The establishment of educational policies both nationally and internationally has led to an increased awareness of inclusion for children with special educational needs. In Ireland, the development of the Access and Inclusion Model (AIM) in 2016 is a government initiative to introduce a comprehensive support system for the early years sector. This…

The increasing number of children on the autism spectrum entering mainstream schools requires classroom teachers with the knowledge and skills to create supportive and inclusive environments in which these students can thrive. This paper reports the perspectives offered by 33 teachers who volunteered to trial an Early Years Model of Practice…

This article begins with a vignette about Carla, a 4-year-old girl with a diagnosis of developmental delays. It then describes a model to facilitate inclusion of young children in early childhood settings. The authors developed this model as they worked with practicing early childhood professionals. The model places emphasis on the following…

This is an exploratory study suggesting ways of analysing challenges for developing countries in the move to greater inclusion of disabled children and young people in learning. The paper focuses on pedagogical challenges to realising more inclusive education. Pedagogy encompasses not only the practice of teaching and learning, but also the ideas…

Many parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have reported general discontent with the services offered by the education system and have advocated for increased ASD-specific services to better meet their children's educational needs. The elements of best practice offer an ideal model for educational support. There are, however,…

The Student-Teacher Self-Efficacy Interaction Model is described, focusing on the impact of the teacher's self-efficacy on performance, impact of teacher's performance and students' past experiences on special education students' self-efficacy, and how feedback from students' performance provides feedback on teacher abilities to meet students'…

This article posits that arguments for supporting or opposing the value of the inclusion model in the education of students with disabilities can be placed into four categories: consequentialist, justice, rights, and needs. It discusses how the goals of parents are often in conflict with policies supported by service providers. (Author/CR)

Two models for the mentoring of beginning special education teachers are presented. The first, the self-contained urban model, is a special education model designed by mentor teachers for beginning and experienced teachers of self-contained classrooms at both the secondary and elementary levels. Mentors work with interns for one full day each week…

This historical examination of the educational placement of visually impaired students focuses on the dual curriculum of instruction in academic areas and in disability-specific skills. Program placement involves assessment, identification of instructional needs, and consideration of placement alternatives. Models of service delivery and…

Describes mastery learning, a teaching model that allows full inclusion of rural students with intense educational needs. The approach is based on curriculum modifications, team teaching, peer tutoring, and cooperative learning. Documents the success of mastery learning in the case of a rural first-grade student with Down's Syndrome. (LP)

Action research, in which classroom teachers engage in systematic inquiry to develop new alternatives for approaching problematic classroom situations, is presented as a dimension of collaboration that has the potential to reduce teachers' resistance to changes in teaching practice as they work to accommodate diverse classroom populations.…

Designed to provide teachers and administrators with suggestions for innovative approaches to providing vocational education to handicapped high school students, this report contains first person descriptions of six model programs in vocational education. In chapter 1 four administrators and instructors comment on their Related Vocational…

This program guide is designed for elementary students that need special services to learn most efficiently. The program, conducted at three sites within the district and later validated at two other sites in Oregon, measures current behavior and develops an instructional sequence to meet prescribed objectives. The mainstreaming approach of the…

This paper describes the model employed by the Austin (Texas) Independent School District, developed in response to the Lau v Nichols decision on instruction for limited English speaking ability (LESA) students, to determine when a LESA student is no longer a LESA student. Five other theoretical models are proposed: (1) an expected performance…