Program Standard 14:  Preparation to Teach Special Populations in the General Education Classroom

In the professional teacher preparation program, each candidate develops the basic knowledge, skills and strategies for teaching special populations including students with disabilities, students on behavior plans, and gifted and talented students in the general education classroom. Each candidate learns about the role of the general education teacher in the special education process. Each candidate demonstrates basic skill in the use of differentiated instructional strategies that, to the degree possible, ensure that all students have access to the core curriculum. Each candidate demonstrates the ability to create a positive, inclusive climate of instruction for all special populations in the general classroom.

Program Elements for Standard 14

14 (a) Through planned prerequisite and/or professional preparation, each candidate learns about major categories of disabilities. 

Candidates are introduced to the major categories of disabilities as indicated under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 2004) and Section 504 of the Americans with Disabilities Act (504) during their prerequisite courses and the first class in the program (EDEL 315, EDEL 325 and EDEL 430).  Beginning in the prerequisite courses, candidates are provided the opportunity to use IRIS modules. “The IRIS (IDEA and Research for Inclusive Settings) Center for Faculty Enhancement was designed in response to a request from the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs. This national effort, serving college faculty working in preservice preparation programs, aims to ensure that general education teachers, school administrators, school nurses, and school counselors are well prepared to work with students who have disabilities and with their families.” Additional resources are used as well.  For example, in EDEL 315, many candidates work through the IRIS module online: What Do You See? (perceptions of disability). In their textbook, Teaching Today, students read and discuss Chapter 6, which covers the laws and attitudes toward exceptional learners and discusses various conditions that cause a student to be an exceptional learner including G.A.T.E. students.  All classes view the video: Frustration, Anxiety, Tension (F.A.T.) City.  This video helps student to understand how it would be to be “Learning Handicapped” and provides examples of instructional strategies to teach those who have learning disabilities.

In EDEL 325, many candidates work through an online IRIS module: Teaching and Learning in New Mexico (considerations for diverse student populations).  Some EDEL 325 instructors opt to use feature articles from the New York Times Magazine -- e.g., Johnson, H. (2003, February 16). Unspeakable conversations or How I spent one day as a token cripple at Princeton University. New York Times Magazine, pp. 50-55, 74, 78-79.  Textbook readings and lectures address different disabilities as well.

In EDEL 430, candidates are provided with an overview of major categories of disabilities, and learn how equity and disability as social constructs are tied to philosophies of education. The candidates learn that a child with a disability is a student in the classroom who deserves a teacher with high expectations for his/her success and plans and instructs accordingly.  Online modules, PowerPoint lectures, videos illustrating the experiences of teachers with students with learning disabilities, as well as in-class activities illustrating how general education teachers can deal with diversity in terms of culture and disability in the classroom are examples of some of the ways instructors address the major categories of disabilities.

In EDEL 429, candidates are introduced to characteristics of children with gifts and talents, especially those who are reading far beyond their age-level peers.

In EDEL 438, candidates observe the academic behaviors and the accommodations for a student with learning disabilities included in a general education classroom.

In subsequent courses, candidates learn more about the assessment and instruction of students with disabilities most common to general education classrooms and gifted and talented students through short web-based modules and in-class activities designed to align with course content.

14 (b)   Through planned prerequisite and/or professional preparation, each candidate learns relevant state and federal laws pertaining to the education of exceptional populations, as well as general education teacher’s role and responsibilities in the Individual Education Program (IEP) process, including: identification, referral, assessment, IEP planning and meeting, implementation, and evaluation. 

In EDEL 430, through various activities, candidates review the six principles of IDEA, Section 504 of ADA, and Behavior Plans, all of which were originally introduced in EDEL 315, and begin to understand the general educator’s roles and responsibilities in relation to these laws and regulations. The six principles of law include: 1) Zero-reject (that all children are entitled to an education); 2) Non-Discriminatory Evaluation, which assures that assessment of children with disabilities is fair and unbiased; 3) Individualized Education Program (IEP), whereby individualized and appropriate education is provided to ensure that education is meaningful; 4) Least Restrictive Environment, to ensure that children with disabilities can associate with typical peers to the maximum extent, appropriate to their needs; 5) Parent Participation, to ensure parents and families are an integral part of the special education process; and 6) Due Process, which guarantees the laws and regulations required are fulfilled in a timely and appropriate manner.

In EDEL 452, candidates learn what an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) from a variety of districts looks like, what is required of a general education teacher in the development of an Individualized Education Plan, and how to write goals, objectives, and benchmarks for a child with a disability that will allow him or her access to the general education curriculum and meets the California Standards.

Candidates’ ethical and professional responsibilities related to special education laws are reinforced during seminars presented in EDEL 452. This knowledge is immediately applicable, and allows them to make professional decisions as they enter their fieldwork and student teaching sites.

In EDEL 452, candidates learn what a continuum of services is and how the Least Restrictive Environment mandate is met in public schools. According to federal law, the continuum of services begins in the general education classroom until enough data has been collected to show that this setting is more restrictive for the individual child. Candidates are introduced to the assessment cycle (identification, referral, assessment, IEP planning and meeting, implementation, and evaluation). They learn the importance of the Student Study Team and pre-referral intervention strategies.  In addition, candidates review the California Special Education Laws and Regulations Database.   

14 (c)   Through planned prerequisite and/or professional preparation, each candidate is provided with a basic level of knowledge and skills in assessing the learning and language abilities of special population students in order to identify students for referral to special education programs and gifted and talented education programs.

General education teachers often have students with learning disabilities included in their classrooms, and most of these are identified in the area of Reading. In EDEL 433, Language Arts and Reading Instruction, candidates are instructed on best practices in reading assessment used to identify and teach children with learning disabilities.

Students who are gifted and talented are not often challenged in the general education classroom. In EDEL 429 and EDEL 436, candidates learn about classroom-based identification and assessment of students with gifts and talents, and on program options for instruction of these students.

In EDEL 430, candidates learn about qualitative and quantitative assessment measures to identify students with special needs.  Multiple resources are available, including an online IRIS module: Accountability (High Stakes Testing for Students with Disabilities) and PowerPoint lectures designed in collaboration with Special Education faculty.

In EDEL 434, candidates learn about the key differences between children who are learning English and those who have language disabilities. More importantly, candidates learn to watch for indications that a child learning English may also have a speech or language disorder, and require specialized assistance in their native language in order to remediate these difficulties and assist their learning of English.

At least once during student teaching EDEL 439, candidates meet with a speech and language specialist, special education teacher, and/or the school psychologist to determine how students are assessed for language disabilities and for gifts and talents, and what program options are available for students who qualify.  Also during EDEL 439, in collaboration with special education personnel, candidates develop informal data-collection tools to measure learning and language disabilities.

14 (d)   Through planned prerequisite and/or professional preparation, each candidate learns to select and use appropriate instructional materials and technologies, including assistive technologies, and differentiated teaching strategies to meet the needs of special populations in the general education classroom.

Well-trained general education teachers improve the ability of students with learning and language disabilities, behavior disorders and attention deficits to catch up with their peers, to be removed from special education entirely, and to become successful adults and citizens. Candidates must learn research-based practices for teaching students with disabilities in general education so that these students are not just included socially but academically as well. These practices include application of research-based instruction and materials, training peers to support the student with a disability, and homogenous grouping for intensive, consistent instruction on specific skills such as phonemic awareness. In addition, candidates must learn how to train students with disabilities to be self-regulating, to internalize and generalize learning strategies so that they can eventually become independent, successful learners.

In EDEL 430 and EDEL 452, candidates learn the benefit of collaboration with special education personnel in order to meet the academic and social needs of special populations in the general education classroom.  Candidates learn to design classroom environments to promote positive behaviors and to gain and keep the attention of students with disabilities.  In EDEL 430, candidates become familiar with various assistive technologies by reading Chapter Three of A Teacher’s Guide to Using Technology in the Classroom.

Instructors in EDEL 435 (Math), 436 (Science), and 437 (Social Studies) use resources such as the IRIS modules (online) to pull material relevant to students with special needs for their courses.  In addition, instructors use or assign chapters from the Vaughn text that relate to students with special needs and content instruction.  Other resources include United Streaming videos and PowerPoint presentations.

In Student Teaching EDEL 439, candidates design and deliver effective, coordinated instruction that includes differentiated teaching and appropriate instructional materials and technologies, including assistive technologies, to meet the needs of special populations included in their classrooms. 

14 (e)   Through planned prerequisite and/or professional preparation, each candidate learns the skills to plan and deliver instruction to those identified as students with special needs and/or those who are gifted and talented that will provide these students access to the core curriculum.

In EDEL 430, candidates are instructed on lesson planning for diversity. This includes the planning pyramid (Vaughn, Bos, Schumn, 2007) that focuses on what “ALL” students will do, what “MOST” students will do and what “SOME” students will do during a basic lesson. Candidates learn to integrate into their lesson openings techniques for gaining and maintaining attention, reviewing previous concepts and setting and stating goals. They learn how to make instruction more responsive to student needs. They learn and to cue students to use metacognitive strategies to help them maintain attention and access the content (e.g., the model, prompt, check sequence) and to internalize and generalize these strategies across the curriculum (e.g., EDEL 429, EDEL 433, EDEL 435 Math, EDEL 436 Science, and EDEL 437 Social Studies) and in a variety of settings throughout the school day. Finally, every candidate learns the importance of closure, and why children with disabilities (particularly those with processing challenges) need to have a final review in order to process the lesson appropriately.

In EDEL 429, candidates learn about students who are classified as Gifted and Talented, and learn how to differentiate a course, unit, and lesson to challenge these unique students to utilize their potential.  In EDEL 433, candidates develop instructional activities to address the struggling reader's area of need.

As part of their student teaching assignment EDEL 439, candidates work in collaboration with their master teachers and with the special education staff at their school site to develop standard-based lessons throughout the core curriculum. These include differentiated teaching strategies and assistive technologies appropriate for the students with disabilities and students who are gifted and talented if included in their classes. Candidates write and teach lesson plans that include differentiated instruction as needed for students with disabilities, particularly learning and language disabilities and attention and behavioral disorders, and enrichment for gifted and talented students.

In addition, candidates attend at least one Student Study Team and/or IEP meeting during EDEL 439, and write a paper addressing what they learned in EDEL 452.

14 (f)   Through planned prerequisite and/or professional preparation, each candidate learns skills to know when and how to address the issues of social integration for students with special needs who are included in the general education classroom.

In EDEL 430, candidates learn how to design behavior management plans to maximize pro-social and on-task behaviors and to defuse and extinguish biases. This includes training peers to support students with disabilities (for example, by answering questions about how to complete a task, serving as a 'buddy' on the playground, etc.).  In other methods courses (EDEL 435, 436, 437), candidates extend their management plans in ways that are appropriate for the content.  For example, in EDEL 436 (Science Methods), candidates are required to consider elements of a fieldtrip that need to be modified to ensure that students with special needs are included in general education.

In EDEL 434, candidates discuss issues related to second language learners. In EDEL 452, candidates learn a variety of methods to socially include students with disabilities. Candidates learn about a functional behavioral assessment and subsequent Behavior Intervention Plans, and the teacher's roles and responsibilities in implementing these plans.

Supporting Documentation (found in the Appendix)

Section 7:  EDEL Syllabi