Toward a Knowledge Base for School Learning

Support teachers' beliefs about the academic achievement of students with special educational needs

“…• teaching approach, which involves variables such as instructional approaches used; classroom resource management; student progress monitoring; quality and amount of education delivered; the use of devices to monitor students' progress; the establishment of classroom routines; and teacher-student interactions (Wang et al, 1993);…”

“…• curriculum design, which consists of a set of variables such as the delivery of instructional materials and their organisation and disposal, and also includes the strategies set out in the curriculum and the instruction materials (Wang et al, 1993);…”

“…• teachers' reluctance to change their culture and teaching practices (Fullan & Miles, 1992), including fears and anxieties associated with change, the practicality of change, perceived school support and personal costs and efforts (Welch, 1989); • the availability of technical assistance (Kauffman, Lloyd & McGee, 1989); • t e a ch e rs' know l e d ge about students' traits, ch a ra c t e ri s t i c s and educational needs (Semmel et al, 1991) Literature on factors that contribute to school quality also suggests that changes in student performance and school quality are related to a set of proximal variables, such as educational strategies and practices, as well as to distal va ri ables, when school re o rga n i s ation and educat i o n a l polices play an important role (Wang, Haertl & Walberg, 1993). According to results that are highlighted in the Wang et al study, the quality of the diagnosis of learn i n g problems could improve if attention were paid to a set of variables that include information about students' capacities and aptitudes; contextual fa c t o rs such as fa m i ly invo l ve m e n t in activities undert a ken at school; and the quality of teacher-student interactions, among others.…”

“…Literature on factors that contribute to school quality also suggests that changes in student performance and school quality are related to a set of proximal variables, such as educational strategies and practices, as well as to distal va ri ables, when school re o rga n i s ation and educat i o n a l polices play an important role (Wang, Haertl & Walberg, 1993). According to results that are highlighted in the Wang et al study, the quality of the diagnosis of learn i n g problems could improve if attention were paid to a set of variables that include information about students' capacities and aptitudes; contextual fa c t o rs such as fa m i ly invo l ve m e n t in activities undert a ken at school; and the quality of teacher-student interactions, among others.…”

“…2. What factors contribute to the academic failure of students with special educational needs?Teacher beliefs that seemed relevant to these research questions were interpreted in the light of five general themes:• teaching approach, which involves variables such as instructional approaches used; classroom resource management; student progress monitoring; quality and amount of education delivered; the use of devices to monitor students' progress; the establishment of classroom routines; and teacher-student interactions (Wang et al, 1993);• school climate, which covers aspects concerning schools' ecological features, including the ch a ra c t e ristics of their physical env i ro n m e n t ; milieu variables focusing on the characteristics of persons and groups within the school environment; social system variables; including the patterns of interactions and relationships within a school; and c u l t u re va ri ables including the values and beliefs of the various groups within a school (Anderson, 1985);• curriculum design, which consists of a set of variables such as the delivery of instructional materials and their organisation and disposal, and also includes the strategies set out in the curriculum and the instruction materials (Wang et al, 1993);• student characteristics, including issues concerning students' academic and social characteristics, with particular emphasis on aspects such as retention or placement in special education stru c t u res, psych o l ogi c a l aptitudes and affective variables (Wang et al, 1993);• out-of-school contextual variables, which covers variables that are related to family environment, such as parental activities and attitudes that support children's learning; parental expressions of interest that are reflected in children's school work; participation in school meetings; parental expectations about educational success; and parental accompaniment and supervision of students' learning activities.The re s e a rcher defined a number of cat ego ries and s u b c at ego ries and then coded the data accord i n g ly. Interrat e r re l i ability was ch e cked by having three judges indep e n d e n t ly assign each data unit.…”