Introduction
This project investigates the following research question: Which strategies are most effective for secondary general education teachers to provide modifications, accommodations, and differentiation for special education students in the areas of instruction and assessment? This chapter provides a thorough description of the project itself, drawing upon the research gathered from the literature review in the previous chapter. It begins with an overview of the project, followed by a rationale for creating and implementing the project. The purpose of these sections is to introduce the project and its foundational framework as well as to explain its contribution to the existing conversation surrounding the research question. A description of the setting and intended audience for the project as well as an outline of the project and a timeline for its
completion are also included. These sections provide the parameters of the project and describe the way in which the effectiveness of the project was measured. The chapter concludes with a summary of the project.
Project Overview
The purpose of this project is to provide secondary general education teachers with effective strategies for modifying, accommodating, and differentiating their teaching to meet the unique learning needs of special education students learning in the general education classroom, specifically in the areas of instruction and assessment. The project
consists of four separate components. The first component is a four-hour-long large group professional development session. This session includes a pre-session survey, a Google Slides presentation, and a small-group learning activity. Upon completion of the workshop, participants receive a packet that includes relevant information and resources provided over the course of the session. The Powerpoint as well as links to all
information and resources provided are also shared with participants via Google Drive. The workshop provides participants with a knowledge base regarding the purpose and structure of modification, accommodation, and differentiation as well as specific strategies for applying modifications, accommodations, and differentiation to their pedagogical practice. It focuses on two elements of pedagogy in particular, instruction and assessment, and provides an overarching framework for incorporating modification, accommodation, and differentiation into both areas in order to provide students with special needs learning in the general education classroom with the equitable educational experience to which they are entitled.
The other three elements of the professional development project are implemented during small-group professional learning community meetings at three different points throughout the first half of the school year. The first of these three sessions occurs in mid-October, the second in mid-December, and the third at the end of the first semester, approximately mid-January. The first session asks participants to reflect upon their use of the I.N.C.L.U.D.E. strategy in their classroom instruction. The second session asks participants to reflect upon their use of the I.N.C.L.U.D.E. strategy in their assessments.
The third session asks participants to complete an exit survey designed to measure the extent to which they utilized the I.N.C.L.U.D.E. strategy throughout the first semester. Project Rationale
At its core, the rationale for this project has its foundations in the primary responsibility of all educational systems, which is to provide equitable educational experiences for all students. My unique personal and professional experiences working with students with special needs as a peer tutor and SEA led to the realization that instruction and assessment strategies varied in their effectiveness from student to student based on their unique abilities and needs. In my role, I became quite familiar with the individual learning needs and abilities of the students with whom I worked. However, the level of effort that general education teachers put towards familiarizing themselves with the needs and abilities of these special education students learning in their classrooms and then adjusting their pedagogical practice to meet their needs and abilities varied
significantly.
Additionally, my student teaching assignment in a secondary general education classroom helped me realize that many general education teachers do not have the same sort of experience that I had and therefore may find it more difficult to meet the learning needs of their students with special needs while also tending to their myriad additional responsibilities. These combined experiences inspired me to pursue the question of how to make the task of effectively meeting the learning needs of students with special needs learning in the general education classroom easier for all parties involved. As the review of the literature conducted in the previous chapter reveals, there is no shortage of existing
research related to this task. Nonetheless, there remains a disconnect between the development of effective strategies for modifying, accommodating, and differentiating instruction and assessment for special education students learning in the secondary general education setting and the implementation of these strategies by secondary general education teachers. Therefore, this project aims to address this disconnect by providing secondary general education teachers with accessible and attainable strategies for meeting the learning needs of special education students without neglecting the various additional demands of their position.
This project is founded first and foremost in a transformative worldview of education research. A transformative worldview demands that research inquiry be linked to a broader goal of political and social change to eliminate existing inequities in society (Creswell, 1994). It is transformative in the sense that it is coupled with a plan of action for reform to improve the lives of marginalized and disenfranchised societal groups. As previously stated, the impetus for this project is to address the issue of educational equity as it pertains to students with special needs. When secondary general education teachers fail to provide appropriate modifications, accommodations, and differentiation in their instruction and assessment of students with special needs learning in their classrooms, they fail to provide these students with an educational experience equitable to that of other students. As noted above, inequitable educational experiences for students with special needs frequently leads to a history of academic failure that worsens as they advance through middle school and high school, which is in turn linked to various personal and social consequences of poor academic achievement including low
self-esteem, alienation, and antisocial behavior (Ehren et al., 2004). Furthermore, poor academic achievement sets students with special needs up for failure in other spheres of life, such as securing adequate employment and financial stability. The purpose of this project is to address the educational inequities that exist between students with special needs and their peers, which reflect and often translate to broader inequities that exist within U.S.society as a whole.
Secondly, this project drew upon the principles of adult learning developed by Malcolm Knowles (1992). Knowles identifies the foundational principle of adult learning as allowing adult learners to be active participants in the inquiry process rather than passive recipients of information transmitted from teacher to learner (1992).
Furthermore, Knowles states that the inquiry process should begin with and proceed from the backgrounds, needs, and interests of the participants (Knowles, 1992). By giving participants the opportunity to take initiative for their own learning and applying their learning to the context of their own lives, they are more likely to retain, internalize, and apply the knowledge and skills they acquire (Knowles, 1992). The project utilizes interactive grouping and collaborative activities that give participants the opportunity to apply the information presented in the Powerpoint to realistic scenarios they face in their daily lives. By promoting independent learning and skill development for participants, this project encourages participants to think critically about the content of the
presentation and to actively process the information presented, thereby increasing the likelihood that participants retain, internalize, and apply the knowledge and skills the project promotes.
Project Audience and Setting
The goal of this project is to provide secondary general education teachers with effective strategies for modifying, accommodating, and differentiating their instruction and assessment of special education students learning in the general education setting in order to meet the unique learning needs of these students. Therefore, the primary
audience for this project is secondary general education teachers. This includes general education teachers licensed to teach grades 5-12 in any general education subject. The project is intended for implementation at the individual school level. The strategies presented are general and therefore applicable to any general education classroom and not limited to any specific category of student disability. The project provides knowledge and skills that are applicable for secondary general education teachers regardless of their teaching experience, thus all secondary general education teachers teaching in the school are expected to attend.
Although the primary target audience is secondary general education teachers, the effective implementation of the strategies presented rely to some extent on collaboration between general education teachers and other staff and faculty members that work with special education students. This includes special education teachers, social workers, counselors, therapists, and special education paraprofessionals. Therefore, any special educational professionals working in the building are also expected to attend this
professional development workshop. By familiarizing themselves with the modification, accommodation, and differentiation strategies that general education teachers apply to their instruction and assessment of students with special needs learning in the general
education setting, special education professionals will be able to work more effectively with general education teachers to ensure that the learning needs of special education students are being met.
The intended setting for the professional development sessions is at any school building that employs secondary general education teachers who are responsible for instructing and assessing students with special needs learning in the general education setting. As stated above, the strategies presented during the first session are general and therefore applicable to any general education classroom and not limited to any specific category of student disability, type of school (public, private, charter, etc.), school location (urban, suburban, rural, etc.) or special education setting (ranging from 1-5). The first session is intended to take place in a large common area that can accommodate all participants, is conducive to the physical movement of participants throughout the space, and allows for easy transition from lecture to small group or individual activities. The first session should take place from 2-5 days prior to the beginning of a new school year, starting with the 2021-2022 school year. The other three sessions should take place in the participants’ normal professional learning community setting in mid-October, mid-December, and mid-January, respectively.
Project Outline and Timeline
This project centers on four primary objectives:
1. Participants will be able to differentiate between and explain the purpose of modification, accommodation, and differentiation.
2. Participants will be able to identify the different elements of the I.N.C.L.U.D.E. strategy and provide an example of each element. 3. Participants will be able to apply the I.N.C.L.U.D.E. strategy to
demonstrate effective modification, accommodation, and differentiation of instruction for students with special needs.
4. Participants will be able to apply the I.N.C.L.U.D.E. strategy to
demonstrate effective modification, accommodation, and differentiation of assessment for students with special needs.
The effectiveness of the professional development project is measured in several different ways. First, participants respond to a survey at the beginning of the first session designed to assess their prior knowledge of modification, accommodation, and
differentiation strategies for instructing and assessing students with special needs. The second and third sessions serve as a sort of formative assessment that reveal the extent to which participants have implemented the I.N.C.L.U.D.E. strategy in the areas of
instruction and assessment, respectfully. During the fourth session, participants complete the same survey they completed at the beginning of the workshop as a summative
assessment. The results of the assessments are analyzed to determine the effectiveness of the project.
Chapter Summary
This chapter provided a description of the project that emerged from the following research question: Which strategies are most effective for secondary general education teachers to provide modifications, accommodations, and differentiation for special
education students in the areas of instruction and assessment? The project description drew upon the research gathered from the review of the existing literature surrounding this research question. It began with a general overview of the project and its purpose. It also provided a rationale for the development and implementation of the project,
including foundational theories and frameworks. The project description included an explanation of the intended audience and setting for the project. It concluded with an outline of the various components of the project as well as a timeline for its completion and the mechanisms for determining the effectiveness of the project. The next and final chapter provides a reflection upon the project as a whole, including limitations of the project as well as the potential impact of the project upon future research surrounding the professional development of secondary general education teachers teaching students with special needs in the mainstream general education setting.
CHAPTER FOUR