μπορούν να συνεισφέρουν θετικά στην αναγνωστική ικανότητα και τα αναγνωστικά κίνητρα των μαθητών (Guo et al, 2010;Guo et al, 2013;Szabo & Mokhtari, 2004). Εκπαιδευτικοί με ισχυρή αίσθηση αποτελεσματικότητας για την αναγνωστική διδασκαλία είναι ανοικτοί σε νέες ιδέες και είναι προθυμότεροι να πειραματιστούν με καινοτόμες αναγνωστικές μεθόδους για να ανταποκριθούν καλύτερα στις ατομικές εκπαιδευτικές ανάγκες των μαθητών τους (Maloch, Flint, & Eldridge, 2003;Szabo & Mokhtari, 2004) και να επιμείνουν όταν οι μαθητές τους αντιμετωπίζουν δυσκολίες (Allinder, 1994).…”

Inclusion of Students With Special Needs in Private Schools in Kuwait: Challenges That Face School Administrators

“…One of the qualitative studies included only a focus group (Gustavsen & De Silva, 2013). On the other hand, out of 41 articles, 16 studies focused on practices for implementing the inclusion approach and 11 of those studies were quantitative (Chiner & Cardona, 2013;Duchaine, Jolivette, & Fredrick, 2011;Guo, Sawyer, Justice, & Kaderavek, 2013;Melekoglu, 2014;Mikami et al, 2013;Ogelman & Seçer, 2012;Peebles & Mendaglio, 2014;Pinar & Sucuoglu, 2013;Stanton-Chapman & Brown, 2015;Tremblay, 2013). Whereas, five studies were qualitative research design.…”

“…Additionally, there are limited of resources for students with special needs. Likewise, the general schools are not equipped to handle the diversity of special students (Adera & Asimeng-Boahene, 2011;Almotairi, 2013;Angelides & Hajisoteriou, 2013;Guo et al, 2013;Lambe & Bones, 2006;Pasha, 2012).…”

Quality of Inclusive Preschool Classrooms: Predictive Variables

“…Soukakou (2012) okul öncesi kaynaştırma sınıflarının kalitesini değerlendirmeye yönelik İngiltere örnekleminde bir değerlendirme aracı geliştirerek (Kaynaştırma Sınıf Profili, KSP) bu aracın geçerli ve güvenilir bir araç olduğunu ortaya koymuş ve İngiltere'deki okul öncesi kaynaştırma sınıflarının kalitesinin "iyi" olduğunu belirlemiştir. Amerika Birleşik Devletleri'nde (ABD) erken çocukluk dönemindeki özel eğitim sınıflarının kalitesini erken okuryazarlık açısından inceleyen araştırmada, bulgular kalitenin yapısal ve öğretimsel boyutlarının düşük ve orta arasında değiştiğini ortaya koymuştur (Guo, Sawyer, Justice ve Kaderavek, 2013). Bir diğer araştırmada, Head Start sınıflarındaki kaynaştırma uygulamalarının kalitesi uygulamacı gözüyle gözlemler ve görüşmeler aracılığıyla değerlendirilmiş, sınıfların kalitesinin genel olarak iyi olduğu ortaya konulmakla birlikte, uygulamacılar kaliteli kaynaştırma için en büyük engelin mesleki gelişim yetersizliği olduğunu ifade etmişlerdir (Muccio, Kidd, White ve Burns, 2014).…”