Kara--
That's a very interesting topic. I wasn't particularly impressed by
the answer you received--mostly general material about
inclusion--though, admittedly, I did a search on PubMed and didn't
come across much myself.
A tiny bit about myself: I'm a parent of a child with an IEP ("other
health impaired"--AD/HD and OCD) who has been in special education for
several years. I'm also the coordinator for a local chapter of CHADD
(Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder).
So I've seen special education and the special education process.
Having said that...
As you undoubtedly know (but tutuzdad-ga perhaps did not), special
education kids may be taught in a variety of environments. They may
have classes that consist only of special education kids; they may be
in a general education classroom in which there are special education
kids (and often a second, special education teacher), or they may be
in "regular" classrooms with only a general education teacher. This
year my son is in all three situations.
A child's IEP will specify the amount of additional instruction he/she
is to receive. Often this occurs in the classroom with the second
special education teacher....who, to oversimplify, devotes his/her
time to the special ed kids, floating among them, checking their work,
answering their questions, and so forth.
That may introduce a problem in your research since, in such a mixed
setting, the general education teacher may call upon the special
education kid less often, but the special education kid will receive
as much or more attention from the special ed teacher.
Even if you limit it to a general education classroom, with just a
general education teacher, a child's IEP (or even a 504 plan, for
those kids without an IEP) may very well provide for accommodations
that would affect your study. For instance, the length of time a
student is given to answer, or even whether the student is called upon
at all for certain types of problems or questions.
There's another issue, as well. In many school districts, parents have
to fight very hard to get an IEP (or even a 504) for a kid. Especially
in those areas, there may well be kids in the classroom who are not
classified as "special education" (because they lack either an IEP or
a 504) who nevertheless have the same disability as special education
kids. Often, alert teachers will notice such things...a kid with AD/HD
or OCD, or dyslexia, for instance. And the better teachers will
introduce his/her own accommodations, even without an IEP or a 504 in
place. Or, on the other side, a "bad" teacher --as I think your theory
might be--might discriminate against one of these students even if the
student isn't officially classified as "special ed."
So, for your research to be valid, I'd suggest that it would have to
occur in a general classroom with just a general ed teacher (so that
the assistance or attention of a special ed teacher doesn't skew your
findings). Further, be sure to determine (after the fact) whether the
teacher was aware of which students were special ed students. (That's
the core of your study.) Also try to determine whether disparities in
treatment of the kids was inadvertent, or whether it was
intentional...probably in response to the IEP or 504. And try to
determine whether disparities were due to other factors (for instance,
the race of the kid, or sex).
Hope those suggestions help.
--Don |
