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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SPECIAL EDUCATION
Vol 29, No: 1, 2014
ISSN 0827 3383
International Journal
of
Special Education
VOLUME 29
2014
NUMBER 1
A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Teachers Perspectives on Inclusive Education through a

Study Abroad Program in Brazil and in the U.S
Effective Spelling Strategies for Students with Dyslexia in Hong Kong Secondary Schools
Experiences of Students with Disabilities in a Public University in Jordan
How Well Do They Read? Brief English and French Screening tools for College Students
Inclusive and Individually Adapted Education in Norway: Results from a Survey Study in
two Municipalities focusing the Roles of Headteachers, Teachers and Curriculum
Planning
Perspectives of College of Education Students in Turkey on Autism Spectrum Disorders
Preparing Special Educators for Collaboration in the Classroom: Pre-service Teachers
Beliefs and Perspectives
Rehabilatative Learning: Education During Psychiatric Hospitalization Selected PreVocational Students Experiences of School in Brunei Darussalam
Supporting Social Competence among Secondary Students in Hong Kong: Teachers
Beliefs about School-Wide Interventions
The Effect of a Disability Camp Program on Attitudes Towards the Inclusion of Children
with Disabilities in a Summer Sport and Leisure Activity Camp
Transitioning Children with Autism to Australian Schools: Social Validation of
Important Teacher Practices
What Does Teachers Perception Have to do With Inclusive Education: A Bahamian
Context
Vol 29, No: 1, 2014
International Journal of Special Education

EDITORIAL POLICY
The International Journal of Special Education publishes original articles concerning special
education. Experimental as well as theoretical articles are sought. Potential contributors are
encouraged to submit reviews of research, historical, and philosophical studies, case studies and
content analyses in addition to experimental correlation studies, surveys and reports of the
effectiveness of innovative programs.
Send your article to [email protected] or [email protected] as attachment by e-mail, in
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Articles should be double spaced (including references). Submit one original only. Any tables
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Please include a clear return e-mail address for the electronic return of any material. Published
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E-mailed contributions are reviewed by the Editorial Board. Articles are then chosen for
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Style: The content, organisation and style of articles should follow the Publication Manual of
the American Psychological Association, Sixth Edition. An article written in an obviously
deviating style will be returned to the author for revision.
Abstracts: All articles will be preceded by an abstract of 100-200 words. Contributors are
referred to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Sixth Edition
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Responsibility of Authors: Authors are solely responsible for the factual accuracy of their
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JOURNAL LISTINGS
Annotated and Indexed by the ERIC Clearinghouse on Handicapped and Gifted Children for
publication in the monthly print index Current Index to Journals of Special Education (CIJE)
and the quarterly index, Exceptional Child Education Resources (ECER).
IJSE is also indexed at Education Index (EDI).

The journal appears at the website: www.internationaljournalofspecialeducation.com
The editor, Dr. Marg Csapo, may be reached at [email protected]
The co-editor, Dr. Iris Drower, may be reached at [email protected]
Vol 29, No: 1, 2014
INDEX
VOLUME 29
2014
NUMBER 1
A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Teachers Perspectives on Inclusive Education through a Study Abroad

Program in Brazil and in the U.S ............................................................................................................ 4
Sumita Chakraborti-Ghosh, Karee M. Orellana, & Joseph Jones
Effective Spelling Strategies for Students with Dyslexia in Hong Kong Secondary Schools................... 14
Nicole Wai Ying Chan & Kaili Chen Zhang
Experiences of Students with Disabilities in a Public University in Jordan ............................................ 25
Hanan Al-Hmou
How Well Do They Read? Brief English and French Screening tools for College Students ................... 33
Catherine S. Fichten, Mai N. Nguyen, Laura King, Alice Havel, Zohra Mimouni, Maria Barile, Jillian
Budd, Shirley Jorgensen, Alexandre Chauvin, & Jennifer Gutberg
Inclusive and Individually Adapted Education in Norway: Results from a Survey Study in two
Municipalities focusing the Roles of Headteachers, Teachers and Curriculum Planning......................... 47
Jorun Buli-Holmberg, Sven Nilsen,& Kjell Skogen
Perspectives of College of Education Students in Turkey on Autism Spectrum Disorders ...................... 61
Pinar Yasar & Kathleen A. Cronin
Preparing Special Educators for Collaboration in the Classroom: Pre-service Teachers Beliefs and
Perspectives ......................................................................................................................................... 76
Bethany M. Hamilton-Jones & Cynthia O. Vail
Rehabilatative Learning: Education During Psychiatric Hospitalization................................................ 87
Haim Shaked
Selected Pre-Vocational Students Experiences of School in Brunei Darussalam ................................... 98
Lili Mariam Ismail, Teng Leong Koay
Supporting Social Competence among Secondary Students in Hong Kong: Teachers Beliefs about
School-Wide Interventions ................................................................................................................. 111
Andrew Ming Hei Tong & Kaili Chen Zhang
The Effect of a Disability Camp Program on Attitudes Towards the Inclusion of Children with
Disabilities in a Summer Sport and Leisure Activity Camp ................................................................. 121
Christina Papaioannou, Christina Evaggelinou, & Martin Block
Transitioning Children with Autism to Australian Schools: Social Validation of Important Teacher
Practices ............................................................................................................................................ 130
Wendi Beamish, Fiona Bryer, & Helen Klieve
What Does Teachers Perception Have to do With Inclusive Education: A Bahamian Context ............ 143
Norissa G. L. Newton, Dr. Yvonne Hunter-Johnson, Janelle Cambridge-Johnson
Vol 29, No: 1, 2014
A CROSS-CULTURAL COMPARISON OF TEACHERS PERSPECTIVES ON INCLUSIVE

EDUCATION THROUGH A STUDY ABROAD PROGRAM IN BRAZIL AND IN THE US
Sumita Chakraborti-Ghosh
Karee M. Orellana
Joseph Jones
Tennessee State University
The purpose of this study was to examine the differences in philosophies and
perceptions of inclusive education between teachers in Brazil and teachers in the
United States. As part of a study abroad program, a team of university faculty and
graduate students from Tennessee traveled to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in order to
investigate their inclusive educational practices. Mixed-methodology approach was
used including analyzing classroom and school observations, teacher and
administrator interviews, and analysis of survey questionnaire. The participants were
teachers from both private and public schools in the United States and Brazil. Results
demonstrated that the Brazilian philosophy of inclusion is not exclusively related to
special education and students with disabilities, but encompasses a more democratic
ideal for all students, including those with disabilities and those from extreme poverty.
Of all the teachers surveyed, the private school teachers in Brazil had the most positive
perception of the overall role of inclusive education compared to their public school
and American counterparts.
Introduction
Proponents of inclusive education may differ from slight to moderate in their views about motivation and
emphasis. When speaking of inclusion, some emphasize the rights of those who have been excluded by
separation due to physical and/or mental disabilities, that is, children in special education (Lindsay,
2007). Others emphasize how it is the guarantee or the right of education for every child and the way to
a democratic system of education. This latter viewpoint places emphasis on meeting the needs of all
students such as the poor, those who must work to survive, those who are discriminated against, and
those who drop out due to failure (Mantoan, 2008). This means that inclusion is an all-encompassing
ideology in which the placement of special education students in the general classroom is a particular
case of practicing inclusion. How teachers feel about the concept of inclusion would seem then to
depend primarily on their understanding and usage of the term. According to Heward (2010), there is no
clear consensus in the field about the meaning of inclusion; some view it as full time placement of all
students with disabilities in general education, some interpret the term to any degree of integration into
the mainstream (p.73). The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) believes that the term inclusion
means all children, youth, and young adults with disabilities should be served whenever possible in
general education classrooms in inclusive neighborhood schools and community settings which is
supported and strengthened by trained personnel (CEC Ethics and Standards, 2009, p.255).
Inclusion in the United States
Controversies, research, and legislation have shaped a collaborative relationship between general and
special education. A wide range of political, epistemological, and institutional factors have facilitated a
more child-centered public education, (Hossain, 2012). Today, the inclusion movement focuses on two
generations of practices: a) moving students with disabilities from segregated to general education
settings; b) providing evidence based practices through the development of an effective evaluation
system (Turnbull, Turnbull, Wehmeyer, Shogren, 2013). It also focuses on What and How it is taught
than Where these students are taught (Turnbull, et.al. 2013). Cooney, Jahoda, Gumley, and Knott (2006)
stated that, mainstream schooling is a key policy in the promotion of social inclusion of young people
with learning disabilities (p. 432). This social inclusion is tied to a sense of belonging and acceptance
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(Voltz, Nettye, & Ford, 2001). Social inclusion, belonging, acceptance, and self-esteem are part of the
argument put forward for the acceptance of inclusion. For example, Martins (2007) stated, Proponents of
inclusion have argued in favor of its benefits primarily on social and philosophical grounds. For students
with disabilities, they contend, inclusion can result in academic and social gains, better preparation for
community living, and an avoidance of the negative effects caused by exclusion (p. 80).
Other arguments such as better student achievement, the improvement of teachers professional skills,
and the positive attitude of typical students toward students with disabilities are considered as reasons for
moving toward an inclusive educational approach (Begeny & Martens, 2007).
Terminology is an issue to some extent. The term inclusion can have different emphasis depending on
who is using it as mentioned in the introduction. Begeny (2007) acknowledged that inclusion is a term
that speaks to the including of all students, regardless of abilities and backgrounds, in the regular
classroom where all of their needs are to be met. Carpenter and Dyal (2007) call inclusion a philosophy
where diversity is embraced and students unique needs are met. There are those who make distinctions
between the so-called pullout programs and inclusion (Rea, Mclaughlin, & Walther-Thomas, 2002)
where inclusion is the term used for a student always attending a regular classroom. Idol (2006) stated:
In the inclusive school, all students are educated in the general education programs. Inclusion is when a
student with special learning and/or behavioral needs is educated full time in the general education
program. Essentially, inclusion means that the student with special education needs is attending the
general school program, enrolled in age appropriate classes 100% of the school day (p. 77).
Idol also made a distinction between the terms inclusion and mainstreaming. The placement of students
with disabilities in the regular classroom for 100% of the time is considered as inclusion whereas
mainstreaming, on the other hand, is when students with disabilities spend only a portion of their day in
the regular classroom. A combination of these two approaches is what others refer to as inclusion. This
combination is held to be the fulfillment of The Individual with Disabilities Education Act (1997) which
supports the concept of least restrictive environment (LRE) where some students with disabilities may be
in the regular classroom all of the time and others are not according to need following the continuum of
services (Keefe & Moore, 2004).
Although inclusive education has been gaining momentum for a number of years in the United States,
there are still many areas of concern in its implementation (Rea et al., 2002). One such area is that of
professional development. Some of these concerns are (a) how to make modifications to the curriculum
and instructional practices, (b) coordination between what is taught in the resource and regular
classroom, (c) how to make child-by-child decisions on whether or not they should be in a general
classroom, and (d) how best to go about the collaboration efforts between the special and general
education teachers (Idol, 2006).
A variety of other topics are also treated in the literature on inclusion. For example, inclusion is seen as a
way to accomplish an equal opportunity for achievement (Aguilar, Morocco, Parker, & Zigmond, 2006).
The effect of inclusion on student achievement, which needs further study, is encountered in some
articles (Hawkins, 2007; Rouse & Florian L, 2006). There are also studies on how an inclusive approach
(in the broader sense of the word) to education helps in correcting the exclusion that poverty can bring
(Preece, 2006).
Inclusive Education in Brazil
Mantoan (2008) expressed the general emphasis of the concept of inclusion in Brazil by stating that
when all students are of equal special concern in an educational system, then the democratic principle of
an education for all is fulfilled (p. 5). This concept of inclusion, as the approach of a democratic
principle of education, is continually emphasized by many authors (Fundamentos Para Uma; Glat,
Santos, Sousa, 2004). Although there is a strong emphasis on the democratic principle and equity for all,
the inclusion of students with disabilities in the regular classroom is also a central concern (Alencar,
1993).
The problems associated with implementation of inclusion for students with disabilities faced in Brazil
are essentially the same as those found in the United States and other countries (Drodge & Shiroma,
2004). The training of teachers needs to improve (Glat, 2004; Sant'ana, 2005). Adaptations to
curriculum and differentiated teaching need to take place (Sant'ana, 2005). Professional development is
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an area of concern (Alencar, 1993). The required course work for new teachers should be expanded
(Snchal de Goffredo, 2002). Finally, the basic fundamentals of inclusion and all that it implies must be
learned and accepted throughout the education system (Fundamentos Para Uma). The literature
indicates that the problems and concerns associated with the implementation of inclusion in Brazil are
seemingly the same as those in the United States and the rest of the world.
Current initiatives of inclusion shows, that educators and policy makers are dedicated to provide
inclusive services in Brazil. Hbner & Macedo (2011) mentioned in a case study about a teaching model
which intimately dialogues with the inclusive education concept adopted by the Brazilian Ministry of
Education. This model was developed by the teachers in the Clarisse Fecury School in Rio Branco, Acre,
Brazil . This model prescribes that students with disabilities, students with pervasive developmental
disorder as well as gifted students should all attend regular classrooms and receive specialized services
when not at school, so they may enjoy the benefits of socializing with other students (Hbner & Macedo,
2011). Galery & Alonso (2011) also mentioned about a student with Pervasive Developmental Disorders
(PDD) was offered a chance to take a course on the particular subject area with other student. There the
student were given an opportunity to have the Individualized Educational Plan (IEP) methodology. The
use of IEP was helpful to all the teachers in the school, but it was not the only change the course brought
to the student. It also marked a paradigm shift in terms of the teachers perception of students, lesson
planning, and the role of evaluation. The teacher took a less conventional teaching approach, using taskbased lesson plans, short duration activities, flexible assessments and other strategies, in order to be able
to teach the same content, but with different teaching techniques (Galery & Alonso 2011). Ana Lucia
Lago, a physical therapist Ana Lucia Rago (2013) shares her experience in developing inclusive
educational programs in Brazil. She talks through a web-cast about the process and the partnerships
required to develop a successful inclusive program (www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrOvE0eaF-0).
Method
Purpose
For this study, there were two inherent purposes. First, a team from the Tennessee State University
traveled to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in order to observe and interview teachers and administrators regarding
the implementation of inclusive education. Initial observations were conducted in schools in Rio de
Janeiro and surrounding areas. Additionally, interviews were conducted with both pre-service teachers
and special education professors from two area universities. Second, the study intended to compare the
perceptions of inclusive education between teachers in Brazil and the United States. In order to fulfill
this purpose a survey instrument was administered to both private and public school teachers in Brazil
and in the United States. The following research questions were given:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
How do Brazilian schools facilitate inclusion?

How does the Brazilian government support inclusive education? Legally? Financially?
How are teachers in Brazil trained to implement inclusive education?
What are Brazilian teachers perceptions of inclusive education?
How do Brazilian teachers perceptions of inclusion compare to the perceptions of teachers in
the United States?
Participants
Observation and interview participants included teachers and administrators in both public and private
schools in Brazil. A total of three private schools and three public schools were observed. Additionally,
the research team met with pre-service teachers and two professors of special education from two large
universities in the Rio de Janeiro area.
While conducting tours of various schools and classrooms in Brazils, survey instruments regarding
teachers perceptions of inclusion were distributed to classroom teachers. Upon return from Brazil, these
same surveys were administered to teachers in the United States as well. Survey participants included
both private and public school teachers in Brazil and in the United States. In Brazil, 22 private school
teachers and 24 public school teachers were surveyed regarding their perceptions of inclusive education.
In the United States, 35 private school teachers and 38 public school teachers were surveyed. Table 1
presents the demographic information of the survey participants.
Data Collection Procedures
This study followed a mixed-methodology approach. Observations and interviews were conducted with
teachers and administrators in schools in Brazil. Two area university professors also participated in the
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informal interview process. Additionally, survey instruments were used in order to obtain quantitative
data from private and public school teachers regarding perceptions of inclusive education. Teachers from
both Brazil and the United States participated in the survey in order to compare results.
Table 1. Demographic Information of Survey Participants
____________________________________________________________________
Brazil
United States
____________________________________________________________________
Private School Teachers
22
35
Public School Teachers
24
38
Gender
Male
7
24
Female
39
49
____________________________________________________________________
Observations
The observation data collected for this study can best be described as a reactive observation performed
qualitatively. Gall, Gall and Borg (2007) described observers using this type of data collection as
observers who do not seek to remain neutral or objective about the phenomena being observed and
often include their own feelings and experiences in interpreting their observations (p. 275). Though
every effort has been made to maintain neutrality, some personal interpretations may have been
unavoidable.
Observations were conducted in six schools in the Rio de Janeiro area; three private schools and three
public schools. The first private school observed served students at the elementary level. One specific
kindergarten classroom served 12 students including a young boy with a severe, cognitive disability.
Though he was socially included in the classroom, he clearly was not placed in an age-appropriate
environment. While most of the kindergarten students were five years old, this young man was nine. He
was included in classroom activities with the assistance of a classroom aide. The students parents had
paid for the aide to be in the classroom. The schools director explained that no financial assistance is
received from the Brazilian government. According to the schools director, many private schools in
Brazil refuse to accept students with special education needs into their programs.
The second observation was conducted at a private school that served students at the secondary level.
The director shared with us that the school made a strong effort to include students with disabilities
though they were unequipped to serve students with cognitive disabilities. While observing, the research
team noted that the school was in the process of installing an elevator in the building in order to
accommodate a student who used a wheelchair. Additionally, the school provides assignment and testing
modifications to students who may require more extended time on tests and alternate homework and
classroom assignments. The school director shared that they served 15 students with special needs in a
school with an enrollment of 264. Government funding was not available to this school.
The third private school observed was a Catholic school under the Franciscan order. The school had
been established to serve children from extreme poverty. The majority of the students in this school
came from one of the most violent neighborhoods in all of Rio. Therefore, many of the students homes
are very unstable. The school desires to promote the democratic philosophy of inclusive education by
serving students who suffer from extreme poverty and students with emotional special needs. Students
with more physical needs are not a focus for this school and its facilities reflect this. The research team
observed that students with physical disabilities would find it very difficult to navigate the school
environment where stairs were often used. The four pillars of this schools philosophy included spiritual,
cultural, academic, and vocational development. A bakery, welding workshop, and computer lab were all
available on site. Most of the school funding came from the area 's Rotary Clubs and a German-based
Catholic bank.
In addition to the three private schools, the research team observed three public schools in the district of
Niteroi located just outside of the city of Rio de Janeiro. Nelma Pintor, the director of special education
department of Niteroi, provided the team with bus transportation in order to visit three schools: Escola
Municipal Altivo Cesar, Unidade Municipal de Educaucao Infantil, and Escuela Municipal Mestra
Fininha. The school system of Niteroi strives to have a strong emphasis on inclusive education. The
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schools in the system are divided into cycles with each cycle having a special education coordinator.
Additionally, resource teachers are available at many schools in order to provide extra assistance to
students with special education needs. Instead of serving students in pull-out or segregated settings, most
students with special needs in the Niteroi systems are provided with extra-curricular opportunities. All
teachers in resource rooms have specific training and share with the other teachers in their schools.
Support personnel are also provided as needed.
Interviews
Interviews are defined as a form of data collection involving direct interaction between the researcher
and the research participant, using oral questions by the interviewer and oral responses by the
participants (Gall, Gall, & Borg, 2007, p. 643). Three interviews were conducted with a school system
administrator and two university professors.
The research teams first official interviews were conducted with the key officials from special education
department for Niteroi schools district, the special education department at Universidade Federal
Fluminense, and The State University of Rio de Janeiro. All participants shared information regarding
Brazils approach to inclusive education. Brazilian law requires a zero reject policy (similar to the one
outlined by The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in the U.S.) that states no child can be turned
away from a school for any reason including a disabling condition. In Brazil, students began leaving
segregated schools in order to enter into a more inclusive setting in the late 1980s. In 1988, a new
constitution was written in Brazil that included laws for the inclusion of students with special needs.
Brazil also participated in the Salamanca convention in 1994 where countries from around the world
agreed to support the policy of education for all.
These in-depth interviews also revealed that students were served in a general education classroom
pullout program. These students are included and receive assistance from itinerant teachers who travel
around the district working with students with significant impairments. Support personnel are also
available as needed.
This interview provided a positive outlook on inclusive education in Brazil, but several challenges still
need to be addressed. Teacher training continues to be a major hurdle. Teachers who serve children in
kindergarten through fourth grade are not required to have any formal educational training beyond a high
school diploma. The only educational training these teachers receive is a specific concentration of
courses while still attending high school. In addition, since the idea of inclusion has caused teachers to
rethink the entire concept of education, there is much debate about how best to serve students with
special needs in the most appropriate inclusive settings.
According to the interview from a special education professor from The State University of Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil does provide a federal definition for inclusion. Students with special needs have the right
to be admitted to public schools regardless of financial support from the federal government. In Brazil,
students have the right to social inclusion which encompasses not only students with disabilities, but
others who may be marginalized due to poverty, family dynamics, or other social difficulties.
When asked if there are any limitations regarding the number of students with special needs who can be
included in a general education classroom, the response was that The law states that we must have no
more than three students who have special needs in a general education classroom, but in practice this is
not the case. We often have more and it is a concern. During the interview, the team discussed the use
and application of the Individualized Education Plan (IEP) in the U.S. public school system. When
asked if Brazil provided something similar to the IEP, the answer was No, we do not have anything
similar to that There is no accountability.
Regarding the effort to include parents in the decision making process, a component strongly supported
in the United States under IDEA and NCLB, Brazil has no such mandates. There is no requirement for
parents to be consulted. We have a serious lack of parental involvement here. The private schools have
more though. Finally, when asked about testing modifications and the availability of alternate
assessments for students with disabilities, Dr. Glat offered that students are often given extra time on
tests, a lesser number of test questions, or an alternate assessment altogether.
Vol 29, No: 1, 2014
Table 2. Teachers Perceptions of Inclusive Education

__________________________________________________________________________________
Brazil
U.S.
Private Public
Private Public
____________________________________________________________________________________
1.
All students with disabilities
should be included in the regular
classroom regardless of severity
or type of disability.
3.23
2.92
1.74
1.92
2.
All students with disabilities
can be included in the regular
classroom regardless of severity
or type of disability.
3.27
2.91
2.09
1.95
3.
Students with disabilities improve
their social skills when placed in
the regular classroom.
4.23
4.13
3.03
3.39
4.
Students with disabilities do
better academically in inclusive
classrooms.
4.00
4.08
2.74
2.86
5.
Students with mild/moderate
disabilities can benefit from
being in a regular classroom.
4.45
4.63
4.14
4.05
6.
Students with severe/profound
disabilities can benefit from
being in a regular classroom.
3.41
2.61
2.56
2.24
7.
Schools in Brazil are prepared
to serve students with disabilities
in inclusive classroom settings.
1.55
2.04
8.
Schools in the U.S. are prepared
1.67
2.18
to serve students with disabilities
in inclusive classroom settings.
______________________________________________________________________________
Surveys
A short teacher survey instruments were distributed to teachers in private and public schools in the
United States and in Brazil in order to determine their perceptions of inclusion.. For convenience
purpose for Brazilian teachers, the survey, was translated into Portuguese. The survey consisted of sevenitems on a Likert scale. Respondents rated all seven opinion statements on a Likert scale from 1-5;
strongly agree=5, agree=4, neutral=3, disagree=2, and strongly disagree=1.
Results
After the surveys were collected, the data from each survey was analyzed using descriptive statistics. A
mean score for all items was calculated in order to determine teacher perceptions of inclusive education.
A mean score of three was considered neutral. A response of more than three demonstrated agreement
with the presented survey item while, conversely, a response of less than three showed disagreement with
the statement. Table 2 presents the results of teachers perceptions of inclusive education. Results are
broken down between country and type of school; private versus public.
Discussion
The information gathered by means of observations, interviews, and from surveys distributed to teachers
in both private and public schools in Brazil and the United States provided the researchers with the data
necessary to answer the five previously outlined research questions.
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Research Question One: How do Brazilian Schools Facilitate Inclusion?

Based on the information gathered, Brazilian schools view inclusive education not just as a means of
educating students with disabilities, but as means of providing educational equality for all students who
are marginalized. Regarding students with disabilities, one private school that was observed sought to
provide inclusive education to students with learning disabilities or physical disabilities, but felt illequipped to provide services to students with severe cognitive disabilities. Another private school was
providing inclusive educational services to a student with a more severe cognitive impairment, though he
was being educated in a classroom of much younger peers. Additionally, the student had an educational
assistant that was provided at the parents expense.
The public schools that were observed strongly supported the ideal of educational equality. Students
with mild learning disabilities were fully included in the general education classroom setting while
students with more severe disabilities were served in what was called a general education classroom
pullout program. These children received extra-curricular support and support personnel were provided
on an as-needed basis.
Research Question Two: How Does the Brazilian Government Support Inclusive Education? Legally?
Financially?
The Brazilian government has recognized the need for inclusive educational programs. Laws have
provided a federal definition for inclusion though little to no federal funding is provided to schools for
implementation. Similar to the IDEA in the U.S., Brazil also has a policy of zero reject, which means no
student can be turned away from a public school education due to their disability. Unfortunately,
information gathered in interviews stated that this is not always the case and schools in some areas of the
country do continue to turn students away based on disability. Unlike the IDEA in the U.S., Brazil does
not have a policy supporting parental participation or the use of an accountability instrument similar to
the Individualized Education Program (IEP).
Research Question Three: How are teachers in Brazil trained to implement inclusive education?
Teacher training is a significant barrier to implementing inclusive education in Brazil. Teachers who
serve students in kindergarten through fourth grade have no formal education training beyond high
school. Those who teach children of this age level only receive education classes as a concentration at
the high school level. Once teachers are employed, it is up to the school system to provide additional
training. One school system that was observed, stressed that their teachers receive training regarding
special education and inclusion through in-service. Resource teachers are trained by the school system
who then provides additional training to teachers within their specific schools.
Research Question Four: What are Brazilian teachers perceptions of inclusive education?
Based on data gathered from the survey instrument, teachers in Brazil had a positive perception of the
inclusive educational philosophy, but were not as positive about their countrys ability to implement this
philosophy. Additionally, both private and public school teachers exhibited similar opinions.
When asked if students with disabilities should be included in the regular classroom regardless of
severity, private school teachers expressed slight agreement (3.23) while public school teachers
demonstrated slight disagreement (2.92). In answer to the item that all students with disabilities can be
included in the regular classroom, the responses were similar to the previous question with the private
being (3.27) and the public (2.91).
Both private (4.23) and public (4.13) school teachers in Brazil were in high agreement when responding
that inclusive education helps students develop appropriate social skills. In regards to improved
academic performance, the private school (4.00) and the public school (4.08) teachers strongly agreed
that inclusive education is beneficial.
Regarding the level of disability, the private (4.45) and public (4.63) school teachers in Brazil strongly
agreed that students with mild/moderate disability can benefit from being educated in the regular
classroom environment. However, the teachers opinions differed when asked about students with more
significant disabilities. Private school teachers (3.41) agreed that students with severe and profound
disabilities could benefit from being taught in regular classrooms, while public school teachers (2.61)
disagreed.
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Finally, when asked if schools in Brazil were prepared to serve students with disabilities in inclusive
classroom settings, both private and public school teachers expressed negative opinions ( 1.55 and 2.04
respectively).
Research Question Five: How do Brazilian teachers perceptions of inclusion compare to the perceptions
of teachers in the United States?
Overall, teachers in Brazil have a more positive opinion of inclusive education than their American
counterparts. In reference to whether students with disabilities should be educated in the regular
education setting, Brazilian private teachers were in slight agreement and Brazilian public school
teachers were in very slight disagreement while American private and public school teachers expressed
strong disagreement. Regarding whether all students with disabilities can be educated in the regular
classroom regardless of severity, Brazilian private school teachers agreed, American private and
Brazilian public schools were in slight disagreement, and the American public school teachers disagreed
the most.
All teachers agreed that inclusive education benefits students social skills, though Brazilian teachers
were more positive about it. However, a more significant contrast presented itself with regard to the
benefits that inclusive education has on students academic skills. Brazilian teachers strongly agreed that
inclusion benefits academic skills, while American teachers slightly disagreed.
Based on disability, all teachers strongly agreed that students with mild and moderate disabilities can
benefit from being educated in a regular education classroom setting. However, regarding students with
severe and profound disabilities, only Brazilian private school teachers expressed a benefit of teaching
students in inclusive settings.
Finally, in response to the item regarding their countrys preparedness to implement inclusive education,
all teachers from both Brazil and the United States disagreed indicating that their schools were not
prepared nor equipped to serve students in such a manner.
Limitations
This study presents several limitations. First, and most important, the small number of participants in
this study makes it impossible to generalize to the entire population of either country. For this reason,
inferential statistics were not performed. Additionally, a small number of Brazilian schools were
observed which limited the researchers ability to fully understand the entire Brazilian educational
system. The entire study abroad experience took place during a two-week duration which contributed to
a limited exposure to the nation of Brazil. Finally, the teacher participants in the study all represented
teachers who work with students in the general education setting. Special education teacher perceptions
were not gathered in this study.
Future Recommendations
As mentioned previously, this study included a relatively small number of participants. In order to attain
a better understanding of the cross-cultural differences between teachers in Brazil and the United States,
a larger sample size should be acquired. Additionally, future research would likely benefit from
observing more schools in more areas of Brazil. This study concentrated on observing schools,
interviewing personnel, and surveying teachers in the area of Rio de Janeiro. Schools and teachers
outside of this large metropolitan area may possess different practices and perspectives of inclusive
education. Future research would also benefit from comparing special education teachers perceptions of
inclusive education. Finally, in order to better understand cross-cultural inclusive educational practices
across the world, further study should be conducted not only in Brazil and the United States, but in other
countries as well.
Summary
The literature shows that inclusion is a worldwide concern. Within this concern, one can find a variety of
emphasis. In the United States, the concept of inclusion is, for the most part, centered on the idea of
placing the student with disabilities in the least restrictive environment where his/her needs can be met.
There are a number of motivations for this such as better student achievement, acceptance, self-esteem,
and the rights of the individual student. In Brazil, this same concept of inclusion is considered, but there
seems to be a stronger mentioning of inclusion being the backbone of a democratic approach to
education than is found in the literature of the United States. In this sense, Brazil uses the word inclusion
when treating not only special education students but also the education of the poor and minorities.
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Beyond this, there does not seem to be any large differences between the U.S. and Brazilian approaches
to inclusion nor in the difficulties encountered in its implementation.
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EFFECTIVE SPELLING STRATEGIES FOR STUDENTS WITH DYSLEXIA IN HONG KONG

SECONDARY SCHOOLS
Nicole Wai
Ying Chan
Thomas Cheung Secondary School
Kaili Chen Zhang
The University of Hong Kong
This study examines the effectiveness of five spelling strategies used to teach junior
secondary school students with dyslexia. Participants were 30 secondary school
teachers in Hong Kong. The teachers commented on five spelling strategies: the
phonological strategy, an integration of phonological and orthographical strategies,
the rule-based strategy, the visual-imagery strategy and teaching spelling with other
skills. The study compared teachers opinions and suggestions given in the literature.
Results indicated that the five strategies have both strengths and weaknesses. The
strategies are complementary; therefore, integration is suggested. Implications are
discussed in the context of spelling strategies and measures of teaching junior students
with dyslexia.
Traditionally, children with special needs such as learning difficulties were often seen as a group of
disabled students who needed to be catered for separately in order to learn (Crawford, 1998; Mitchell &
Chen, 1996; Zhang, 2010). However, since the formulation of the Code of Practice on Education by the
Equal Opportunities Commission in 2001, students with special learning needs have had the same
opportunities as their average counterparts to receive non-discriminative normal education in mainstream
schools (Cheung & Hui, 2007; Sin, 2001; Yuen & Westwood, 2001). An important implication of this
formulation is that teachers now face the challenge of handling students with mixed abilities in a class.
As a result, not only have extra strategies been implemented aimed at helping students with special
educational needs in school, but also, the Education Bureau has provided courses on special educational
needs for teachers in general and special schools.
Dyslexia is one of the most common learning difficulties found among Hong Kong students. According
to the Jockey Club in Hong Kong (2006), dyslexia accounts for over 80% of specific learning difficulties
cases. The general symptoms of dyslexia include difficulties regarding motor or perceptual skills,
language skills, early literacy or pre-reading skills, reading skills and writing skills (Rief & Stern, 2010).
Davis and Braun (2010) pointed out that it is difficult to define the symptoms of dyslexia since those
with dyslexia do not have exactly the same set of symptoms. Although there are different points of view
concerning the symptoms of dyslexia, it has been shown that one thing that learners with dyslexia have
in common is problems in spelling. Such problems in spelling always receive attention because they are
often persistent and may affect learners for a long time. The problems worsen if learners are not taught
how to improve their spelling techniques as the gap between their reading and spelling abilities increases
with age (Bruck, 1990; Hoien & Lundberg, 2000). The International Dyslexia Association (2008)
outlined the drawbacks and difficulties with spelling of learners with dyslexia: (a) individuals with
dyslexia have conspicuous problems with spelling and writing, in spite of being capable in other areas
and having a normal amount of classroom instruction and (b) though many individuals with dyslexia
learn to read fairly well, difficulties with spelling (and handwriting) tend to persist throughout life,
requiring instruction, accommodations, task modifications, and understanding from those who teach or
work with the individual.
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Spelling is a very complex process as it includes many sub-processes, involving phonological,

morphological, semantic and orthographic skills (Hoien & Lundberg, 2000). Generally, for many
learners who learn English as their second language, learning to spell is systematic. Many students can
learn to spell through repeated practice, dictation, oral practice and recitation. Nevertheless, learners
with dyslexia often need special instruction and training in learning to spell as they may have difficulties
in using sound-letter correspondence rules in spelling correctly when compared to young adults without
disabilities (Horn, Leicht, & ODonnell, 1988). Since traditional teaching approaches are not suitable
and sufficient there should be more tailor-made and effective strategies for teaching children with
dyslexia.
Literature review
Over the past decades, a great deal of research has been completed for spelling deficiencies of learners
with dyslexia. Different researchers have recommended different strategies. The most common
suggestion for teaching children with dyslexia how to spell is to teach step-by-step. Many frameworks
have been developed with reference to this strategy. Amtmann and Berninger (2003) recommended
systematic and structured learning steps. In their intervention study, they categorized the spelling
problems into several types in order to raise students` phonological awareness, to teach the rules and
principles in English and to implement repeated practice. In another study, Mercer and Mercer (2005)
divided the words into nine competencies, and they also stated the reasons why the words were
categorized in this way and suggested the sequence of teaching these English words. According to the
International Dyslexia Association (2008), there are, in general, three types of words: phonological,
orthographic and morphological. However, teaching spelling should not only be based on these three
categories. Following, the most commonly used strategies will be discussed. The strategies that have
been suggested by different researchers are: (1) the phonological strategy (Berninger & Amtmann, 2003;
Nunes & Bryant, 2009; Swerling, 2005), (2) an integration of phonological and orthographical strategies
(Berninger & Amtmann, 2003; Pressley, 1999; Swerling, 2005), (3) the rule-based strategy (Darch &
Simpson, 1990; Moats, 2005), (4) the visual-imagery strategy (Sears & Johnson, 1986), and (5) teaching
spelling with other skills (Berninger & Amtmann, 2003; Berninger, Vaughan, Abbott, Begay, Byrd,
Curtin, Minnich & Graham, 2002; Swerling, 2005).
Phonological Strategy
Some researchers have pointed out that having problems with phonological awareness may be one of the
challenges that face children with dyslexia (Martin, Pratt, & Fraser, 2000). Therefore, it is recommended
by some that the phonological strategy (teaching phonological relationships) is the most effective method
in raising dyslexic students phonological awareness so as to improve spelling (e.g., Martin, Pratt, &
Fraser, 2000). The phonological relationships of words refer to the relationships between the
pronunciation and the letters in spelling English words. There have been numerous studies emphasizing
the importance of phonological knowledge development in helping learners develop their spelling skills
(e. g., Berninger & Amtmann, 2003; Nunes & Bryant, 2009; Swerling, 2005; The International Dyslexia
Association, 2008). In some cases, knowledge of phonological relationships is thought to be the most
important type of knowledge, and should even be taught first in spelling lessons. The International
Dyslexia Association (2008) maintained that students should learn how to pronounce the target word
before trying to link the sound and letters and before learning the morphological features of the target
word. It has also been suggested that knowledge of letter-sound relationship is the most basic kind of
knowledge required for good English spelling (Swerling, 2005). However, some researchers (e. g., Sears
& Johnson, 1986) have maintained that the auditory strategy (which focuses on syllabication and
pronunciation) is the least useful method as poor spellers tended to be bound by rules of letter-sound
relationships. Therefore, these researchers do not suggest using the auditory strategy to teach spelling as
the pronunciation and syllabication might confuse learners.
An integration of Phonological and Orthographic Strategies
At the same time, many authors have confirmed the importance of using phonological and orthographic
strategies together (Berninger & Amtmann, 2003; Pressley, 1999; Swerling, 2005). While the
phonological strategy aims to teach the letter-sound relationships, the orthographic strategy refers to the
method of accessing words specific orthographic patterns accurately and quickly (Klein & McMullen,
1999). According to Hoien and Lundberg (2000), the orthographic strategy allows the reader to go
directly from the words orthographic representation to the words sound and meaning. In other words,
orthographic representation is an abstract image of how the word is spelled.
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When the orthographic strategy is applied, students are taught to distinguish between a word and a
homophonic non-word, and between two homonyms when the context is given. Martin, Pratt and Fraser
(2000) conducted a study on whether phonological and orthographic strategies should be used with
particular age groups, and they confirmed that there was a need to use both phonological and
orthographic strategies together because alphabetic orthography is necessary to the development of
phonemic awareness, regardless the age and the level of the learners (Martin, Pratt, & Fraser, 2000).
Although Pressley (1999) pointed out that the use of the orthographic strategy probably depended on
phonological decoding skills, Martin and colleagues confirmed the value of using both strategies.
Therefore, it was suggested in Martin, et al. study (2000) that phonological and orthographic strategies
should be adopted together in order to teach students decoding and spelling providing a balance between
both decoding methods to prevent students from over-relying on orthographic coding which is suggested
to be a coding strategy.
The Rule-based Strategy
The rule-based strategy focuses on teaching the rules of English words. Some educators believe that this
is the most effective method to teach learners with dyslexia to spell (e.g., Darch & Simpson, 1990;
Moats, 2005). Some also maintain that the formation of rules in English is essential as there are various
rules in spelling English words, such as inflectional and deviational morphemes, word structures and the
features of prefixes and suffixes (e.g., ODwyer, 2006; Moats, 2005). Hoien and Lundberg (2000) and
Swerling (2005) stressed the importance of teaching morphological and grammatical knowledge about
words. Nunes and Bryant (2009) emphasized the importance of teaching morphemes and suggested that
teaching inflectional and derivational morphemes could help learners develop a systematic and structured
spelling method. Similarly, Madshid (2008) in examining the influence of the first language on the
second language (which was English), pointed out that the morphological strategy was the most useful
method in training learners to spell as it addressed the difference between the learners first and second
language and the importance of morphological features of English. Darch, Kim, Johnson and James
(2000) compared the rule-based strategy with the traditional spelling strategy and suggested that the rulebased strategy was the most effective when it was used with elementary students, while for other
students, the rule-based strategy was in fact ineffective.
The Visual Imagery Strategy
Some researchers (Sears & Johnson, 1986; van Hell, Bosman & Bartelings, 2003) maintain that the
visual imagery strategy is very effective in teaching students to spell. The visual imagery strategy uses
visual images of words to aid memory. For example, the target word run is shown on the screen or
through other methods, and students are asked to look at the word. After several seconds, the word will
be covered and students try to write down what they have seen. The process is repeated until the learners
are able to spell the word correctly. There have been some studies aimed at testing the effectiveness of
this strategy. Sears and Johnson (1986) constructed a framework for visual imagery strategy in spelling
and found that visual imagery methods were associated with better performance than auditory imagery
(which focused on pronunciation) because spelling was a visual and individual activity. However,
researchers such as Darch and Simpson (1990), who disagreed with this belief, emphasized that the
visual imagery strategy was less effective based on the evidence of data collected from their research.
They stated that the ineffectiveness of the strategy might have been due to the fact that it was not clear
whether students were using the target strategy when they spelt the words.
Teaching Spelling with Other Skills
While some researchers believe that spelling should be taught individually, some suggest that it is more
appropriate to teach spelling through reading or writing. Berninger and Amtmann (2003) illustrated four
treatments (spelling only training, genre-specific essay composing training, combined spelling and essay
composing training, and a contact control of keyboard training without explicit writing instruction) in
training students with dyslexia to spell and to write. They discovered that only the combined treatments
of spelling and essay writing improved both spelling and composing skills (Berninger & Amtmann, 2003;
Berninger et al., 2002), while spelling only training enabled students to spell better in compositions.
In addition, some studies have indicated the dependent relationship between spelling and reading.
Swerling (2005) pointed out that reading could promote spelling knowledge. He also encouraged
independent reading to increase exposure to printed words and to help to promote spelling knowledge.
Undoubtedly, learning to spell can have a positive effect on learning to read and write (Berninger &
Amtmann, 2003; Hoien & Lundberg, 2000; Mercer & Mercer, 2005; Moats, 2005) as students are able to
understand the words in text if they can spell them. Also, if they know how to link the words with the
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sounds, they are able to understand the single words in order to understand the whole text. For learners
with dyslexia, more explicit instruction and training is needed compared to their typical counterparts;
therefore, even if spelling is taught through reading or writing tasks, they still need separate and distinct
instructions and guidelines in learning to spell.
In all, the above literature review includes comments on strategies such as the phonological spelling
strategy, which focuses on teaching the phonological relationships between the pronunciations and the
letters; an integration of phonological and orthographic strategies, which focuses on the sound-letter
relationships and also the patterns of words; the rule-based strategy, which focuses on teaching the
grammatical and morphological rules of English words; the visual imagery strategy, which emphasizes
the visual treatment in memorizing the spelling of the words; and teaching spelling with associated skills
such as reading and writing. Although there are sufficient references in the literature to spelling
strategies used to teach students with dyslexia, all of these are based on Western contexts, where the
target learners learn English as their first language. Therefore, this study focuses on giving an overview
of the spelling strategies that the teachers in this study believed to be effective for secondary students
with dyslexia who are learning English as a second language in Hong Kong.
Methodology
A qualitative study has the potential to return rich information. Qualitative research also can approach a
topic with open-ended questions and potentially discover variables that can later be studied quantitatively
(McCracken, 1988). Therefore, a qualitative research approach was chosen for this study.
This study involved 30 secondary teachers in Hong Kong. We attempted to investigate the effectiveness
of spelling strategies used by teachers to teach junior secondary school students with dyslexia. The
rationale was to discover whether the current situation in Hong Kong concerning teaching spelling to
students with dyslexia is consistent with the situation and spelling strategies suggested by the literature.
In this study, a total of 30 teachers were interviewed and asked to fill in a questionnaire developed by the
authors. To test the content and concurrent validities of the questions, three teachers (who later did not
participate in the main study) were asked to review and give suggestions for improving the pretest form
of the questionnaire. Questions were then revised and retested until they were understood accurately by
all of the pretest participants. Finally, the revised questionnaire was sent to two professionals for further
review and refinement.
The main purpose of the interviews and questionnaire was to obtain detailed information about
commonly used spelling strategies. Also, they were asked to comment on the spelling strategies
suggested in the literature. All participants were experienced teachers of children with dyslexia in Hong
Kong secondary schools. About 90% (26) of the teachers were aged from 25 to 50, experienced in
teaching in mainstream secondary schools in Hong Kong and familiar with the special needs of children
with dyslexia. Prior to the study, information regarding the purpose and nature of the study was
disseminated among the teachers, and the issue of confidentiality was emphasized with all participants.
In this paper, pseudonyms are used to protect the teachers privacy.
The questions set the direction of this study:
1. What are the common spelling mistakes made by junior secondary students with dyslexia?
2. What are the teachers opinions about the five selected spelling strategies (most
commonly used strategies as indicated in the literature)?
3. How can the strategies recommended by the researchers be used to help junior secondary school
students with dyslexia to spell?
Findings and Discussion
Data gathered from the interviews were first transcribed to printed documents for more in-depth analysis.
These data were combined with the data gathered through the questionnaires. Both sets of data were
analyzed using coding analysis of similar comments to facilitate the grouping of like-responses. A
process of data reduction, data display, and data analysis was used (Miles & Huberman, 1984).
Questions One and Two: Results Determined by the Structured Interviews
The common spelling mistakes made by junior secondary students with dyslexia
According to the results of the interviews, the teachers suggested some common spelling mistakes made
by junior secondary students with dyslexia. These include:
(1) mirror image such as doy for boy, giq for pig
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(2) omission of letters such as bals for balls

(3) misspelling of vowel clusters such as dit for diet
(4) reversion of letters such as sarcf for scarf
Although only four types are mentioned above, there are more, which cannot be categorized. In other
words, the mistakes made by the spellers with dyslexia are spontaneous. This reflects that students may
have deficiencies in identifying phonological relationships. Also, they are confused about letters. The
vowel clusters and letters which are not pronounced are difficult for students because they do not know
how to spell the words when they hear the pronunciation. Some teachers pointed out that students with
dyslexia do not make consistent mistakes. Therefore, teaching them spelling requires sufficient time and
effective spelling strategies.
A majority of the teachers (75%) interviewed pointed out that students with dyslexia often have learning
problems in both their native language and the second language. Therefore, students with dyslexia in
Hong Kong often have problems in reading articles or identifying words in both Chinese and English.
As a result, they need extra help in both aspects, and they may, in turn, become frustrated with all the
knowledge that they need to learn. Most teachers (83%) advised dividing the target topics into smaller
steps for ease of following and avoiding confusion.
Teachers opinions on the spelling strategies
About 60% of the participants believed that it was most essential to raise students phonological
awareness and that the phonological strategy was the most effective strategy in teaching students with
dyslexia how to spell. For these teachers, therefore, teaching students with dyslexia the phonological
relationships between letters and sounds was of the highest priority. Two teachers (about 7%) addressed
the importance of noting the learners weaknesses in learning phonological relationships because these
may be very difficult for young learners. If the target learners are more mature, however, it may be
easier for them to learn the relationships and use them when they come across some new vocabulary.
Also, one teacher, Miss Cheng, who had been teaching students with dyslexia for more than ten years in
a Chinese as the Medium Instruction (CMI) secondary school, pointed out that it was vital for students to
learn through the phonological strategy because English was very different from their first language
Chinese. In addition, the phonological strategy provides students with the foundation to tackle a new
word. Mr. Chan, a teacher with three years teaching experience in a CMI school, pointed out the
importance of mentioning phonological relationships explicitly to learners with dyslexia because of their
inability to relate sounds to letters.
Regarding the phonological strategy, 18 teachers (60%) suggested teaching regular words before
irregular ones. However, they had different opinions about whether to teach students vowels before
consonants in the early stages. About 23% stressed the importance of raising students phonological
awareness and suggested that teachers should teach students vowels first because of the importance of
vowels in English. They might pick a certain vowel to focus on in each lesson so that students would
have enough practice in using the target vowel. However, about 37% pointed out that students may find
learning vowels very difficult as vowels are complicated and variable. For example, the vowel /e/ can be
spelt as e in bed or ea in head. Therefore, according to Mr. Pang, who had taught in an EMI school for
two years, the vowel-based rule may not be as helpful to students compared to the consonant-based
strategy. Students should learn consonants first as consonants are in general more predictable and
consistent in that students can hear the sound of the word and spell it relatively easily. At the same time,
eighteen teachers (30%) agreed that it was important to scaffold the process of spelling and guide
students step by step. However, a majority of the teachers (75%) also reported that some students with
severe dyslexia may have problems in distinguishing consonants such as /b/ and /d/, and this may not be
because of their lack of phonological knowledge, but rather their inability to distinguish the difference
between the directions of these two consonants. Therefore, teaching consonants at the beginning can help
students resolve their existing problems first, before they move on to learn more advanced knowledge,
such as of vowels.
In addition, eighteen teachers (30%) believed that it was better to teach phonological relationships
between sounds and letters before introducing morphological rules. They also suggested that teachers
should adjust spelling lessons according to students prior knowledge and need, teaching these rules only
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when it is necessary. .
On the other hand, two teachers (about 7%) believed that the phonological strategy was useful, but not
the most effective strategy, and should not be used in the early stage of teaching spelling. Miss Leung,
an English language therapist, suggested that phonological relationships between sounds and letters may
sometimes make spelling even more difficult for some learners as they may become confused and
distracted when the sound relationship is mentioned. Because of this, best practice is to discover
students difficulties in learning spelling so that further assistance can be offered and amendments be
made.
Seven teachers (23%) suggested that the rule-based strategy was the most effective in teaching spelling.
Mrs. Lee, a teacher who had been teaching in a CMI secondary school for more than fifteen years,
emphasized the importance of teaching rules in teaching English. She stated that if rules such as
inflection and derivation were taught, students would understand the way a particular word was formed
and they would know how to spell it. After they had got used to the rules, they might know how to spell
unfamiliar words by using the morphological rules. However, Mr. Chan pointed out that rules should
only be taught in the later stages since rules can be complicated, and students may be confused if both
phonological and morphological concepts are introduced at the same time.
Five teachers (17%) commented that to teach students with dyslexia how to spell effectively, an
integration of the phonological and the rule-based strategies should be used. This is because both
phonological knowledge and rules of the language are essential in learning English. Mr. Ho used an
example to illustrate his idea: when students learnt words such as unsure, both phonological and
morphological knowledge were required as they had to know that un was a prefix. To spell the word,
they had to remember not only the prefix un that carried a negative meaning, but also the pronunciation
of the whole word in order to spell it correctly. The magic e at the end was also an important feature of
some English words that should be mentioned when teaching students spelling. Therefore, he maintained
that to teach English to students with dyslexia effectively, the integration of different spelling approaches
is essential.
None of the teachers suggested teaching spelling through the visual-imagery strategy. Some teachers
argued that although the visual-imagery strategy could be easily adopted, it might only help students
cope with short words. For example, if they have to learn words like bag and cat, the visual-imagery
strategy may be useful. However, the method is not effective if students have to learn words such as
satisfaction and employment as none of the features of the target words is mentioned. If students learn
through this method, they may only recite or memorize the visual appearance of the word instead of
knowing why it is spelt in this way. As a result, they may not know what to do when they come across
new vocabulary. Therefore, the majority of the teachers (75%) agreed that when compared to the other
four spelling strategies, the visual-imagery strategy was the least effective.
Twenty seven teachers (90%) recommended that instead of teaching spelling with other skills, spelling
should be taught separately. They said that the strategy of integrating spelling with other skills such as
writing and reading skills can be employed after the students have acquired the basic techniques of
spelling and are able to apply these techniques when encountering new words. At this stage, teaching
spelling through reading and writing will come naturally.
Besides teaching strategies, the teachers also commented on the teaching elements that were needed to
teach students with dyslexia. Miss Cheng stressed the importance of implementing interactive elements.
For example, she used colourful flash cards and games during her lessons, and incorporated colourful
objects and interesting songs to motivate students. As her students were reluctant to read, it was essential
to provide something that might arouse their interest in learning English. Therefore, Miss Cheng
believed that these elements were of great importance and should accompany the appropriate teaching
strategy. Miss Maks opinion was similar; she stated that although the students she was teaching were in
junior forms, she treated them as primary school pupils, who needed a lot of excitement and stimulation.
She therefore prepared a variety of interesting tasks and presentations to motivate learning.
It should be noticed that all teachers emphasized the importance of habit formation, regardless of the
effectiveness of different strategies. They pointed out that no matter which strategy was being used, what
was more important was helping students apply what they had learnt and develop good spelling habits
through practice. As a result, they might learn how to decode and spell unfamiliar words. Therefore,
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teaching spelling is actually not only about the methods used to spell and to remember the words; what is
most important is that students are able to use strategies they are most comfortable with to decode new
words and to understand the formation of the words.
Question Three: Discussion and Implications Concerning the Spelling Strategies
How can the strategies recommended by the researchers be used to help junior secondary school
students with dyslexia to spell?
Teachers indicated that the most commonly used and effective strategies for students with dyslexia were
the phonological strategy, and the rule-based strategy. It also appeared that although different strategies
were suggested by different teachers, it was noted that all teachers agreed that explicit introduction and
explanation of the target vocabulary were needed. This echoes the idea mentioned by other researchers
(e.g., Darch & Simpson, 1990; Hoien & Lundberg, 2000; Pressley, 1999). These authors noted that
explicit teaching of spelling was helpful to students with dyslexia in that the rules and components of a
word could be explained and analysed. Since students with dyslexia may have difficulties in decoding
words, they fail to use a particular method to spell the words, and so explicit instructions should be used.
This is quite different from teaching other students because when one teaches students without specific
learning difficulties, one does not need to focus on how to spell the words as students may know to
divide the words into several components according to their pronunciation or their morphology.
Among the five strategies mentioned in the literature, the phonological strategy was considered the most
effective by the majority (60%) of teachers interviewed. These teachers stressed the importance of the
relation between sounds and letters in learning English. They also pointed out that learning to relate
letters to sounds could help students acquire effective spelling skills. Repeated drilling on such aspects
could encourage students to form the habit of paying attention to the sounds and then relating the sounds
to the letters. As a result, they might be able to spell independently. This idea is in line with the
suggestions in the literature. According to Swerling (2005), the most basic kind of knowledge required
for good English spelling involves phonic knowledge, or knowledge of common letter-sound
relationships.
Although the phonological strategy was believed to be the most effective strategy in teaching spelling to
students with dyslexia, there was a lack of consensus with regard to what kind of words should be taught
first, or whether vowels or consonants should be taught first. Indeed, there is no certain answer to such
questions. Swerling (2005) examined the effectiveness of spelling strategies in teaching students with
specific learning difficulties and suggested that some common irregular words should be taught in the
earliest stage of spelling because irregular words such as of, what and were were commonly used in
generating a complete sentence. However, if the phonological strategy is employed, the decision about
what words should be taught first and together should be based on the words phonological features
rather than on their usage or frequency of occurrence in making sentences. The choice should also be
made according to the learners level. Paying attention to the learners language proficiency level is
necessary so that teachers can adjust their steps and method of teaching according to the students needs.
Swerling (2005) and Moats (2005) advised that consonants should be focused on first if the students have
a lower level of language proficiency because introducing vowels may confuse them as vowels involve
more complicated letter-sound relationships because of the greater variations and unpredictable patterns.
It was also suggested by Moats (2005) that vowels, especially diphthongs, were more complex, and most
learners with dyslexia make mistakes in spelling words involving vowels clusters such as /ai/ in society.
Therefore, to begin, teachers may focus on similar consonants such as bay, day, may, pay and gay, if
students are of lower language proficiency or with more severe dyslexia. Decoding analogies such as
these can complement the phonological strategy so that students can learn accordingly, as suggested by
Pressley (1999) and Hoien and Lundberg (2000). In addition, easy words should be taught before the
more difficult ones so that teachers can scaffold the target knowledge and students can learn step by step.
The effectiveness of the phonological strategy is especially evident among learners with dyslexia in
Hong Kong who learn English as a second language. A big difference between English and Chinese is
that Chinese is a logographic writing system, while English is an alphabetic one. Drawing students
attention to the phoneme-grapheme relationships can help students familiarise themselves with the
writing system. On the other hand, the drawbacks of the phonological strategy should be noted: students
cannot use the strategy to cope with all English words as some letters are not pronounced in certain
words, such as k in knife and h in hour. Consequently, the phonological strategy alone is not adequate in
teaching students with dyslexia spelling.
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It was found that all the 30 teachers believed that the rule-based strategy was important, but inadequate
alone to teach spelling effectively. Some teachers pointed out the importance of teaching morphological
rules in English. However, it should be noted that learners with dyslexia need explicit and extra
instructions in learning. Darch and colleagues (2000) examined the effectiveness of the rule-based
strategy and found that even if students knew the morphological features of words, they failed to spell
the prefixes and suffixes, or even attached these features in the wrong place. Therefore, even if
morphological features are taught, teachers still need to find a way to teach students to spell the segments
of the target vocabulary.
To some extent, the rule-based strategy is more complex because it requires students to have a deeper
understanding about the language, other than the phonological features. Researchers like Darch and
Simpson (1990) mentioned that the rule-based strategy may sometimes be difficult to apply for students
with learning difficulties. Therefore, it is recommended that teachers should implement the rule-based
strategy based on the students level, with the goal not to confuse the students, but to provide them with
extra information and assistance in spelling.
The visual imagery strategy was believed to be the least effective strategy as the effects of visual imagery
strategy are rather short term, while phonological and rule-based strategies have more long-term effects
on learners. Therefore, if the aim is to enable students to form the habit of decoding in order to spell, the
visual imagery strategy, in this aspect, fails to help. It is effective if students are required to spell short
words using their short-term memory, but students with dyslexia may fail to recall the words after a short
period of time because of their insensibility in letters and sounds. The visual imagery strategy is
supported by some researchers such as Sears and Johnson (1986), who pointed out that spelling is a
visual activity in which a visual structure in learning is at work, and they concluded from their research
that maybe a mental picture is also worth a thousand pronunciations. However, in real practice, students
with dyslexia rely on orthographic or phonological decoding, and the morphological features to spell.
Therefore, teaching students to pay attention to the visual structure of the words is too random and not
effective in teaching students to spell.
More importantly, teachers stressed the problems of whether or not students apply the spelling strategy
when they encounter new vocabulary. This was also suggested by Darch and colleagues (2000) that
students with specific learning difficulties did not use appropriate strategies when spelling words. As a
result, teaching spelling may become ineffective as students do not know how to apply the strategies
when they encounter new words. Therefore, as teachers, it is important to help students to form the habit
of decoding in order to spell. Ellis (1997) explained the importance of forming habits with reference to
behaviourist learning theory, stressing the idea that learning took place when learners had the opportunity
to practice making the correct response to a given stimulus. Repeated practice and drilling may be
needed to emphasize the importance of decoding a word in order to spell it. Habit forming can be done
by having conventional spelling, as suggested by Berninger and Amtmann (2003). Continuing
assessment and intervention may also help students with dyslexia, so teachers would need to include
more guided practice when a strategy was first introduced so that learning disabled students could
efficiently apply strategies when working independently (Darch & Simpson, 1990). Therefore, teaching
children with dyslexia spelling is not a short-term pedagogy, but one which may last for a prolonged
period.
The above comments show the drawbacks of different strategies in teaching students with dyslexia
spelling. Undoubtedly, the phonological strategy is effective in teaching students to relate sounds to
letters, but it fails to explain words which involve silent letters. The rule-based strategy succeeds in
teaching students to separate the words into segments according to their morphological features, but it
may fail to address the spelling problems that the students have. Students may end up learning the rules,
but not knowing where to put the morphemes. To help students with their spelling skills, extra
instructions are needed. The visual-imagery strategy focuses on the visual features of the words and can
be easily adopted. However, it is not a structured and systematic strategy that students can apply
individually. Consequently, the implication is that no strategy can stand alone in teaching spelling
effectively, and an integration of strategies is recommended because the strategies complement each
other. Therefore, teachers can help students in forming the habit of applying the phonological strategy
and, at the same time, teach students the rules that they can use when spelling. Hoien and Lundberg
(2000) pointed out that spelling included many sub-processes, involving phonological, morphological,
semantic and orthographic skills. To tailor-make the teaching process, it is advisable that phonological
and morphological strategies be applied in an integrated way. The two strategies can work as
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complementary to each other to be used in explaining word formations to students. It will be the most
useful if the intervention in teaching spelling aims at explicitly teaching children different levels of subsyllabic segmentation, and training them in the acquisition and effective use of multiple decoding
strategies (Lovett, Barron, & Benson, 2003).
While the focus of the literature on this topic is often the implementation of spelling strategies, the
teaching elements involved in real practice should also be stressed. For example, students with dyslexia
may be discouraged by the long words and passages they are asked to read. Therefore, attractive visual
aids should be used in order to attract their attention and arouse their interest in learning. The use of
pictures is essential as people with dyslexia are visual and multi-dimensional thinkers (Davis & Braun,
2010). By using pictures and objects in teaching spelling, teachers can utilize the students strengths in
learning, which can help students improve their confidence in learning.
To set appropriate learning goals and learning focuses for each lesson, teachers should prepare well
before the lessons, observe the students learning behaviours and reactions in the lessons and reflect after
the lessons. Doing so may allow teachers to adjust their teaching strategies accordingly based on the
level of the students and their learning progress.
Limitations
The current research has some limitations. First of all, the scale of the research is not large, as only 30
secondary school teachers in Hong Kong were interviewed. As a result, it is impossible to identify all
effective strategies used for teaching spelling to students with dyslexia.
The strategies suggested were applied to students with dyslexia in general; individual differences were
not considered. To find out the most effective strategy in teaching children with dyslexia spelling,
learning styles and preferences, language proficiency and learning habits should all be taken into account
so as to conduct the most suitable and most effective strategy to teach.
Conclusion and Implications
Like many other parts of the world, in Hong Kong, most students with dyslexia study in general
education schools. As they have special needs in learning, extra assistance should be offered. Campbell,
Soler and Reid (2009) suggested that students with dyslexia work and learn with their average
counterparts so that those who encounter difficulties in learning may improve their self-esteem and also
their confidence in learning. However, while special organized and structured treatment programmes
have been proposed by many researchers, it is believed that extra learning sessions offered only to
students with dyslexia are essential so that teachers can more closely follow the students learning
progress.
Spelling is a complex process, which involves different skills at the same time when a word is spelt. In
this study, 18 of the 30 participants (60%) agreed that the phonological strategy was very important;
seven (23%) proposed the use of the rule-based strategy; and five (17%) recommended an integration of
phonological and rule-based strategies. The teachers, at the same time, pointed out both the strengths
and weaknesses of the strategies. They also suggested that the phonological strategy, the rule-based
strategy and the visual imagery strategy cannot stand alone effectively. Findings of this study indicate
that an integration of the strategies help students learn to employ different strategy to spell different
words. Helping students to form a habit of decoding words systematically can bring the biggest benefits
to students, especially those with dyslexia because they have deficiencies in referring sounds to letters
and in decoding. At the same time, teachers should be able to offer immediate response and feedback to
students, to scaffold the teaching steps as well as to assist them in their learning journey.
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EXPERIENCES OF STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES IN A PUBLIC UNIVERSITY IN

JORDAN
Hanan Al-Hmouz
Mutah University
The study examined students with disabilities perspectives toward their experiences in
a public University in Jordan using a survey approach. The aim of this study was to
take a closer look at the experiences of students with disabilities in Jordan and, in light
of new legislation, to identify obstacles in the higher education system. It found that
there was still much work to be done to enhance the higher education experiences for
students with disabilities and identified several issues that should be addressed in
order to enable access and entitlement to higher education. Recommendations and
implications for future research are discussed in the context of the current disability
legislation in Jordan.
In 2009, the population of Jordan was estimated to be approximately six million (Jordan Statistical
Yearbook, 2009). Applying the proposed population growth rate of 2.2 % and considering the number of
Iraqi and Syrian refugees in Jordan, the population of Jordan will be around seven million by the end of
2012.Jordan ranks number one in the Arab World in education (The Ministry of Higher Education,
2012). Despite strained resources in Jordan, the Ministry of Education developed highly advanced
national curriculum and many other nations in the region have developed their education system using
Jordan as a model.
Higher Education, Disability, and Legislation in Jordan
During the last two decades, the sector of higher education in Jordan witnessed a prominent development
as well as progress evidenced by the increasing number of institutions of higher education, enrolled
students, faculty members, administrative and academic members, size of expenditures, and the financial
government support to this significant educational sector. The number of public universities as a result
has reached 10, besides 17 universities that are private and 51 community colleges. This progress in
numbers of universities accompanied by significant increase in number of students enrolled to study in
these universities, where the number of enrolled students in both public and private universities is
estimated at nearly 236 thousand; 28 thousand out of the total are from Arab or foreign nationalities (The
Ministry of Higher Education, 2012).
Higher Education (HE) institutes in Jordan are required to make reasonable adjustments for students with
disabilities and it is no longer possible for them to justify failing to do so. According to Jordanian Law
(31) on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, (Section B) Education and Higher Education, the main
responsibilities of the Ministries of Education and Higher Education are:
(a) providing persons with disabilities with general, vocational, and higher education opportunities in
accordance with their disability category through integration; (b) adopting inclusive education program
between students with disabilities and non-disabled counterparts and implementing these programs
within the framework of educational institutions; (c) making available reasonable accommodation that
assist persons with disabilities to learn, communicate, receive training, and enjoy mobility, such tools
should include Braille methods, sign language for the deaf and other necessary equipment and tools; (d)
carrying out educational diagnosis within the overall comprehensive diagnosis team to determine the
nature of disability, its degree and requirement; (e) creating qualified technical cadres for dealing with
students with disabilities; (f) carrying out guidance, awareness, and orientation programs for students
with disabilities and their families; (g) providing modern techniques for educating with disabilities in the
public and private sectors, including teaching mathematics and computer skills; (h) admitting students
with disabilities who pass the General Secondary Studies Examination to public universities, in
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accordance with conditions to be agreed upon between the Higher Council for the Affairs of Persons
with Disabilities and the Council of Higher Education; and (i) making available methods of
communication for persons with hearing disabilities, including sign translators. (The Higher Council for
the Affairs of Persons with Disabilities, 2007, p.4).
Additionally, Jordan is one of the countries that signed on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities. It can be concluded from the legislation movement in Jordan that there is now a requirement
for HE institutes to anticipate the needs of students with disabilities and to make adjustments that will
apply for all students, rather than responding reactively to their needs on an individual basis.While all of
these signs of progress were encouraging, the student case studies in Jordan (Masaedeh, 1995) and other
countries (Barnes, 2005; Butterwick&Benjamin, 2006; Fuller, Healey, Bradley, & Hall, 2004; Hougann,
1987) revealed gaps between policy and practice and showed that significant barriers remain to the
participation of students with disabilities in education and HE.
Experiences of Students with Disabilities in Higher Education
Students with disabilities have long been denied the opportunities to pursue HE around the world.
However, they have increasingly participated in HE in recent years. The surveys and statistical data
suggest that nearly 9%, 5%, and 3% of all students in HE programs have a type of disability in the US,
the UK, and Australia, respectively (Henderson, 2001; Higher Education Statistics Agency, 2002;
Productivity Commission, 2003).However,it is very essential to consider the facilities available in the
school and university complexes which have to be suitable for the needs of students with disabilities.
There should be a careful attention to the design of the classrooms that has to accommodate the type of
disabilities exhibited by students who are included in the classroom. Diverse severity of the disabilities
represented between the disabled students in the class might need special demands from the classroom
teacher. For example, those students with totally blind, deafness, physically impaired, will require a
significant instructional accommodations or curriculum modifications. The classroom space, design,
location, lights, elevators, and assistive tools should be considered in environmental settings (Schmidt &
Cagran, 2008).
In addition, students with disabilities pose particular challenges to HE not only in terms of gaining
physical access to buildings, but also in relation to much wider access issues concerning the curriculum,
teaching, learning, and assessment.For example, (Fuller et al., 2004) studied obstacles that faced students
with disabilities at university. The results of the study indicated that there were many obstacles such as
the fast rate of the teachers' speech during the lectures, as well as difficulty in participating in the
discussion and answering the questions. Also some lecturers resented allowing disabled students to tape
the lectures, and it was hard to access the educational centers. There was a lack of suitable computer
programs. Another study conducted by (Haugann, 1987) to identify the visual impairment students'
problems in higher educational institutions. The results indicated that these students face many different
problems; for example the absence of counseling services, few numbers of Braille printed books, lack of
visual readers, the difficulty of adjustment with the university life, teachers' neglect of their special
needs, and the problem of taking exams and transport in were the most important. Holloway (2001)
reported that students may face increases in stress, additional time demands and financial burdens in
trying to circumvent these barriers. Many studies, though, do also report examples of good practice in
terms of provision of support and a desire to improve and widen access for students with disabilities (see
Fuller et al., 2004).When students with disabilities enter higher education they are taking up an
opportunity to increase their knowledge, to develop their social skills, to obtain good qualifications and
to expose themselves to debate and discussion. It is an important experience for empowerment (Hurst,
1996, p. 141).
Significance of the Study
In line with disability equality legislation, universities are expected to make reasonable and anticipatory
adjustments to curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment practices and students are legally entitled to these
adjustments. Furthermore, Riddell, Tinklin, and Wilson (2005) suggested that until HE institutions
consult students with disabilities directly they will remain ignorant of the difficulties and barriers faced
by them. Thus, students with disabilities are being marginalized by HE institutions who are not
sufficiently adopting positive strategies to consult students with disabilities when implementing policies
and practices to break down barriers to study (Green, 2007).In fact, Hurst (1999) argued that hearing the
voices and lived experiences of students with disabilities should be a central tenet of successfully
understanding their needs and as such they should be proactively consulted and empowered to advocate
their views.
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Although educational policies in Jordan promise to take into consideration the necessity to provide basic
and comprehensive services for students with disabilities, recent research on disability in Jordan and
empirical data gathered during fieldwork in 2012 all point to the serious disadvantages faced by people
with disabilities in Jordan in relation to every area of life, including education (Al-Rossan, 2012). It is no
secret that disabled students are under-represented in higher education.Despite the growing interest in
issues surrounding inclusion of students with disabilities in HE in Jordan, the voices of students with
disabilities have rarely been heard.
Listening to the experiences of students with disabilities themselves has the advantage of letting
individuals express their lived experience of being a student in Higher Education and enables the
physical and hidden barriers that they encounter to be highlighted. Examining the students' perspectives
provides an insight into ongoing practices at HEIs and generates knowledge about how to make HE more
accessible to students with disabilities in Jordan.
Study Purposes
The main aim of the study is to identify the obstacles to the inclusion of the students with disabilities in a
public University in Jordan. These obstacles will be highlighted to provide enough information to the
decision makers in the University and the Higher Education Ministry so they will be able to recognize
such obstacles and consider them carefully while planning for inclusion in the University.Therefore, the
final aim of this study is to make recommendations to enhance the quality of the learning experience
ofstudentswith disabilities. This study addressed the following question: what obstacles do students with
disabilities face in a public university in Jordan?
Method
Participants
A total sample of 52 undergraduate students with disabilities from a southern university in Jordan
participated in the study. There were 27 students with health and physical impairment, 20 students with
visual impairment, and 5 students with hearing impairment. The ages ranged from 19 to 23 years of age
with the majority being 20 years old. Forty seven students were in humanitarian colleges and five in
scientific colleges. Of the total sample, 15 were males and 37 females. These students enrolled in the first
semester of 2012/2013. The University in which the research was undertaken was a large public southern
University in Jordan with around 17,000 students, 550 academic staff, and 12 colleges.
Procedure
A letter from the author was submitted to the University to request an ethical approval for the study. This
letter was supplemented by the survey and the study purposes. When approved, The Dean of Students'
Affairs in the University provided the researcher with all descriptive information for this research. The
researcher approached students with disabilities and asked their permission to be part of the study.
Students were assured that the study was for scientific purposes only and that their responses were
confidential and anonymous. They were urged to respond to all items to the best of their knowledge. The
students completed the hard copy of the survey and handed it back to the researcher within one week
after the survey was given to them. Consent for participation was obtained from all participants. All data
was collected during the month of September of 2012.
A cover letter explaining the survey purposes, the term of inclusion, and the estimated time of filling it
out (30 minutes) was presented in the beginning of the study. For the purpose of this study, inclusion was
defined as reconstruction of the educational process including its educational services, curriculum, and
the rehabilitation of the staff's beliefs and roles in the educational field in order to meet the needs of
students with disabilities (The Higher Council for the Affairs of Persons with Disabilities, 2007, p.2).
The person with disabilities: any person suffering from permanent, partial or total impairment affecting
any of his/her senses, or his/her physical, psychological or mental capabilities, to an extent that
undermines his/her ability to learn, work, or be rehabilitated, and in a way which renders him/her
unable to meet her/his normal day-to-day requirements under circumstances similar to those of non
disabled persons. Reasonable accommodation: the necessary fixtures to adapt the environment
conditions related to the place, time, and the provision of equipment, tools and assistive devices
wherever necessary to ensure that persons with disabilities exercise their rights on equal basis with
others provided that this shall not inflict serious damage on the party concerned (The Higher Council for
the Affairs of Persons with Disabilities, 2007, p.2).
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Instrument
The survey instrument had two main sections. The first section requested descriptive information about
the age, students gender, student's college, and student's disability. The second section requested
information about the students' knowledge of the Jordanian Law (31) on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities. Specifically, section (B): Education and Higher Education. The survey included 15 items
that were distributed randomly to mitigate order effects and selection bias. The 15 items of the
instrument were formulated based on a review of relevant literature and reports (Alqaryouti, 2010;
Barnes, 2005; Butterwick & Benjamin, 2006; Fuller et al., 2004; Hougann, 1987; Masaedeh, 1995;
Schmidt & Cagran, 2008).
Areas covered in the survey included: general needs and services, students' Disability Office and
designated resources in the University, physical environment and assistive devices, staff, reasonable
accommodation, inclusion, and major challenges and obstacles that faced by students with disabilities in
the University. The responses on 14 of the items were in Likert-type forms designated as follows: (a) yes
always, yes sometimes, and no; (b) very adequately, adequately, inadequately, and very inadequately; (c)
very easy access, reasonable access, poor access, and very poor access; (d) yes but only some of the
buildings and no, none are accessible; (e) yes definitely, yes maybe, and no; and (f) yes or no. The item
number 15 was an open-ended question that asked participants to list the major challenges and obstacles
in the University.
Validity and Analyses
To establish the face and content validity of the instrument, an initial version of the survey was given to
10 university instructors. These referees were asked to judge the content of the survey and provide
feedback. They made comments on a few items and suggested merging some items due to similarity of
their meanings, and re-phrasing some for more clarity; these suggested changes were taken into
consideration when making the final version of the survey. In addition, internal consistency was
calculated using Cronbachs alpha. Cronbach's alpha measures how well a set of variables measures a
single unidimensional latent construct (Field, 2009). The instrument had a high coefficient (.91) of
reliability.
In order to respond to the research questions, the information from the closed-ended items in the
questionnaire was entered into the statistical package for the Social Sciences (SPSS Inc., Chicago IL,
2008). An exploratory analysis approach was applied to all data, providing frequency distributions as
well as graphical displays of data. In addition, to generate categories and themes for the item number 15,
the researcher was immersed with the data by reading the students' responses to this question many
times. Then generate the category through the prolonged engagement with the data (the students'
answers). These categories then become buckets into which segments of text are placed. These categories
are internally consistent but distinct from one another (Marshall & Rossman, 2006, p.159).
Results
The students with disabilities were asked to indicate their level of knowledge about the section in the
Jordanian Law (31) on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities that affect postsecondary education. Only
19% (10) of the students indicated that they were familiar with the law. A closer inspection of the data is
introduced in the form the percentages, frequencies (see Table 1), and themes for an open ended question
of the survey items in the next sections according to the covered domain.
Generally, Table 1 indicates that most of the students' responses were negative to most of the study's
items. For the domains General Needs and Services and Reasonable Accommodation, most of the
students believe that not only the university did not support them with the necessary resources that
should meet their needs but also the services and the reasonable accommodations were inadequate. With
regard to the Student Disability Office and Designated Resources in the University, most of the students
demonstrate bad experiences. Their responses to all items of this domain show that they did not have an
easy access to the disability office nor they have enough staff and resources or experienced staff who
have good understanding of disability issues and students needs. In addition, the responses in the
Physical Environment and Assistive Devices and staff domains indicated that the students were also not
happy with the availability of the assistive devices and the teaching staff who were not trained or
equipped to deal with disabilities issues. However, they expressed that some of the residential
accommodations and indoor or outdoor facilities were accessible to them. Finally, regarding the
inclusion domain, students' responses indicated that the university should do more to support the
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inclusion of students with disabilities and this is evident since most of the students do not have many
friends without disabilities in the university.
Table 1. Percentages and Frequencies of the study's items
Item's Response
Percentages
(%)
General Needs and Services
1- Do you have all the resources necessary to yes always
7
meet your study needs?
yes sometimes
10
no
83
Domain/Item
2- How adequately do these services address your

needs?
Student Disability Office and Designated

Resources in the University
1- Do you have an easy access to the Students
Disability Office?
2- Is there a sufficient number of staff in the

Students Disability Office to meet students' needs
in your opinion?
3- Does the staff in the Disability Office

demonstrate a good understanding of disability
issues and student needs?
4- Does the Disability Office have the resources

to address your needs (e.g., budget, facilities, and
equipment)?
Physical Environment and Assistive Devices

1- Is the campus environment accessible for you
(e.g., residential accommodation, indoors and out
door facilities)?
2- Is a special technology or assistive devices

available to meet the needs of students with
disabilities?
Frequencies
4
5
43
very adequately
adequately
inadequately
very inadequately
7
65
23
4
34
12
very easy access
reasonable access
poor access
very poor access
9
70
19
5
36
10
yes always
yes sometimes
no
23
72
12
37
yes always
yes sometimes
no
19
77
10
40
yes always
yes sometimes
no
25
68
13
35
the
10
yes but only some

of the buildings
no
84
44
yes always
yes sometimes
no
17
75
9
39
most
of
buildings
29
Domain/Item
Table 1(Continued).
Item's
Response
Staff
1- Are teaching and administrative staff adequately
equipped and trained to deal with students with
disabilities?
2- Do you experience any attitudinal barriers within

the Institution?
Reasonable Accommodation
1- How adequate are the reasonable accommodations
that are provided to individual students with
disabilities?
Inclusion
1- Could the University do more to support the
inclusion of students with disabilities?
2- Do students without disabilities offer assistance

when required to you?
3- Do you have more friends without disabilities than

friends with disabilities on campus?
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Percentages
(%)
Frequencies
yes always
yes sometimes
no
15
79
8
41
yes always
32
17
yes sometimes
no
46
22
24
11
very
adequately
adequately
inadequately
very
inadequately
29
52
13
15
27
7
yes definitely
63
33
yes maybe
no
25
12
13
6
yes always
10
yes sometimes
never
67
23
35
12
yes
13
no
87
45
Major Challenges and obstacles that faced by students with disabilities in the University
Responses to the open-ended question that asked participants about the major challenges and obstacles in
the University were coded. These were then read and re read and themes were developed to reflect the
nature of the responses. The main themes that represented the challenges and obstacles that faced by
students with disabilities in the University were: (a) the issues of students with disabilities are still
managed in a fragmented way with the Disability Office being reactive in their approach, strong policy
frameworks are not in place or, alternatively, not known to support the inclusion of students with
disabilities in the University; (b) funding for the activities of the Disability Office is very limited; (c)
learning and assessment materials are not in accessible format in most courses; and (d) faculty staff and
administrators in the University dont have enough awareness about disability issues and how to respond
appropriately to the needs of the students.
Discussion
As the number of students with disabilities in higher education in Jordan has increased in recent years, it
is a necessity to address their needs and demands at universities and colleges. Their access has been
facilitated in part by the Law on the Rights for Persons with Disabilities for the year of 2007. The
purposes of this study were to explore the obstacles to the inclusion of the students with disabilities and
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make recommendations to enhance the quality of the learning experience of students with disabilities in a
public University in Jordan.
Several interesting findings from the descriptive information of the participants and the survey questions
were documented in this study. First of all, it would be easy to think that legislation in itself has created
an environment that can accommodate the educational needs of students with disabilities in Jordan but
this is not true. The law of education and higher education for students with disabilities needs to be
enforced in Jordan. In fact, research by authors such as Barnes (2005) and Butterwick and Benjamin
(2006) indicated that legislation alone is insufficient to effect change and thus a much more complex
strategy of reviewing practices, procedures and active consultation of people with disabilities is required
to work towards a fairer higher education.
The results of this research indicated that: (a) students with hidden disabilities (eg., specific learning
disability, emotional disturbance, communication disorders) were not represented in the university; (b)
the percentage of students with disabilities compared to their non-disabled counterparts is very low; ; (c)
students with disabilities are not familiar with Law on the Rights for Persons with Disabilities for the
year of 2007; (d) students with disabilities do not have all the necessary resources to meet their study
needs; (e) students with disabilities are not satisfied with the support that provided by the Student
Disability Office and designated resources in the University; (f) most, but not all, of the buildings are
accessible for students with disabilities; (g) assistive devices are not available for most of the students
with disabilities; (h) teaching and administrative staff are not trained to deal with students with
disabilities; (i) most of the students with disabilities consider that the reasonable accommodations that
are provided to them are inadequate to address their needs in learning and assessment in the University;
(j) although students with disabilities are studying in an integrated higher education institution, inclusion
is not practiced properly in the University where the research was undertaken. Same findings were
documented by the students with disabilities when they responded to the open-ended question that
addressed their major challenges and obstacles in the University. These results are in line with previous
research that identified the educational, social, and environmental problems that the students with
disabilities would encounter at the university besides the lack of tradition in higher education for
accommodating students with disabilities (Alqaryouti, 2010; Barnes, 2005; Butterwick & Benjamin,
2006; Fuller et al., 2004; Hougann, 1987; Masaedeh, 1995; Riddell et al., 2005; Schmidt & Cagran,
2008).
In terms of the very low percentage of representation for students with disabilities in the University, this
may be due to the fact that it is easier for the educational system in Jordan to identify students with
severe disabilities and sensory impairments using the medical approach than identifying students with
learning disabilities or mild disabilities. In consequence, student with learning disabilities or mild
disabilities are rarely diagnosed and do not receive the necessary assessment and interventions in the
general and higher education system of Jordan. Approximately 90% of the population of students with
disabilities has learning disabilities, intellectual impairments, emotional disabilities, or communication
disorders. Since all these students were excluded from the admission of the University, it was expected
that the number of students with disabilities in the University would be very low.
Based on the results of this study, the researcher recommended the following: (a) considering students
with disabilities needs in all discussions of physical estates, teaching, learning and assessment and
admissions, as well as raising awareness among all institutional staff of the needs of students with
disabilities; (b) providing assistive tools which would help students with disabilities in getting the
required information from courses and libraries; (c) providing the teachers who might teach students with
disabilities with enough information about these students, the assistive tools they need and the alternative
assessment that teachers need in their evaluation; (d) hiring qualified staff in the Disability Office that
recognizes students' needs and making the University staff more aware of the difficulties that their
students with disabilities encounter; and (e) establishing an advisory group at University level to prepare
information, organize training, collect information, and produce reports about students with disabilities.
In conclusion, students with disabilities present a challenge to higher education staff to question
conventional concepts about teaching and learning. If higher education takes up the challenge, then this
could represent a significant improvement in practice for all students. Until institutions consult their
students with disabilities directly they will remain ignorant of the difficulties and barriers faced by
students with disabilities in daily studying at colleges and universities. They will not know which areas
need particular attention or development and members of staff remain unaccountable for their practice.
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The difficulties faced by students with disabilities provide a catalyst that enables the least effective parts
of higher education to be more clearly seen.
Limitations and Future Research
Generalizations from the experiences of 52 students with physical, visual, and hearing impairments in a
public University in Jordan must be treated with caution. It is unknown whether institutional differences
occurred. Future studies should investigate possible institutional differences as well as obtain larger
samples that represented all disabilities. However, in general there were more similarities in policy and
provision for students with disabilities across types of higher education institutions in Jordan. A possible
focus for further study is to explore how faculty, administrators, and leaders in higher education
institutions can strengthen their awareness about students with disabilities and create activities to
promote inclusion of all students. The researcher also recommended other researchers to study the
counseling and psychological needs of the students with disabilities and the relationship between their
self esteem and academic achievement. Finally, attitudes of academic and other staff towards making
accommodations for students with disabilities may be explored in future research.
References
Alqaryouti, I. (2010). Inclusion the Disabled Students in Higher Education in Oman.
International
Journal for Cross-Disciplinary Subjects in Education, 1(4), 216-222.
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Barnes, C. (2005). Independent living: Politics and policy in the United Kingdom: A social model
account. Journal of Learning Disability Studies, 36 (3), 24858.
Butterwick, S., & Benjamin , A. (2006). The road to employability through personal development: A
critical analysis of the silences and ambiguities of the British Columbia (Canada) life skills curriculum.
International Journal of Lifelong Education 25, 7586.
Field, A. P. (2009). Discovering statistics using SPSS. (3rd ed.). London: Sage Publications.
SPSS Inc. (2008). SPSS Base 16.0 for Windows User's Guide. SPSS Inc., Chicago IL.
Fuller, M., Healey , M., Bradley, B., & Hall, T. (2004). Barriers to learning: A systematic study of the
experience of disabled students in one university. Studies in Higher
Education 29 (3) 30318.
Green, S. (2007). Components of perceived stigma and perceptions of well-being among university
students with and without disability experience. Health Sociology Review,
16(3), 32840.
Henderson, C. (2001). College freshmen with disabilities: statistical year 2000 (Washington, DC,
American Council on Education).
Higher Education Statistics Agency. (2002). Students in universities: 2000/2001, reference volume
(Cheltenham, Higher Education Statistics Agency).
Holloway, S. (2001). The experience of higher education from the perspective of disabled students.
Disability and Society, 16(4), 597615.
Hougann, E. (1987). Visually impaired students in higher education in Norway. Journal of visual
Impairment and Blindness, 92(4), 235 -250.
Hurst, A. (1996). Reflecting on researching disability and higher education, in Barton, L. (ed.) Disability
and Society: emerging issues and insights. London: Longman.
Hurst, A. (1999). The Dearing report and students with disabilities and learning difficulties. Disability &
Society,14, 6583.
Jordan Statistical Yearbook. Department of Statistics. (2009). Issue No.60. Amman, Jordan.
Marshall, C., & Rossman, G. B. (2006). Designing Qualitative Research (4th ed.).Thousand Oaks,
CA: Sage.
Masaedeh, A. (1995). The Problems of the handicapped student in Jordanian University (Unpublished
thesis). Yarmouk University, Irbed, Jordan.
Productivity Commission. (2003). National competition policy review of the Disability Discrimination
Act 1992. Draft report (Melbourne, Productivity Commission).
Riddell, S., Tinklin, T., & Wilson, A. (2005). Disabled students in higher education. London:Routledge.
Schmidt, M, & Cagran, B. (2008). Self-concept of students in inclusive settings. International Journal of
Special Education, 23, 8-17.
The Higher Council for the Affairs of Persons with Disabilities. (2007). Law on the Rights of Persons
with Disabilities. Amman, Jordan.
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Jordan. Government reports httb://www.MOHE.gov.jo/statistics/default/asp.
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HOW WELL DO THEY READ? BRIEF ENGLISH AND FRENCH SCREENING TOOLS FOR
COLLEGE STUDENTS
Catherine S. Fichten
Mai N. Nguyen
Laura King
Alice Havel
Zohra Mimouni
Maria Barile
Jillian Budd
Shirley Jorgensen
Alexandre Chauvin
Jennifer Gutberg
Adaptech Research Network, Dawson College, Jewish General Hospital, McGill University, Universit
de Montral, Cgep Andr-Laurendeau, Collge Montmorency
We translated and report on the psychometric properties of English and French

versions of two reading difficulties screening tools for junior/community college
students. We administered the Adult Reading History Questionnaire-Revised (ARHQR) (Parrila, Georgiou, & Corkett, 2007) to 1889 students enrolled in compulsory
language courses in English and French colleges in the language of instruction at the
school. Eighty students (4%) self-reported a learning disability. We also administered
English and French versions of the Test de lecture - preuve de comprhension
(Institut de Recherche et dvaluation Psychopdagogique Inc., 2000) to 432 college
students. We categorized all participants into adequate, poor and very poor readers
based on each measure and examined scores of students with and without learning
disabilities. Although there were significant differences among groups under regular
testing times, extended time resulted in comparable reading comprehension scores for
all groups. Recommendations based on the findings are made for research and
practice.
Reading difficulties are a substantial concern in North American postsecondary education. Indeed, many
students with specific learning disabilities (LDs) have reading difficulties. Furthermore, learning
disabilities are amongst the most common disabilities in Canada's junior/community colleges (Lavalle,
Raymond, & Savard, 2012). The Learning Disabilities Association of Canada (2002) defines LDs as a
number of disorders which may affect the acquisition, organization, retention, understanding or use of
verbal or nonverbal information in individuals with otherwise normal intellectual abilities. The definition
notes that LDs may interfere with the acquisition and use of one or more of the following: oral language
(e.g. listening, speaking, understanding); reading (e.g. decoding, phonetic knowledge, word recognition,
comprehension); written language (e.g. spelling and written expression); and mathematics (e.g.
computation, problem solving). ( Learning Disabilities Association of Canada, 2002, paragraph 3)
A specific type of learning disability (LD), known as dyslexia, is manifested in reading difficulties
related to decoding problems and comprehension difficulties (Couston, 2006). This is the most common
learning disability everywhere, including Qubec (Mimouni & King, 2007; AQICESH, 2011). However,
not all students who have poor readings abilities have an LD. Some students who have difficulty reading
have not yet mastered the language of instruction. Other poor readers may, in fact, have an undiagnosed
LD (Harrison, Larochette, & Nichols, 2007; Mimouni, 2006). Another explanation may be that reading
skills are normally distributed in the population.
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Vol 29, No: 1, 2014
Regardless of the reason, it is important to be able to quickly identify students with possible reading
difficulties to help design and implement programs to assist them. Since Canada has both English and
French colleges and universities, it is imperative to be able to do this in English and French educational
institutions. More to the point, it is important for research to be able to administer the same screening
tools to both English and French speaking samples.
To our knowledge, the only measure that exists in both English and French is the Canadian Adult
Achievement Test (CAAT) / Test de rendement pour francophones (TRF) (Pearson Assessment,
undated). Although the CAAT and TRF were normed on English speaking Canadian and French
speaking Quebec samples, respectively, the appropriate version of the measure (i.e., Level D, developed
for use for individuals with 11 12+ years of formal education) does not exist in French. In addition, the
Reading Comprehension subtest takes 40 minutes to administer, thereby not qualifying as a brief
screening tool.
Therefore, one of the goals of this investigation is to provide information on the validity and reliability of
the translations of two brief (i.e., 10 minutes or less) screening measures. The goal was not to repeat the
original validation, nor to propose these screening tools as valid instruments for the diagnosis of a
learning disability. The goal is to provide information on the psychometric properties of the translations.
We selected the oft used 9-item Elementary Education Subscale of the Adult Reading History
Questionnaire-Revised (ARHQ-R) (Parrila, Georgiou, & Corkett, 2007) to allow us to rapidly screen
students into adequate, poor and very poor reader categories. This measure has been validated in English
and used in several primarily Canadian studies (Deacon, Cook, & Parrila, 2012; McGonnell, Parrila, &
Deacon, 2007; Lefly & Pennington, 2000; McGonnell, Parrila, & Deacon, 2007: Parrila, Corkett, Kirby,
& Hein, 2003). It asks students about their reading experiences in elementary school and takes
approximately five minutes to administer. In accordance with established practice (Vallerand, 1989), we
used translation and back-translation, and evaluated the French version's psychometric properties.
We also needed a brief, inexpensive reading comprehension screening test in both French and English
that we could adapt for online administration. Since we could find no valid bilingual measure we
translated the reading comprehension portion of the Test de lecture - preuve de rapidit et de
comprhension (Institut de Recherche et dvaluation Psychopdagogique Inc., 2000) in to English. This
screening test takes approximately 10 minutes and consists of 11 one-paragraph stories followed by 4option multiple choice items. These items consisted of literal questions (asking the reader to pick out
specific details from the text).
Because we needed large samples to validate the translations, here we report not only on the
psychometric properties of these tools, but also on the scores of three groups: very poor readers, poor
readers and adequate readers, with and without a self-reported LD. Moreover, we also report on reading
comprehension scores using both the typical 10-minute (speeded) administration as well as an extended
time of 20 minutes. Extended time is one of the most frequently requested and accorded accommodations
for students with LDs (Gregg & Nelson, 2012, Fichten, Jorgensen, Havel, & Barile, 2006; Hadley, 2007;
Mimouni & King, 2007; Ofiesh, Mather, & Russell, 2005), in spite of the substantial controversy about
its use (e.g., Lesaux, Pearson, & Siegel, 2006; Lovett, 2010).
The following hypotheses were made. (1) Scores on the English and French versions of the measures will
provide similar results, (2) There will be a moderately strong relationship between the two measures of
reading ability, (3) Students with a self-reported LD will score more poorly on both measures than
students without a self-reported LD, and (4) Both students who read poorly and those with a self-reported
LD will have substantially higher reading comprehension scores when they are allowed extended
(double) time, while students who are adequate readers will benefit only minimally.
Method
Measures
Adult Reading History Questionnaire - Revised (ARHQ-R) - Elementary Education Subscale. This 5point Likert-type scaled measure is available in English in Parrila et al. (2007) (the French version of the
measure is available from the authors). It was recently found to be an effective screening measure for
good and poor university students by McGonnell, Parrila, and Deacon (2007), who used a 9-item version
of the measure (items 1-9). We also used these 9 items. Mean scores on the ARHQ-R range from 0 to 1,
with lower scores indicating less, and higher scores indicating more difficulty reading in elementary
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school. Items are simply worded and inquire about elementary school reading experiences (e.g., How
much difficulty did you have learning to read in elementary school?). A mean between 0 and .25
indicates no reading problems (Adequate reader), scores equal to or greater than .37 suggest poor reading
ability (Very Poor reader), and scores between these two suggest some reading difficulties in college
(Poor reader) (Deacon et al., 2012; McGonnell et al., 2007). The measure has been used in several
studies (e.g., Parrila et al., 2007; Lefly & Pennington, 2000; McGonnell et al., 2007: Parrila et al., 2003).
Parrila et al. (2007) reported a mean of .62 (SD = .15) for 28 university students with self-identified
reading problems, and a mean of .12 (SD = .08) for a control group of 27 students. The mean score for 10
participants with reading difficulties who had been diagnosed with an LD was .71 (SD = .13). It was .58
(SD = .14) for those with reading difficulties who had not been diagnosed.
Reading Comprehension Test. The reading comprehension component of the Test de lecture - preuve de
comprhension (Institut de Recherche et dvaluation Psychopdagogique Inc., 2000) is a timed test that
lasts 10 minutes. The English version of the measure is available from the authors. It consists of 11 oneparagraph stories followed by 4-option multiple choice questions. A sample item is as follows:
Last summer, Patricia spent her holiday with her cousin Anne, who lives in Ontario.
Upon return, she was glad to see her parents after being away for a month. She told
her parents that every morning, at about nine o'clock, she went swimming and running
with her cousin. In the afternoon, Anne and her cousin had so much fun they did not
see the time pass. They visited the zoo, historic sites and saw shows. In the evening,
they listened to music and went to bed around 10 oclock.
1. What does Patricia tell her parents about?
a) her visit to the zoo
b) the shows
c) her departure
d) her stay at her cousins
Originally designed for elementary and high school, this measure has recently been normed for French
language college students (Mimouni, 2009). Norming was carried out using a paper and pencil version
without informing students about the time limit. Scoring is determined by the number of correct
responses after 10 minutes. Based on Mimounis results, college students are classified as Adequate,
Poor or Very Poor readers according to cutoffs. Students who score fewer than 30 correct out of 44
multiple choice items are considered Very Poor readers, those who score between 30 and 35 correct are
considered Poor readers, and those who score 36 or more are considered Adequate readers.
The measure, in paper format, has been administered to several populations (King, Mimouni, &
Courtemanche, 2006; Mimouni & King, 2007), including students from French language
junior/community colleges, where the mean score of normal readers was 37.24 (SD = 5.80). The mean
for college students from remedial reading courses was 28.21, and the mean score of college students
with an LD was 25.79 (SD = 6.30). Similarly, the mean for 39 college students enrolled in a compulsory
French course was 37.33 (SD = 5.74) and it was 28.04 (SD = 9.21) for students with reading difficulties,
and 26.70 (SD = 6.00) for 28 students with dyslexia (Mimouni, 2009).
Participants
All participants were enrolled in a 2 or 3-year junior/community college diploma program in one of three
urban colleges: one where the language of instruction was English and two where it was French. It
should be noted that in Qubec, where the study was carried out, all students attend a junior/community
college after successfully completing a high school diploma. Only after graduation from
junior/community college can they go on to 3-year university Bachelors programs. Students may enroll
either in a 2-year pre-university stream or in a 3-year career/technical stream. Regardless of stream, all
students must take a minimum of two compulsory English courses (or French in French language
colleges).
Sample 1 included 1889 students. All were over age 18 and all were enrolled in one of three Montreal
area public junior/community colleges (1 English and 2 French): 731 were enrolled in an English college
(59% females, 41% males) and 1158 in the two French colleges (53% females, 47% males). The median
age of all the students was 19. All had completed at least one semester of studies. Eighty of these
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students (4.0% in the English college and 4.4% in the French colleges) self-reported a learning disability
such as dyslexia (53% were female, 47% were male); 59% of them indicated being registered to receive
disability related services from their college.
Sample 2 included 432 students. Seventy-five of them (43 from the English college and 32 from the
French colleges) self-reported a learning disability such as dyslexia (77% female, 23% male). The mean
age for students both with and without an LD was 20. Among students with an LD, 25 (33.8%) indicated
that they also had Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. The rate was 5.3% among students without
an LD. Most (83%) students with an LD were registered to receive disability related services from their
college; there was no significant difference between French and English colleges.
Procedure
The protocol was approved by Dawson College's Human Research Ethics Committee. The ARHQ-R was
translated into French by a bilingual team member whose mother tongue is French. As recommended by
Vallerand (1989), it was back-translated into English by a different bilingual team member whose mother
tongue is English. The entire research team then evaluated discrepancies and made appropriate changes
to the French version of the ARHQ-R. This procedure was followed in reverse when translating the Test
de lecture - preuve de comprhension (Reading Comprehension Test) into English. The French version
of the ARHQ-R was pre-tested on a small sample of students as was the English version of the online
Reading Comprehension Test.
Sample 1. In the winter 2010 semester, we recruited students who had completed at least one semester of
studies in over 100 different sections of compulsory college language courses (English courses in the
English college, French courses in the French colleges). Students over age 18 were provided with an
information and consent form and asked to complete the ARHQ-R, in paper and pencil format, in the
language of instruction at their college. At each college, potential participants were informed that
participation would make them eligible to win an iPod (one per college). Participants were also asked
about whether they had a learning disability such as dyslexia and whether they had registered to receive
disability related services for their LD from their college. To avoid confusion with learning difficulties,
we specifically included the phrase such as dyslexia, a term that is well known in both English and
French colleges.
Sample 2. In the fall 2010 semester, we emailed an invitation to visit our bilingual web site to all Sample
1 participants who indicated that we could contact them in the future. To ensure adequate sample sizes of
very poor readers and of students with an LD, we recruited additional students from remedial reading
courses, campus tutoring centers, as well as from Offices for Students with Disabilities at the three
colleges. Potential participants read the online information and consent form and they could choose to
complete the Reading Comprehension Test online in either French or English. Also, the participants were
informed that they would receive an honorarium of $10 upon completion of the questionnaire. Data from
only those students who indicated that their best language was either French or English participated. In
addition, we excluded students if their best language was English but they were attending a French
college, as well as the converse pattern.
The online questionnaire consisted of a series of demographic questions (gender, age, presence of an LD,
etc.) followed by the Reading Comprehension Test, which we adapted to an online format. The online
version followed the instructions on the paper and pencil version. A sample item was presented first and
students were instructed to read each paragraph, answer all multiple choice questions, and not to go back
and forth between paragraphs (although students could go back if they wished to do so). They were
asked to work as quickly as possible and they were told they had up to 20 minutes to complete the test.
As on the paper and pencil version, we did not indicate the number of test items and we presented each
of the 11 paragraphs with its 4 associated questions on a series of 11 screens. We counted the number of
correct and incorrect responses at 10 minutes, as is customary for the paper and pencil version, and at 20
minutes to evaluate the impact of extended time on scores. Because the online version was not
supervised, as suggested by others (e.g., Prince, Litovsky, & Friedman-Wheeler, 2012), an experimenter,
blind as to the students status (student with or without an LD) discarded data whenever she encountered
problematic scores. When they had completed all questions or at the end of 20 minutes, whichever came
first, participants were thanked for their time and the Reading Comprehension Test was closed.
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Results
Psychometric Properties
Gender. There were no significant differences between males and females, either with or without an LD,
on either the ARHQ-R or the Reading Comprehension Test. Therefore, subsequent analyses ignore the
gender variable. These include t-tests, correlations, and Chi-Square tests.
Language. For translation of a measure to be adequate, it is important that there be no significant
differences between scores on the French and English versions. Therefore, we carried out a series of
analyses to evaluate the psychometric properties of the English and French versions as well as to assess
possible differences between them.
Differences between scores on English and French versions. Although we generally prefer to use 2 x 2
ANOVA (2 Language x 2 LD Status) to avoid Type 1 error, here the goal was to find no significant
differences. Although it is not possible to prove the null hypothesis, we deliberately chose to use the less
conservative multiple t-tests to show that the English and French versions of the measures are truly
similar.
The results show that there is no significant difference between scores of non-LD students from English
and French colleges on either the ARHQ-R (M = .25, SD = .15, and M = .26, SD = .16, respectively),
t(1807) = .62, p = .537, or on the Reading Comprehension Test (M = 36.51, SD = 7.62, and M = 36.30,
SD = 7.67, respectively), t(255) = .22, p = .821. The same is true for students with an LD on the ARHQR (M = .52, SD = .27, and M = .58, SD = .22, respectively), t(78) = 1.09, p = .281, as well as on the
Reading Comprehension Test (M = 33.14, SD = 6.45, and M = 30.42, SD = 6.65, respectively), t(72) =
1.76, p = .084. Arffman (2010) noted that measures in the two different languages should have equal
standard deviations. It can be seen in the scores above, as well as in Table 2, that standard deviations are
very similar for English and French versions on both measures.
Internal consistencies need to be high and similar. The results also show that both English and French
versions of the ARHQ-R have similarly high internal consistency reliabilities: Cronbachs alpha scores
are as follows: for the 29 English students with an LD, alpha = .920; for the 695 students without an LD,
alpha = .793; for the 55 French students with an LD, alpha = .851, and for 1165 French students without
an LD, alpha = .823. Because we obtained only total scores after 10 and 20 minutes on the Reading
Comprehension Test, no internal consistencies could be calculated for this measure.
Categorization. We divided students with and without an LD into Adequate, Poor, and Very Poor reader
categories based on recommended cutoffs for each measure. Here, too, we found no significant
differences in frequencies between French and English versions, whether students did or did not have an
LD, either on the Reading Comprehension Test, X2 (2,75) = .96, p = .618; X2 (2,357) = 1.69, p = .429,
respectively, or on the ARHQ-R, X2(2,1809) = .04, p = .979, for students without an LD (it was not
appropriate to run X2 tests on the ARHQ-R frequencies for students with an LD because the frequencies
are lower than 5 in more than 20% of the cells). Frequencies can be seen in Table 1, which shows that
students with an LD were significantly more likely to be categorized as Poor and Very Poor readers on
both the ARHQ-R, X2(2,1889) = 147.55, p = .000, and on the Reading Comprehension Test, X 2(2,432) =
13.16, p = .000, than those without an LD, although a substantial number of students with an LD were
classified Adequate readers on the Reading Comprehension Test.
Means for the LD and Non-LD groups in each category in Table 2 shows the Reading Comprehension
Test means for students with and without an LD in each of the 3 groups are similar. The same is true for
the ARHQ-R, with one exception. Scores of Very Poor readers with an LD are worse than those of Very
Poor readers without an LD. This is similar to results reported by Parrila et al., (2007), who showed that
students with reading problems who had an LD had substantially worse scores (M = .71, SD = .12) than
those with reading problems who did not have an LD (M = .58, SD = .14). Students with an LD who had
and those who did not have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder did not differ significantly on either
measure.
Registration for college disability related services. The results show significantly worse ARHQ-R scores
for students with an LD who indicated that they had registered for disability related services (M = .62,
SD = .24) than for those with an LD who had not done so (M = .47, SD = .22), t(69) =2.65, p = .010. On
the measure of reading comprehension, although the results also followed the direction of poorer scores
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for those who had registered (M = 31.86, SD = 8.07) than for those who had not done so (M = 32.72, SD
= 7.36), the t-test was not significant, t(41) = .28, p = .78.
Table 1. Categorization of English and French Language Students According to the Two Measures
Category
Adequate
Reader
Poor Reader
Very Poor
Reader
LD
Non-LD
LD
Non-LD
5
391
4
622
5
166
3
259
19
145
44
226
LD
Non-LD
LD
Non-LD
15
86
8
97
13
40
10
58
15
30
14
46
Measure
ARHQ-R - English college
ARHQ-R - French college
Reading Test - English college

Reading Test - French college
Table 2. Mean ARHQ-R and Reading Comprehension Scores of Students With and Without an LD
Category
Adequate Reader
Mean
SD
Poor Reader
Very Poor Reader
Entire Sample
Mean
SD
Mean
SD
Mean
SD
ANOVA test: 3 Categories
Reading Comprehension Test

LD
40.39
2.89
23
32.30
1.77
23
25.52
3.32
29
32.16 6.78
75
F(2,72)=1419.25, p=.000
Non-LD
40.94
2.67
183
32.44
1.85
98
25.39
3.08
76
35.30 6.79
357
F(2,354)=1066.55, p=.000
LD
0.15
0.06
0.31
0.03
0.65
0.18
63
0.56
0.24
80
F(2, 77)=50.65, p=.000
Non-LD
0.15
0.07
1013
0.32
0.03
425
0.48
0.09 371
0.25
0.15 1809 F(2,1806)=3272.26, p=.000
ARHQ-R
Relationship between ARHQ-R and Reading Comprehension Test scores and categories. As there were
no significant differences between English and French versions of the two measures, we combined scores
for the two language groups and correlated ARHQ-R and Reading Comprehension Test scores for
students with and without an LD separately. The sample sizes for these comparisons are relatively small,
since these comparisons require that participants complete both measures. Results show that for students
both with and without an LD, scores were modestly correlated, r(12) = -.348, p = .222, and, r(135) = .378, p = .000, respectively. We also wanted to examine the extent to which the ARHQ-R and the
Reading Comprehension Test categorized students in similar ways. Here, too, the results indicate
moderate relationships between categories for both students with, r(12) = .633, p = .015, and without an
LD, r(135) = .399, p = .000. These correlations also provide some evidence of concurrent validity for the
two measures.
Differences Between Students With and Without an LD
Distribution of scores. It can be seen in Figure 1 (a and b) that the distribution of scores for students
without an LD on both the ARHQ-R and the Reading Comprehension Test depart from normal and are
skewed, such that a disproportionate number of students obtain high scores. For students with an LD, on
the other hand, Figure 1 (c and d) shows that scores on both measures more closely resemble a normal
distribution. This suggests that both measures have ceiling effects, that they do not discriminate at the
higher end of reading ability, and that these tests are too easy for college students who are adequate
readers.
We examined the Reading Comprehension Test scores of students with and without an LD who fell into
the adequate category of the ARHQ-R. Although there were very few students with an LD in the
Adequate reader group, there was no significant difference between scores of students with (M = 41.33
SD = 1.58) and without an LD (M = 37.85, SD = 6.65), t(92) = .903, p = .369. The same is true for Very
Poor readers on the ARHQ-R, where the mean Reading Comprehension Test scores of students with an
LD (n = 11) was 30.36 (SD = 6.56) while it was 31.24 for the 25 students without an LD (SD= 5.29),
t(34) = .425, p = .673. There were insufficient numbers of students in the Poor category to carry out a
comparison.
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140
Frequency
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
0.00
0.18
0.41
ARHQ-R Score
0.64
1.00
Figure 1a. Non-LD students' ARHQ-R scores

45
40
35
Frequency
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
0
20
24
28
32
36
Reading Comprehension Test Score
40
44
Figure 1b. Non-LD students' reading comprehension scores
7
6
Frequency
5
4
3
2
1
0
0.00
0.31
0.56
0.78
1.00
ARHQ-R Score
Figure 1c. ARHQ-R scores of students with LD

8
7
Frequency
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
0
20
23
26
29
32
35
38
Reading Comprehension Test Score
41
44
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Figure 1d. Reading comprehension scores of students with LD

We conducted a series of one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) comparisons on ARHQ-R and
Reading Comprehension Test scores of students in the different groups (4 Groups [Non-LD Adequate,
Non-LD Poor, Non-LD Very Poor readers, LD]). As expected, Figure 2 and test results show a
significant Group main effect, F(3,1885) = 1854.89, p = .000, on the ARHQ-R. Moreover, post hoc tests
show that all groups are significantly different from each other, with the LD group having the worst and
the Adequate reader group having the best scores.
0.6
Mean Score
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
Non-LD
Adequate
readers
Non-LD Poor Non-LD Very

readers
Poor readers
LD
Category
Figure 2. Significant ARHQ-R Group main effect

To evaluate the impact of extended time (20 minutes instead of 10) on the Reading Comprehension Test
scores of the 4 groups (Non-LD Adequate, Non-LD Poor, Non-LD Very Poor readers, LD) we
performed a 2-way repeated measures ANOVA: 4 Groups x 2 Times (10 minutes, 20 minutes). Both the
Group, F(3,416) = 230.65, p = .000, and the Time, F(1,416) = 2483.24, p = .000, main effects were
significant, as was the interaction, F(3,416) = 337.56, p = .000. Best seen in Figure 3, this shows that the
groups differed at 10 minutes, with non-LD Adequate readers having substantially better scores than
students with an LD or non-LD Poor readers who, in turn, had better scores than Non-LD Very Poor
readers. By 20 minutes, all groups improved, to the point where their scores were very similar.
Discussion
Psychometric Properties of the Two Screening Instruments
Translations and linguistic differences. We predicted (hypothesis 1) that scores on the English and
French versions of the measures would provide similar results. The results confirm this prediction. There
were no significant differences on either measure between English and French versions between students
with an LD, or between students without an LD. The same was true when we divided participants
without an LD into Adequate, Poor and Very Poor categories where, once more, there were no
significant differences between the two language groups. We were able to test the internal consistency
reliability of the ARHQ-R. The results show good psychometric properties on both the English and
French versions for students as well as for students without LDs. Modest correlations between the
ARHQ-R and the Reading Comprehension Test for the various groups provide evidence related to
concurrent validity.
45
40
Mean Score
Non-LD Adequate readers

Non-LD Poor readers
35
Non-LD Very Poor readers

LD
30
25
10 mins
20 mins
Time
Figure 3. Effect of regular and extended time on reading comprehension scores

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Relationship between ARHQ-R and the Reading Comprehension Test. We predicted (Hypothesis 2) that
scores on the two measures would be related. This hypothesis, too is confirmed as our results show that
scores on the two measures are modestly correlated both for students with and without an LD. When we
grouped students into Adequate, Poor and Very Poor categories, the results for students without an LD
were very similar. For students with an LD, however, the relationship between ARHQ-R and Reading
Comprehension Test categories was substantially stronger (r = .633), suggesting that the ARHQ-R does a
good job of predicting Reading Comprehension Test category for this population.
Gender. There were no differences between males and females with an LD either on the ARHQ-R or the
Reading Comprehension Test. The same was true of students without an LD.
Distribution of scores. The results show that both the ARHQ-R and the Reading Comprehension Test fail
to discriminate at the high end, as there were pronounced ceiling effects on both measures. At the lower
end of reading proficiency, however, both for poor and very poor readers without an LD and for students
with an LD, both measures performed as expected and resulted in normal appearing distributions. Thus,
both measures can be useful as screening tools for reading difficulties.
The mean reading comprehension score of students with an LD was somewhat higher than expected
given previous findings (King et al., 2006; Mimouni, 2009; Mimouni & King, 2007). There are three
possible explanations for this. First, our sample of students with an LD was based on self-identification.
Thus, it is possible that some of them did not have a diagnosable LD. Other possibilities include the lack
of homogeneity within the LD classification, so that students with an LD do not necessarily have reading
difficulties (Learning Disabilities Association of Canada, 2002). Moreover, approximately 1/3 of the
sample also had Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and it has been shown that college students
with this disorder performed significantly better on an online multiple choice task than they did on paperand-pencil testing (Lee, Osborne, & Carpenter, 2010).
As for ARHQ-R, the mean of the entire non-LD sample was .25, a score substantially worse than the .12
reported by Parrila et al. (2007). The difference may be due to the fact that our sample was comprised of
junior/community college students while Parrila et al.'s sample consisted of university students. Also, our
sample was quite large (n = 1809) and there was no pre-selection of students, since all were enrolled in
compulsory English or French courses. Parrila et al.'s sample, on the other hand, was relatively small (n
= 27) and students were described as reporting no history of reading problems. Moreover, their mean
score of .12 is similar to our mean score for the Adequate reader category, rather than for our entire
sample. Thus, it is possible that selecting students with no reading problems samples only the top half of
the distribution, and this may not be normative for the entire school.
Cutoffs. When it came to categorization of students as adequate, poor and very poor readers, the ARHQR cutoffs identified a large proportion of students with an LD as very poor readers in elementary school,
and their scores were substantially worse than those of Very Poor readers without an LD. This finding is
consistent with results reported by Parrila et al. (2007).
Categories based on the Reading Comprehension Test, however, did not fare well, since these grouped a
third of the students with an LD in each of the three categories, including adequate reader. Regardless of
whether this is due to the ceiling effect, the online administration of the measure, or to compensated
dyslexics who have learned effective reading strategies (e.g., McGonnell et al., 2007), this measure, when
administered online to junior/community college students with the current cutoffs, does not do a good
job of discriminating reading comprehension among students with an LD. We recommend adjusting the
cutoffs upward so that a larger proportion of students with an LD are categorized as poor or very poor
readers. Figure 3 provides some guidelines.
Sample Characteristics
Prevalence. It is important to note that slightly over 4% of students in sample 1, which is representative
of the entire populations in participating colleges, self-reported a learning disability such as dyslexia. A
recent study shows that the rate of undiagnosed LDs was very high in Canadian universities (Harrison et
al., 2007), suggesting that many students may be unaware they have this disability. Thus the 4% figure is
likely an underestimation of the prevalence of an LD in the junior/community college population.
Among students with an LD, approximately 1/3 also indicated that they also had Attention Deficit
Hyperactivity Disorder. Such findings, which have also been reported elsewhere (Fletcher, Shaywitz, &
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Shaywitz, 1999), coupled with the results on differences in reading comprehension, suggest that the
population of students who self-report an LD is by no means homogeneous and that students likely have
different needs in an academic context. Parenthetically, it should be noted that the self-reported rate of
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder was approximately 5% among students without an LD, a figure
comparable to that recently reported for the adult population of the United States (Kessler et al., 2006).
So this disability, too, is quite common in the junior/community college population.
Conceptions of an LD are somewhat different in the English and French colleges, with the French system
focusing primarily on dyslexia (Dubois & Roberge, 2010). The definitions used in the English language
North American system are broader and can include specific difficulties with reading, memory, thinking,
spelling, mathematics, and the ability to listen and to speak (Learning Disabilities Association of Canada,
2002; Li & Hamel, 2003). Therefore, we expected a larger proportion of students to indicate they had an
LD in the English college. Contrary to expectations, the rate was slightly, although not significantly
greater in the French colleges (4.4%) than in the English college (4.0%).
Registration for disability related services. It is also worth mentioning that only 59% of students with a
self-reported LD in the representative sample (i.e., sample 1) indicated that they had registered to receive
disability related services from their college and that their ARHQ-R scores were significantly worse than
those of students reporting an LD who had not registered. Reasons for not registering are diverse and
range from lack of information about available services, wanting to do things like everyone else, and not
wishing to being singled out as disabled, to not wanting to have a record of a disability (Lightner, KippsVaughan, Schulte, & Trice, 2012). Although it is also possible that registered students had been
diagnosed with an LD, making them eligible for services, while unregistered students did not have
adequate documentation, we believe our findings suggest that registered students had more severe LDs
and that they experienced more difficulties in school which needed accommodations. This is consistent
with research which shows that graduates who self-reported an LD and who had registered for disability
related services had lower college exit scores than graduates with other types of disabilities, while there
was no significant difference between graduates with learning and other disabilities among those who
had not registered for disability related services (Jorgensen, Fichten, & Havel, 2007).
Notwithstanding poorer reading scores, the literature shows that students who had registered for
disability related services from their college experienced fewer obstacles and more facilitators of
academic success and that they rated their college experience as easier and more satisfying than
nondisabled students or students with disabilities who had not registered for disability related services
(Jorgensen, Fichten, & Havel, 2009; Jorgensen, Fichten, & Havel, 2012). Since students with disabilities
who had not registered for services were least satisfied with their college experience, students with an
LD, even if their disability is relatively mild, may wish to register for services to make their academic
lives more productive and more pleasant.
Differences between poor readers with and without an LD. On the ARHQ-R, students who reported an
LD had the worst scores. On the Reading Comprehension Test, however, students with an LD and poor
readers without an LD had very similar scores. What was surprising is that students with an LD had
significantly better scores than the substantial numbers of students without an LD who fell into the very
poor category (76 of the 357 students). Since none of these students were second language students, it is
important to find out about their reading issues.
We have little information to offer about very poor readers who do not report an LD and who are not
second language learners. What accounts for their abysmal reading comprehension results? Could these
be students with an undiagnosed LD, as suggested by others (Deacon et al., 2012; Harrison et al., 2007),
who are not aware of their LD and who have never had any intervention targeted for improving reading?
Is reading comprehension simply a normal variant in the population? Although we do not have answers
to these questions, we join others who have raised a red flag about the existence of this relatively large
group of students in our colleges and universities (e.g., Harrison et al., 2007; Parrila et al., 2007;
Mimouni, 2006; Mimouni & King, 2007).
Extended Time
Although Steward and Morris-Wales (2004) acknowledged the popularity of extended time as a
disability accommodation, they argued that there is little evidence to support its use. Indeed, there is
substantial controversy about this topic (Gregg & Nelson, 2012; Lovett, 2010). Consistent with
Hypotheses 3 and 4, our data show substantial and significant differences among groups at 10 minutes on
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the Reading Comprehension Test which virtually disappeared by 20 minutes (extended time). All groups
improved to the point that the scores of the four groups, including those of students with LDs, were
indistinguishable, with the most substantial gain being made by very poor readers without an LD. This
finding is consistent with reports in the literature which show that extended time results in comparable
outcomes for students with and without an LD (e.g., Lesaux et al., 2006; Mimouni & King, 2007).
Limitations
We have no concerns about the validity of the translations. We do, however, urge caution about the
generalizability of the reading comprehension findings on adequate, poor and very poor readers. First,
although the samples were relatively large, we studied students from only three colleges, only one of
which was English. Sample 1, whose students completed the ARHQ-R, was representative of the
students in the three colleges studied. But sample 2, whose students completed the Reading
Comprehension Test, over-sampled poor and very poor readers as well as those with an LD. In addition,
because there were relatively few students in the adequate and poor ARHQ-R categories who also
completed the Reading Comprehension Test, some analyses are severely under powered. Another
concern, although unavoidable given the study design, is that the data are based on self-reports of
disability, and not on documented conditions. Also, the Reading Comprehension Test was administered
online and this, too, may have affected scores (Higgins, Russell, & Hoffman, 2005; Puhan, Boughton, &
Kim, 2007). And finally, the administration of this measure was not supervised.
Future Research
Future research on the relationship between ARHQ-R and Reading Comprehension Test scores should be
carried out with more representative samples from several colleges. In such studies, it would be
important to ensure that an LD is based on official documentation rather than simply on self-reports.
Moreover, it would be important to evaluate the equivalence of paper-and-pencil and online versions of
the Reading Comprehension Test. Also, additional norming of the Reading Comprehension Test for
college students is needed. A time period less than 10 minutes may be needed to distinguish
exceptionally good readers from merely adequate readers.
Since extended time is one of the most common accommodations requested by college students with
LDs, more research is required in this area. Our study evaluated scores at regular time and double time
and showed that at double time there were few differences among adequate poor and very poor readers.
Would time-and-a-half have resulted in similar outcomes? This is an empirical question and deserves
additional investigation.
Recommendations
Reading Screening
Colleges should administer the same valid, quick, easy, reading-screening tools, in their preferred
language, to all incoming students. These would allow for both exciting research and applied outcomes.
First, this would result in comparability of investigations and samples. Second, screening test results
could be used to identify potentially poor readers early, allowing for early intervention. Students' scores
can also be used to recommend LD testing. Some students will, likely, have a formal report of a learning
disability. In this case, reading-screening results could be used to ascertain the nature of students'
learning disabilities (e.g., reading. writing, mathematics, etc. see Learning Disabilities Association of
Canada, 2002) and to further validate the screening measures, the evaluations, as well as requested
accommodations.
Poor Readers Without an LD
Perhaps the most interesting research question concerns what makes for poor readers who do not indicate
that they have an LD. This group of students, often referred to as garden-variety poor readers in the
literature (e.g., Stoodley, Ray, Jack, & Stein, 2008) requires further examination in terms of who they are
and how to meet their needs. Why do some students self-report an LD while other, weaker readers do not
do so? Is the difference the actual presence of an LD or is the difference most easily accounted for by
examination of who is more willing to assume the burden of a diagnostic label such as an LD. A related
question is what makes for poor readers if it is not an LD? Is it poor instruction or instruction that does
not work for a particular individual? Is it simply lack of practice reading because of alternate ways of
information acquisition such as through DVDs or YouTube? Or do college students have a range of
reading abilities where a key percentage of them fall into weak categories? Moreover, it would be of
interest to find out how students with an LD who have poor ARHQ-R scores become adequate readers on
a reading comprehension test.
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Extended Time
Disability service providers often struggle with the decision about which students with an LD should be
given extended time on college tests and exams, which usually have both a speed and a power
component. There is, however, no consensus on what basis this is to be done (see Ofiesh et al., 2005).
The current approach is to provide students with accommodations based on a medical label, such as a
diagnosed LD, instead of on functional limitations, such as poor reading comprehension. The present
findings of large numbers of poor and very poor readers who did not report an LD suggest a move away
from medical labels toward looking at functional limitations.
Our data, which show that students with and without an LD do not differ once they have an ARHQ-R
classification, suggest that one possibility is to administer a screening measure such as the ARHQ-R and
use its categories for decision making. This could deny extended time to approximately 20% of students
with an LD who score as adequate readers on the ARHQ-R. Of course, before one could incorporate such
a strategy, one would need extensive replication of our findings, a sophisticated faking scale for the
ARHQ-R, and a large sample of students with a diagnosed LD who complete the ARHQ-R as well as
multiple measures of reading speed and comprehension. One should also, of course, provide extended
time to the up to 20% of students who score as very poor readers on the ARHQ-R but who do not
indicate that they have an LD. There is also the issue of what is to be done with the close to 40% of
students with an LD who are not registered to receive disability related services from their college.
Universal Instructional Design
As an alternate to decision making about accommodations, we suggest that wherever possible, colleges
follow the tenets of universal instructional design (Barile, Nguyen, & Fichten, 2012; Burgstahler & Cory,
2008; Scott, McGuire, & Shaw, 2003) and provide extended time to all students when speed is not of the
essence. This could provide adequate opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned not only for
students with an LD but also for the substantial numbers of students in the college who are poor or very
poor readers, as well as for second (and third) language learners who have not yet mastered the language
of instruction at their college.
The large number of poor and very poor readers, the findings on the impact of extended time, the
probable large number of students with an LD who do not have formal (expensive) documentation to
guarantee them accommodations, and the interesting finding that a substantial number of students with
an LD fell into the adequate reader category suggests a move away from the accommodations model to
that of universal design of instruction. Exams that do not need a speeded component could be designed
so that most students complete it in half of the time allocated. This would give all students extended time.
Learning/tutoring centers can offer reading effectiveness workshops to all students. Those with poor
screening test results could be encouraged to attend. These workshops could also provide instruction on
information and communication technologies that can assist students to read more effectively. Of course,
these technologies should be made available to all students in general use computer labs.
Reading is an essential skill for college success. Those who are at risk in this area need programs and
resources made available as soon as they enter college to prevent subsequent difficulties. Let us continue
to put all of the odds in the students favor.
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INCLUSIVE AND INDIVIDUALLY ADAPTED EDUCATION IN NORWAY

RESULTS FROM A SURVEY STUDY IN TWO MUNICIPALITIES FOCUSING THE ROLES
OF HEADTEACHERS, TEACHERS AND CURRICULUM PLANNING.
Jorun Buli-Holmberg
Sven Nilsen
Kjell Skogen
University of Oslo
This article aims to throw light on how the intentions behind inclusive and individually
adapted education in Norwegian compulsory schools are followed up in practice with
regard to central aspects of the roles of headteachers, teachers and curriculum
planning. The study was carried out as a postal survey of compulsory school teachers
in two municipalities. When the results are viewed as a whole, it is evident that some of
the teachers have positive assessments of their own practice with regard to various
aspects of inclusive and individually adapted education. However, there are a large
number of teachers who have not given such positive feedback. In the majority of
cases, less than half of the teachers agree with the category to a large degree in their
responses. Thus, there appears to be a clear need in the role of headteachers, teachers
and curriculum planning for further development in order to gain understanding for
and realise the intentions of inclusive and individually adapted education.
The education policy in Norway has a very long tradition in relation to the ambition to develop a school
that can foster inclusive and individually adapted education. This is based on developing one school for
all that can facilitate the conditions of learning for all children, regardless of their background and
aptitudes (Nilsen, 2010). We also belong to an international community that has focused this way of
thinking, and UNESCO, among others, has for a number of years flown the flag for these ideas under
banners such as education for all (EFA) and an inclusive school (UNESCO, 1994).
The Norwegian Educational Act states in paragraph 1-3 that: Education shall be adapted to the abilities
and aptitudes of individual pupils. This is the formal basis for Individually Adapted Education. This
principle shall be maintained in an inclusive context. The principles of inclusive and individual adapted
education are overarching and apply to all pupils. The latest Norwegian education system reforms (The
Knowledge Promotion 2006) clarifies that inclusive and individually adapted education entails all pupils
taking part in the academic, cultural and social community based on their abilities and aptitudes (Report
no. 30 to the Storting 2003-2004). The education is primarily aimed at catering for the pupils differences
within the framework of the community. This means that the teaching must be differentiated to the
diversity of the pupil community. Education in Norway is nowadays based on the understanding that
everyone is of value to the community, and that all pupils have the potential to develop based on their
abilities and aptitudes in a school for all.
As highlighted in the Education Act, the initial challenge is to adapt the ordinary education with a view
to supporting the education of all pupils. Second, some pupils need greater support in their education
through special education. Special education entails a more extensive adaptation than that normally
provided in ordinary education with regard to the input of resources and expertise as well as
differentiation of content. However, the implementation of centrally formulated intensions is a complex
process, and is largely dependent on the teachers interpretations of the intentions (Goodlad, 1979).
Research question
The main research question for this article is: How do teachers characterise the situation in Norwegian
compulsory schooling with regard to realising the intentions of inclusive and individually adapted
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education? This research question is limited to cover compulsory schooling in two municipalities in
Norway. Furthermore the research question is broken down into three sub-questions, which cover the
realisation of the intentions of inclusive and individually adapted education in the areas of the role of the
head teacher, the teachers role and curriculum planning. For each of these areas, the study is further
specified into central sub-aspects. These sub-aspects are explained in more detail in the next section
covering each area, and are followed up with the presentation of findings and discussion.
The empirical analysis shows the percentage of teachers who selected the most positive responses to the
questions relating to the three areas and the sub-aspects therein. The objective is to establish a picture of
how the situation is to gain practical success in carrying out the intentions in these areas.
Headteachers Role in Inclusive and Individually Adapted Education
If the Knowledge Promotion is to have the desired effect, teachers and headteachers need to realise the
intentions behind the reform. Headteachers have a special responsibility here to safeguard the overall
perspective of the efforts to develop optimum differentiated education for all pupils, as imposed by the
Education Act. Headteachers face challenges with regard to administrative management, which includes
effective routines and quality assurance systems, as well as professional educational leadership that
ensures continuous improvement in line with the schools objective (Shiba and Walden, 2001; Skogen,
2004). If, for example, the special education is to work well in relation to the intentions for optimum
differentiated education for all, a great deal is required of the headteachers with regard to the
organisation and evaluation of processes that lead to individual resolutions, as well as the planning,
execution and evaluation of the special education itself.
International research has focussed on a number of conditions that must exist in order for a successful
innovation process of this kind to be realised. One such condition is that all professionals who are
involved have a conscious focus on the primary user, which in this context is the pupil (Shiba & Walden,
2001). This requires the professionals, i.e. teachers and headteachers, to have a concrete and common
understanding of what they need to do as individuals and as a group (Kotter, 2002; Skogen, 2006). It is
also of vital importance that those involved have a clear understanding of the perspective continuous
improvement, and are not lured into believing that a one-off improvement will suffice (Shiba & Walden,
2001; Skogen, 2004). Additionally, the professionals need to have faith in the suitability of the new
practice, in other words they must take a degree of ownership of the change. This ownership is best
developed through an optimum balance of participation in discussions and decisions; something that
requires continuous and active cooperation and interaction between headteachers, teachers, pupils and
parents/guardians where appropriate (Skogen, 2004; Skogen, 2005). A coordinated effort is also required
with complementary roles that enable a holistic input. Headteachers face major challenges here in
relation to facilitating, managing, evaluating and improving processes that safeguard the relevant success
factors. Furthermore, the realisation of a new practice will always require a high standard of competency
at the work place, thus making it necessary to develop a learning organisation (Senge, 1990). The main
characteristic of such a learning organisation is that the parties involved use their practical experiences as
a basis, and process these experiences by reflecting on their own practice and through learning dialogues
between cooperation partners (Evensen & Hmelo, 2000).
Teachers Role in Inclusive and Individually Adapted Education
Teachers play a significant role in inclusive and individually adopted education to implement the
intentions behind the in the Knowledge Promotion reform (2006). A central issue in inclusive and
individually adapted education is to entail a higher level of correlation between the teaching and the
pupils learning abilities and aptitudes within the framework of a learning community (Vygotsky, 1978).
A study of teachers practice of inclusive and individually adapted education in Norway concludes that
there are major differences between the pupils and the teachers perceptions of the degree to which the
teaching is adapted to the individual pupils needs (Imsen, 2003). Other research shows similar
tendencies with regard to the lack of coherence between what the teachers say they do and what they
actually do in practice (Arnesen, 2008; Dale & Wrness, 2003). This implies a need to improve practice
in relation to the intentions of inclusive and individually adapted education in Norway. The dynamic
assessment and pupils responses to the teachers interventions (methods and organisation) are a two
sided coin and are central for the pupils learning process and outcome (Grigorenko, 2009). This paper
sets out the various challenges that teachers are faced with in realising the intentions of inclusion and
individually adapted education connected to three sub-aspects; dynamic testing and assessment, methods
adapted to pupils different needs and organising an inclusive learning community.
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Teachers dynamic testing and assessment are important in order to identify the individual pupils
abilities and aptitudes and which conditions foster learning. In accordance with the Knowledge
Promotion reform, teachers have an obligation to monitor each pupils learning process and development
and report any need for special education. This requires the teacher to have knowledge of each pupils
abilities and potential in academic as well as social areas. Teachers dynamic testing and assessment will
forms the basis for facilitating teaching that corresponds to the pupils learning aptitudes (Vygotsky,
1978; Buli-Holmberg, 2008). Through dynamic testing and assessment, the teacher can establish a basis
for selecting suitable methods meeting each pupils learning preferences and for aptitudes to participate
in a learning community. Dynamic testing and assessment are therefore key factors in the teachers
facilitation of inclusive and individual adapted education, and can help to provide an insight into
individual differences and systemic factors that underpin every pupils learning process and
development.
Teaching methods adapted to pupils different needs is described in the national curriculum as variations
in the use of work tasks, curriculum content, working methods, teaching aids and in the organisation of
and intensity of the teaching. This entails the teacher enabling differences and variations in their
methodological approach. Finding from a study in Norway indicates that the pupils seldom experienced
individual variations in the education or were offered differentiated volumes of work and tasks with
varying degrees of difficulty, while the teachers themselves claimed that they adapted the teaching to
each pupils needs to a large degree (Imsen, 2003). Other research supports this, and implies that the
teaching is still characterised by one-way communication and has a limited element of dialogue and
differentiation (Klette, 2003; Dale & Wrness, 2003). A review of a number of studies shows that the
traditional classroom solution is most common in Norwegian schools, and that the degree of flexibility
and variation in methods and organisation is related to the teachers expertise and experience (Backmann
& Haug, 2006). Various and differentiated teaching methods based on the result from the dynamic
testing and assessment is therefore a central issue in inclusive and individually education (Grigorenko,
2009; Vygotsky, 1978).
Teachers organising of inclusive learning community is another sub-aspect in the Knowledge Promotion
reform that highlights the teachers obligation to work actively to foster equal psychosocial learning
environment in order to give each pupil the opportunities to experience a sense of security and social
belonging. Schools organise inclusive education differently. Result from a study of inclusive education in
Norway indicated that the most used practice to organise the teaching were in classes of 20-30 pupils,
with opportunities for pupils to work together in small groups or work individually, and special
education was organised in small groups, while one-to-one teaching and extra teachers in the classroom
were used to a lesser extent (Buli-Holmberg & Vogt, 2011). Another study concludes that the most
common ways to organise within the classroom were that the pupils worked in pairs, on their own, and in
small groups (Buli-Holmberg, Guldahl & Jensen, 2009). A central issue to realise the intentions of
inclusive education is to build an inclusive learning community and to establish flexible ways of
organising the teaching.
Curriculum Planning in Inclusive and Individually Adapted Education
Curriculum planning is defined for these purposes as the teachers planning of the education based on the
national curriculum, with a view to supporting pupils take part in a social, academic and cultural
community and to catering for the differences in their abilities and aptitudes. Norwegian national
curricula have focused on a combination of governing and freedom, by laying down common
frameworks and guidelines whilst also providing the latitude for local and individual adaptation
(Bjrnsrud & Nilsen, 2011). They may be regarded as providing a curriculum potential (Ben-Peretz,
1990). Current curricula specify goals for competency that are common to all pupils, but also give the
schools a large degree of freedom to choose the content. The potential is dependent on the teachers
ability to interpret and execute the curriculum in a way that finds the right balance between the
consideration to communality and the adaptation of the education. Such considerations in planning are
essential to follow up the intentions of the formal curriculum toward an implemented curriculum
(Goodlad, 1979).
Devising an individual education plan (IEP) is pivotal to special education planning and constitutes an
important phase in the chain of actions aimed at securing the right to special education (Nilsen &
Herlofsen, 2012). An IEP specifies the educational goals and the adaptations that the school will make to
facilitate the pupils learning. Although IEPs are relatively widespread in Norwegian schools, the
planning process and the actual plans both seem to vary considerably (Nordahl & Haussttter, 2009). It is
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crucial here that teachers do not perceive the IEP work as a waste of paper (Cooper, 1996) but as a
practical aid in different phases of the education. It can be used to map pupils learning aptitudes,
formulate goals for learning and devise measures. IEPs are also aimed at helping to execute and assess
the special education.
The study covers three different sub-aspects of curriculum planning. First, we have studied how the
teachers emphasise both individual and communal considerations in their planning. Such considerations
may be considered as essential to ensuring differentiation and inclusion (Clark, Dyson & Millward,
1995). This is tied to nationally formulated intentions requiring teachers to contemplate and weigh up
both the consideration to individual adaptations and communality in the differentiated education, either
through ordinary or special education. Differentiated education is aimed at catering for the diversity in
individual aptitudes and is primarily undertaken within the community (Norwegian Directorate for
Education and Training, 2009). Focus has therefore been given to the interplay between the IEP and the
plan for teaching in the classroom ever since proposals were made to establish the IEP by law (Odelsting
Proposition no. 46 1997-1998).
The second sub-aspect of the curriculum planning is the degree to which teachers perceive the IEP to be
an aid. In accordance with the Education Act, all pupils that receive special education must have an IEP.
The plan should stipulate goals, content and how the education is to be managed. In principle, the
national curriculum and its goals for competency also applies to special education where this is
appropriate. Once an individual resolution on special education has been issued, the IEP, as a link in the
chain of actions in special education, is intended to act as an aid for the planning, execution and
assessment of the special education (Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training, 2009).
The third sub-aspect relates to the teachers cooperation with others when planning. Collaborative
curriculum planning is an important element to ensure the support and adaptations most appropriate for
diverse learners (Carter et al., 2009). Cooperation is clearly emphasised in the national curriculum, and is
essential for planning both the ordinary education with regard to classroom adaptations and special
education through the IEP. The teachers role includes an expectation to learn from each other through
cooperation in such areas as planning. The staff shall function as a community of practice (Wenger,
1998) who share responsibility for the pupils development. The Education Act also clearly emphasises
cooperation with the home, particularly in relation to special education. Securing such cooperation is an
essential component of the IEP process (Margolis, Brannigan & Keating, 2006). Furthermore, the Act
places a focus on the pupils influence in special education, and recommended guidelines stipulate that
the headteachers have a responsibility to facilitate effective planning (Norwegian Directorate for
Education and Training, 2009).
Method
The study was carried out as a postal survey of teachers in compulsory (primary and lower secondary)
schools in two municipalities, which were selected by discretionary sampling (Befring, 2004). One
municipality is an urban municipality and the other is a rural municipality. Teachers in all schools within
the two municipalities were invited to take part.
Permission to carry out the study was granted first by the municipal school administration and
subsequently by the headteachers of the schools involved. Participation by the teachers was on a
voluntary basis. The study covers 433 teachers, which corresponds to a response rate of 60%. The nonresponse was primarily due to a number of schools choosing not to take part. The main reason was that it
would be too time consuming for teachers. No pattern is apparent in the non-response that separates these
schools systematically from the other schools. Nevertheless, certain reservations must be made, which
means that generalisations of the results must be made with caution (see Table 1).
The questionnaire was made up of a series of questions aimed at throwing light on our three areas and the
associated sub-aspects related to the work on inclusive and individually adapted education. Questions
and responses were tested beforehand in a preliminary study and adjusted on this basis. For each
question, response options were given on a scale of 1-8, where the teachers had to indicate the degree to
which they believed the conditions they were asked about manifested themselves or were significant. The
scale varied from to a very small degree to to a very large degree. This article analyses and reports on
the percentage of teachers that gave the most positive responses to the different aspects of inclusive and
individually adapted education covered here. For this reason, and in order to simplify the analysis, we
have limited our analysis to responses 7 and 8, which we have merged. The frequency distributions, as
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presented in the tables in the appendix, show what percentage of the teachers report that the condition
they were asked about manifests itself to a large degree. The total share of teachers whose response was
within the other values thus constitutes the difference between 100% and the response given for the value
to a large degree. The variables are measured at ordinal level, and data is analysed using descriptive
statistics (Befring, 2004).
Despite the differences in context that the sample represents, the analysis shows that the same main
pattern characterises the distributions of data in both municipalities. We have therefore opted to present
the frequency distributions for both municipalities combined.
Descriptions such as to a large degree represent an uncertainty since the respondents may have different
perceptions of the various degrees. Additionally, the self-reporting of practice and experiences on which
the data is based contains in itself a risk of a gold-plating effect. This relates to the possibility of teachers,
partly based on their knowledge of legislation and the curriculum, having varying degrees of assumptions
as to what is considered to be the norm for good practice, and consequently demonstrating a propensity
to report on their practice in line with this. There is therefore reason to assume a risk that the frequency
distributions are positively skewed in the sense that they show a somewhat higher reporting of practice in
line with the norm than the actual reality. The frequency distributions for the general questions seem to
be most at risk of such a gold-plating tendency. When, on the other hand, various aspects of the practice
are investigated in a more specific and indirect way, this tendency appears to dissipate, and the teachers
responses are more in line with reality.
The data does not give a basis for a statistical generalisation of the population of teachers at Norwegian
primary and lower secondary schools; it gives a picture of how the situation is in two municipalities in
Norway. The fact that there are no major differences in the results between the two municipalities leads
us to ask if this may be the situation in many more places. This needs to be determined through a
considered and analytical generalisation, with the reader/user of the study considering what transfer
value the results have in their own context. This will depend on the degree of similarities that the reader
experiences between central characteristics of the study and their own situation (Gall, Gall& Borg,
2007).
Results
We present below the results of our research question on the situation concerning the realisation of the
intentions of inclusive and differentiated education in three areas: the headteachers role, the teachers role
and curriculum planning.
Headteachers role in relation to Inclusive and Individually Adapted education
The first area covered by the research question is the role of the headteacher. The empirical findings in
our study provide a basis for a number of indications concerning headteachers, with regard to how the
practice relates to the political intentions and to the theory referred to above. In general, it may appear
that the teachers are reasonably satisfied with their headteachers. As regards the four sub-aspects of the
role of the headteacher; focus, continuous improvement, totality and competency, however, the teachers
believe there is a clear need for improvement. The results from the survey are presented in Table 1.
Focus
The teachers would like to see a clearer and more specific expectation in relation to their work at the
school. Headteachers can and should take more responsibility for developing and highlighting guideline
quality criteria for the work at the school, and show more initiative. This is particularly interesting when
we consider it together with the fact that the teachers do not express displeasure in relation to pedagogic
development work, but instead value pedagogic development work both in general and in relation to the
Knowledge Promotion in particular. There is an expressed wish for headteachers to take greater
responsibility to improve planning at the school in relation to the development of differentiated education
in general and in relation to special education in particular. The headteachers expectations and
requirements of the teachers can seem rather general and vague (see Table 1.1).
Continuous improvement
With regard to the Knowledge Promotion, differentiated education and special education, there is an
expressed wish among the teachers for the headteachers at the relevant schools to place more emphasis
on developing themselves as leaders. The teachers responses indicate that the headteachers have a
relatively large potential for development when it comes to ensuring that the schools overall efforts to
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improve the differentiated education for all are continuously moving in the right direction. It appears that
the headmasters should concentrate more on prioritising the pedagogic and professional leadership at the
school. The teachers regard the headteachers drive to improve as relatively general, with the greatest
emphasis on an unspecified expectation to comply with the Knowledge Promotion, and with somewhat
less drive in relation to differentiated education, and even less direction with regard to special education
specifically (see Table 1.2).
Table 1: Sub-aspects of the headteachers role and inclusive and individually adapted education.
Percentage that responded that the conditions described manifests itself to a large degree (N=433)
The
conditions
Aspects of the Headteachers role
manifest itself to a
large degree
1.1. Focus on the pupil
Headteachers convey clear expectations concerning the Knowledge Promotion in 39
general
Headteachers convey clear expectations concerning differentiated education in 36
the Knowledge Promotion
Headteachers convey clear expectations concerning special education in the 21
Knowledge Promotion
1.2. Continuous improvement
Headteachers take special responsibility for realising the Knowledge Promotion 32
in general
Headteachers take special responsibility for realising differentiated education in 25
the Knowledge Promotion
Headteachers take special responsibility for realising special education in the 17
Knowledge Promotion
Headteachers should improve in relation to the work on differentiated education 20
in the Knowledge Promotion
Headteachers should improve in relation to the work on special education in the 19
Knowledge Promotion
1.3. Totality
Headteachers coordinate previous and current development projects with the 15
Knowledge Promotion
Headteachers should improve in relation to educational leadership
17
Headteachers should improve in relation to administrative management
15
1.4. Competency
Headteachers have plans for developing competency in line with the need in the 13
Knowledge Promotion in general
Headteachers have plans for developing competency in line with the need 11
connected with differentiated education in the Knowledge Promotion
Headteachers have plans for developing competency in line with the need in 7
connection with special education in the Knowledge Promotion
Headteachers have an overview of the teachers competency relevant to the 36
Knowledge Promotion in general
Headteachers have an overview of the teachers competency relevant to 33
differentiated education in the Knowledge Promotion
Headteachers have an overview of the teachers competency relevant to special 40
education in the Knowledge Promotion
The teachers need more support from the headteacher
29
The teachers need more support from the PPT
30
The teachers need more support from colleagues
24
Totality
Headteachers and teachers alike have a considerable potential for improvement with regard to the
concrete understanding of the intentions of the education policy, and with regard to the understanding of
the content of key terms such as inclusion, differentiated education and special education. In general,
there appears to be a wish for a clearer and more holistic leadership. A need is indicated for headteachers
to take more explicit responsibility for the totality and cohesion in the schools overall effort to realise
the schools objectives. For example, the headteacher should play a greater role in coordinating the
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various activities and projects at the school so that the cohesion is more visible and the teachers get help
to identify the overarching objectives behind individual resolutions (see Table 1.3).
Competency
The teachers report that they have not received enough help in connection with upgrading their skills in
relation to realising the intentions of the Knowledge Promotion for better differentiated education for all.
There seems to be a desire for the headteachers to play a more active role and take special responsibility
in relation to developing competency at the school. Limited competency will, without a doubt, always be
a barrier to improving quality. The teachers appear to want more support from colleagues, the
Educational and Psychological Counselling Service (PPT) and the headteacher in connection with the
work on differentiated education. However, they give a higher priority to support from the headteacher
and their own colleagues than from the PPT in connection with developing better differentiated
education. Generally speaking, it may be said that the headteachers should to a greater degree map the
need for competency at their school, utilise their teachers better according to their competence, and
organise a systematic and targeted upgrade of skills both formally and informally (see Table 1.4).
Teachers Role in Relation to Inclusive and Individually Adapted Education
The second area covered by the research question is the teachers role divided into the three sub-aspects;
dynamic testing and assessment, methods adapted to pupils different needs and organising inclusive
learning community. The results are illustrated in Table 2.
Dynamic testing and assessment
The first sub-aspect, the dynamic testing and assessment of each pupils learning abilities and aptitudes,
does not appear to be given any particular emphasis by many teachers (see Table 2.1). The study shows
that only around a quarter of the teachers report that they do dynamic testing of how the pupils are
performing academically as the basis for individual adaptation to a large degree. Even fewer, around
15%, report testing the pupils preferences for learning and preferred way of working to a large degree.
With regard to assessing individual pupils learning outcome, approximately 15% of the teachers purport
to emphasise this to a large degree.
Methods adapted to pupils different needs.
In relation to the second sub-aspect of the teachers role, concerns the methods of adapting the teaching
in line with the pupils different needs, a fifth of the teachers say that they practice this to a large degree
(see Table 2.2). Almost a quarter of the teachers report that managing to achieve cohesion between their
teaching and the pupils learning aptitudes to a large degree. Methodical approach is a key instrument in
facilitation of inclusive and individually adapted education, and fifteen per cent of the teachers report
that they adapt the methods to the individual pupils aptitudes and needs and guide the pupils in their
learning process to a large degree. One third of teachers use varied methodical approaches and verbal
forms of presentation in their teaching. Eighteen per cent of the teachers say that they use learning aids to
adapt both the learning activities and working methods to the pupils different needs. As regards the use
of work plans, around a fifth of the teachers report differentiating these to a large degree. Standard
classroom text books are used to a large degree by a quarter of the teachers. A tenth of the teachers use
digital teaching aids to a large degree, and just as many report adapting the teaching aids in order to
differentiate the teaching.
Organising of inclusive learning community
The third sub-aspect relates to the teachers organisation of education as a gateway to inclusion (see
Table 2.3). With regard to the standard education, around a third of the teachers report that the pupils
have the opportunity to work on their own to a large degree, and a fifth say they give the pupils the
possibilities to work in pairs and a sixth say they work in small groups. Less than half the teachers
believe that they facilitate the inclusion of pupils with special needs to a large degree. However, 10% of
the teachers report organising the teaching as one-to-one teaching to a large degree. Just as many say that
they organise the special education with an extra teacher in the classroom. Less than half report
organising the special education in small groups to a large degree. These results indicate that small
groups are used as a form of organisation for special education to a greater extent than one-to-one
teaching and extra teachers in the inclusive classroom.
Curriculum Planning in Relation to Inclusive and Individually Adapted Education
The third area covered by the research question is curriculum planning. This is further divided into three
sub-aspects. The results from the survey are presented in Table 3.
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Table 2: Sub-aspects of the teachers role and inclusive and individually adapted education.
The conditions manifest itself
Aspects of the Teachers role
to a large degree
2.1.Teachers dynamic testing and assessment:
Teachers are testing individual pupils learning aptitudes
27
Teachers are testing the pupils strong learning preferences
16
Teachers are assessing the suitability of the method
6
Teachers are assessing the pupils learning outcome
10
2. 2. Teaching adapted to pupils different needs:
There is a cohesion between my teaching and the pupils 21
learning aptitudes
Teachers are guiding the pupils in their learning process
15
Teachers are using verbal forms of presentation in the 32
classroom
Teachers are using varied methods
35
Teachers are adapting methods to individual aptitudes and 15
needs
Teachers are doing adaptations for the pupils preferred 18
method of working
Teachers are doing individual adaptations of learning 18
activities
Teachers are using text books in their teaching
25
Teachers are using digital aids to adapt teaching
13
Teachers are doing individual adaptations of the learning 10
aids
Teachers are using individual adapted work plans for each 20
pupil
2.3 Teachers organising of inclusive learning community
Teachers are facilitating for pupils to work on their own
29
Teachers are facilitating for pupils to work in groups
14
Teachers are facilitating pupils to work in pairs
22
Teachers are facilitating inclusion for pupils with special 41
needs
Teachers opinions are that special education is organized 14
one-to-one teaching
Teachers opinions are that special education is organized in 43
small groups outside the classroom
Teachers opinions are that special education is organized 9
with extra teachers in the classroom
Consideration to individuality and communality in the planning
As regards the first sub-aspect of curriculum planning, which deals with highlighting the consideration to
individuality and communality in the teachers planning, the impression is mixed (see Table 3.1). If we
first consider the planning of the teaching in the classroom, around a quarter of the teachers report that a
large degree of consideration is given to the need for differentiated education. Consideration to the fact
that some pupils have special education in the classroom is given a corresponding focus by around a fifth
of the teachers. With regard to the consideration to communality, there is a weak tendency for a slightly
stronger emphasis. Around a third of the teachers report that, giving a large degree of consideration to the
need for communality between the pupils in the planning of differentiated education in the classroom.
However, the majority of the teachers report that they do not give much emphasis to the consideration to
individuality and communality when planning the teaching in the classroom.
With regard to the planning of special education for individual pupils through IEPs, we are aware that
individual considerations play a significant role. However, what about the consideration to communality
with the other pupils? A quarter of the teachers report that this is also given a large degree of focus.
Nevertheless, this is a slightly lower share than was the case for the planning of teaching in the
classroom. Another indication of the consideration to individuality and communality in the planning is
the teachers coordination of IEPs with plans for the class. Here, almost a third of the teachers say that
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IEPs are to a large degree coordinated with the teaching planning for the classroom as a whole. However,
in relation to special education, the majority of the teachers also say that the consideration to
individuality and communality is not given much emphasis in the planning.
Table 3: Sub-aspects of curriculum planning and inclusive and individually adapted education.
The conditions
Aspects of curriculum planning:
manifest itself to a
large degree
3.1. Consideration to individuality and communality in the planning
Planning in the classroom takes account of the need for differentiated education
Planning in the classroom takes account of pupils with special education
Planning in the classroom takes account of communality between the pupils
Planning of special education (IEP) takes account of communality between the
pupils
IEPs are coordinated with the plan for teaching in the classroom
3.2. IEP aid for planning, executing and assessing?
IEPs act as an aid for mapping the pupils need for support and adaptation
IEPs act as an aid for drawing up goals
Goals for competency in the national curriculum are emphasised when IEPs are
drawn up
There is a need for exceptions from the goals for competency when IEPs are
drawn up
The goals for competency hinder the consideration to different learning
aptitudes
IEPs act as an aid for planning the content
IEPs act as an aid for planning the organisation
IEPs act as an aid for executing the special education
IEPs act as an aid for assessing the special education
There is a need to improve the planning of differentiated education in the
classroom
There is a need to improve the planning of special education (IEP)
There is a need to develop competency in order to plan differentiated education
in the classroom
There is a need to develop competency in order to plan special education
3.3. Cooperation and planning
Teachers are cooperating in order to draw up IEPs
Teachers are cooperating to plan differentiated education in the classroom
The pupils provide input when drawing up IEPs
The pupils provide input in the planning of differentiated education in the
classroom
The parents provide input when drawing up IEPs
The parents provide input in the planning of differentiated education in the
classroom
24
19
32
25
31
38
73
19
25
14
54
51
48
51
25
23
40
43
44
30
2
3
24
7
IEP aid for planning, executing and assessing?

In connection with IEPs, we have also as the second sub-aspect examined how the teachers perceive
such plans as aids for planning, executing and assessing the special education (see Table 3.2). An IEP
often starts with a pedagogic mapping process. Almost 40% of the teachers report that IEPs are helpful to
a large degree when mapping the pupils needs for support and differentiated education.
When the mapping is complete, conclusions can be drawn and a plan devised for a suitable education for
the pupil. The first part of the plan normally entails considering and formulating goals for the education.
The understanding of the significance of IEPs is clearly positive here. Almost three quarters of the
teachers believe that IEPs to a large degree are an aid when drawing up goals for the special education.
An interesting finding also emerged in relation to the goals for competency in the national curriculum,
which is to be given focus together with the mapped individual learning aptitudes when drawing up the
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IEP. Around a fifth of the teachers report that the goals for competency are given a large degree of focus.
However, even more (a quarter) believe to a large degree that there is a need for exceptions from the
goals of competency when drawing up the IEP. It further transpired that around 15% of the teachers
regard the requirement to achieve the common goals of competency as an obstacle to the consideration to
individual learning aptitudes to a large degree.
With regard to the goals that are formulated in the IEP, which stipulate the competency one will help the
pupil to develop, it is easy to see these in correlation with which measures should be initiated. In
particular, this applies to two important areas: content and organisation. The teachers generally have a
very positive view of the IEPs role in both these areas. A good half of the teachers believe that the IEP
to a large degree helps with the planning of the content in special education, and almost as many believe
this to be the case for planning the organisation.
The purpose of planning is to lay a foundation for better implementation. The positive view of the IEP is
also reflected here. Almost half of the teachers believe that the IEP to a large degree acts as a support in
the execution of special education. Over time, the special education is assessed. These assessments are
carried out during term time and as a six-month summary. A positive view is also evident here, with
almost half of the teachers believing that IEPs to a large degree act as an aid in the assessment of special
education.
Although a large number of teachers have a positive perception of the IEP as an aid, their views on the
planning situation are rather different. Other results show that the teachers believe there is a clear need to
improve the schools planning practice. This primarily relates to the way the planning of differentiated
education in the classroom is carried out, with a quarter of the teachers reporting a need for improvement
to a large degree. This also applies to the planning of special education, where almost as many believe
there is a need to improve the practice. In order to develop a better planning practice, many teachers call
attention to the need to develop competency. Both with regard to planning differentiated education in the
classroom and special education, around 40% of the teachers report a need to develop their competency
to a large degree. These results indicate a clear need for improvement in the planning practice.
Cooperation and planning
The final sub-aspect of curriculum planning relates to the teachers cooperation with others when
planning differentiated education and special education (see Table 3.3). In this study, more than 40% of
the teachers report that plans for special education (IEPs) are devised to a large degree in cooperation
between the teachers. With regard to planning differentiated education in the classroom, almost a third
say that they work together with other teachers to a large degree. In both of these areas the regular
teaching in the classroom and the special education for individual pupils a large part of the planning
seems to take place as cooperation between the teachers. However, it should also be noted that the
majority of the teachers report less extensive cooperation among teachers.
Another important group for cooperation is the pupils. Here, however, the tendency is rather different.
The study shows that only 2-3% of the teachers report that the planning is carried out in cooperation with
the pupils to a large degree. This applies to drawing up IEPs as well as planning differentiated education
in the classroom.
The parents make up a group that is in an intermediate position with regard to the extent of cooperation.
Seven per cent of the teachers report that the parents are involved in relation to planning differentiated
education in the classroom to a large degree. The cooperation, on the other hand, appears to be more
widespread with regard to IEPs. Around a quarter of the teachers say here that the parents are involved in
drawing up the plan to a large degree.
Discussion
The discussion shows the results we have presented in relation to official intentions for inclusive and
individually adapted education in two municipalities in Norwegian compulsory schooling. This entails
the practice reported by the teachers being weighed up against how the practice ought to be according to
education legislation, the national curriculum and the theory frameworks.
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Headteachers Role
With regard to the headteachers role in relation to inclusive and individually adapted education, as
perceived by the teachers, it seems as if the headteachers are well aware of their responsibility and that,
to the best of their abilities, try to help realise the intentions of the Education Act as they interpret them.
According to the teachers, the headteachers understand pretty well that the pupils are the schools
primary users and that their learning needs to be in focus. However, there may be a substantial potential
for improvement as regards the ability to create a concrete and common understanding of the teachers
goals and working methods in this area.
Because the expectations of the headteachers are sometimes rather general and not entirely clear,
according to the teachers, the thrust towards a targeted process of continuous improvement of the
teachers practice can appear to lack momentum. This may of course also be due to the headteachers
having no clear understanding of their role as leaders of change, instead perhaps viewing themselves
more as operations managers, administrators or bureaucrats.
Although the headteachers cannot readily demonstrate any concrete or clear understanding of the
intentions of the education policy they are helping to implement, they do appear to be aware of their
responsibility to protect the totality of the running of the school. Perhaps a slightly unclear understanding
of the broad and overarching intentions of the Education Act is a key reason why the schools internal
improvement process does not move as quickly as teachers and headteachers would like.
The link between quality on the one hand and upgrading skills and competency management on the other
is generally understood by teachers as well as headteachers. However, it would appear that the
headteachers strategy for safeguarding the need for competency in general may be somewhat lacking.
The teachers and head teachers however, seems to agree on the criteria for quality stated earlier in this
article and witch are based on international research in the field (Shiba and Walden, 2001; Skogen,
2004).
The possible weaknesses that are highlighted above may be related to the headteacher training being too
fragmentary, too focused on administrative management and on a more abstract and sociological
perspective. A greater focus on change management and putting the intentions of school policy into more
concrete terms would be beneficial.
Teachers Role
Although the teachers have made good progress in realising the intentions of inclusive and individually
adopted education they still have the potential to develop with regard to adapting the teaching to the
pupils different needs in an inclusive learning community.
The results from dynamic testing and assessing the pupils learning abilities and aptitudes, show that
there is a minority of teachers who practice this to a large degree. There were also similar results with
regard to the teachers assessment of the pupils learning process and outcome. This implies that the
cohesion between political intentions and practice is not extensive enough with regard to testing the
pupils learning aptitudes and assessing their learning outcome. There is therefore a need to further
develop the teachers dynamic testing and assessment as an instrument to help achieve inclusive and
individually adapted education to a higher level (Vygotsky, 1978; Grigorenko, 2009).
Concerning methods adapted to pupils different needs, it seems as if the teachers use an extensive
degree of traditional classroom teaching, as verbal forms of presentation in the classroom and standard
text books for the relevant class year. These teaching approaches do little to facilitate varied methods
related to pupils different needs. Adapted teaching aids and learning activities are used to a limited
extent, which is an indication that more flexibility and variation in these areas is needed. These are
fundamental factors in the facilitation of inclusive education in relation to pupils different needs, and the
results imply that practice does not correspond to the intentions to an adequate degree (Backmann &
Haug, 2006; Klette, 2003).
The results from the organisation of inclusive learning community indicate that pupils in standard
education have the opportunity for their work to be based on different forms of organisation, and that
they can vary whether they work on their own or with others. As regards special education, this is mainly
organised in small groups. Pupils different needs in relation to working on their own and/or with support
from a teacher in the classroom do not appear to be met to the same degree. This is an indication that the
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organisation is not varied enough and does not adhere to the principle of inclusion and individually
adapted education to a sufficient degree (Vygotsky, 1978; Imsen, 2003; Dale & Wrness, 2003).
Curriculum Planning
When it comes to curriculum planning, we first looked at the attention to individuality and communality,
which may be considered as an important aspect of ensuring differentiation and inclusion (Clark, Dyson
& Millward, 1995).
Compared to the intentions, it must be regarded as a mark of quality that a number of teachers place
emphasis on both individual and community considerations in their planning. The teachers efforts to
coordinate the adaptation of the classroom teaching and special education in their planning are also in
accordance with the intentions. This can be viewed as an important contribution to ensuring that special
education is not excluded as a special measure. However, the results also indicate that many teachers do
not seem to be sufficiently aware of the significance of emphasising and balancing individual and
community considerations in their planning, which necessitates a need for improvement. This is a crucial
factor in the further development of inclusive and differentiated education.
The second sub-aspect of curriculum planning relates to the IEP as an aid for planning, executing and
assessing the special education. In relation to the IEP being decreed by law for all pupils with special
education, it must be regarded as positive that so many teachers have a constructive opinion of the IEP as
an aid. This applies to planning different parts of the education goals, content and organisation and to
executing and assessing it. This is an indication that the IEP is not regarded as a waste of time (Cooper,
1996), but as having a practical pedagogic utility value. Nevertheless, there are a large number of
teachers who are not as positive about the IEP as an aid. This implies that there is a need to further
examine how such plans are devised and used.
The results also indicate a somewhat problematic relationship between the IEP and the national
curriculums goals for competency in the planning of special education. The tension between uniform
goals and varying aptitudes is central, and indicates that the teachers believe that common standards for
teaching restrict the latitude for adaptation (Ben-Peretz, 1990; Bjrsrud & Nilsen, 2011). Although
planning is regarded as important and is considered of value, the picture is complex. The results further
indicate a perceived need to improve the planning practice both with a view to differentiated education in
general and special education in particular. The teachers therefore feel they need to develop their
competency in both areas.
With regard to the third sub-aspect; cooperation in planning differentiated education and special
education, this appears to have several marks of quality in relation to centrally determined guidelines.
This particularly applies to the cooperation between teachers, which is given a strong emphasis as an
intention. Notwithstanding, the teachers still express a need for more cooperation with colleagues than is
currently the case. A community of practice (Wenger, 1998) between teachers in regular and special
education seems crucial. Cooperation may increase the awareness of the interplay between individual
factors and factors related to teaching-learning processes and conditions when special educational needs
are defined and IEPs are developed and implemented (Isaksson, Lindqvist & Bergstrm, 2007).
Developing a collaborative school culture seems important to meet the needs of all pupils, including
those with special needs (Waldron & McLeskey, 2010).
Cooperation with and involvement of the pupils, on the other hand, does not seem to be very extensive in
relation to the intentions. This applies to the planning of the adaptation in the classroom as well as IEPs
for individual pupils. The cooperation with parents also appears to have been modest. This does not
accord well with the intention for pupils voices to be heard and for parents to have a final say when the
educational offer for the pupil is being drawn up.
Conclusion
The results as a whole indicate that the situation in the participating primary and lower secondary schools
is characterised by a number of the teachers having positive assessments of their own practice with
regard to different aspects of inclusive and individually adapted education. As such, many of the teachers
seem to have developed a practice that corresponds reasonably well with the intentions in this area.
However, simultaneous to this, there are also a large number of teachers who are unable to give such
positive feedback. In the majority of cases, less than half of the teachers agree with the category to a
large degree in their responses. Thus, there appears to be a clear need in the role of headteachers,
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teachers and curriculum planning for further development in order to gain understanding for and realise
the intentions. This further development will pave the way for improving the quality of inclusive and
individually adapted education, via both ordinary and special education.
In relation to the headteachers role, the results indicate that the current headteachers maintain too low a
profile when it comes to educational leadership, perhaps due to certain democratisation ideals. This could
be a serious warning sign when juxtaposed with the tendency towards an increasing bureaucratisation of
the schools activity. Clearer educational leadership seems to be a key factor for quality development. It
appears that the headteachers have a potential for improvement in relation to putting the policy intentions
into more concrete terms, emphasising and supporting the upgrading of skills and development work,
and coordinating the schools work with a view to broad participation.
As regards the teachers role, the results indicate that the situation is in some ways good in realising the
intentions of inclusive and differentiated education. Nevertheless, there is still a potential for
improvement in relation to mapping and assessing, adapting goals for learning, method adaptation and
choosing suitable forms of organisation. There appears to be an obvious need to upgrade teachers skills
in the area of inclusive and differentiated education, both at an individual level and for the staff as a
whole.
With regard to curriculum planning, despite a number of teachers indicating that they already carry out a
great deal of important planning work, it must be recognised that there is still a major need for
improvement. A more systematic approach to the planning work is needed, both in relation to
differentiated teaching in the classroom and special education for individual pupils, and with regard to
the interplay between the ordinary and the special education. The cooperation function also needs to be
strengthened between various parties in the schools, including between pupils and teachers, and between
the school and the home, in order to improve the correspondence between the practice and the intentions.
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PERSPECTIVES OF COLLEGE OF EDUCATION STUDENTS IN TURKEY ON AUTISM

SPECTRUM DISORDERS
Pinar Yasar
Kathleen A. Cronin
New Mexico State University
This study addressed the autism awareness of College of Education students in two
universities in Turkey. The main purpose of this research study was to conduct a needs
assessment to learn more about Turkeys College of Education students knowledge
and awareness of autism. The Autism Awareness of College of Education Students in
Turkey questionnaire was used to collect the data. The survey statements were
designed to answer the research questions and provide considerable information on
College of Education students awareness and attitudes about autism. Participants for
this study were randomly selected from among the students in the College of Education
at two different universities in Turkey: Gazi University, Ankara, and Karadeniz
Technical University, Trabzon. The data from the questionnaire were analyzed with
descriptive statistics to understand attitudes, beliefs, and thoughts of College of
Education students in Turkey. Results generally demonstrated that College of
Education students knowledge of autism was limited; however, they realized they need
more classes and preparation in order to effectively work with children with autism.
Introduction
As autism awareness is raised all around the world, educating children with autism and preparing their
teachers becomes more important because of the proven effectiveness of early educational intervention
for a child with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). There are different programs for educating children
with autism, therefore, there should be different teacher training programs to develop highly effective
teachers to work with this population.
Around the world in-service and pre-service teachers have concerns about their knowledge and
effectiveness of their teaching strategies on their students (Pasco, 2011). This study focuses on College
of Education students in Turkey to learn their knowledge, awareness, and concerns about autism to help
design evidence-based teacher training programs in Turkey. In Turkey, Colleges of Education do not
offer any teacher training programs about autism. Without receiving any special training about autism,
what do College of Education students in Turkey know about autism, the educational needs of a child
with autism, and how do College of Education students feel about teaching children with autism in their
classrooms?
Teachers attitudes and understanding about autism is an important factor for the childs education.
Attitude is defined as manner, disposition, feeling, position etc. with regard to a person or thing;
tendency or orientation, especially of the mind (http://dictionary.reference.com). Attitudes are shaped by
observational learning, parent and peer behaviors, and interactions between past experiences and the
persons environment (Park, Chitiyo, & Choi, 2010).
Teachers beliefs and thoughts affect outcomes of students, teachers instructional skills, and their
activity choices for their class. There are studies which show that teachers knowledge about a specific
disorder has a massive influence on the teaching process and the children achieving their goals (Siu &
Ho, 2010). Teachers understanding about the subject they are teaching and their students strengths,
weaknesses, and disabilities influences students achievement levels (Bishop, Brownell, Klinger, Leko,
& Galman, 2010). Teachers who believe in students achievement are more effective than the teachers
who do not support student achievement. If teachers have high expectations, they inspire better
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performance (Mehring & Dow, 2001). This emphasizes the importance of the educators knowledge
about autism.
Teachers who work with children with autism should have the content knowledge, general pedagogical
knowledge, curriculum knowledge, knowledge about learners and their characteristics, knowledge of
educational context, and knowledge of educational purposes and values (Mehring & Dow, 2001).
According to the Council for Exceptional Children ( as citied in Mehring & Dow, 2011), teachers must
know philosophical, historical, and legal foundations of special education, assessments, diagnosis,
evaluation, instructional content and practice, planning teaching activities, managing the teaching and
learning environment, managing student behavior and social skills, communication and collaboration,
and partnership, professionalism, and ethical practices (Mehring & Dow, 2001). Siu and Ho (2010)
stated that some teachers do not feel confident enough to teach students with autism. Teachers think they
need more training, equipment, knowledge, and skills to work with children with autism.
Park and colleagues (2010) noted that people who know somebody with autism, whether it is a friend or
relative, tend to have more positive attitudes towards others with autism. Students who are in inclusive
educational settings had more positive behaviors. Teachers attitudes towards children with autism affect
their expectations of the students and play important roles in students self-image development and
academic performance.
Teachers should know about autism in order to effectively help children with autism. There are not many
research studies and surveys conducted on teachers attitudes toward autism and students with autism.
Park et al., (2010) found that teachers attitudes can affect their expectations about students which also
affect students self esteem and academic performance. Additionally, teachers with negative attitudes
towards students with autism have significant negative impacts on students. Teachers can develop
negative attitudes towards children with autism because of their lack of understanding of autism. Park
and colleagues also mentioned the importance of attitudes of pre-service teachers towards children with
autism; focusing on pre-service teachers attitudes may help to develop teacher training programs.
Teachers should consider evidence-based teaching programs such as applied behavior analysis, video
modeling, and visual support to be effective teachers. Evidence-based teaching programs depend on
subject areas, grade levels, students developmental levels, cognitive and psychological characteristics,
and students learning outcomes. Teachers should be aware of those key factors to design effective
lessons for their students (Mehring & Dow, 2001).
Early childhood educators play important roles in early autism diagnosis and working with any kind of
disabilities. Teachers should be able to identify irregular developmental patterns displayed by the
children who may need testing to determine a disability. Like diagnosticians, teachers should have
special skills and training on how to conduct progress evaluations (McGee & Morrier, 2005). Children
with ASD generate a heterogeneous population. Their different levels of skill and intelligence make it
more difficult to train autism specialists. Autism specialists have to know how to assess and intervene
with this wide range of developmental abilities (McGee & Morrier, 2005).
Teachers, like all other providers who work with children with autism, should have close relationships
with the families of the students with autism (McGee & Morrier, 2005). Teachers should be aware of
cultural differences of families to effectively help them and their children. Educators and families should
work together to know the childs unique strengths and weaknesses (Rodriguez, 2009). This knowledge
about informing families and collecting data can be provided by giving the teachers appropriate trainings
about disabilities and special education services.
Successful special education teachers have the ability of displaying humor, enthusiasm, fairness,
empathy, flexibility, and self-control (Bishop et al., 2010). Besides that, successful special education
teachers are the ones who can differentiate their teaching to meet each students needs, depending on
topic, instructional method, and teaching goal (Mehring & Dow, 2001). Teachers should know that
students with autism need a special curriculum which promotes independent skills. Goals should focus
on helping children develop independent play and work skills, and managing their own behavior.
Students with autism have difficulty with organization, sequencing, and generalization, even though they
may have obsessions about organization. They can manage organization and generalization problems
with the help of interventions which are designed to address the childs strengths (Hume & Odom, 2006).
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Autism in Turkey
More attention has been focused on ASD principally because of the increase in numbers of children who
are identified and diagnosed with autism. The media has affected the understanding about needs of
individuals with autism (Pasco, 2011). Autism in Turkey is also impacted by media. Turkey has attended
the United Nations Autism Awareness Day and Autism Awareness Month activities in April since 2008.
Most of the activities are held by Tohum Otizm Vakfi, which is the largest foundation about autism in
Turkey. The foundations mission is raising awareness and helping children who have autism and other
developmental disabilities to be a part of society. Tohum Otizm Vakfi was established in 2003 to serve
that mission. Tohum Otizm Vakfi uses media to increase autism awareness. They also have a school
specifically for children with autism.
Educators in Turkey are following educational trends in the United States. Inclusive education began in
Turkey in 1983 with the regulation regarding children with special needs. Even though there are legal
requirements about special education services and inclusive education, there are not enough people
trained to provide those services and there are not well designed educational environments for inclusive
education (Nal & Tuzun, 2011).
According to Tohum Otizm Vakfis report on Autism Spectrum Disorders and Special Education in
Turkey (2010), students with special needs were 0.7% of Turkeys student population. Depending on the
information from the Ministry of National Education, during the 2008-2009 school year there were 2,582
students in the public school system with an autism diagnosis. In the 2010-2011 school year, the number
of students with autism was 2,932; 339 of those students were in Vocational Training Centers for
Autistic Children, and 1,593 of the students were in Training Centers for Autistic Children
(www.sgb.meb.gov.tr ). Training Centers for Autistic Children serve the students between the ages of
three and 15 who are able to benefit from the special education curriculum. Vocational Training Centers
for Autistic Children serve the students between the ages of 15 and 21 who are not able to earn a degree
or diploma from a traditional educational environment. Vocational training centers are designed to help
individuals with autism learn life skills, job skills, and social orientation. In 2009, 10,811 students were
diagnosed with autism; however, all of these students did not receive services in the public school
setting. When the number of students with autism who are receiving educational services is compared to
the number of children being diagnosed, the necessity of a specialist for autism can be seen easily.
Turkeys biggest problem in providing special services is not having enough professionals to work in
special education fields.
The College of Education students take classes on teaching skills, general culture classes, and content
knowledge. Students are able to take some elective classes to improve their teaching skills and content
knowledge. All College of Education students take classroom experience and teaching practice classes
one day a week after their sixth semester. Classroom experience class includes one hour of theory and
four hours in public schools. During those four hours students have to complete some activities which are
prepared by the Ministry of National Education and College of Education professionals. Students have to
write their weekly reports each week. In the one hour theory class those reports are discussed by the
students (Kulekci & Bulut, 2011).
Teaching practice class is also one full school day every week in the public schools for one semester.
Student teachers have to spend at least 24 hours teaching to children in class. Student teachers grades
are based on their performance and reports (Kulekci & Bulut, 2011). As mentioned by Bishop et al.
(2010) beginning special education teachers learn while they are working with children with disabilities.
Teachers beliefs about instruction, roles in helping students with disabilities, abilities of reflecting their
instruction, and confidence while working with children influence teachers learning. To influence
teachers learning there should be more classes involving teacher-student interaction.
None of the Universities in Turkey have a program which can prepare teachers and specialists for
students with ASD, because there are not enough university professionals who can prepare the teachers
who will serve students with autism in special education and inclusive settings. Students with autism are
provided education by the teachers who get their degrees from special education departments in teaching
for children with intellectual disabilities at eleven universities in Turkey. Even though those universities
have special education programs, they do not have enough professionals to prepare special education
teachers and autism specialists (Tohum Otizm Vakfi, 2010). Turkey needs professionals who work on
autism and education to develop college training programs. If College of Education students were offered
training, they would be more interested in becoming a professional in the area of autism with the ability
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to train more people which would provide additional help for children with autism. Mehring and Dow
(2001) stated that teacher training programs should not start and end with training at a university campus
for a couple of years. Effective teacher training programs should continue after a college education while
the teachers are teaching. According to these authors, professionals who have specialized training or
previous work experience with children who have autism should serve students with autism.
Teachers who work with the children with autism need to be educated on both general education and
special education because of the trends on educating children with autism in inclusive educational
settings (McGee & Morrier, 2005). In 2006, all teacher training programs in Turkey were required to add
special education and inclusion classes to their programs. Even though the requirements are in place,
universities in Turkey cannot solve the problems about providing special education university
professionals to prepare teachers (Tohum Otizm Vakfi, 2010).
Tohum Otizm Vakfi and the National Ministry of Education in Turkey worked together to train 1,250
medical personnel and 2,000 teachers for identifying children with autism who did not get the diagnosis
until 2010, since Tohum Otizm Vakfi was established in 2003. According to the Ministry of National
Education Formal Education Statistics (2011), 43 Training Centers for Autistic Children and seven
Vocational Training Centers for Autistic Children have been serving students who have autism. There is
a new program which is a web portal started by Tohum Otizm Vakfi. The portal includes 20 modules to
educate people who do not have basic knowledge of ASD and want to help children with autism. The
modules include information about how to interact with children with autism, which skills to teach a
child with autism, which methods can be used to teach a child with autism, and basics to understand
autism spectrum disorders (Tohum Otizm Vakfi, 2011).
The purpose of the study was to learn about what College of Education students in Turkey know about
autism, their awareness about autism, and the educational needs of a child with autism, along with their
feelings about being prepared to teach children with autism in their classrooms. This study was a survey
study which was conducted in Turkey with College of Education students. Participants responses were
analyzed to answer the following research questions: (1) What do College of Education students know
about autism? (2) Are College of Education students in Turkey aware of autism and the educational
needs of a child with autism? and (3) Do the College of Education students in Turkey feel prepared to
teach children with autism in their classrooms? This information will be used to improve the current
teacher training programs and design more effective programs in Turkey. The study will also help to plan
future classes, lectures, and teaching activities in College of Education classes.
Methods
This is a survey study designed by the first author based on the reviewed literature about autism and
teachers attitudes and the importance of education for a child with autism. Participant responses were
based on a 5 point Likert scale. The survey was created by the first author specifically for this study. The
Autism Awareness of College of Education Students in Turkey questionnaire was used to collect the
data. The survey was available in both Turkish and English.
Participants
Participants for this study were randomly selected from among the students in the College of Education
at two different universities in Turkey. Two-hundred- seventeen participants were from Gazi University,
Ankara and 334 participants were from Karadeniz Technical University, Trabzon, for a total of 551
participants. The survey was distributed during class hours. Subjects were eligible to participate in the
survey if they were currently enrolled in any program in the College of Education at the two specified
universities and were at least 19 years old. There were 19 surveys excluded because the participants did
not meet the criteria for inclusion the study.
Table 1 Gender of Participants
N
Male
Female
Percent
134
417
24.30
75.70
As shown in Table 1, approximately 24% of the participants were male, and 76% of the students were
female. Female students were over represented in the study because of their high population in College
of Education programs.
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The minimum age to participate in the study was 19, but there was no upper limit for the older
participants. The oldest participant was 32 years old and the average age of participants was 20.50, as
shown in Table 2.
Table 2 Age of Participants
_________________________________________________________________________________
Minimum
Maximum
Mean
St. Deviation
19
32
20.55
1.64
Table 3 Class Levels of Participants
_________________________________________________________________________________
Class Level
N
Percent
1
138
25.00
2
140
25.40
3
158
28.70
4
115
20.90
Participants were randomly selected from different class levels and different fields of studies. As shown
in Table 3, approximately 28 % of the subjects were in their third year of study, and 21% of the subjects
were in their last year of their bachelor degree. Almost 25% of the students were in their freshman year
and the last 25% of the students were attending their second year in the College of Education.
Participants were randomly selected from any program in the College of Education. The 551 participants
were from ten different programs in the College of Education. Forty-eight percent (48%) of the
participants (N= 266) were in elementary school teacher training programs. On the other hand, just seven
participants were in math teacher training programs. Table 4 provides more detailed information on the
fields of study for participants in the study.
Table 4 Field of Study of Participants
Field of Study
Percent
Intellectual Disabilities
26
4.7
Computer-Based Technologies
40
7.3
Science
69
12.5
Elementary School Teaching
266
48.3
School Counseling
42
7.6
Deaf and Hard of Hearing
31
5.6
Arts and Crafts Teaching
17
3.1
Math Teaching
1.3
Social Sciences Teaching
27
4.9
Early Childhood Education
26
4.7
Survey Instrument
The Autism Awareness of College of Education Students in Turkey questionnaire includes two parts.
The first part of the survey was to gather the participants demographic information. Questions were
asked to learn the participants gender, age, university, field of study, and class level.
The second part of the questionnaire included twenty statements where participants had to rate their
opinions for each statement using the five point Likert scale where a response of 1 meant strongly
disagree and a response of 5 meant strongly agree. The survey questionnaire was constructed based on a
review of the literature. Attitudes and knowledge of autism were found highly essential for teachers to be
highly effective. The complete questionnaire is contained in the Appendix section in both languages,
Turkish and English. The Turkish version of the questionnaire was used because not all Turkish
participants were fluent in English.
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The subjects were asked to participate in the survey during their lecture hours and free time. Hard copies
of the questionnaire were provided by the first author. The first author went to different classrooms on
campus and handed the questionnaires to the participants. All of the subjects were informed and read and
signed the consent form before they started. Participants were given 20 minutes to rate the survey
statements.
The first author was available to answer the questions about the study while the subjects were rating the
statements. She also answered questions about autism after the questionnaires were completed.
Results
Descriptive Statistics
The data from the questionnaire were analyzed with descriptive statistics to determine the mean and
standard deviation of the College of Education students evaluations of the Likert scale rated statements.
A five point Likert scale indicated responses from 1-Strongly disagree to 5-Strongly agree. The survey
statements were designed to answer the research questions and provide considerable information on
College of Education students awareness and attitudes about autism. Descriptive statistics were
computed for all statements which are presented in Table 5.
Table 5 Rating Scale for Each Statement
_________________________________________________________________________________
Statements
Mean
Std. Deviation
Autism is a developmental disability
3.97
1.03
Know somebody with autism
1.97
1.47
Take 1 class about autism
2.42
1.67
Able identify and understand autism
3.05
1.19
Experienced teaching during practicum
1.47
1.09
Able to give information to parents
2.85
1.32
Place in inclusion classroom
3.27
1.25
Need communication support
4.41
0.84
Need behavioral support
4.44
0.80
Support to improve social skills
4.50
0.78
Able to plan a lesson for children with autism
2.30
1.12
Education of needs of a child with autism
1.91
1.26
Able to integrate new teaching strategies
2.27
1.17
Deal with classroom management issues
2.48
1.16
Placed in special education classroom
3.85
1.17
Visual support helps
4.28
0.87
Placed in general education classroom
2.77
1.27
Enough education about autism
1.80
1.09
More classes about autism
4.09
1.01
Spending money education and training
1.82
1.35
_________________________________________________________________________________
One of the main purposes of this study was to learn about Turkeys College of Education students
knowledge about autism. Some of the statements were designed to answer the question What do College
of Education students know about autism? The mean score of the first statement (M=3.97, SD=1.03)
shows that most of the participants know that autism is a developmental disability which can be
improved through education. Four-hundred-twenty-four (76.9%) of the College of Education students
agreed and 55 (10%) of the students did not agree to the statement. In addition to that, 77 (13.1%) of
participants reported they were neutral about this statement. On one hand, 159 (28.8%) disagreed and
196 (35.6%) agreed that they were able to identify and understand the characteristics of autism (M=3.05,
SD=1.19). One-hundred-ninety-six (35.6%) participants were not sure. Participants showed that they
were not confident about their understanding of autism (See Table 6 for complete statistics for each
statement).
Two-hundred-twenty-three (40.5%) participants admitted they were not able to give information about
autism if parents asked (M=2.85, SD=1.32). One-hundred- ninety-seven (35.8%) students thought that
they could provide information when parents asked. One-hundred-thirty-one (23.8%) students were not
sure about providing any information to the parents. The results presented for each statement suggested
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that College of Education students have the general idea of autism, but they do not have more in depth
information to explain it to parents or anyone who needs some information about autism.
Participants who were in the College of Education in Turkey have general knowledge about autism. They
knew autism is a developmental disability that can be improved through education. On the other hand,
they were not sure they could identify and understand the characteristics of autism or give information to
anyone if they were asked. These results suggest College of Education students need to be better
informed about autism.
The second research question was Are College of Education students in Turkey aware of autism and the
educational needs of a child with autism? Statements two and five showed that most of the participants
did not have any chance to meet an individual with autism. For the second statement the computed mean
score is M=1.97 (SD=1.47). Four-hundred-twenty (66.2%) students reported they did not know anyone
with autism. One-hundred-eight students (19.6%) had a relative, friend, or student with autism. There
were 23 participants (4.2%) who were not sure if they knew somebody with autism. Participants also
stated that they did not experience teaching a child with autism during their practicum hours. Fourhundred-ninety-three (89.5%) participants chose strongly disagree or disagree for statement five
(M=1.47, SD=1.09). Only 11 (2%) students reported they were not sure about it and 47 students (8.5%)
agreed that they had a chance to experience teaching a child with autism during their practicum hours.
Statements eight, nine, ten, and sixteen asked about the participants opinions and beliefs about the
educational needs of a child with autism. More than 90% of the participants reported that students with
autism need communication support (M=4.41, SD=0.84), behavioral support (M=4.44, SD=0.80), and
social skills support (M=4.50, SD=0.78). Eighty-six percent (86%) of participants agreed visual supports
help students who have autism. Four percent (4%) of the participants disagreed with the need for
communication support and behavioral support, and 3% of the participants disagreed with the need for
social skills support. Furthermore, 4% of participants reported that visual supports do not help students
with autism.
Four-hundred-fourteen (75.1%) participants thought they had not received any education about the needs
of a child with autism (M=1.91, SD=1.26), while 87 students (15.8%) thought they had received
education about the needs of a child with autism. Fifty (9.1%) students were not sure about the level of
education they had received regarding a child with autism.
In addition to statement 12, statement 18 asked the level of education participants had received about
autism. Approximately 75.8% of participants did not think they had received enough education about
autism, and 26.7% of the participants thought they had received enough education about autism (M=1.80,
SD=1.09). Fifteen percent (15.1%) of the participants were not sure if they had received enough
education.
Statements seven, fifteen, and seventeen were designed to get opinions about the placement of a child
with autism in educational settings. Statement seven (M=3.27, SD=1.25) suggested students with autism
should be placed in inclusion classrooms. Two-hundred-forty-one (43.7%) participants agreed, and 131
(23.7%) participants disagreed. One-hundred-seventy-nine (32.5%) participants could not decide whether
the students with autism should be placed in inclusion classrooms.
On the other hand, 371 (67.3%) participants agreed that students with autism should be placed in special
education classrooms (M=3.85, SD=1.17). Seventy-four (13.4%) participants did not agree with that
statement. Two-hundred-fifteen (39%) participants did not agree that students with autism should be
placed in general education classrooms. However, the mean score for statement seventeen is 2.7
(SD=1.27); 189 (34.3%) participants were neutral regarding general education placements. Results of
those three statements showed that most of the College of Education students who participated in the
study thought that students with autism should be placed in special education classrooms.
Participants responses answered research question two. Even though participants did not receive enough
education about autism or knew anybody with autism, they were aware of autism and the educational
needs of a child with autism. Most of them thought children with autism should not be placed in general
education classrooms; they should be in special education settings or inclusion classrooms.
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The third research question was Do the College of Education students in Turkey feel prepared to teach
children with autism in their classrooms? Thus, the important information to determine this data was
learning about the participants classes about autism. Three-hundred-fifty (63.5%) of the participants
reported that they disagreed with the statement three. Eighteen students (3.3%) were neutral about taking
any class which covered information about autism and the educational needs of a child with autism. Onehundred-eighty-three (33.2%) out of 551 participants took at least one class related to autism. Fourhundred-thirty-eight (79.5%) participants agreed that the College of Education should have more classes
about autism (M=4.09, SD=1.01). Only 42 (7.6%) students disagreed with statement nineteen which was
in support of College of Education students receiving more classes about autism.
Statements eleven, thirteen, and fourteen were about the College of Education students feelings of their
ability to teach a child with autism. Three-hundred-five participants (55.4%) did not think that they were
able to plan a lesson which involved appropriate learning activities for a child with autism (M=2.30,
SD=1.12). Also, 294 (53.4%) participants did not think they were able to integrate new teaching
strategies in a classroom which contained a child with autism (M=2.27, SD=1.17) and 266 (48.2%)
participants did not know how to deal with classroom management issues for a child who has autism
(M=2.48, SD=1.16).
Answers for the third research question were determined by analyzing the responses of participants. The
statements suggest that College of Education students in Turkey did not feel they were ready to teach a
child with autism.
As additional information, the last statement was about the governments spending money on educating
students with autism and training their teachers. Three-hundred-ninety-five (73.5%) participants thought
that the governments spending money is necessary (M=1.82, SD=1.35). Fifty-eight (10.5%) participants
were neutral about this issue. Eighty-eight (16%) stated that they thought governments spending money
on educating students with autism and training their teachers was unnecessary.
Table 6 Frequency and Percentages for Each Choice
Strongly
disagree
Statements
Neither agree
nor disagree
Disagree
Stmt 1
22
4.00
33
6.00
Stmt 2
333
60.40
87
Stmt 3
273
49.50
Stmt 4
75
Stmt 5
Agree
Strongly agree
72
13.10
235
42.60
189
34.30
15.80
23
4.20
27
4.90
81
14.70
77
14.00
18
3.30
59
10.70
124
22.50
13.60
84
15.20
196
35.60
126
22.90
70
12.70
433
78.60
60
10.90
11
2.00
10
1.80
37
6.70
Stmt 5
119
21.60
104
18.80
131
23.80
132
24.00
65
11.80
Stmt 7
68
12.30
63
11.40
179
32.50
130
23.60
111
20.10
Stmt 8
12
2.20
10
1.80
27
4.90
188
34.10
314
57.00
Stmt 9
10
1.80
11
2.00
19
3.40
197
35.80
314
57.00
Stmt 10
10
1.80
1.50
17
3.10
174
31.60
342
62.10
Stmt 11
173
31.40
132
24.00
173
31.40
52
9.40
21
3.80
Stmt 12
306
55.50
108
19.60
50
9.10
51
9.30
36
6.50
Stmt 13
202
36.70
92
16.70
178
32.30
59
10.70
20
3.60
Stmt 14
149
27.00
117
21.20
178
32.30
83
15.10
24
4.40
Stmt 15
33
6.00
41
7.40
106
19.20
165
29.90
206
37.40
Stmt 16
11
2.00
11
2.00
57
10.30
203
36.80
269
48.80
Stmt 17
120
21.80
95
17.20
189
34.30
81
14.70
66
12.00
Stmt 18
307
55.70
111
20.10
83
15.10
32
5.80
18
3.30
Stmt 19
21
3.80
21
3.80
71
12.90
208
37.70
230
41.70
Stmt 20
376
68.20
29
5.30
58
10.50
40
7.30
48
8.70
68
Vol 29, No: 1, 2014
Discussion
ASD encompasses a wide range of disabilities. Every child with ASD experiences the disability in
different ways depending on his/her skills, abilities, and cognitive level. These differences between the
students make it difficult to adequately train and prepare teachers for children with autism. Teachers
should be able to serve all of the students with ASD in their classes. The importance of the teachers
knowledge and understanding about autism directs the attention to the teacher training programs.
Evidence-based teacher training programs about autism should be planned more carefully to provide the
necessary education for children with autism.
The purpose of this study was to learn about Turkeys College of Education students knowledge about
autism and the educational needs of a child with autism. Learning their knowledge about autism is
important to justify their feelings about teaching a child with autism. These key components were
determined by using the questionnaire prepared for this study by the first author.
According to the questionnaire results, College of Education students in Turkey knew that autism is
developmental disability that can be improved through education, but they were not sure they were able
to identify and understand the characteristics of autism. College of Education students in Turkey thought
that they could not provide any information about autism when they were asked, because they did not
take any classes related to autism. Colleges of Education in Turkey do not offer any classes about autism.
College of Education students did not have in-depth knowledge of autism, but they also knew children
with autism need communication support, behavioral support, and social skills support. The college
students in Turkey also stated that visual supports help students with autism. These results showed that
College of Education students in Turkey believed they have the basic knowledge about autism.
Identifying and understanding the characteristics of autism requires more in-depth knowledge, which
emphasizes the lack of appropriate training about autism.
If the College of Education programs have classes about autism, the students would be able to have the
knowledge and share it with other people who need help. All College of Education students should have
knowledge to help their students with autism. Education of children with autism is not only the
responsibility of the special education teachers, it is the responsibility of all teachers because the law
requires placing students with ASD in inclusive educational settings as appropriate based on their skills
and abilities. All teachers should have in-depth knowledge about autism, because they will have students
with ASD in their classes whether they are general education or special education classes.
Most College of Education students did not know any individuals with autism, and they have never
experienced teaching a child with autism during their practicum hours. They have the basic knowledge
about autism but have never experienced it first-hand. College of Education students stated they knew
children with autism needed behavioral, communication, social skills, and visual support help to be
successful, which showed they were aware of some of the educational needs of a child with autism.
This study showed College of Education students in Turkey thought students with autism should be
placed in special education or inclusion classrooms. Students with autism need special instruction which
is designed for them, thus they should not be placed in general education classrooms without any support
or training for the receiving teacher. College of Education students knew they needed special classes to
acquire knowledge about autism. They did not think they received enough education about autism.
College of education students agreed that Colleges of Education should have more classes about autism.
The survey generated enough data to answer the research questions. College of Education students in
Turkey were aware of autism and the educational needs of a child with autism. They admitted a child
with autism needed specialized instruction to improve their skills, and teachers needed to be more
educated about autism to provide that specialized instruction. Besides that, College of Education students
knew they did not receive the necessary training to help children with autism.
College of Education students in Turkey did not take any classes which were related to autism and they
thought they did not receive enough education about autism, thus they did not think they were able to
plan a lesson which involved appropriate learning activities for a child with autism. College of Education
students also did not think they were able to integrate new teaching strategies in a classroom which
contains a child with autism. The responses of those statements showed College of Education students in
Turkey did not feel prepared to teach children with autism in their classes because they did not receive
enough education and they did not have the knowledge to teach children with autism.
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Vol 29, No: 1, 2014
Limitations
There are some limitations about the study and the data collection procedures. The data for this study
was collected from two Universities College of Education students because of the permission restriction.
The first author received permission to conduct research from two universities in Turkey. Between these
universities 551 students participated. Their responses cannot be generalize to all of the universities in
Turkey, but it still provides a representation of what the College of Education students in Turkey know
about autism.
The second limitation of the study is the reflection of gender in the field of education. One-hundredthirty-four (24.3%) male, and 417 (75.7%) female College of Education students participated in the
study. More female students were represented in the study; therefore, the results of the study may change
depending on the participants gender. Based on this sample, patterns of male/female attitudes and
knowledge cannot be determined.
Elementary school teaching programs students were also over represented in the study because
elementary school teaching programs classroom populations were higher than the other programs.
Elementary school teaching programs are popular among the teacher training programs in Turkey. This
popularity affected the population of the students in College of Education and in this study. This may
count as a benefit for the study because the results are dependent of the elementary school teaching
programs students who are more likely to be the first teachers of the students with autism with or
without diagnosis in their classes. It was good to know the ideas and knowledge of the future elementary
school teachers.
The last limitation for the study was data collection. The data were collected in 20 minute sessions
during the lecture hours. If participants had been able to use more time to think about the statements,
they may have given more thoughtful answers. Questionnaires could have been handed out for one day
and participants could have been asked to hand them in the next day, but the number of participants
would not be the same if the students were asked to return the questionnaires later. Additionally, the first
authors time was limited in Turkey to be able extend the time for data collection. All of the data were
collected in two days, one day for each university. Even though there are limitations to the study, the
collected data was enough to determine the statistical results and provide useful information for teacher
training programs.
Educational Implications
Important findings of this study showed the importance of the teacher training programs for educating a
child with autism. Previous research (Bishop et al., 2010, Mehring & Dow,2001, Park et al., 2010, Siu &
Ho, 2010) has emphasized the importance of teachers attitudes and knowledge on a childs ability to
reach his/her educational goals. Improving teachers knowledge about any disability is best accomplished
while they are in college; however, teachers need to continue learning to keep up on the latest research
and teaching techniques. Teachers stated that they learn more about the disabilities while they are
working with children (Bishop et al., 2010). Teachers knowledge and attitudes about autism can be
improved while they are in college and while they are taking their classroom experience and teaching
practice classes.
Colleges of Educations in Turkey should offer more classes about special education and autism. Those
classes should not be just theoretical classes; College of Education students should be taking classroom
experience or teaching practice classes in special education or inclusive educational settings. At least
during one semester every College of Education teacher should experience teaching in a classroom
which contains students with disabilities because it may not be possible for every College of Education
student to experience teaching a child with autism. When the College of Education students experience
teaching a student with disability, they learn how to plan, differentiate, and manage their teaching
activities.
In Turkey, before training College of Education students, the Ministry of National Education and
Universities should focus on professionals training about special education and autism. There are some
scholarships and programs for professionals training, but the study results showed there were not
enough professionals who can provide that training at the college level. Even the law requires Colleges
of Education to offer classes about special education; however, there are not enough faculty to lecture for
those classes.
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Vol 29, No: 1, 2014
Future Research
This study can be used as a base to design other studies to compare different universities programs and
students knowledge depending on the responses of questionnaire statements. This study also can be
expanded to other universities in Turkey to evaluate improvement of College of Education programs in
areas of special education and autism. This study can be replicated to compare students knowledge and
awareness about autism, which show the programs improvement.
In summary, College of Education students in Turkey showed their knowledge and understanding about
autism is limited. However, they have the basic knowledge. They need to be better educated to use
evidence-base practices while they are teaching to students with autism. College of Education students
do not feel prepared to teach a child with autism in their classes. The study showed that teacher training
programs in the Colleges of Education in Turkey should modify their programs to give better education
about special education and autism. The study results showed students in College of Education in Turkey
did not take any classes related to autism, thus they do not have in-depth knowledge about autism.
Colleges of Education in Turkey should offer more classes about special education and autism and those
classes should be mandatory for every student who enrolled in any program in the College of Education.
References
Bishop, A.G., Brownell, M.T., Klinger, J.K., Leko, M.M., & Galman, S.A.C. (2010). Differences in
beginning special education teachers: The influence of personal attributes, preparation, and school
environment on classroom reading practices. Learning Disability Quarterly, 33, 75-92.
Dictionary.com Retrieved from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/attitude
Hume, K. & Odom, S. (2006). Effects of an individual work system on the independent functioning of
students with autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 37, 116-180.
Kulekci, E. & Bulut, L. (2011) Elementary teacher education: A comparison of elementary teacher
education systems in Turkey and in the United States of America. Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 1(2), 103-114.
McGee, G.G. & Morrier, M.I.. (2005). Preparation of autism specialists. In F.R. Volkmar, R. Paul, A.
Klin, & D. Cohen (Eds.), Handbook of autism and pervasive developmental disorders: Vol. 2.
Assessment, Intervention and Policy (3rd ed., pp.1123-1160). New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Mehring, T.A. & Dow, M.J. (2001). Preparing future teachers for students with autistic spectrum
disorders. In T. Wahlberg, F. Obiakor, S. Burkardt, & A.F. Rotarori (Eds.), Autistic Spectrum Disorders:
Educational and Clinical Interventions (pp. 69-88). Oxford: Elsevier Science.
Ministry of National Education www.meb.gov.tr
Ministry of National Education (2011). National Education Statistics Formal Education 2010-2011.
Retrieved from http://sgb.meb.gov.tr/istatistik/meb_istatistikleri_orgun_egitim_2010_2011.pdf
Nal A. & Tuzun, I. ( 2011). Kaynastirma butunlestirme etkiligini arttirmak icin politika ve uygulama
projesi turkiyede kaynastirma/butunlestirme yoluyla egitimin durumu. Tohum Otizm Vakfi Egitim &
Refromu Girisimi.
Park, M., Chitiyo, M., & Choi, Y.S. (2010) Examining pre-service teachers attitudes towards children
with autism in the USA. Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs, 10(2), 107-114.
Pasco, G. (2011). The diagnosis and epidemiology of autism. Tizard Learning Disability Review, 16(4),
5-19.
Rodriguez, D. (2009). Culturally and linguistically diverse students with autism. Childhood Education.
Retrieved from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3614/is_200901/ai_n32422513
Siu, A.F.Y. & Ho, E.L.S (2010). Relations between commitment to a treatment orientation and selfefficacy among teachers working with children with autism. International Journal of Early Childhood
Special Education, 2(3) 180-192.
Tohum Otizm Vakfi, (2010). Turkiyede otizm spectrum bozukluklari ve ozel egitim. Tohum Otizm
Vakfi, Haziran 2010.
Turkiyede
ogretmen
yetistirme
sistemi
retrieved
from
http://oyegm.meb.gov.tr/bilgilendirme/ogretmen_yetistirme_sistemi.htm
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Appendix A
Demographics:
Gender:
Male_________
Female___________
Age:
__________________
University:
_____________________________________________
Field of Study: _____________
Class_____________
I would like you to choose one of the numbers from 1- 5 to identify your situation and beliefs about
autism.
1: Strongly disagree, 2: Disagree, 3: Neither agree nor disagree, 4: Agree, 5: Strongly Agree
Statements:
1. Autism is a developmental disability that can be improved through education.
1
2
3
4
5
2.
I know somebody (relatives, friends, students) who has autism.

2
3
4
5
3.
I took at least 1 class which covers information about autism and educational needs of a child
with autism.
2
3
4
5
4.
I am able to identify and understand the characteristics of autism.

2
3
4
5
5.
I have experienced teaching a child with autism during my practicum hours.

2
3
4
5
6.
I am able to give information about autism when the parents ask.

2
3
4
5
7.
Students with autism should be placed in inclusion classrooms.

2
3
4
5
8.
Students with autism need communication support.

2
3
4
Students with autism need behavioral support.

2
3
4
1
9.
1
10. Students with autism need support to improve their social skills.
2
3
4
5
11. I am able to plan a lesson which involves appropriate learning activities for a child with autism.
2
3
4
5
12. I have received education about the needs of a child with autism.
2
3
4
5
13. I am able to integrate new teaching strategies in a classroom which contains a child with autism.
2
3
4
5
14. I know how to deal with classroom management issues in a class with students with autism.
2
3
4
5
15. Students with autism should be placed in special education classroom.

2
3
4
5
16. Visual supports help students who have autism.

2
3
4
5
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Vol 29, No: 1, 2014
17. Students with autism should be placed in general education classrooms.

2
3
4
5
18. I have received enough education about autism.

2
3
4
19. College of Education should have more classes about autism.

2
3
4
5
20. Governments spending money on educating students with autism and training their teachers are
unnecessary.
2
3
4
5
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Vol 29, No: 1, 2014
Appendix B
Bilgiler:
Cinsiyetiniz: Bay ____________
Bayan _______________
Yanz : __________________
Devam etmekte olduunuz niversite :_______________________________
Blm: ____________________________
Snf : _____________________
Aada belirtilmi 1den 5 e kadar derecelendirmi olan durumlardan size uygun olann iaretleyiniz.
1: Kesinlikle Katlmyorum, 2: Katlmyorum, 3: Kararszm, 4: Katlyorum, 5:Kesinlikle Katlyorum
yardm
5
2.
1
Otizmli birini (akraba/arkada/ renci) tanyorum.

2
3
4
3.
1
Otizm ve otizmli rencilerin ihtiyalar ile ilgili bilgileri ieren en az 1 ders aldm.
2
3
4
5
4.
1
Otizmi ve zelliklerini anlayabilir ve tanmlayabilirim.

2
3
4
5.
1
Okul deneyimi derslerim srasnda otizmli bir renci ile alma frsatm oldu.
2
3
4
5
6.
1
rencilerin aileleri istekte bulunduu takdirde onlar otizm hakknda bilgilendirebilirim.

2
3
4
5
7.
1
Otizmli rencilerin kaynatrma snflarnda eitim almalar gerekir.

2
3
4
5
8.
1
Otizmli rencilerin iletiim konusunda destek almalar gerekir.

2
3
4
9.
1
Otizmli rencilerin davranlar konusunda destek almalar gerekir.

2
3
4
5
1.
Otizm
1
geliimsel
2
bir
bozukluktur
3
ve
eitim
ile
etkileri
azaltlabilir.
10. Otizmli rencilerin sosyal ilikilerini gelitirebilmek iin destek almalar gerekir.
1
2
3
4
5
11. Otizmli renciler iin uygun renme aktivitelerini ieren bir ders plan hazrlayabilirim.
1
2
3
4
5
12. Otizmli rencilerin ihtiyalar konusunda eitim aldm.
1
2
3
4
13. Otizmli renci bulunduran bir snfta yeni eitim retim stratejilerini uygulayabilirim.
1
2
3
4
5
14. Otizmli renci bulunduran bir snftaki snf ynetimi sorunlarn giderebilirim.
1
2
3
4
5
15. Otizmli rencilerin zel eitim snflarnda eitim almalar gerekir.
1
2
3
4
5
16. Grsel destek ( resimler, fotoraflar, grselletirilmi takvimler) otizmli rencilere yardmc olur.
1
2
3
4
5
17. Otizmli rencilerin genel eitim snflarnda eitim almalarn gerekir.
1
2
3
4
5
74
18. Otizmle ilgili yeterli eitim aldm.

1
2
3
Vol 29, No: 1, 2014
19. Eitim fakltelerinin otizmle ilgili daha fazla ders vermeleri gerekir.
1
2
3
4
5
20. Otizmli rencilerin ve bu rencilerin retmenlerinin eitimlerine ayrlan devlet btesi
gereksizdir.
1
2
3
4
5
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Vol 29, No: 1, 2014
PREPARING SPECIAL EDUCATORS FOR COLLABORATION IN THE CLASSROOM: PRESERVICE TEACHERS BELIEFS AND PERSPECTIVES
Bethany M. Hamilton-Jones, PhD
University of Rhode Island
Cynthia O. Vail, PhD
University of Georgia
Inclusion of students with disabilities in general education classrooms and programs

continues to be a focus in the international field of special education. In the USA
where the history of inclusion is over three decades old, current special educator's
professional standards clearly expect that certified special educators will enter the
field with adept collaboration and co-teaching skills in order to optimize services for
students with disabilities in inclusive settings. Coursework in collaboration for preservice special educators is a common mechanism for providing this training within
the United States (McKenzie, 2009). This qualitative case study (n=12) conducted
over a semester of coursework on collaboration in a distance education format utilized
grounded theory, through document analysis and interviewing (n=5), to build a better
understanding of pre-service special educators perceptions and beliefs about
collaborating with general educator partners in school settings. Five themes emerged
from over 300 participant quotations: 1) definitions of collaboration, 2) outcomes of
collaboration, 3) collaborative behaviors between teachers, 4) challenges to
collaboration, and 5) preparedness to collaborate. These pre-service special
educators most often commented on the challenges they experienced in school settings.
Implications for teacher education programs worldwide and future research are
discussed.
A global movement towards inclusion of students with disabilities in typical classrooms and schools has
intensified focus on skills teachers need to meet the unique demands of this challenging equal
educational opportunity. Diverse countries such as Canada (Jordan, Schwartz, & McGhie-Richmond,
2009; Philpott, Furey, & Penney, 2010), Trinidad (Johnstone, 2010), and Turkey (Gurgur & Uzuner,
2011) are identifying the strengths and weaknesses of their respective teaching forces and the necessary
supports, including teacher training, for effective collaboration between special educators and general
educators. Collaboration, the interaction style between school professionals, is defined as two or more
equally certified or licensed professionals implementing shared teaching, decision-making, goal setting,
and accountability for a diverse student body (Friend & Cook, 2009). Collaboration, though often
represented as synonymous with co-teaching, rather includes co-teaching as one subset of skills needed
to effectively and jointly educate students with disabilities in twenty-first century schools. Collaboration
between special and general educators has been a key topic in education in the United States since the
early 1970s when seminal legislation for students with disabilities mandated considering least restrictive
environment in which students with disabilities would receive their education in an environment as close
to their non-disabled peers as possible while still experiencing academic success, and not in separate
classrooms or schools as was traditionally considered the appropriate setting for all students with
disabilities. Since that time, discourse on collaboration between general and special educators including
the workings of this professional partnership, the impact on professional roles and responsibilities, and
the affect on student achievement has permeated special education literature (e.g., Cook & Friend, 1995;
Keefe & Moore, 2004; Mastropieri, Scruggs, Graetz, Norland, Gardizi, & McDuffie, 2005; Murawski &
Swanson, 2001; Nevin, Cramer, Voigt, & Salazar, 2008; Rea & Connell, 2005; Rea, McLaughlin, &
Walther-Thomas, 2002; Scruggs, Mastropieri, & McDuffie, 2007).
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Vol 29, No: 1, 2014
Recent national policy in the USA, specifically, the re-authorization of The Individuals with Disabilities
Education Improvement Act (IDEA, 2004) regulations (which serve as the blueprint for the delivery of
special education services in USA public and private schools) continued to delineate what should be
considered when determining each students appropriate least restrictive environment. Currently,
considering least restrictive environment for students with disabilities in the United States requires
considering students full participation in the general education curriculum delivered in the general
education classroom and then considering more segregated settings only after it is determined that the
student is not successful in the general education curriculum and classroom without more restrictive
supports or specialized instruction (Office of Special Education Programs, 2006, sec. 614). In addition,
high stakes testing and increased teacher accountability, requirements embedded in the No Child Left
Behind Act (NCLB; U.S. Department of Education, [USDOE], 2002), resulted in more students with
disabilities receiving their instruction in the general education class (Turner, 2003). According to the 29 th
annual report to congress on IDEA implementation during the 2007 school year, 54% of students with
disabilities (ages 6-21) received instruction in general education settings for 80% of the day (United
States Department of Education, 2010). Thus, twenty-first century classrooms have become epicenters
for collaboration between special educators, general educators, related service professionals, and other
school support personnel.
In addition to public policy, professional teaching standards have emphasized effective collaboration as a
vital skill and knowledge domain in teaching. What Every Special Educator Must Know: Ethics,
Standards, and Guidelines for Special Educators (2009), the Council for Exceptional Childrens
guidelines for preparing professional special educators worldwide included collaboration as a stand alone
domain area in which special educators should show competence prior to entering the teaching field.
These standards provide guidance in developing and revising policy and procedures for program
accreditation, entry-level certification, professional practice, and continuing professional growth (p.11).
According to the Council for Exceptional Children, collaboration as a professional practice includes
multiple partners such as parents, teachers, related service providers, and outside community agencies.
By working in tandem with these partners in a culturally responsive manner, special educators are
viewed as specialists by a myriad of people who actively seek their collaboration to effectively include
and teach individuals with exceptional learning needs (p.48). Furthermore, indicators of a special
educator with strong collaboration skills include: a) modeling strategies for consultation and
collaboration, b) building respectful and positive relationships with professionals, c) coordinating the
inclusion of students with disabilities into a variety of school settings, and d) using co-teaching methods
to increase student achievement in the classroom. Additionally, the National Board for Professional
Teaching Standards What Teachers Should Know and Be Able to Do (2007) specifically addresses the
necessity of collaboration between special educators and general educators due to increased inclusion in
schools. Finally, the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE, 2007), the
professional accrediting body for teacher preparation programs throughout the USA, includes standards
on teacher preparation programs evidence of providing the pedagogical and professional knowledge and
skills required by teacher candidates in all professional settings: They have a thorough understanding of
the school, family, and community contexts in which they work, and they collaborate with the
professional community to create meaningful learning experiences for all students (NCATE, Standard
1c).
However, teacher preparation programs which are beholden to the aforementioned standards are often
faulted for insufficient training in collaboration skills for special educators (Austin, 2001; Billingsley,
2004; Cook & Friend, 1995; Deiker, 2001; Friend, 2000; Greene & Isaacs, 1999; Keefe & Moore, 2004;
Keefe, Moore, & Duff, 2004; Laframboise, Epanchin, Colucci, & Hocutt, 2004; Lovingfoss, Eddy,
Molloy, Harris, & Graham, 2001; McKenzie, 2009; Otis-Wilborn, Winn, Griffin & Kilgore, 2005;
Turner, 2003). Researchers have proposed that teacher education programs fail to equip special educators
with the unique skills necessary for co-teaching (e.g. Alvarez & Daniel, 2008; Austin, 2001; Keefe &
Moore, 2004). Colleges have been accused of a do as we say, not as we do attitude toward teaching
instructional and behavioral techniques for the inclusive classroom (Greene & Isaacs; Kluth & Straut,
2003). In addition, programs often perpetuate the phenomena of segregated disciplinary roles and
isolated practice (Bullock, Park, & Snow, 2002; Cook & Friend, 1995; Greene & Isaacs; Quinlan, 1998;
McKenzie, 2009). According to Otis-Wilborn et al., 2005, teacher education failed to deliver strategies
for clarifying roles and building collaborations in formal and informal ways with general education
teachers (p.149). These programs produce teachers bound for professional placements feeling
unprepared and inexperienced (Keefe & Moore, 2004; Thompson, 2001). Conversely, possessing
developed collaboration skills may support the induction and retention of special educators in the field
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Vol 29, No: 1, 2014
(Billingsley, 2004). Special educators who feel prepared for the complexities of collaboration in their
daily career may avoid being overwhelmed by these demands.
Suggestions for teacher education program reforms include the common thread of building better
collaboration skills not just for special educators, but for general educators as well. Repeatedly,
researchers called for higher education to initiate changes resulting in successful collaboration skills
(e.g., French & Chopra, 2006; Griffin & Pugach, 2007; Thousand, Villa, & Nevin, 2006; Villa,
Thousand, & Chapple, 1996). Specifically, the proposed solutions for this dilemma included: (a)
integrated programs with other disciplines such as elementary education, school psychology, or a specific
content area (Griffin & Pugach, 2007; Miller & Stayton, 2006; Otis-Wilborn et al..,,2005; Turner, 2003);
(b) classes designed to teach collaboration skills (Arthaud et al., 2007; Austin, 2001; Lovingfoss et al.,
2001; McKenzie, 2009); (c) co-teaching during practica or student teaching (Alvarez & Daniel, 2008;
Van Laarhoven et al., 2007; Wilson Kamens, 2007); and (d) modeling co-teaching in the higher
education classroom (Bakken et al., 1998; Cook & Friend, 1995; Duchardt, Marlow, Inman, Christensen,
& Reeves, 1999; Greene & Isaacs, 1999; Kluth & Straut, 2003; Miller & Stayton, 2006; Waters &
Burcoff, 2007).
Although coursework in collaboration is recommended, there is scant research on how pre-service
special educators view their collaboration skills while completing coursework and prior to entering the
teaching field (Bradley & Monda-Amaya, 2005; Gallagher, Vail, & Monda-Amaya, 2008). Without
building this knowledge, it continues to be difficult to assess how coursework, as a mechanism for
preparing special educators in collaborative skills and knowledge, influences pre-service teachers beliefs
and practices. A better understanding of preservice teachers experiences with collaboration may
provide valuable information on relevant content, activities, and assignments that focus on collaboration
between school professionals.
Method
The purpose of this study was to gain further understanding of pre-service teachers beliefs and
perceptions about collaboration between special educators and general educators while completing
coursework on collaboration and in their future professional practice. Due to the descriptive nature of the
research questions asked, a qualitative case study design was used. The research questions were:
1. What are pre-service special educators beliefs and perceptions about collaboration as a professional
practice?
2.
What challenges do pre-service special educators report as obstructing collaboration in their school
environments?
3.
After completing coursework in collaboration, how prepared to collaborate do these educators feel?
Context of the Study

Pre-service special educators were beginning their second and final year of a distance education
undergraduate degree program in special education at a large southeastern university in the United States.
The course on collaboration was designed to cover the wide array of collaboration that occurs in schools.
Requirements for the distance education course matched the face-to-face version. Participants were
concurrently spending approximately 20 or more hours a week as part of their practicum requirement.
The 13 objectives in the course syllabus are aligned with professional preparation standards outlined in
What Every Special Educator should Know and Do (Council for Exceptional Children, 2009). Course
objectives cover: (a) the history and theory behind collaboration, (b) communication skills for working
with families and professionals, (c) relationship building with families, (d) ethical practices, (e) team
roles and responsibilities in planning an individualized education plan, and (f) collaborative teaching
techniques including instructional delivery, planning, and assessment. Assignments for the course
included attending a school team meeting, periodic reflective journal entries, and interviewing a parent of
a child with a disability.
Participants
Purposeful sampling was used. Twelve participants volunteered: 11 females and one male. All
participants agreed to submit their assignments for analysis, and five agreed to conduct a post-course
interview. The gender breakdown reflects the overall breakdown of men (12%) to women (88%) in this
distance education undergraduate special education program. Participants ages ranged from 24 to 55
years. All of the participants could be considered nontraditional undergraduates (National Center for
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Educational Statistics, 2003). The majority of participants currently worked as paraprofessionals; the
target population of this federally funded grant program for teacher certification through distance
education in special education. The remaining participants completed their field placement through a
practicum arrangement. Three participants worked in elementary settings, four worked in middle schools,
and five worked in high schools. Fifty-eight percent worked in urban school districts while 42% worked
in rural districts.
Participants reported working in a variety of special education program models. Four participants taught
in a co-taught/collaborative classroom, four taught in a resource setting, three worked in an inclusion
class, and one participant taught in a self-contained class. Therefore this sample offered a diverse range
of educational experiences (e.g. elementary, middle, and high school) in a variety of program settings
(e.g. co-taught, resource, self-contained) within diverse school districts.
Data Collection
Multiple data collection methods were used during the semester. Documents collected for the study
included: reflective journals (5 per participants), a team meeting observation assignment, and a parent
interview assignment. The semi-structured post-course interview protocol consisted of questions about
participants perceptions of collaboration, their beliefs of their self-efficacy in collaboration; and
attitudes about experiences with collaboration now and in the future. Interview transcripts from five
interviews lasting 21-46 minutes were analyzed. Prior to data-analysis, transcripts were given to
participants for member checking (Brantlinger et al., 2005; Marshall and Rossman, 2006).
Data Analysis
Data were analyzed using a seven-phased inductive approach (Marshall & Rossman, 2006). For each
piece of data, initial coding consisted of creating in vivo codes, or codes containing verbatim utterances
from participants. These were then reviewed and compared across multiple pieces of data and multiple
sources resulting in the identification of themes on collaboration for these pre-service teachers. Coding
was checked for substantive significance (Patton, 2002) and triangulation across participants and
documents before final themes were determined.
Findings
Data analysis of 84 assignments and interviews revealed five themes related to collaboration among
teachers: (a) defining collaboration, (b) outcomes of collaboration, (c) collaborative behaviors among
teachers, (d) challenges to collaboration, and (e) preparedness to collaborate. Contained within themes
were data categories as shown in Table 1 that more precisely describe commonalities from the data. The
most salient categories will be discussed.
Defining Collaboration
How someone defines collaboration suggests their beliefs about collaboration as a professional skill and
their expectations of how collaboration should work. Participants primarily defined collaboration in one
of two ways a) as people coming together to resolve differences or b) as people working together towards
a common goal. The participants who described collaboration as blending differences expected that
collaboration would include different ideas and opinions. For example, Angela wrote, Often times, you
will have to bring your different opinions together in order to make a decision about something. Sharing
these ideas and coming up with something that works for everyone is a great example of collaboration at
work. Lillian commented, Each teacher who sees a particular student may see different facets of his/her
personality, different strengths and weaknesses and different ways to reach him or her.
Secondly, some gave working together as the definition of collaboration. Anne stated, To me,
collaboration is when two or more people work together towards a common goal, by sharing ideas with
each other that could be used to assist them in reaching their particular goal. Rhonda provided a school
example to illustrate her definition of collaboration: I work with several teachers at school to help our
students understand concepts being taught and helping student reach their goals. We work as a team to
accomplish this. In contrast with the category blending differences, these participants definitions
described collaboration as people who are in agreement or are on the proverbially same page with each
other about a decision. These definitions did not suggest differences of opinions sorted out by
collaboration.
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Table 1 Themes and Categories about Collaboration

Code Theme
Categories Included
Definitions of collaboration
Working together
Blending differences
Collaboration is common
Outcomes of collaboration
Collaborative behavior between teachers
Challenges to collaboration
Preparedness
Positive outcomes
Student success
Extra attention
Shared professional responsibility
Co-teaching models
Teacher behaviors
Shared planning
Shared resources
Power
One teach one assist
School-wide recognition of collaboration
Time/schedule
Failure to share responsibility
Belief in performance
Critical look at collaboration
Coursework
Frequency
21
11
9
21
19
6
29
20
13
10
9
44
25
17
12
9
30
29
14
Outcomes of Collaboration
When individuals combine their knowledge and expertise, a positive and pleasant learning environment
will be created for all to learn and be successful in the school setting. (Tanya)
Participants believed that student success was achieved through collaboration. Anne wrote, The better the
collaboration is among its members, the more successful the school district. Furthermore, the students
will be more successful. Tanya declared, Collaboration should be a process of giving and taking for a
child to learn and succeed academically.
Besides student success, participants believed that collaboration meant greater academic assistance for
students in the classroom. Two teachers could deliver more individualized support to an individual
student in their classroom. Roger commented, More students are reached and given the free appropriate
education they deserve. Students that are not reading at grade level or students having a difficult time
with the school life are helped. Isabelle wrote, In a collaboration classroom the students have not one
teacher but two teachers to ask for assistance.
Collaborative Behavior between Teachers
Participants described teachers behaviors in school settings that to them exemplified positive effective
collaboration. Participants voiced that teachers and other school professionals who were collaborating
did so by sharing professional responsibility. This category included descriptions of teachers making
commitments: to jointly educate students, to jointly prepare and present information on students in
meetings, and to jointly uphold each teachers unique responsibilities for a student. Participant quotes
suggested that with shared professional responsibility students with disabilities belong to both teachers.
For example, Angela, when discussing her own performance in the classroom stated, I work in three
different inclusion classes during the day, and in all three classes there is rarely a time when I can sit
down. Both teachers are constantly helping students. Tanyas journal entry included a classroom
exemplar of sharing professional responsibility:
One teacher was going over the vocabulary words that were on the board. The other teacher made sure
the students were writing the terms and knew how to pronounce and define each term. The special
education teacher could break the terms down so that the special needs students could understand the
work. The teachers also distributed graphic organizers to the students that had problems with writing.
Both teachers cared about all of the students.
Participants also noted that shared professional responsibility was at work when teachers met informally
to problem solve about a student or when they met in a more formal context such as an IEP meeting.
Shared professional responsibility for students was considered a positive representation of collaborative
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behavior between teachers.

The majority of the participants reported that co-teaching models were in use as the primary instructional
delivery model in their settings. Comments described observing and utilizing four co-teaching models
with general educators in classrooms settings. The most common co-teaching model reported, one teachone assist, was associated with challenges in the collaborative partnership between teachers and therefore
will be discussed under that theme. Participants reported seeing: a) parallel teaching, where the group of
students are split and taught the same content; b) one teach and one remediate, where one teacher
provides main instruction and one provides individualized help; and c) team teaching, where both
teachers are actively teaching and supporting throughout the lesson. Participant comments on these
models focused on classroom examples. Roger wrote, The special education and regular education
teacher are actively involved in the co-teaching model. They decide what strategies to use and who will
teach each part of a lesson. Some days involve flip flopping each period on whos teaching. Tanya
reported seeing, One such good partnership was in a biology classroom; a regular education and special
education teacher were working together. The two teachers taught like wrestlers. They worked like a tag
team.
An additional positive tenet of collaboration was identified as teachers who shared planning time and
resources in order to educate students. Participants wrote of teachers swapping instructional activities,
and mapping curriculum as a collaborative effort. One participant noted that she provided her general
education partner materials for a student behavior plan. Angela commented on the outcome of shared
planning and resources: Since the general education and special education teachers plan together on a
weekly basis, it eliminates the possibility of the special education teacher feeling like an outsider or
intruder in the general ed [sic] teachers classroom.
Challenges to Collaboration between Teachers
This theme contained the highest number of quotes from participants. Increased reference to challenges
may have been influenced by course assignment guidelines in which participants were ask to think
critically about collaboration in their schools. The participants witnessed some challenging situations
while other situations directly involved the participant as a collaborator. The most salient categories
under this theme were: power, one teach-one assist, and school-wide recognition of collaboration.
With increased collaboration in schools and higher percentages of teachers co-teaching, teachers now
experience different power dynamics in the classroom. This category of codes describes participants
reactions to unequal power between teachers. Frequently, participants described co-teaching
arrangements where power was a problem. Gail reported on a co-teaching pair she witnessed:
From what I have observed, the general education teacher is the primary teacher, and the co-teacher tries
to step in and help explain to the students different ways to measure angles, and chimes in to help answer
questions, etc. The general education teacher is obviously bothered and somewhat put out by the coteacher. As a matter of fact, four or five weeks ago, she pulled him aside and told him that he was being
much too loud in her classroom. Furthermore, she mentioned to him that he needed to be quiet during
her lecture. He was highly offended by her remarks, and went and sat in the back row of the classroom.
Teachers who were not willing to relinquish power and control were seen as very difficult to collaborate
with. Diana reported, She (the general education teacher) definitely demonstrated it was a big power
thing. She didnt like the fact that I wanted to go in there and teach the class. Lastly, Mary Ann offered
her opinion on this challenge: It (co-teaching) is more about a power play and showing who has more
control than the other one. Power and control is not why I want to be a teacher.
Next, participants descriptions highlighted challenges of the co-teaching model, one teach- one assist.
Typically in this model, the general educator provided the majority of instruction while the special
educator assisted students. For example, Angela wrote, Co-teaching means that two teachers work
together as two teachers in one classroom, not a teacher and a secretary. Overall participants expressed
dislike for the one teach- one assist model of co-teaching that they witnessed and participated in at their
schools. Some reported that this was the most prominent model in their school such as Lillian who said,
What they call co-teaching is basically either using the special education teacher as a paraprofessional
or using the special education teacher to run from one class to another.
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Finally, participants reported that when school recognition of collaboration was lacking, the ability to
collaborate was challenged. This challenge included the administration having a narrow view of
collaboration, such as accepting the one teach one assist model of co-teaching as the primary model of
instructional delivery in co-taught classrooms. Mary Ann commented on this challenge: At the school I
work at I often here [sic] the term inclusion/collaboration but I do not feel that is being done the way I
have been taught and read about in different textbooks and articles.
Preparedness to Collaborate
According to Bandura (1997) self-efficacy is a social cognitive theory that posits that a persons belief in
their performance influences their actual performance and their ability to attain certain outcomes. These
beliefs influence a persons course of action and their perseverance when faced with challenges. It is a
relationship between belief of performance and attainment of desired outcome. Those who believe they
will be successful are successful; as are they more determined, more resourceful, and less discouraged
(Bandura). For collaboration in particular, participants belief in their collaborative skills helps to situate
the learning they did in their coursework and their school settings.
In this category quotations from participants described their personal evaluation of their performance
during a collaborative event in their school setting. The evaluation was most often positive in nature and
connected to an experience where the participant was satisfied with the outcome of the collaboration.
Ten out of 12 participants noted their beliefs in their performance at least one time throughout their
coursework, and several included their beliefs in their ability to collaborate across multiple assignments.
Several participants commented on their performance within a formal meeting. For example, Rhonda
wrote, It was good that I attended this meeting because I played an active role in the decision making
process. In addition, Barbara said, I was able to be an active participant of this meeting when she (the
mother) brought her concern about the lunch line.
Participants remarked on instances where their experiences led to better collaboration. When describing a
co-teaching situation in which the participant and the general education teacher were struggling to work
together, Roger noted his course of action: After a couple of days with no improvement, I decided to use
the valuable information I learned in my college textbook and put consultation service to work. Later in
his writing, Roger commented that, having this experience gave me a great deal of confidence in the
collaboration process.
Not all participants personal evaluations were positive. After an intensive meeting with parents where
the parents and school expectations did not match, Rhonda felt defeated by the collaboration process:
Looking back at the meeting, I felt as though all of us failed the child. We gave into the parents
demands. Anne described a situation in which while acting as a paraprofessional in the special education
teachers classroom, she was subjected to aggressive arguments from the lead teacher in the room. She
chronicled a pattern of behavior in which when frustrated the teacher would yell at her and at students. In
thinking back on her behavior, Anne is clearly disappointed in her collaborative performance, I was
wrong for not taking the proper steps to confront the conflict occurring in the classroom. I should have
demanded respect for myself and the students; instead I engaged in avoidance.
Discussion
Findings suggested differences in how these pre-service special educators defined collaboration. The
distinction becomes interesting when considering the number of challenges between collaborative
members that participants identified. If conflict within collaboration is seen as negating collaborative
efforts, then participants are at risk of taking an unrealistic definition of collaboration into the school
environment. Friend and Cook (2009) warn, both conflict and resistance are natural occurrences in
collaboration, but depending on your response to them, they can either enhance collaboration or impede
it (p.290).
According to these pre-service educators, collaboration between teachers led to increased student
success. In addition, when a general education teacher and a special education teacher worked together,
more individualized instruction and increased academic support were provided. Although participants
expressed the belief in collaboration to produce this outcome, they made few references to specific
instances in which a collaborative teaching team made instructional modifications or provided additional
assistance to students. More importantly, the evaluation of student success was never mentioned in their
writings. In other words, these pre-service teachers believe that collaboration produces increased student
success but are not reporting evidence that this outcome occurs, or that it is being measured at their
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schools. Murawski and Swansons (2001) meta-analysis of co-teaching yielded little evidence of coteaching increasing student success. With special education demanding evidence-based practices to be
used in classrooms, it remains unknown as to whether collaboration between teachers, often
demonstrated through co-teaching, affects student achievement.
Perspectives of collaborative behavior between teachers partially coincided with Friend and Cooks
(2009) defining characteristics of collaboration: a) collaboration is based on mutual goals, b)
collaboration depends on shared responsibility, c) collaborative partners share resources, and d)
collaboration includes shared accountability for students (pp. 9-11). Participants felt that collaboration
occurred when teachers performed behaviors such as sharing resources and professional responsibility in
order to teach all students. However, Friend and Cooks first tenet of collaboration, that it is voluntary,
was not identified as part of the collaborative paradigm by participants. This may be due to the role these
pre-service educators played at their school, either acting as paraprofessionals or as student interns,
which may not have allowed them access to how collaborative partnerships emerged. The research has
emphasized that voluntary collaboration, particularly with co-teaching, is fundamental to the success of
the partnership (Mastropieri et al., 2005; Scruggs et al., 2007).
Most frequently noted in assignments and interviews, were challenges to collaboration. When discussing
collaboration between teachers, the unwillingness of two teachers to share space, instructional
responsibilities, and students was seen as representing a power struggle among the educators. Some
general education teachers were presented as demanding that special educators assume a submissive or
back seat role in class. Difficulties in negotiating power within the co-teaching relationship are well
documented (e.g. Keefe et al., 2004; Mastropieri et al., 2005; Walsh & Jones, 2004). In addition,
participants saw that the overuse of the one teach-one assist model of co-teaching perpetuated the power
differential between general educators and special educators. Based on their reactions, it may be prudent
to remove this model from the co-teaching paradigm, instead focusing on models that by the very nature
of the environmental arrangement suggest a more equal power dynamic. For example, in parallel
teaching, each teacher takes a heterogeneous groups if students and teaches the same content to their
group. This requires active teaching and preparation for both co-teachers.
Finally, participants reported that after completing coursework they felt prepared to collaborate and
confident in their ability to do so in the future. They reported positive self-efficacy beliefs around
collaboration. Reflecting about collaboration resulted in their being more aware of the collaboration
around them, and more apt at critically assessing collaborative work. These findings support that
coursework in collaboration prepares pre-service teachers for the collaborative aspects of their
profession. Yet, due to these participants providing vague and general answers about the skills they
learned throughout the course and applied in their school settings, this interpretation should be cautiously
adopted. Rarely mentioned by participants were any of the specific nuanced skills necessary for effective
collaboration (i.e. problem solving models, conflict resolution, and meeting agendas).
Limitations
Generalizability of the findings reported here is limited by the unique small sample and focused
geographical location (i.e. southeastern United States). However, this limitation was minimized by
participants varied placements along the continuum of special education service delivery models, grade
levels, and classification of school district (i.e. urban). This research provides a specific building block to
the greater understanding of collaboration as a professional practice of special educators. Case studies
can be considered as a whole to develop consistent themes or ideas about a topic (Flyvberg, 2006) and
generalizability is achieved when readers for whom the topic is of interest are offered a detailed
description of the findings as those reported herein (Merriam, 2002). A second limitation was my dual
role as both instructor of the course and researcher of this study. Although my students were guaranteed
verbally and in writing that their responses would in no way affect their performance in the class, my
holding this position of power may have caused students to be more guarded and less candid in their
responses. This was minimized through the use of grading rubrics and member checking.
Implications for Practice and Research
The research questions answered here may be of particular importance to countries newly including
students with disabilities in typical school settings for example, Cyprus (Bekirogullari, Soyturk, &
Gulsen, 2011), and currently developing policies for training and teacher preparation. First, teacher
preparation in special education should provide training in both the pedagogical knowledge around
collaboration and the pedagogical skills necessary to collaborate. Second, the design of collaborative
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training should be considered carefully. Recommendations from the literature include a growing
research base on collaborative cohorts of general and special pre-service educators who complete
coursework and field placements in matched pairs (Griffin & Pugach, 2007; Van Laarhoven et al., 2006;
Ross, Stafford, Church-Pupke, & Bondy, 2006; Smith, Frey, & Tollefson, 2003; Villa, Thousand, &
Chapple, 1996; Kamen, 2007). Van Laarhoven et al., (2006) used both a shared curriculum as well as
shared field experiences for 84 special education and general education students, and compared their
experiences to a control group of student teachers taking course work alone. Longitudinal outcomes
favored the group of teachers who had completed field experience and practiced planning and presenting
a co-taught lesson. These teachers reported feeling that the training they received improved their ability
to collaborate with other school professionals. Using this type of model for the training of collaboration
may promote the learning of the nuanced collaborative skills that these participants did not discuss after
coursework alone.
Third, the content of the training should be considered. These participants overwhelming representation
of challenging experiences in collaboration highlight the need for teacher preparation to focus on conflict
and its resolution as a key skill when collaborating with other school professionals (Bradley & MondaAmaya, 2005; Gallagher et al., 2008). Power struggles in the classroom between teachers were strongly
implicated as a challenge to collaboration. Disagreements were seen as detrimental to collaborative
practices, and not as a naturally occurring part of collaborative events. Participants rarely reported
constructive conflicts in which, a problem is solved, when the relationship among those involved is
strengthened, and when the people involved increase in their ability to resolve conflicts in the future
(Villa, Thousand, & Nevin, 2004, p.98).
Lastly, coursework on collaboration should emphasize positive student outcomes as the result of
collaboration between school professionals and between schools and families. Educators beliefs that
collaboration, and specifically co-teaching, is beneficial to the students does support inclusion of students
with disabilities in the general education classroom. Teachers must be trained on how to document
students academic and behavioral progress so that the effects of their collaboration are empirically
noted. Models of student progress monitoring emerging from the Response to Intervention initiative
could be used to document the affect of teacher behavior on student growth. Activities and assignments
should be designed wherein the types of instructional strategies, adaptations to curriculum, and use of
accommodations are paired with ongoing data collection. Collaboration skills training needs to expand to
consider the collection and use of data in planning instruction and designing materials by both special
educator and general educator, as well as the sharing of this information with parents.
Lastly, this study explored the link between pre-service special educators experiences with collaboration
and their perceived self-efficacy of future professional practice. Expanded research on the construct of
teacher efficacy should include collaborative behaviors and scenarios between teachers. Gibson and
Dembo (1984) found that teacher beliefs in their ability to promote learning in students despite
mitigating challenges conformed to Banduras (1977) theory of self-efficacy. Teachers who believe they
have the skills to promote positive learning experiences structure their classrooms differently than
teachers who have low efficacy beliefs (Allinder, 1994: Gibson & Dembo, 1984, 1985) and are less
susceptible to teacher burnout (Brouwers & Tomic, 1999). Evidence shows that teachers with high
efficacy rates have better performing students (Bandura, 1997). Teacher efficacy has traditionally been
examined using rating scales developed around student- centered events. Bandura (1997) recommended,
the assessment of teachers perceived efficacy should be broadened to gauge its multifaceted nature (p.
243). New developments in measuring this construct which include statements regarding teachers
beliefs in their collaborative skills would succeed in diversifying the many roles and responsibilities of a
teacher in todays classroom and provide a more comprehensive view of this social learning construct.
The findings presented here could aid in the construction of such a measure.
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REHABILITATIVE LEARNING: EDUCATION DURING PSCYHIATRIC

HOSPITALIZATION
Haim Shaked
Bar-Ilan University
This article presents a case study of a school designed for youth hospitalized for
mental disorders, aiming to reveal the educational approach of such a school, a topic
on which nothing has been written so far. The study, which lasted a year, employed
qualitative techniques: observations, document collection and interviews. The study
has found that the school not only provides education to the hospitalized youth, but
also functions as an active factor in expediting their recuperation. This significant
educational approach is composed of five main principles: (1) Maintenance of a
normative atmosphere, (2) Providing the students with a feeling of personal value, (3)
Students' responsibility for recovery, (4) Staff's containment of students, and (5)
Flexibility. This approach actually endows new meaning to learning, considering it a
rehabilitative process.
Introduction
Charting an educational pathway for a school of youth hospitalized for mental disorders is challenging.
Mental disorders are usually disruptive to scholastic performance: naturally, students who suffer from
mental disorders such as mood disorders, anxiety disorders, eating disorders or personality disorders, are
not emotionally available for learning, and find it difficult to function as students. All the more so when
it comes to cases of severe and persistent mental disorders, where hospitalization is required and
maximum attention is given to treatment, while education is considered to be less important at this point.
This article aims to reveal the educational approach of a school designed for youth hospitalized for
mental disorders. Thus, this article will describe and define the educational concept applied at the Ziv
School, which recently won the District Education Award of the Israeli Ministry of Education. Ziv
School is situated within the Ziv Medical Center, which is located in the Israeli northern city of Safed.
The hospital, a government medical center founded in 1910, currently containing about 300 hospital
beds, serves residents of Safed and the surrounding communities. Among a variety of units and wards,
there are also mental health in-patient departments and out-patient clinics. Ziv School is designed for
youth hospitalized in the in-patient (closed) youth psychiatric department.
Ziv School was founded in 1995, when the youth psychiatric department of Ziv Hospital was opened.
The school has a team of forty teachers, including secondary school teachers, special education teachers,
therapists and assistants. The number of students, which is constantly changing, ranges from 20 to 30.
Most students are aged 12 to 18, although some older, and most students have attended a school before
hospitalization, although some have not attended on a regular basis. The students' academic level is very
diverse, and period of stay of a student at Ziv School is not predictable from a few days to many
months. Some students are hospitalized against their will, under order of a judge, and sometimes there is
only partial contact with students' parents. The school runs six days a week, throughout most of the year.
There is no data on number of students who reconnected with previous school successfully following
treatment.
The educational approach of schools designed for youth hospitalized for mental disorders is a topic on
which nothing has been written. One may hypothesize that this lacuna reflects the insufficient attention
given to the question how we can better normalize the inpatient experience, as well as youth's transition
from treatment back into the community. This article aspires to contribute to the evolving knowledge in
this field.
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Background
Mental disorders
What is a mental disorder? Apparently, the answer should be found in the Diagnostic and Statistical
Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) which aims to provide a common language in, and standard criteria
for, the area of mental disorders. However, the DSM itself emphasizes the difficulties involved in
accurately distinguishing between normality and psychopathology. Different situations call for different
definitions, thus the concept of a mental disorder cannot be easily or precisely defined. The DSMIV (American Psychiatric Association, 2000) defines a mental disorder as a clinically significant
behavioral or psychological syndrome or pattern, which is associated with present distress or disability or
with a significantly increased risk of suffering death, pain, disability, or an important loss of freedom.
DSM-V (American Psychiatric Association, 2013) defines a mental disorder as a syndrome characterized
by clinically significant disturbance in an individual's cognition, emotion regulation or behavior that
reflects a dysfunction in the psychological, biological or developmental processes underlying mental
functioning, usually associated with significant distress in social, occupational, or other important
activities.
According to the DSM there are hundreds of mental disorders, although some have criticized it for
creating too many diagnostic categories (Van-Praag, 2000). The more common types of mental disorders
are various types of depression and anxiety, which cause appreciable emotional distress and interfere
with daily functioning, though usually not affecting insight or cognition (McManus, Meltzer, Brugha,
Bebbington & Jenkins, 2009).
The World Health Organization (World Health Organization, 2000) considers the mental disorder
category to be one of the most burdensome of all classes of disease, in part because of its high
prevalence: over a third of people in most countries report, at some time in their life, of encountering
problems which meet the criteria for the diagnosis of one or more of the common types of mental
disorders. In Australia about 45% of adults will experience a mental illness at one stage or another
(Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2008), and about half of all USA residents will meet the criteria for a
DSM-IV disorder sometime in their lives (Kessler, Berglund, Demler, Jin & Walters, 2005).
Mental disorders among adolescents
Mental health is essential for normal adolescent development, and when the mental health of adolescents
is affected, the adolescents themselves, their families, their communities, and society as a whole carry a
heavy burden (Kapphahn, Morreale, Rickert & Walker, 2006). Researchers have found that
approximately 20% of adolescents across the globe suffer from a disabling mental illness (Belfer, 2008).
Depressive symptoms are common in adolescents: over 9% of adolescents in U.S. reported depressive
symptoms (Rushton, Forcier & Schectman , 2002), and suicide is the third leading cause of death in
adolescents, affecting all ages, races, genders and socioeconomic groups, although some groups seem to
have higher rates than others (National Adolescent Health Information Center, 2006).
Mental disorders are often lifelong illnesses that begin in childhood or adolescence. Up to 50% of all
adult mental disorders have their onset in adolescence (Belfer, 2008; Kessler, Berglund, Demler, Jin &
Walters, 2005). The onset of mental disorders at an early age is one of the reasons the World Health
Organization considers mental disorders among the most burdensome of all types of diseases (World
Health Organization, 2000).
The prevalence of mental disorders in adolescence has been increasing with each successive generation.
A major factor which might explain this is that adolescence is now a longer period of time than it was in
the past: puberty has been occurring progressively earlier, particularly in developed countries, and at the
other end, full-time work and marriage now occur later in life (Parent et al., 2003). Other changes have
also taken place over time in the nature of adolescence, and the environments in which adolescents find
themselves may also be responsible for this (Evans et al., 2005).
Hospitalization for mental disorders
A common form of treatment for many mental disorders is psychiatric medication. Psychotherapy is also
widely used. In some cases, usually in those of severe and persistent mental disorders, hospitalization is
required. Modern mental hospitals have evolved from, and eventually replaced, the old lunatic asylums,
where treatment was brutal at times, and focused on containment and restraint (Porter, 2006). Several
decades ago, psychiatric patients were often hospitalized for extended periods of time, sometimes even
for many years, while currently people receiving psychiatric treatment are more likely to be seen as
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outpatients. However, in recent years hospitalization rates among teens in the United States have
increased, going from 683 per 100,000 in 1996 to 969 per 100,000 in 2007. During this period of time
hospitalization rates among adults have increased at a slower pace, from 921 to 995 per 100,000. Among
the elderly the rate has declined, going from 977 to 807 per 100,000 (Blader, 2011).
Focusing on adolescents, James, Clacey, Seagroatt and Goldacre (2010) found that hospitalization rates
in England have increased substantially with increasing age, from 20 per 100,000 per year aged 10 years
to 220 per 100,000 aged 19 years. In Israel the average number of youths (age 1217)
hospitalized between 1998 and 2007 per year was 620 (of about 700,000), of which 80% were
hospitalized voluntarily, while others' hospitalization was compulsory. Of those 620 patients, 330 were
males and 290 were females, and the average length of stay was 90 days (Israeli Ministry of Health,
2009).
Hospitalized students' absence from school
Students hospitalized for a long period of time face not only the challenge of their mental health but also
an educational challenge, as their extended absence from school usually involves the loss of important
educational material and disengagement from the school community. Lindsey (1981) has studied a
homeroom teacher's preparations for her pupil's hospitalization, noting that the teacher can help the child
enter the hospital by preparing him or her for the anticipated period of absence through coordinating
assignments with the hospital teacher, if any, as well as providing support for the parents. Lian and Chan
(2003) identified the interruption of the pace of academic study as one of the major concerns of
hospitalized children and their parents, and have thus provided recommendations for hospital
schoolteachers.
To deal with hospitalized students' absence from school, Nisselle, Green and Scrimshaw (2011)
described the learning opportunities that can be fostered within a hospital, highlighting how pedagogy
may be apparent in a children's health setting as, for example, by displaying learning artifacts and
holding dynamic learning activities on the premises, claiming that out-of-school learning environments
such as hospitals provide opportunities for maintaining children's learning identities during absence from
school.
Nisselle, Hanns, Green and Jones (2012) also described the use of laptop computers by hospitalized
children and young adults, arguing that this technology could provide access to flexible learning and
socializing opportunities for inmates. Cashin and Witt (2010) have examined the use of the Starbright
World Program in a pediatric hospital. This program is an online social network for teens with lifethreatening or chronic medical conditions through which they can connect with each other. The
researchers have found that this program can be a beneficial addition to the services provided to pediatric
patients, aiming to give them as many normalizing experiences as possible.
Re-entering school
Reintegrating into school after a lengthy absence is not easy. Researchers have engaged in examining
this difficulty in various contexts, such as those of juvenile offenders (Goldkind, 2011; Toldson,
Woodson, Braithwaite, Holliday & De La Rosa, 2010) or dropouts (Berliner, Barrat, Fong & Shirk,
2009; Brown, 2010; Whannell & Allen, 2011). In our case we are dealing with reintegrating into school
after a long period of hospitalization.
Badger (2008) has provided a model which school social workers may use to facilitate the return from
hospital to school of elementary school children whose appearances have been significantly altered as a
result of illness or injury, by preparing classmates for the pupil's return. Shaw and McCabe (2007) have
dealt with children with chronic illness, and noted that traditional plans for smoothing the transition from
hospital to school may no longer be effective, since medical services have changed and now tend to
reduce long-term hospitalization while instead increasing outpatient care. They describe the needs of the
children concerned, as well as current hospital-to-school transition programs suited to the current health
care system.
Focused on psychiatric hospitalization, Clemens, Welfare and Williams (2010, 2011) have found that
reintegrating into school after discharge from psychiatric hospitalization can be overwhelming for many
adolescents. Academic, social and emotional issues emerge as important areas of concern prior to and
during the psychiatric-hospital-to-school transition. By interviewing mental health professionals
regarding catalysts and hindrances to successful school reintegration of adolescents after
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psychiatric hospitalization, they have come up with recommendations for educators and parents.
Ganz and Pao (1978) recommend that students hospitalized for psychiatric disturbances be allowed to reenter school as soon as the acute illness stage has passed, since leave of absence following
hospitalization does not ensure better re-adjustment. Simon and Savina (2010) have examined the role of
special education teachers in the process of transition from psychiatric hospitals to schools, and found
that the majority of special education teachers reported active involvement in the transition process
through contact with parents and hospital personnel. They also presented reports about behavior
problems upon children's return to school, and provided implications for research, training and practice.
Education of adolescents hospitalized for mental disorders
To avoid prolonged absence from the educational system of youth hospitalized for mental disorders, and
to eliminate to the need for re-integration, youth psychiatric departments sometimes run schools in their
proximity. These schools are faced with several significant challenges. The main challenge lies, of
course, in the fact that all the students have mental disorders. However, there are additional challenges,
such as unusual differences between the students in age, culture, academic level and even language,
constant changes in student body composition, and the sometimes-insufficient contact with students'
parents. Ways of coping with these and other challenges are varied.
To date, no research has explored schools designed for youth hospitalized in psychiatric departments.
The goal of this article is to describe a successful educational approach for such schools through the
model of the Ziv School, situated within the youth psychiatric departments of Ziv Medical Center in
Safed, Israel. As the approach implemented in this school has been found to work exceptionally well, this
study describes, defines and conceptualizes its educational credo.
Method
Data collection
The case study strategy has been chosen for this research as it consists of an intensive analysis of what
Stake (2008, p. 120) calls a bounded system, typically one of interesting and unusual circumstances,
within its real-life context. One might figuratively say that a case study is like a detective story or a
puzzle that has to be solved: it describes a situation to be understood by analyzing the information
provided within it. Using Thomas' (2011) understanding of the terms 'subject' and 'object', the subject of
this case study is Ziv School, through which the study's object, i.e. the educational approach of such a
school, could be revealed and explicated.
Case studies usually involve a longitudinal examination of a specific case. The study presented here
lasted one year, during which visits were made at the youth psychiatric department of Ziv Hospital at
least three times a week, and usually four to six times a week, for at least two hours each time.
Case studies are not always necessarily qualitative; however, in our present case study, qualitative tools
and techniques have been employed, due to their ability to provide rich descriptions and deep
comprehension of a given phenomenon. As such, this research aimed to provide in-depth explanations of
the characteristics of a specific situation, while taking into account its subjective meaning to its
participants, being attentive to what they were experiencing at the moment. In qualitative research
personal acquaintance with the subject matter is an advantage.
The main tool used here is participant observation, which consists one of the most common methods for
collecting qualitative data. The observations' aim was to gain a close and intimate familiarity with a
given group of individuals through intense involvement with them over a long period of time. This type
of research requires the researcher to immerse him-or-herself in the activities and lives of his or her
research subjects, while at the same time maintaining the professional distance necessary for adequate
and objective recording of data. In this study the observations included many activities all activities
that comprise the school routine such as lessons, breaks, meetings, discussions, conversations,
examinations and ceremonies. Life at the department was also observed as a whole, including
components such as therapy meetings, dormitory routines and doctors' visits.
In addition, related documents were read, such as pupils' notebooks, the school's annual work plans, and
publications for the internal and the external public, both printed and online. Interviews were held as
well: both unstructured interviews, which were informal conversational encounters, and semi-structured
interviews with specified themes to be explored, though they were still quite flexibly composed. The
interviewees included school staff members, such as the school principal and teachers; psychiatric
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department staff members, such as psychiatrists and therapists; and also pupils and their parents.
Data analysis
In this research data analysis has been done through four stages: condensing, coding, categorizing and
theorizing. The first stage of data analysis was condensing, as explained Miles, Huberman and Saldaa
(2014): Data condensation is not something separate from analysis. It is a part of analysis. The
researcher's decisions which data chunks to code and which to pull out are all analytic choices (p.
12). In this stage portions of data, which in any way reflect the school's educational way, were sought.
The second stage of data analysis was coding. In this stage each segment of data was marked with a code
a word or a short phrase that symbolically represented and captured one aspect of the school's
educational way it expresses. To obtain intra-coder reliability (Altier, Horgan, & Thoroughgood, 2012),
the data were coded at two different occasions, to ensure consistency. The third stage of data analysis
was categorizing. After capturing the essence of segments of data in the previous stage, this stage
clustered them together according to similarity, in order to generalize their meanings. Segments of data
were grouped and regrouped together when their codes had something in common until satisfactory
categories emerged. The fourth stage was theorizing, aiming to transcend the categories toward a
conceptual construct.
Triangulation is a powerful technique that facilitates validation of data (Bogdan & Biklen, 2007). In this
study we used two kinds of triangulation: data triangulation - findings considered as based when they
were found in at least three antecedents; and methodological triangulation - using three different
qualitative methods to study the research topic: observations documents and interviews were compared
to see if similar results are being found. It should be noted, that the goal of the triangulation was not to
arrive at consistency across data, because inconsistencies should not be seen as weakening the evidence,
but as an opportunity to uncover deeper meaning in the data (Patton, 2002). Moreover, a member check
was conducted with all the participants to evaluate the soundness of the data (Holloway & Wheeler,
2010). Transcripts were sent back to a quarter of participants, requesting that they evaluate their
responses to the interview questions and, if needed, add or refine their responses. Only two interviewees
changed their answers, clarifying their remarks and adding things they forgot to say.
Findings
Data analysis yielded five main principles that compose the educational approach of Ziv School: (1)
normative atmosphere, (2) personal value, (3) responsibility for recovery, (4) containment, and (5)
flexibility. The subsequent sections will explain and demonstrate each of these principles.
Normative atmosphere
Ziv School believes that inmates' mental health is enhanced by attending school. Hospitalization in a
psychiatric department creates an uneasy feeling of being non-normative, and since the act of going to
school is an expression of normative behavior, it strengths one's feeling of being normative, which is
both relaxing and healing.
In consistence with this belief, one of the major ways in which Ziv School strives to maintain a
normative atmosphere is by connecting students to the normal rhythm of life through extra emphasis on
preparing for and celebrating holidays. People who are hospitalized are naturally cut off from the outside
world, and do not necessarily remember if or which holiday is coming up. Therefore reconnecting them
to the large social collective to which they belong by emphasizing holidays and commemorative events
means much more to them than to ordinary students or citizens. Thus, in Ziv School much attention is
given to preparation for and celebration of holidays (respecting all students' religions) as well as
observance of memorial days. These festive occasions are prepared for well in advance with the
participation of all students, while medical staff is invited to take part in celebrations or ceremonies.
Along the same lines, the conclusion of the school year is celebrated with all due ceremonial detail, even
though many students' entry to and exit from Ziv School do not coincide with this point in time. For most
students at Ziv School, the end of the school year has no great significance, as they have joined the
school somewhere along the school year, depending on when they were hospitalized, and will not
complete the next school year in it. Nonetheless, Ziv School celebrates the end of the school year by
holding a big party, includes all that is needed to put together a successful event, such as invitations,
guests, rich refreshments and a full-length performance. This too is done with the intention of creating
the feeling of a normative framework for the students.
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From a broad perspective, Ziv School's goal to create a normative atmosphere is fulfilled predominantly
by its emphasis on studying. The natural tendency regarding youth suffering from mental disorders is to
reduce demands and pressures which might cause them further distress, and therefore minimize learning
requirements until after recovery, while focusing on recreational activities, aiming to relieve boredom
and provide fun. Ziv School holds a different and original viewpoint, claiming that studies create a
feeling of being normative, thus contributing to inmates' wellbeing much more than various sorts of
alternative activities. For this reason Ziv School seeks to maximize students' regular learning. Students'
difficulties are to be considered, but it is important to get the students to learn as much as possible.
The subjects taught in Ziv School reflect this approach: not only fun subjects, such as drawing, music
and games, but also mathematics, languages, civics, geography, history, Bible and literature are taught,
as these are subjects that normative students of this age study. There is also a variety of art lessons,
which are given not for their fun value but rather for the healing power of creative activity. Furthermore,
Ziv School even encourages its students to take Matriculation Exams, instead of telling them, as one
might expect, that due to their mental condition they should not be pressed to do them. This
encouragement stems from the same viewpoint stated above, i.e., that if all students of the inmate's age
group are engaged in preparations for the matriculation exams, he or she can do so too. The educational
staff is composed accordingly: though being a special education school, Ziv school's teachers should
seemingly be special education teachers, quite a few of them are not special education teachers but rather
teachers who were trained to prepare students for Matriculation Exams, again in order to promote the
notion and feeling of normative progress. Ziv School's students are not generally expected to take the
Matriculation Exams, due to their emotional conditions, and many of them actually do not, but the mere
fact that there is an option to do so, and that some students do choose this option, reinforces the school's
normative atmosphere.
The desired normative atmosphere at Ziv School is maintained not only through the subjects taught in it
but also by its overall style of conduct, scrupulously maintaining external and technical elements such as
lessons, breaks and classrooms. The state of long-term hospitalization, particularly in youth psychiatric
departments, is not normative, so that maintaining a normative atmosphere at least in school increases the
student's normative feeling, a feeling which supports recovery.
Personal value
Ziv School aims to facilitate its students' success, believing that the experience of success reinforces selfconfidence and self-efficacy, thus supporting the recovery process. Some of Ziv School's students have
experienced this feeling here for the first time in their lives, since they were used to being total failures,
and having disappointed those around them they were often scolded, punished and rejected.
The most valuable success is that achieved through accomplishing normative tasks: effectively facing
tasks faced by all peers creates a good feeling. For this reason, Ziv School seeks, first and foremost, to
get its students to succeed in their studies. This is done by adjusting custom-made study programs for
each student. There are two study tracks at Ziv academic and vocational. Each subject may be studied
on one of two levels, high or low; and each student enters the appropriate group for him or her, according
to his or her level of knowledge and understanding. A teacher appointed to every single student is
responsible for arranging that student's weekly schedule according to his or her needs. In addition, there
are many thinking development lessons, aimed at measuring students' capabilities as well as enhancing
them.
Ziv School enables its students to succeed not only scholastically but also behaviorally: a behavioral
program is set for each student, with expectations according to his or her abilities, by means of which he
or she can gain points and win prizes. The students make great efforts to behave well, although the
prizes, which are purchased by the students themselves during shopping trips in which only wellfunctioning students participate, are very cheap, since what matters to the students is not the prize itself,
but rather the feeling of success, which is new to many of them. The prize-buying budget comes from
sales of ornaments that the students create, thus encouraging students to invest time and effort in
producing such ornaments.
By employing these methods, the staff at Ziv School expresses its distinctive belief that there is no
essential correlation between one's inner world and outer functioning. Even when the student's inner
world is stormy or complicated, he or she can function well, win compliments and prizes, and thus
improve his or her mental health.
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But this is not all. Ziv School strives to create not only a feeling of success but also a feeling of value.
For this purpose, the students engage in contributing to the community. Despite limitations due to their
hospitalization in a locked department, the students contribute to the community in which they live
through projects such as encouraging visitors to the hospital as well as patients to recycle used materials,
or improving the hospital faade. A musical band of girls who suffer from eating disorders voluntarily
appears in the hospital's pediatric department every week (without notifying the audience who the
performers are, so that their eating disorders remain secret, of course), gaining these girls a feeling of
being not only normative and successful but also valuable and significant to others. Thus, projects which
are conventional for regular schools are pioneering and innovative when they take place at a school of
youth hospitalized for mental disorders.
Responsibility for recovery
Aiming to encourage the inmates to take responsibility for their recovery, Ziv School's educational staff,
together with other staff members of Ziv's youth psychiatric department the medical staff, the nursing
staff and the therapy staff operate the level method, which is a fundamental methodology devised by
Ziv's youth psychiatric department. According to this methodology, each inmate is assigned a certain
level every week, while the possible levels range from A to E. The level chosen reflects the inmate's
degree of functioning in a variety of aspects during the previous week, such as obeying the department
rules, maintaining personal hygiene, respecting staff, eating properly, and avoiding violence. The level
chosen implies a wide range of permits and limitations during the next week, such as places where the
inmate is allowed to be level A allows presence only in the dormitory, level B in the school as well,
level C in the yard too, etc.; as for the degree of supervision required from level B on, the inmate is
allowed to leave the dormitory with only one on one supervision, while at level C the inmate may leave
as part of a group too; at level D and H the inmate may go out without any supervision; as for vacations
level A allows no vacations, level B means vacation on Saturday, level C vacations continue on till
Saturday night, etc.
The educational staff takes part both in determining the levels and in implementing the rights they imply.
A representative of the educational staff takes part in a weekly meeting titled levels discussion,
assembled to determine which level each inmate should get, and the entire educational staff takes part in
implementing the decisions.
The logic of the level method is that the degree at which inmates function defines their degree of risk,
and hence the degree of protection they require, resulting in rights such as leaving the dormitory building
or being unaccompanied. At the same time, this method aims to reflect to the inmate his or her condition,
and more importantly to encourage improved functioning. The inmates gain from functioning better,
and vice versa, which motivates them to take responsibility for their own recovery, because progress is in
their own hands. Every week each inmate starts afresh and has a new chance to advance.
The level method actually replaces all dealings with discipline, which are usually quite a dominant part
of standard school life. There is no need to preach, scold, punish or send students to the principal; the
results of one's inappropriate behavior such as impudence, vandalism or violence are known in
advance, discouraging inmates from opting for them.
Programs like the level method are used in many places, but using it among youth with mental disorders
is probably quite uncommon, because their behavior is a result of their mental condition, and therefore
one seemingly could not expect them to take responsibility for it. Ziv staff claims that although recovery
from mental disorders does not depend solely on the patients' desire, using the level method does cause
patients to take responsibility for their own progress and improve their functioning from week to week,
contributing to their recovery process and accelerating it.
Containment
Ziv School's staff constantly works on containment a psychological term which means broadening
one's capacity to contain the feelings and hardships of others. The staff does its best to accept students as
they are without any hint of judgment. This is perhaps the most important component in the constant
professional development of Ziv School's staff.
A teacher of students with mental disorders can never know what kind of mood the student will come in
with at any given time, due to frequent and radical mood swings. The teacher may be very disappointed
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when, for example, he or she put much effort into preparing a certain student for a Matriculation Exam,
just for the student to suddenly arrive in a bad mood and decide not to take it; or when the teacher has
helped the student through a long process of creative art work, after which the student abruptly decides to
throw it away. To face such challenges, the school staff must not to be judgmental but accept the students
as they are.
It should be noted that at Ziv School there is a clear separation between the educational and
psychological realms. The teachers know that they are responsible for the learning aspect, and do not
engage in discussions with students concerning their inner psychological worlds. When a student brings
up a psychological issue in class, directly or indirectly, through a story or a drawing for example, the
teacher clarifies that the suitable time for bringing up psychological issues is during psychotherapy
meetings. Despite this separation, the teachers understand psychological terms, such as 'containment', for
instance, and implement them.
Containment may seem to be a contradiction to the encouragement to function as normatively as possible
mentioned above: The question arises: if you really accept the students as they are, how can you expect
them to improve? However, Ziv School's staff holds the two seemingly-opposite approaches at the same
time, dialectically incorporating the contrast: accept the students without judgment, and yet expect them
to function better and better as time goes on.
Flexibility
The educational work of Ziv School is characterized by great flexibility, which is needed due to
unceasing changes in both the students' population and their immediate needs. As mentioned above, the
student population of Ziv School is constantly changing. Regular schools are usually attended by
students for more than one year, whereas at Ziv School students more often than not leave school within
less than one year. Moreover, quite a few students join Ziv School and leave it throughout the school
year, depending on when they were hospitalized and then released, so that Ziv School's student body has
little stability. In addition, each student's needs are constantly changing. The students' level of
functioning, their willingness to cooperate, their moods and motivation levels rise and fall, and the
educational work must be suited to these fluctuations.
The flexibility of Ziv School's educational work can be seen in the ongoing changes in each student's
weekly schedule. In the beginning of each week the educator and student convene to check out the
student's weekly schedule, examining which elements within it work and which do not, modifying it as
needed. During the week too, the educational staff tailors study programs to students' needs, employing
flexibility when necessary.
Flexibility is employed not merely as a solution to the challenge of incessant changes in students'
population and needs; it is also a significant therapeutic principle. Mental disorders are often associated
with rigidity, and for youth hospitalized for mental disorders it is very important to learn to be more
flexible, i.e., to be able to adjust the appropriate tool or way of coping to a given situation, as well as to
modify the tool from moment to moment as needed. The staff's flexibility serves as an example for the
students, supporting their recovery process.
It is important to note that flexibility is not Ziv School's only guideline in dealing with its students; At
certain times the opposite approach is implemented. Ziv School's educational work is thus characterized
not only by flexibility but rather by a combination of flexibility and rigidity. Only after the patient has
understood the framework and rules of the setting is flexibility possible. Looking deeper into this issue, it
should also be pointed out that the educational approach taken towards a student depends on his or her
specific condition and needs. Students with eating disorders, for example, usually suffer from excessive
rigidity, and therefore need to learn to be more flexible. On the other hand, students who suffer from
schizophrenia, for instance, which may experience hallucinations and delusions, need the opposite not
flexibility but rather stability and regularity. In other words, the educational approach appropriate for a
student suffering from a certain mental disorder depends on his or her diagnosis.
Conclusion
Ziv School was founded with no clear guidelines from the Ministry of Education regarding the
educational work of schools designed for youth hospitalized for mental disorders. There is also no
existing research knowledge on this matter. The natural tendency towards youth suffering from mental
disorders is to reduce expectations that might cause them further distress, minimizing learning
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requirements and focusing instead on recreational activities.

Findings show, that Ziv School's educational approach is composed of five main principles: (1)
maintaining a normative atmosphere; (2) providing the students with a feeling of personal value; (3)
expanding students' responsibility for recovery; (4) working on staff's containment of students; and (5)
taking a flexible approach. Due to this approach, Ziv School not only provides education to youth
hospitalized in a psychiatric department but also functions as an active factor, together with the medical
and therapeutic aspects provided by the department, in expediting its students' recuperation: thanks to its
educational approach, Ziv School is a part of the student's recovery process.
Ziv School's educational approach advocates learning in a proper school as a healing activity for youth
hospitalized for psychiatric disorders, an approach actually endowing a new meaning to learning, as it is
considered to be a rehabilitative process. This sheds a new light on the treatment that Ziv Youth
Psychiatric Department provides for its inmates: it includes not only medication and psychotherapy, but
also learning at a proper school. Ziv School is not an attach of Ziv Youth Psychiatric Department,
merely responding to the need for education; in fact, Ziv Youth Psychiatric Department has two branches
- the medical-therapeutic one and the educational one, both facilitating the healing process.
This study provides unique data compared to prior research; however, it has several limitations. As a
case study it deals with only one school. Thus, it requires further replication elsewhere in the world, in
various contexts, in order to substantiate the validity of the conclusions drawn from this particular case.
Further research might also compare the educational approaches of schools for youth hospitalized for
mental disorders with the educational approaches of schools or educational frameworks for youth in
long-term hospitalization for other reasons. Generalization of the findings and further weighing of the
most effective educational approaches for such schools may greatly contribute to the evolving knowledge
in this field.
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http://www.scielosp.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0042-96862000000400003&lng=&nrm=iso
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SELECTED PRE-VOCATIONAL STUDENTS EXPERIENCES OF SCHOOL IN BRUNEI

DARUSSALAM
Lili Mariam Ismail
Teng Leong Koay
University Brunei Darussalam
There is a lack of studies on the school experiences of students in the pre-vocational

programme in Brunei Darussalam. The aim of this study is find out what are the
students experiences at school, what they go through at school and so on. A
qualitative approach was utilized whereby in-depth, semi-structured interviews were
conducted with seven students from two local secondary schools. Some of the findings
included overall positive views of school and the acquiring of daily living skills which
they felt was important to them. It was found that success and happiness is associated
with their favourite subjects and interests. It appeared that there is a good
camaraderie between teachers and students indicating that friends and more
importantly teachers play a vital role in their lives. Also, the students seem to have a
strong sense of family and ambitions. The students encountered some problems related
to bullying by classmates and other students and trouble-makers which affect them
negatively. In addition, the students faced punishments and one student complained of
negative teacher attitudes. It was concluded that lessening their problems could help
make school more pleasant for them. Finally, there should be more emphasis on family
involvement and that the importance of school to work transition to realise their
dreams and ambitions should not be taken lightly.
Background
The pre-vocational programme in Brunei Darussalam has been implemented for just over 10 years.
Though there have been some studies carried out in order to evaluate the programme as well as on the
perceptions of the stakeholders involved, there has been little research regarding the actual school
experiences of the students who are under the programme itself. It is crucial to know the students
thoughts and experiences of school because it is these students who are directly affected by it.
The purpose of this study aims at getting insights from the pre-vocational students themselves regarding
their experiences about school which include what they learn, what they think about it and on friendship.
In Brunei Darussalam, there have not been many studies done on the experiences of pre-vocational
students schooling life. By finding out their thoughts and experiences, it could be helpful in ways that
may improve the students experiences of school. It is vital to delve into the pre-vocational students
minds because it is they who are experiencing the pre-vocational programme that has been specially
designed for them.
This study attempted to answer four research questions. They are as follows:
1.
What do the students think about what they learn in school?
2.
To what extent is their social participation in school with friends and teachers?
3.
Do students have a positive view of school?
4.
What abilities or skills have they acquired from their schooling?
Vocational training in other countries
Vocational training in many countries is focused on transition from school to work; it is to prepare
students to work. In the US, the education system is geared to empower students with the skills needed
for employment. In Finland, there is the Activity School of East Finland. According to Komonen (2002,
p.45) it is defined as a project-type unit constructed within the framework of vocational education, in
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which objectives related to education and life management are combined with the completion of a
vocational qualification (as cited in Jahnukainen & Helander, 2007, p.473).
In Switzerland, according to Haefeli (2000, p.6) the predominant form of vocational education is the
apprenticeship: on the job training in a firm which is accompanied by attendance at a vocational school
(dual system) or by attending a vocational school and an introductory course (triad system). Similarly, in
Liechtenstein, there is also a dual/trial system of initial vocational training. According to Josef, Dieter,
Christoph and Karl (1997, p.13) the system is based on an interaction between practical training on the
job and school lessons, which are more theoretical.
As cited in according to Fabian (2007) and Livelli (1999), due to the known positive outcomes associated
with vocational training and transition planning for adolescents with disabilities, it has been hypothesized
that preparation of students in the early grades for entrance into the work force when they are adults may
be critical, potentially making students more likely to be productive members of society. According to
Evers (1996) students with learning disabilities who receive some experience in vocational education
or paid outside work during high school are more successful in the job market than those who had no
vocational or work experience (p.70). Additionally, Wagner (1991) stated that vocational training
resulted in a compounded 8% chance of dropping out versus 15% for students who had not participated
in vocational education (as cited in Jones & Williams, 2011).
Studies on the perceptions of students with disabilities on their schooling
There have been studies done on the perceptions of vocational training with parents, teachers and
elementary special education students. In a study by Jones and Williams (2011) the students were asked
specifically on their perceptions of the effects of their training on their knowledge, performance and self.
According to the study based on Dutch primary school children, the majority of students have a
satisfactory degree of social participation. However, when compared to students without special needs, a
relatively large portion of students with special needs report difficulties in social participation.
Meanwhile, for students who are in secondary school, Newman (2007) has found that little is known
about what (autistic) students experience in high school. Referring to the statistics from the US
Department of Education, Newman (2007) stated that 77% of students with autism also take vocational
courses. They are also more likely to take non-academic courses too such as Physical Education in a
general education setting than to take academic or vocational courses.
The Pre-Vocational Programme in Brunei Darussalam
The pre-vocational programme is relatively new. According to Adanan and Wong (2006) the prevocational programme was originally designed to meet the needs of students with high support needs
(HSN), but for the first few years, it was expected to be part of a rescue operation for over-aged children
in primary schools. At that time, usually students who failed their primary school years were not
promoted to the next year.
Wong and Mak (2007, pp. 9-10) stated:
The Pre-Vocational Programme is a programme designed to meet the needs of students with
High Support Needs (HSN) in the secondary schools. The programme is designed to provide
opportunities for these students with moderate to severe learning impairments to achieve their
full potential and learn various independent living skills. The more able among this group of
students may acquire some basic academic, living and social skills, basic vocational and work
skills which will equip them for the world of life and work after school. The programme is
delivered over a five year period with distinct goals for each year:
Year 1, 2 and 3: Career Awareness, Exploration and Preparation
Year 4: Career Placement
Year 5: Career Specialization and Follow-up.
Now, however, under the new SPN-21 education system, year 1 is now known as year 7, year 2 as year 8
and so on. All the students have their own Individualised Education Plans (IEPs) and an advantage of
this program is that it is flexible and the curriculum depends on the students level of abilities.
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According to Adanan and Wong (2006), the programme aims to assist Pre-Vocational students to: a)
develop their potential to acquire some basic academic, basic social, daily living, and pre-vocational
skills; b) to prepare them for adult life; and c) to become useful, contributing members of society.
How are the lessons carried out? Adanan and Wong (2006) explained that the lessons are taught in an
across-curriculum format and that the lesson plans are built on basic competencies in four main areas
which are basic academic skills, basic vocational skills, life skills and social skills. One could see that the
lessons are not based on a narrow and specific topic but incorporates a variety of skills and a holistic
approach. Another advantage, which is probably the most important of all, is that the students study
vocational skills, which will no doubt help them become more independent in the future and become
more marketable. The fact that the pre-vocational programme is vocation oriented, is in line with Abosi
and Koays views which stated that education of children with disabilities should aim at assisting the
children to acquire survival skills (Abosi & Koay, 2008, p.8).
Adanan and Wong (2006) stated that this programme has been in effect since 1998 and that even though
an annual review and evaluation of the programme as a whole is carried out, there have been no
comprehensive studies conducted specifically on the job training provided and its effectiveness in
equipping the pre-vocational students with the necessary work skills. The same can be said about
research done that focuses on the experiences of these students in the programme.
Generally, there is a definite lack of studies on the experiences of pre-vocational students at the local
level. A study by Taibah Ahmad sought to assess the relevance of the local pre-vocational programme
because as that time there had not been any evaluation of it yet. She conducted surveys and interviews
with the parents, home-room teachers as well as the 33 students involved. The questions for the students
were based on academic achievements, social skills, and perceptions about school, self-concept and prevocational skills. Generally, the results were positive.
A study was carried out by Adanan and Wong (2006) in which interviews with pre-vocational students
were conducted to discuss the programme and the outcomes. The results were also mostly positive and
included information such as they liked school and enjoyed the learning activities there. To the best of
the researchers knowledge, the two studies mentioned above are related to find out about these students
experiences of school. Since there are not many in-depth studies based on the pre-vocational students
experiences of school and seeing that it has been around for slightly over ten years, the researcher feels
that this is an appropriate time to conduct such a study.
Methodology
Through conducting interviews and surveys, special education students in rural Kansas offered their
views concerning the effectiveness of the special education services. Among the themes that emerged
included life goals of independence, desire to participate in non-competitive school activities and sense
of being different and misunderstood by both school personnel and other students.
Curtin and Clarke (2005) interviewed students with disabilities to find out their life stories particularly
educational experiences and found that they had mixed views about their education, whereby participants
who attended a mainstream school indicated positive and negative experiences compared to those who
attended special schools who mainly reported positive experiences.
Shah (2007) used semi-structured interviews, with prompts and follow-up questions to generate accounts
of the young, disabled peoples educational experiences. His research shows the importance of the
childrens insights which can be used to better the system.
Lindstrom, Paskey, Dickinson, Doren, Zane & Johnson (2007) used in-depth interviews (including
young adults with disabilities) to find out what makes the transition of students from school to work
successful. Some of the recommendations based on the research were for the students to participate in
career exploration and multiple work experiences during high school and to display motivation and
persistence.
Francis and Muthukrishna (2004) used unstructured interviews to examine the life experiences of ten
disabled students in a rural secondary school in South Africa. Among the information gathered were the
students perceptions of cultural attitudes towards disabilities and being included. Francis and
Muthukrishna (2004) stated that one of the findings was that there is a critical need for a systemic
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approach to inclusion, and the need to continually probe issues of curriculum, assessment, pedagogy and
social relations in schools and communities (p.116).
De Schauwer, Van Hove, Mortier, and Loots (2009) also conducted a study that examined the
experiences of inclusive education in Flanders. In-depth, semi-structured interviews and observations of
15 students aged 5-17, with varied disabilities were conducted. It was concluded that it is important to
meet the children and find out their views about education (p. 109). De Schauwer et al. (2009) also
mentioned that working with children in a positive way on what they can and want to do can be an
important tool (p. 109).
As mentioned above, most of the studies employed a mixed methods approach, usually consisting of both
surveys and interviews. Koster et al. (2010) used instruments to measure self-perception and surveys to
assess acceptance of classmates and they used the reciprocal friendship nomination to assess friendships.
Koster et al. (2010) used observations in class to determine interactions of the students.
This study employs a qualitative approach. According to , the methods used by a qualitative researcher
demonstrate a common belief that they can provide deeper understanding of social phenomena when
compared to purely quantitative data. The researcher feels that due to the nature of the research which
seeks to be an in-depth study, examining students thoughts and experiences, a qualitative approach
would be most appropriate in order to collect relevant and accurate data. Mertens and McLaughlin
(1995) stated that many of the criteria that establish the appropriateness of choosing qualitative methods
parallel the conditions in special education. In special education, low incidence conditions, such as deafblindness, cause samples sizes to be either restricted or too small (p. 45).
Subjects
Seven students who are currently in various levels in the pre-vocational programme were interviewed
from two secondary schools. Four students were from school A, whereas three students were from school
B. Table 1 shows the background of all the students involved in the study.
Name*
Aiman
Hazim
Nawfal
Fikri
Jasmine
Liza
Najwa
Table 1. Background information of the students involved in the study

Gender
Year
School
Diagnosis
Male
8
A
Noonan Syndrome
Male
10
A
Hydrocephalus
Male
10
A
Cerebral Palsy and developmental delay
Male
11
A
Down syndrome and speech impairment
Female
7
B
Severe slow learner, LD
Female
9
B
Down Syndrome
Female
9
B
ADHD, speech delay
*Fictitious names
According to Table 1, all four male students are from school A whereas the three female students are
from School B. All of the students are within the 14-18 years old age range.
How the students were chosen was quite tricky. explained that interviewing students with disabilities
can be challenging because of their capabilities or communication needs of the respondents. Prior to the
interviews, the researcher met the students from both schools and then discussed the interview questions
(See Appendix 1) with the Home Room Teachers and to ask for their opinion on which students would
be suitable candidates for the study.
Instruments
Semi-structured interviews were used for this study. Though semi-structured can be considered formal,
the researcher took care in making the interviews as informal as possible. explained that semi-structured
interviews start with a pre-determined set of questions, but allow some latitude in the breadth of
relevance and that to some extent, what is taken to be relevant to the interviewee is pursued. Semistructured interviews allow for room to talk about other topics which could be related to the purpose of
the research but not foreseen by the researcher, whilst sticking to the questions that were set out in
advance so as not to stray too far off topic.
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Procedure
Prior to the study, a letter was sent to the Department of Schools, Ministry of Education through
University Brunei Darussalam asking for permission to conduct the study. The letters were then sent to
the principals of the schools involved. In the letters, the purpose of the study and the list of the schools
involved were clearly stated. A personal letter was also written to the Head of the Special Education Unit
detailing the purpose of the study and asking for permission for access to the relevant resources
pertaining to the pre-vocational programme.
Also, consent forms were given to all the students involved as well as their parents. In the consent forms,
the researcher indicated the purpose of the study, the researchers contact details and assurance that all
information given would be treated appropriately and that no real names will be used to protect the
confidentiality of the participants. All the parents and the students signed the consent forms indicating
agreement to participate in the study.
Pilot Study
The purpose of the pilot study was to see if the semi-structured questions could be easily understood by
the students and to determine whether any difficulties could arise from the questions. Following the
transcription analysis from the pilot study, some changes were made to the instrument. A few more
questions were added to better address the research questions. There were also some added questions that
reflected the curriculum for the pre-vocational programme, which would be related to the abilities and
skills acquired from their schooling.
Main Study
After receiving the parents consent forms and after the students signed their consent forms as well, the
researcher asked the Home Room Teachers for a good time to conduct the interviews. Once that was
agreed upon, the students were interviewed in a quiet place in the school. Prior to the interview, the
researcher explained that their real names would not be needed and that the interview would have to be
transcribed.
After each interview was conducted, transcriptions of each interview were translated to English where
necessary and typed out. The transcriptions were then subjected to a content analysis were codes were
listed out one by one and then carefully put into the appropriate categories. In referring to how this may
be done, according to the researcher becomes very familiar with the descriptive information collected
and allows categories to emerge as the analysis continues. Fraenkel and Wallen (2009) explained that
one of the reasons a researcher may want to do a content analysis would be to formulate themes (i.e.
major ideas) that help to organize and make sense out of large amounts of descriptive information. This
was exactly what the researcher did. Recurring themes or key points were listed out and as the process of
coding continued, these themes were listed under bigger themes or categories thus culminating into the
different sections of the results.
Results and Discussion
After analyzing the data gathered from the interviews, there were 12 main themes that stood out. These
are their abilities and skills, friendship, socialization, daily living skills, fears/problems, relationship with
teachers, family, their achievements, their future, their likes, their thoughts about school and about the
subjects learnt.
Abilities, skills and achievements
There is a wide variety of skills and abilities that the pre-vocational students have acquired from their
studies at their respective schools. Many of these abilities and skills reflect their functional academics
and curriculum that focuses on daily living skills. According to the pre-vocational curriculum, knowing
how to use a calculator is one of the skills that these students need to acquire. Most of the students
interviewed know how to use a calculator.
I can use a calculator. It can help with Maths. (Liza, year 9).
I know how to use a calculator. (Aiman, year 8).
In addition to that, most of the students are able to mentally compute basic mathematical equations like
simple addition without the use of calculators.
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Most of the students interviewed could read. Some of the slower readers employed a step-by-step
approach by spelling out the words slowly first and then saying out the words as a whole. Their attitude
shows that they do not give up, even though they cannot read fluently, they try by spelling out the words
first, no matter how long it took. Liza can not only read but likes reading. She always reads storybooks
particularly about the mouse, Geronimo Stilton. When asked what the book was about, Liza stated the
main characters and what Geronimo does in the book. She also reads Malay novels and stories about
Barbie.
Computers play a significant role in these students school life. Most of the students know the basic
knowledge about computers such as how to switch them on and off, typing out their names and so on.
Najwa mentioned that she knows about the wiring too. Both Najwa and Liza stated that they know how
to use the internet.
Part of the pre-vocational curriculum involves teaching students how to introduce themselves. Liza was
able to introduce herself clearly, stating her name, her age, address, and her parents names. Hazim was
able to give his full name and even his nickname. When it comes to gardening, Liza stated that it is easy
while Fikri stated that it is fun. It also appears that all the students do not take up gardening at home,
adding that they only do gardening at school.
Jasmine is an athletic girl. She is good at running, discus throwing and long jump. She has participated in
competitions and recently won first place in a relay running competition. Although Jasmine is a severe
slow learner, she is an excellent athlete. She recently joined the sports day for the pre-vocational
students. She participated in the long jump, 100-meter sprint and relay. She stated that her relay team
consists of students from her school and other schools and they won first place. Jasmine was the first
runner and her along with her teammates received medals. She also mentioned that she loves to exercise.
She also participated in long jumps and discus throwing.
Friends and socialization
Having friends is normal for everyone and it is the same for the pre-vocational students. Overall, the
students commented that the friends they have from the Home Room class are good people. Nawfal
explained that he also has friends from the Religious School that he attends. However, almost all of the
students apart from Jasmine stated that they do not have friends from other classes except the Home
Room class. Jasmine pointed to one class near the canteen and listed out the names of the five friends
that she knows from that class. When asked which friend she liked the most, Najwa listed out the names
of three friends.
There also seems to be a helping culture there with the students in the Home Room class. Hazim
mentioned that he and his friends like learning and they help each other with cleaning and sweeping the
room. Jasmine also mentioned that when it comes to gardening and cooking, they all help each other. She
added that some help her to read, since she cannot read very well. Some of the students noted that their
friends like to help them with their problems. Aiman, Fikri and Nawfal all mentioned about a particular
classmate who likes to help them with maths.
If I dont know something, they will teach me. Sometimes for Maths, Im not good at it, so they
will help me. (Aiman)
The activities that these students like to take part in with their friends include playing tic-tac-toe, playing
monopoly, telling funny stories to each other and eating together. Liza said, we always tell stories. When
asked if the students look forward to seeing their friends every day, they all said yes. When asked why
this was so, Fikri said that he was shy to answer the question. Lizas response was They are good to me.
They give me presents for my birthdays and my projects.
Most of the pre-vocational students socialise only within the Home Room itself. Apart from one or two
classmates who disturb them, the students appear to get along well with each other. It appears that at
school A, there is more interaction among the students and teachers when compared to school B which
seems to have less student-teacher interactions. Both Hazim and Fikri are friendly. Whenever Hazim
meets his friends, he greets them. He does the same to his teachers. Hazim is also known for visiting his
teachers houses during Hari Raya. What is interesting is that at school A, the students jot down the
name and contact number of the people they meet.
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Jasmine has a unique opportunity to make new friends because she participates in track and field
competitions. She has friends from other schools whom are members of her relay team. Upon meeting
the researcher, Aiman was shy at first but quickly showed that he was friendly and talkative.
Daily living skills
The students are aware of general cleanliness. Aiman sweeps at home without anyone telling him to and
cleans his room. When asked what happens if the floors are not swept he replied that it would be dirty.
Most of the students are able carry out to tasks like washing the dishes and cups, sweeping and so on.
When asked if it was beneficial to learn about washing plates and sweeping, Hazim replied in agreement
and that he helps his mother at home with the cleaning. In addition, activities like putting on socks, shoes
and buttoning shirts are simple tasks that most of the students are able to do. Fikri is able to wear a tie by
himself.
Cooking is a major theme that all the students identified with. The type of food that almost all the
students are able to cook is foods that require frying. Other types of food that some of the students could
cook are pizza, rice, nasi lemak, kebabs and breakfast food.
Jasmine, who seemed happy to answer the question and even showed the researcher pictures of the food
she has cooked, excitedly answered in an air of confidence: I can cook cucur, prawns, egg, chicken and I
can cook pizza too.
Jasmine also mentioned that they used the vegetables that they planted as ingredients in their cooking.
Some of the students cook at home too. Najwa affirmed that she also is taught how to cook at home by
her mother and sister. Aiman mentioned likeness for cooking but that he could only cook fried mee.
When asked what he could cook, Fikri responded with Nasi Lemak, fried chicken and kebabs.
Some of the students, especially the girls, can sew material and sew beads. When asked if Liza could sew
beads she said yes and that she could sew the hems of sleeves too. One student, Jasmine, is taught how to
bead from her mother and even sew beads on to her own baju kurung. She also sells her beadwork: I can
bead in the shape of leaves and flowers. I sell them too (Jasmine, year 7).
Fears/problems
As the interviews progressed, it became apparent that these students also experienced some problems or
fears at school ranging from being told off for being late to school to classmates who got them into
trouble. Liza explained that she sometimes was scolded by the teachers for being late for school. When
asked if there was something that he could change about his school, Nawfal mentioned that he would like
to be in the normal classes instead of the Home Room class. He could not give a reason why but when
asked if it was fun being in the Home Room class he replied in agreement. Jasmine talked about the other
students bothering her and also about bullying.
He likes to disturb people, he likes to eavesdrop on people during conversations (Jasmine, talking
about a classmate)
There are good people in school but there are also mean ones too. There are some who bully
people and say bad things (Jasmine)
Jasmine added that there were people who said bad things to her. When asked if she could change
something about her school, she stated that because of the bullying she would want to change schools, to
one where one of her relay team mates goes to.
One of Lizas problems was one that any teenage girl could relate to. Liza stated she did not like boys.
She mentioned that boys did not want to look at her and that she did not like boys who were flirty. In her
opinion, boys should pay attention to their studies instead of flirting with girls. In addition, Liza has a
friend that frequently got her into trouble and was reprimanded by the teachers. On the matter, Liza
stated:
Usually I go with Amy, but she always asks me to go to the canteen and sometimes when we are
about to start class or during classso we are reprimanded for that.
The same friend often got angry at her. This is what happened when Liza tried to tell their teachers about
her situation.
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Sometimes she gets angry at me if I lose some stuff. I cant do anything because Im new here and
she always pesters me. I go with her to the canteen during lesson time so the teachers get angry at
me and her so I wanted to tell the teacher but Amy got angry at me, she wrote nonsense on my
books and on my face. So I cried. (Liza)
Liza also feared that she would be told to stand outside in the sun. It seems that her and her classmates
were told to stand outside in the sun because they were walking around. Due to his health problems,
Hazim sometimes did not attend school and he mentioned not going to school recently because he had to
go to the hospital for his blood test.
Relationship with teachers
Teachers appear to impact the students in positive ways. Most of the students described their teachers as
good to them and viewed them highly and with respect.
Teachers A, B, C, D, E, F and G are the best teachers in this world and their subjects are
important (Liza)
Teacher attitudes also came up from the interviews. Though most of the teachers showed positive
attitudes, some did not. Najwa implied that some of the teachers were angry. When asked if she wanted
the teachers not to get angry, she said yes. When asked why school was boring, Najwa stated, The
teachers got angry. All students indicated that their teachers were helpful. Najwa listed the teachers who
always helped her with her homework. Jasmine talked about how the teachers liked to help with cooking
and gardening, that the teachers were nice, fun, help with important matters and that they laughed a lot.
This suggests that Jasmine appears to get along very well with her teachers.
I like them too because they are fun. They are good to me (Jasmine)
From the researchers point of view, it seems that the students at School A have better relationships with
their teachers and vice versa. When asked about whom his favourite teacher was, Hazim gave the name
of one teacher and said, because he hugs me and he teaches me how to greet the other teachers and he
teaches me sign language. This was particularly crucial for Hazim because apart from being
hydrocephalic, he had some speech problems. Even through minor observations spent at school A before
and after the interviews, the Home Room teachers and students seemed to act like one big family. The
teachers got along well with their students and the students got along well with their teachers. Based on
observations of the interactions of the teachers and the students, it was obvious that the teachers were
really passionate about their work and genuinely cared about the students under their care. Another
theme that emerged was that almost all the students identified their teachers were easy to talk to. Aiman
has been known to call the Home Room teachers up to chat occasionally.
Family
Although no questions about family were included in the list of interview questions, information about
the students families came up often. For example, when justifying her reason for wanting to become a
soldier, Najwa mentioned her sister who was a soldier. Hazim also explained about how he wanted to run
a bakery business with his father.
Jasmine noted that not only did she learn beading at school, but that her mother taught her how to bead as
well. Hazim also brought up how he helped his mother with cleaning. Liza spoke about playing
Monopoly with her siblings. Najwa described her family fondly and told the researcher what she and
her family liked to do, such as going to the beach, going swimming, buying books and going shopping
with her mother and so on. It appeared that Najwa had a very strong bond with her family. Finally,
Aiman told how his mother tended to the flowers outside their house.
Their future
The pre-vocational students had dreams and ambitions just like everyone else. Some of them also
appeared to be sure of what they wanted to be in the future. Two of the students ambitions were
positively influenced by their family members. Najwa stated that when she would grow up she would
like to be a soldier because she could wear a uniform just like her sister. Hazim very ambitious and had
two things that he would like to do when he would grow up. He saw running a bakery with his father in
the future and providing massage services on the side.
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Making bread, at home with my dad (Hazim)

Hazim went on to describe the types of bread that he would like to make and how he would add
chocolate to it . It seemed that he would like to run a home bakery. Besides that, he would like to
massage people in order to earn money.
Yes, I want to massage people. I can do that. Sometimes I massage the teachers when they are
tired and at my cousins house. I massage them (cousins) and then they give me money (Hazim)
On the topic of ambitions, Fikri replied something along the lines of a computer and that he wanted to
work at the movies. Nawfal, who could cook and liked to watch cooking shows on television wanted to
be a chef. His reason was that chefs have a big salary.
Jasmine would like to work with the navy, adding that working on a ship would be fun. When asked
what kind of navy work she was interested in, she replied, like writing anything, becoming a leader.
Liza is interested in becoming a lyrics writer. Her fondness for the art of singing and music is clear from
the way she talked about her favourite bands, artists and television shows. She wanted to be a lyrics
writer because she liked songs. Aiman stated that he would like his future work to be something related
to computers.
Their likes/interests
Many of the students interviewed expressed fondness for computers. Liza used the computer to go on the
internet to search for her favourite artists. Fikri, Hazim and Aiman played games on the computers.
Aiman added that what was nice about a computer were the games. Interestingly, Nawfal liked to lift
weights at home while Fikri was a fan of football and enjoyed watching Manchester United play.
Liza liked to listen to music. She happened to like Science the most among all her subjects and got very
excited about it, indicating that she always passed her Science exams. Jasmine loved exercising and
exercised everyday at home by running. It was the researchers belief that what these students liked
might have significant implications as to how they could learn.
Thoughts about school
Many of the students indicated that they liked school and were excited to go to school. Overall, the
students had a positive view of school and school was fun for them.
School is fun, there is a discipline teacher who teaches me between good and bad (Jasmine)
Although Jasmine liked school, she said that she did not look forward to it because sometimes she was
told off by the teachers for being late for school. Hazim stated that school was important for learning
and that he would not like it if he did not go to school anymore. When asked why Hazim liked school, he
replied, I can play the computer, we are taught how to cook and slice ingredients up.
Aiman answered a strong yes when asked if school was important and he said that it was because he
learned a lot at school. Aiman also explained that he liked school because staying at home was boring.
Fikri liked school and thought schools was fun because there were computers there. Nawfal said that he
liked school because we study, so we can be smart.
Liza liked school. When asked why, she replied, because we learn important things that are important
to me and this school has professionalism and learning things that suit me. When asked if school was
fun, she stated, yes, because I have a lot of good friends. Najwa, who looked forward to going to
school, explained that school was fun because staying at home wass boring.
Most of them liked their school just the way it was , except for Aiman who said he would prefer more
pictures and Jasmine who implied that there should be more sports facilities.
Subjects learnt
The subjects that these students learned included science, home science, religious knowledge, physical
education, English, art, ICT, mathematics, Malay, cooking, gardening and sewing. Lizas favourite
subject was Science because she said it wast important and because she passed science exams often. Liza
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mentioned that she learnt about energy, about the human body and about health in Science and she
explained that learning Science was essential for our health. Her least favourite subjects were Malay,
religious knowledge and ICT, which she claimed, were hard subjects .
Most of the boys favourite subjects were ICT (computer) because of the games that they were able to
play on them. For Jasmine, gardening and cooking were the fun subjects. Aiman liked English and
Malay but disliked mathematics as he said sometimes he was not so good at it. Nawfal disliked Malay
because he said it was hard but he liked English, which was his favourite subject.
Discussion
The first research question was what the students thought about what they learned in school? Overall, the
results showed that the students thought that learning was vital. They also associated success and
happiness with their favourite subjects. Similarly, difficult subjects turned out to be their least favourite.
Secondly, the interviews revealed significant details about their social participation in school with friends
and teachers thus answering the second research question. Most of them explained that their friends in
the Home Room class were good to them but a few students noted that there were one or two students in
the class who either disturbed them or frequently got them into trouble. Almost all of the students, except
one, did not have friends from other classes. They were also aware of events like birthdays where one
student indicated her happiness at receiving presents from her classmates and teachers.
The students liked to take part in activities such as playing tic-tac-toe, monopoly and so on. They also
liked to eat together and tell funny stories. Most of them stated that they looked forward to seeing their
friends every day.
There seemed to be a helping culture which applied to the students as well as the teachers. At school A,
there was one classmate who stood out as he frequently helped his other classmates. At school B, the
students also helped each other with reading and cooking among others. It was noted that school A
seemed to have teachers who were less angry when compared to school B where two of the students
mentioned that some of the teachers always seemed angry. Despite this, all the students noted that their
teachers were easy to talk to and helpful. Some students even visited their teachers houses during the
festive season of Hari Raya. The students greeted their teachers when they met them and they did the
same with their friends. Overall, it seemed that students at school A had a stronger bond and relationship
with their teachers compared to the students at school B.
Do students have a positive view of school? This was the third research question. Many of them showed
that they were excited to go to school and they liked it because they learned a lot there. Many of them
also stated that what they learned was important. All of them mentioned that school was fun and some
gave reasons, such as because there were computers, they had friends who were nice to them, staying at
home was boring and so on. Overall, despite some of the problems that they experienced at school, they
seemed to have a positive view of school.
Fourthly, what abilities or skills have they acquired from their schooling? Most of them knew how to use
a calculator, cook simple food, especially fried food, clean the dishes and sweeping, gardening,
introducing themselves, the basics of how to use a computer, basic math, spelling and reading, writing
and so on. All the girls could sew material and beads together. One of the students had unique abilities
such as being very athletic. The results showed that these students had a wide variety of abilities and
skills, which reflected their curriculum, which was more focused on functional academics and daily
living skills.
Besides knowing how to clean, they were aware of what cleanliness is. Some of the students realized
what would happen if they did not know how to cook, clean and so on. Some of them even helped with
the cleaning at home. Despite gardening being a part of the syllabus just like cooking, none of them took
up gardening at home unlike cooking where some students expressed that they cooked at home.
A key finding was the emergence of themes that were unexpected but came up from the interviews and
what the students felt were significant to say. Family was one such theme and it was frequently cited by
almost all the students indicating that they saw family as a crucial part of their lives and that being with
their family was something that they enjoyed. Their problems were another theme. These students faced
problems such as bullying, getting into trouble because of their classmates, being told off by the teachers
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for being late, being reprimanded, loss of school time due to illness and so on. When it came to one of
the students, her achievements of winning first place in a relay competition were valuable and that made
her and her team mates happy.
Their future was important and many of them were quite ambitious. They liked to talk about their future
especially those who seemed sure of what sort of job they would like to have in the future. They also
mentioned their likes and interests which could help improve how they learn at school.
Some of these findings were similar to those of Primer and Browns (1995) study where the students
expressed life goals such as getting a good job, making money and being independent which mirrored the
life aspirations of average youths.
Conclusion
The students seemed to enjoy school and liked it very much in spite of the problems that they
experienced. They looked forward to school because they got to learn there and they met their friends.
These students were keen to take part in activities with their friends and they liked to help each other.
They also acquired daily living skills needed for independent living now and in the future. Getting
along with friends and teachers was normal for them, although almost all of them did not have friends
from other classes. The teachers were very helpful, dedicated to their work, enjoyed fun, easy to talk to
and caring. School A was more like a big, happy family. They also believed that what they learned was
important.
There was a variety of problems that these students experienced at school. The ones that stood out were
their classmates who got them into trouble, being scolded by teachers and angry teachers. These were
some of the negative factors . School would have been more pleasant if they did not have to face these
issues at school.
Their family, achievements, likes and their future were very meaningful to them. Many of their answers
included snippets of their parents or siblings. Their achievements certainly made them happy. What they
liked reflected a lot about themselves. Their ambitions were something that they looked forward to and
liked talking about . The next section looked at the implications from the findings of the study.
Implications
The findings have led to the discovery of some notable implications. What they liked could be used as
tools in their learning process. Their interests could be incorporated into their syllabus or even their daily
lessons. De Schauwer et al., (2009) explained how the students interests and talents can be connected in
their learning process and could help to make choices, add content to subjects, give direction to their
study and spare time. Computers were significant in their lives, so computers should be incorporated a
lot more as part of their activities. They were also fond of games like monopoly and tic-tac-toe and they
enjoyed telling stories to each other. Through playing monopoly ,for instance, they could be taught about
the use of money, paying rent as well as paying bills, which could improve their math skills. When it
comes to the teaching of English language, they could take turns telling stories to the whole class. This
could also be applied to the Malay language. Students are more likely to enjoy what they learn if it is
through an activity or something that they like to do. Since students associate difficult subjects with
failure, and easy subjects with success, more opportunities should be included for the students to
succeed in the subjects which they find difficult. Likewise, there should be more recognition of their
achievements for the subjects that they do well in.
Being scolded and being told off is normal at schools especially with students who have discipline issues.
The pre-vocational students however, stated that they do not like being punished and it is one of their
problems or fears at school. They also complained about teachers being angry. Perhaps some of the
teachers are frustrated as they do not know how to take care of these children. They could benefit from
special education teacher courses.
The fact that they liked to talk about their family indicated that family is of great value to them. The
implications for this are equally imperative. This information suggests that there should be more family
involvement in the pre-vocational programme. Perhaps their family members could be invited to
participate a lot more in their activities. Specific days could be allocated for the family members to come
over and take part in the various activities conducted at the Home Room class. Family members could
help the students with cooking or gardening. Once in a while, competitions could be held and this may
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serve as an incentive to increase family involvement and commitment to being a part of their childrens
school life. Needless to say, it would also facilitate to foster ties between the school and parents. Parents
could also be invited to come along to the job placements more often or even discuss about their
childrens future ambitions in order to make them a reality.
This leads to another significant implication which has to do with their future. These students speak with
great ambition when it comes to talking about what they would like to be when they grow up. Hence,
their dreams and desires for their future should not be taken lightly especially since many of these
students find it difficult to find jobs once they leave school. To reduce the likelihood of the difficulty in
securing employment, there should be a lot more emphasis on the transition between school and work.
Although now there already is some form of liaison between the schools and workplaces, the researcher
feels that there should be more effort and continuous communication between the schools and the
prospective workplaces or companies. By establishing a network within the working community, this
could help these students realize their dreams.
Becoming a chef, soldier, working with the navy and even having a bakery were some of these students
ambitions. Frequent visits to these places or even inviting speakers who are in those respective
professions could not only prove beneficial for the students but it shows them that the community care
about their future and recognize their potentials.
Limitations
A limitation to this study is that the results and findings do not reflect the whole population of students
who are involved in the pre-vocational programme in Brunei Darussalam. This is simply because this
study only involved some students from two schools that currently have the pre-vocational program in
place. Hence, generalizations could not be made. Despite this, the findings offer interesting insights in to
how these students experience school.
Recommendations
A recommendation for future research would be to interview more students with various disabilities from
many other schools that offer the pre-vocational programme. For example, the sample for this study did
not include students who are hearing impaired, autistic, visually impaired and so on. Perhaps it would be
wise to interview pre-vocational students from all four districts in Brunei Darussalam.
The Home Room teachers should also be interviewed as they could provide additional and valuable
information about these students since they would have known them longer than the researcher.
Collecting information by means of observations could also be done or even by way of case studies in
order to see how the students experience school, first hand. Finally, finding out about how these students
feel about their job placements and attachments as well as their experiences of the job attachments could
be another important topic for further research.
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SUPPORTING SOCIAL COMPETENCE AMONG SECONDARY STUDENTS IN HONG

KONG: TEACHERS BELIEFS ABOUT SCHOOL-WIDE INTERVENTIONS
Andrew Ming Hei Tong
Kaili Chen Zhang
The University of Hong Kong
To examine the key factors that lead to effective implementation of school-wide

behavior interventions, this study examined the extent to which school-wide behavior
interventions were implemented in four Hong Kong schools. The study also explored
Hong Kong teachers beliefs about behavioral and social skill programs for secondary
students with social, emotional, and behavioral difficulties. Findings indicated that the
adoption of behavioral and social skill programs were common practices in schools
and that the majority of participants in the present study believed that behavioral and
social skill programs should be implemented in schools at an early stage.
Furthermore, findings suggested that it is important to consider the interrelationship of
professional, strategic, contextual, and attitudinal factors that support students social
competence and minimize their challenging behavior.
Social and behavioral problems of children have become a very important educational issue in many
countries in the world. Teachers consistently report that poor social skills and classroom discipline have
been primary concerns of schools (e.g., Corso, 2007; Department of Education National Center for
Education Statistics, 2007; Ross, Romer, & Horner, 2012). In the context of Hong Kong, the public
media often report cases of students with social and behavioral difficulties. For instance, in November
2010, in an elite secondary school in Tai Po, Hong Kong, two male students were reported to have
distributed 40,000 Hong Kong dollars (about 6,000 USD) and eight Smart Phones to their classmates.
Although their purpose was to gain attention from their peersespecially their female classmates, by
showing off their wealth, their behavior had caused unrest in the school. One of the boys was then
reported to have chronic social, emotional, and behavioral difficulties (SEBD; Cheng, 2010).
How can teachers support the social competence development of students with SEBD? Many researchers
and practitioners have noted that by providing social skills interventions, the school can become an
optimal setting that fosters the development of social competence in students with behavioral problems.
In view of the potential educational outcomes for all students, as proposed by some researchers (e.g.,
Algozzine & Algozzine 2005, Algozzine & Kay 2001, Lane, Wehby, Robertson, & Rogers 2007; Upreti,
Liaupsin, and Koonce 2010), school-wide behavior interventions have been recommended as an effective
strategy to promote inclusive education, prevent the development of problem behavior, and reduce the
impact or intensity of problem behavior occurrences.
Literature Review
A significant number of studies concerning the effectiveness of various behavioral interventions have
been documented over the past 10 years (e.g., Baker, Lang, & OReilly, 2009; Chen & Estes, 2007;
Greenhalgh, 2001; Gulchak, 2008; Poon-McBrayer & Lian, 2002; Regan, 2009; Richardson & Shupe,
2003). However, there has also been both uniformity and inconsistency with regard to the essential
constituents of supporting social competence and preventing challenging behavior among students.
Effectiveness of school-wide interventions
Effective school-wide interventions that meet the needs of all students have been recognized as crucial in
ameliorating educational outcomes for students, and especially those with SEBD (Algozzine & Kay,
2001). Bradshaw, Koth, Bevans, Ialongo, and Leaf (2008), Clough (2005) and Kirk (2009) further
argued that students with SEBD are at high risk of failing in school and often fall behind because they do
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not receive appropriate interventions at an early stage. Algozzine and Algozzine (2005) emphasized that
one of the key features of proactive school-wide behavior interventions is the inclusion of all students in
schools that emphasize a three-level intervention framework (i.e., primary, secondary and tertiary
interventions) and address a wide range of needs across the three groups (Algozzine & Algozzine, 2005).
Similarly, Lane, Wehby et al. (2007) promoted the implementation of school-wide interventions by
claiming that this framework provided a systematic approach to preventing the development of new
behavioral problems, while providing the necessary level of support to manage existing behavioral
concerns (p. 3).
Although many other educators consider that individualized tailored interventions are necessary for
students with SEBD, some educators and psychologists have contended that whole-school interventions
are by no means less significant than individualized tailored interventions, and are therefore highly
recommended to be adopted in the education field (e.g., Algozzine & Algozzine, 2005; Lane, Wehby et
al., 2007; Rogers, 2005; Royer, 2001; 2005White, Algozzine, Audette, Marr, & Ellis, 2001; Upreti et al.,
2010). In particular, findings of White et al. (2001) and Upreti et al. (2010) indicated the potential
efficacy of universal prevention strategies to reduce the development of new incidence and current
prevalence of school-related problems. Similarly, the data presented in Corkum, Corbin, and Pikes
(2010) and Wu, Lo, Feng, and Los (2010) studies indicated that certain typical universal or primary
level school-wide interventions (e.g., violence prevention, conflict resolution, and social skill programs)
are vital in monitoring student progress and identifying students in need of more intensive prevention
efforts.
A complementary approach to the adoption and maintenance of school-wide interventions
Similar to Algozzine and Algozzines (2005) and Bradshaw et al. (2008) studies, which emphasized the
three-level intervention system, Siegel (2008) and Sugai and Horner (2006) proposed a three-tiered
prevention continuum of positive behavior support. However, Sugai and Horners (2006) prevention
continuum not only showed the categorization of interventions into three levels (i.e., primary, secondary
and tertiary interventions), but it also indicated that generalized interventions, when implemented with a
high degree of integrity, are a prerequisite to increasing the success of individualized interventions.
This is consistent with Corkum et al. (2010), Upreti et al. (2010) and Wu et al. (2010) studies on the
potential student outcomes of effective pre-interventions. ONeill and Stephensons (2010), Siegels
(2008) and Sugai and Horners (2006) studies also highlighted the vital importance of systems-level
supports, such as funding, and visibility and training, to promote social competence and desired goalrelated behaviors.
Teaching models that promote school-wide interventions
The framework of school-wide interventions presented above provided a foundation for educators and
psychologists working with students with SEBD. Corso (2007) and Fox et al. (2003) described similar
teaching models for promoting students social-emotional development and preventing and addressing
students challenging behavior with respect to the school-wide interventions framework. The models
were designed to promote the social-emotional development and behavior of all students, including those
with and without SEBD. The four levels of practice in their teaching models (i.e., Level 1: building
positive relationships; Level 2: implementing classroom preventive practices; Level 3: using social and
emotional teaching strategies; and Level 4: planning intensive individualized interventions) were
designed in a way that corresponded to the goals of school-wide interventions, as proposed by Algozzine
and Algozzine (2005), Siegel (2008) and Sugai and Horner (2006).
Thought-provoking issues concerning practices to promote school-wide interventions
While positive teacher-student relationships appeared to be associated with aspects of students social
and behavioral adjustment in Corsos (2007) and Fox, Dunlap, Hemmester, Joseph, and Strains (2003)
studies, it might also be important to develop a better understanding of how negative teacher-student
relationships affect students social and behavioral adjustment. Murray and Murrays (2004) study
showed that conflict in teacher-student relations was more strongly associated with students internalized
and externalized SEBD. Similarly, Doumen et al. (2008) study on the reciprocal sequence of interactions
between teachers and students around disruptive behaviors in classrooms illustrated that the aggressive
behavior of students (e.g., noncompliance, negative response or student leaves) was highly related to the
constant negative teacher responses (e.g., commands or reprimands) to disruptive behavior.
Corso (2007) and Fox et al. (2003) elaborated on the practice of social and emotional teaching strategies
by presenting different sets of strategies (e.g., describing, modeling and rehearsing) that had been
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deemed effective in teaching social emotional literacy skills in classroom contexts. Other researchers
(e.g., Arritola, Breen, & Paz, 2009; Bullis, Walker & Sprague, 2001) suggested that social skills are best
acquired within classroom settings where the behavior normally occurred. However, more recent studies
have shown that it is beneficial to incorporate social skills in a digital environment in the repertoire of
socialization strategies taught to students. Kleins (2008) and Richardsons (2007) studies, for instance,
reported that social networking sites (SNSs) played a pivotal role in the inclusion of students with SEBD
in the general population. The main reason being, compared to real life situations, digital academic and
social environments have less space, time and social constraints, therefore students with SEBD are more
willing to participate in such environments.
Since most of the studies mentioned above were conducted in Western countries, it appears that more
effort should be devoted to improving current social skill interventions practices and to identifying more
proven strategies in the Asian context. While there have been studies that illustrated the effects of social
skills interventions and services on students in Singapore and Taiwan (Chen & Tan, 2006; Cheng, 1998;
Hung, 1998; Lim & Nam, 2000; Tam, 2004), it seems that there has been a lack of research in Asia and
in particular, little emphasis has been put on evaluating the effectiveness of school-wide behavior
interventions in Hong Kong. The present study aimed to examine the extent to which school-wide
behavior interventions were implemented in Hong Kong secondary schools and to explore Hong Kong
teachers beliefs about (a) the implementation of behavioral and social skill programs within school
contexts, and (b) the provision of a supportive learning environment in schools. More specifically, the
present study aimed to bring new insights into the concept and significance of school-wide behavior
interventions and to determine the key factors that lead to effective social skills interventions.
Methodology
The following research questions set the direction of the study:
1.
What are teachers general beliefs about the extent to which school-wide behavior interventions
had been effectively implemented in their schools?
2.
To what extent is there a match or a mismatch between Hong Kong secondary school teachers
beliefs and Corsos (2007) and Fox et al. (2003) teaching models?
3.
What are teachers beliefs about the key factors that hinder or support teachers in facilitating
students social competence with respect to school-wide behavioral interventions?
Participants
To select schools that had implemented school-wide interventions for students with SEBD, the authors
conducted an online search of schools that had specific programs for students with SEBD (In Hong
Kong, the term SEBD is not a formal diagnosis, and thus there are no well-defined guidelines for its use.
Most typically, when a child or adolescent is described as having a SEBD, this means that he or she has a
diagnosedor diagnosableemotional/behavioral disorder). As a result, more than 20 school websites
and school annual plans were reviewed. Schools that used school-wide interventions were invited to
participate in the study. Four schools (labeled A, B, C, and D to protect the schools privacy) responded
in a timely manner and were therefore selected as the target schools. Teachers from the four schools
were invited to participate in the study, and a total of 60 teaching staff agreed to be involved
(approximately 15 individuals from each school). Nineteen of the 60 teachers (approximately five
individuals from each school) also agreed to participate in follow-up interviews. All participants were
involved in the implementation of school-wide behavior interventions, or had been members of the
counseling or discipline teams of the schools.
Procedures
In order to examine the beliefs of teachers about school-wide interventions supporting social competence
among secondary students in Hong Kong, a questionnaire (developed by the researchers) was sent to
each participant. The questionnaire presented participants with 30 statements reflecting various beliefs
about school-wide interventions and asked them to rate the extent to which they agreed with these
statements on a five-point scale ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree.
To test the content and concurrent validities of the instrument, three teachers (who did not subsequently
participate in the main study) were asked to review and give suggestions for improving the pre-test form
of the questionnaire. Statements in the questionnaire were then revised and retested until they were
understood accurately by each pre-test participant. Finally, the revised questionnaire was sent to two
experts in the field for further review and refinement. To ensure that all participants could understand
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terms used in the questionnaire (e.g., social competence, school-wide interventions), a glossary was
provided for each participant.
To elicit further information about teachers beliefs concerning school-wide interventions for students
with SEBD, follow-up interviews with 19 teachers were conducted using a semi-structured interview
guide. The content and question flow of this guide were exploratory in nature. The exact use of the
interview guide differed based on each participants specific experiences. As the teachers comments
during interviews matched the majority of answers on the questionnaire, data collected from the
interviews revealed insights and perspectives that could not be obtained from the questionnaire, and this
enhanced the reliability of the study.
Findings and Discussions
Research question one: What are teachers general beliefs about the extent to which school-wide
behavior interventions had been effectively implemented in their schools?
Several of the statements in the questionnaire (i.e. Statements 1, 7, 11, 15, 18, 21, 24, and 28) focused
specifically on teachers general beliefs about school-wide interventions and the extent to which schoolwide behavior interventions had been implemented in their schools. The purpose of these items was to
examine participants beliefs about and attitudes towards the structure and effectiveness of the
intervention implemented in each school. Table 1 showed the mean responses of each school to the
aforementioned statements in the questionnaire.
Table 1. Teachers General Beliefs about the Extent to which School-Wide Behavior
Interventions had been Effectively Implemented in their Schools
School School School School
Statement
A
B
C
D
11
15
18
21
24
28
Behavioral and social skill practices have

been effectively implemented in our school
School-wide intervention practices that meet
the needs of ALL students are important for
improving educational outcomes for students.
Behavioral and social skill interventions have
been adopted in our school to meet the needs
of ALL students
Some specific behavioral and social skill
intervention programs have been adopted and
implemented in some classes/forms
Specific behavioral and social skill
intervention have been planned for individual
students
Behavioral and social skill interventions
implemented in our school are only for some
individuals or groups of individuals, rather
than for all students in our school
Behavioral and social skill interventions have
been adopted in our school at 3 levels (i.e.
individual, classroom/group and whole-school
levels)
School-wide behavioral interventions appear
to be essential for students with social,
emotional and behavioral difficulties, but
NOT for all students
4.33
4.47
4.00
4.27
4.87
4.80
3.73
3.87
4.73
4.80
3.60
3.80
3.93
4.07
4.13
4.27
3.53
3.53
3.73
3.60
1.20
1.40
2.40
2.67
3.80
3.73
3.53
3.53
1.13
1.27
2.20
2.87
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Similar to Algozzine and Algozzines (2005) proposed three-level school-wide intervention framework
and Siegels (2008) and Sugai and Horners (2006) continuum of positive behavior support, participants
from the four schools consistently thought that behavioral and social skill intervention practices should
be adopted in their schools. In addition, while universal instructions or procedures were used to avert the
onset of behavioral or social problems of all students (Corkum, Corbin, & Pike, 2010; Wu, Lo, Feng, &
Lo, 2010), teachers indicated that more intense and specialized interventions should be provided for
individual students.
Moreover, similar to Corkum et al. (2010), Sugai and Horners (2006), Upreti et al. (2010) and Wu et al.
(2010) views on the extensiveness of universal level of interventions, participants of Schools A and B
gave particularly high ratings (higher than 4.5) for Statements 7 and 11, but particularly low ratings
(lower than 1.5) for Statements 21 and 28 (see Table 1). This suggested that they had a very strong belief
in the need to adopt universal prevention strategies within school contexts. According to data obtained
from the interviews, teachers from Schools A and B had widely developed and adopted preventive
strategies that were directed towards all students across all school settings, and had involved the school,
families, and community members. For instance, in school A, in addition to programs targeted at a
particular group/level of students (e.g., Discipline and Motivation Camp for junior secondary students), a
wide range of strategic prevention strategies were used for all students, and involved not only school
teachers, but also community members from various organizations. Other prevention programs included
bullying presentations organized by the Hong Kong Police Force, leadership training camps organized by
the Salvation Army, and positive attitude talks organized by the Society of Rehabilitation and Crime
Prevention, Hong Kong.
Research question two: The match or mismatch between Hong Kong secondary school teachers beliefs
and Corsos (2007) and Fox et al. (2003) teaching models
The development and maintenance of positive teacher-student relationships, Statements 3, 8, 12, 16, 23,
and 26 in the questionnaire focused on teachers beliefs about the development, maintenance, and
significance of positive teacher-student relationships. Table 2 shows the mean responses of each school
to the aforementioned statements of the questionnaire.
Table 2. Teachers Beliefs about the Development, Maintenance and Significance
of Positive Teacher-Student Relationships
Statement
A
B
C
D
It is difficult to develop and maintain
positive
teacher-student
3
interaction/relationships
2.07
1.80
2.27
2.27
12
16
23
26
Students who have social or behavioral

problems are those who have negative
feelings towards oneself and the school.
Students who always misbehave or have
social emotional difficulties are those who
always complain
Teachers should try to praise and approve
more
than
they
criticize
or
reprimand/punish.
Criticizing
or
punishing
students
misbehavior is an effective means to
minimize students challenging behavior
Rewards
should
be
used
liberally/extensively to ensure that all
students benefit
4.13
4.33
4.20
4.40
3.67
4.00
3.47
3.53
4.33
4.27
4.47
4.33
1.27
1.47
1.53
1.40
4.00
4.13
4.33
4.07
With respect to Doumen et al. (2008) and Murray and Greenbergs (2006) studies on how negative
teacher-student relationships affected the social and behavioral adjustment and functioning of students,
participants proposed ways to optimize negative teacher-student relationships. In addition, nearly 85%
of the participants suggested that teachers shift their attention from students who did not follow
directions/instructions to those who did, and provide appropriate incentives or encouraging responses.
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Explicit vs. Implicit use of social and emotional teaching strategies. Statements 2, 4, 6, 10, 13, 17, 20,
22, 27, and 30 in the questionnaire concerned teachers beliefs about the use of social and emotional
teaching strategies. Table 3 shows the mean responses of each school to the aforementioned statements
in the questionnaire.
Table 3. Teachers Beliefs about the Use of Social and Emotional Teaching Strategies
Statement
A
B
C
D
10
13
17
20
22
27
30
Social skills are best acquired during

teachable moments, or within classroom
settings where the behaviors normally occur
(e.g., during class teacher periods)
Appropriate
social
skills
can
be
taught/acquired outside classroom (e.g., by
means of social networking sites)
Teachers need to provide students with
textual- or theory-based information about
social skills, such as conflict resolution and
dealing with anger appropriately
Social skill programs are particularly useful
and therefore should be implemented in
Hong Kong schools
Social skills cannot be taught/acquired in
school contexts
Appropriate social skills can be acquired
through different means (e.g., case studies,
role plays, experience sharing and
discussion)
Social skills could be incorporated in the
digital world.
It is important to enhance students
environment social skills (e.g., making
moral decisions, using positive thinking
patterns)
It is teachers responsibility to enrich
students social skills (e.g., conflict
resolution, cooperating with others, and
dealing with anger and stress appropriately)
Social skills programs should be adopted in
secondary schools as early as possible
4.33
4.07
4.00
4.20
3.60
3.73
3.33
3.20
2.27
2.67
2.07
2.20
3.80
4.87
3.67
4.73
1.13
1.27
1.13
1.33
4.33
4.27
4.47
4.33
4.07
4.13
4.00
4.07
4.40
4.47
4.60
4.33
3.93
4.07
4.20
4.13
3.80
4.93
3.47
4.87
Referring to the mean scores of Statements 10 and 30 in Table 3, participants of two schools (Schools B
and D) gave high ratings for their beliefs about the early and extensive adoption of social skill programs
within school contexts/curricula. In addition, all participants from School D claimed that special
educators, educational psychologists and behavior interventionists had given assistance to most class
teachers of the junior forms who were running social skill programs in their classes.
On the other hand, with reference to the mean scores of Statement 20 in Table 3, more than 80% of the
participants believed that social skills could be incorporated in the digital environment. Their beliefs are
in line with the findings of Kleins (2008) and Richardsons (2007) studies on the implications of
indirect/implicit social and emotional teaching strategies in terms of the use of the a digital environment,
particularly social networking sites. However, contrary to Morgans (2010) findings on the benefits and
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widespread of use of social networking sites to model appropriate social behaviors for students,
particularly those with SEBD, most participants (75%) suggested that even though a digital environment
may provide a possible platform for social cognition and for acquiring appropriate social behavior, it was
difficult for them to evaluate students outcomes with regard to the effectiveness of these strategies.
Research question three: What are teachers beliefs about the key factors that hinder or support teachers
in facilitating students social competence with respect to school-wide behavioral interventions?
Statements 5, 9, 14, 19, 25, and 29 in the questionnaire focused on teachers beliefs about the key factors
that hinder or support teachers in facilitating students social competence with respect to school-wide
behavioral interventions. Table 4 shows the mean responses of each school to the aforementioned
statements of the questionnaire.
Table 4. Teachers Beliefs about the Key Factors that Hinder or Support Teachers in Facilitating
Students Social Competence with Respect to School-Wide Behavioral Interventions
Statement
A
B
C
D
14
19
25
Teachers should work with other colleagues as

a team to help solve students social and
behavioral problems
Teachers can succeed in supporting students
social competence and help solving their social
and behavioral problems/difficulties even
without professional training
Teachers cannot succeed in supporting
students social competence if they have
negative feelings towards students who present
social or behavioral problems
Teachers may fail to assist students with
social,
emotional,
and
behavioral
difficulties/problems due to inadequate
resources provided in school contexts
Close partnership with parents is the key to
success in enhancing students social skills
4.20
4.33
4.00
4.20
1.53
1.80
1.13
1.60
3.80
4.13
4.33
4.00
3.67
3.93
3.80
4.93
4.13
4.27
4.47
4.13
3.53
4.07
3.93
4.87
Close partnership with special educators,

school psychologists, counselors and behavior
interventionists is the key to success in
enhancing students appropriate social skills
29
Sugai and Horners (2006) and Siegels (2008) studies indicated the importance of systems-level
supports, such as funding, visibility, working structures, operating routines, resource supports, and staff
development in school-wide interventions for students with SEBD. In line with these studies,
participants in this study generally believed that the willingness of collaborative work among teachers
and other professionals, the acquirement of professional training and the adequacy of resource supports
were essential criteria when judging the success of school-wide interventions.
Participants of School D gave high ratings for their belief in systems-level supports (see the mean scores
of Statements 19 and 29 in Table 4). They further suggested that junior form teachers had found it useful
and necessary to receive resources and support from experienced educators, psychologists and behavioral
interventionists when running social skills programs. The participants of School D were particularly in
favor of the interactive follow-up sharing sessions that were arranged for them to talk things over with
experienced educators, psychologists and behavioral interventionists, and colleagues from other schools.
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The findings above suggested that with respect to the adoption of school-wide behavioral interventions,
three other factorsnamely, professional factors, attitudinal factors and contextual factorsmay also
hinder or facilitate students social competence development. In order to enhance the effectiveness of
the interventions illustrated in Corsos (2007) and Fox et al. (2003) teaching models, teachers
professional development opportunities in the area of social skills training are vital and should therefore
be extensively introduced into the education field. In addition to knowledge-based courses, participants
suggested that interactive training programs, which aimed to provide in-service teachers opportunities to
talk things over with colleagues regarding the difficulties they encountered and the success they achieved
with students with SEBD, should be made available.
Regarding contextual factors, participants suggested that in order to design sound social skills programs,
school-wide behavioral interventions should be applied within a school context where the working
structures, operating routines, resource supports and staff development were well organized. With
respect to attitudinal factors, participants indicated that teachers beliefs about the effectiveness of
school-wide intervention, their positive attitudes towards inclusion of students with SEBD, and the
provision of inclusive class will also help foster students social development.
Limitations
There are potential limitations in the present the present study. First, since only four schools were
involved in this study, the data may not represent the responses of all teachers in Hong Kong. A small
sample such as this can result in bias, and it gives no information about beliefs of teachers who were not
involved in this study. Second, because of time constraints, students feedback about school-wide
interventions was not included in the study.
Implications
Using findings from this present study, larger-scale research studies could be further developed to
evaluate the effectiveness of school-wide interventions for students with SEBD. Further research studies
could also target more secondary schools in Hong Kong.
It would also be worthwhile to consider students responses to school-wide interventions. Moreover, as
the data of the present study suggest that besides teachers, social workers and educational psychologists
also play an important role in school-wide interventions; further studies that involve these professionals
may provide helpful insights into interventions that promote social competence in students with SEBD.
Conclusions
School-wide interventions were not favorably acknowledged by scholars in the 1990s (e.g., Lane,
Rogers, & Parks, 2007; Sugai, Sprague, Horner, & Walker, 2000). However, the present study
confirmed the view that school-wide behavior interventions are an effective set of strategies to promote
inclusive education and develop students social competence (Algozzine & Algozzine, 2005; Bradshaw
et al., 2008; Lane, Wehby et al., 2007). To prevent the development of problem behavior as well as to
reduce the impact or intensity of problem behavior occurrences, participants of this present study
indicated that the adoption of behavioral and social skill programs were common practices in their
schools and recommended that social skill programs be implemented in schools at an early stage.
At the same time, according to the study, although the teacher participants generally had a strong belief
in systems-level support, some of them reported that they found it challenging to implement school-wide
interventions, mainly due to the lack of professional training, resources, and support from more
experienced educators, psychologists and behavioral interventionists. To increase the effectiveness of
school-wide interventions in secondary schools in Hong Kong, it is also high time that different parties in
the education field, including teachers, educators, psychologists and behavioral interventionists, focus
more on the potential effect of contextual, professional, and attitudinal factors, and work together to
support students social competence.
References
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THE EFFECT OF A DISABILITY CAMP PROGRAM ON ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE

INCLUSION OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES IN A SUMMER SPORT AND LEISURE
ACTIVITY CAMP
Christina Papaioannou
Christina Evaggelinou
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
Martin Block
University of Virginia
The aim of the present study was to examine the impact of a specific Disability Camp
Program (DCP) in the attitudes of children without disabilities toward the inclusion of
children with disabilities in a summer sport and leisure activity camp. Three hundred
eighty-seven campers without disabilities participated in the study and were divided
into control (n = 190) and experimental groups (n = 197). The control group followed
the camps regular program, while the experimental group attended a DCP in addition
to the camps regular program. All participants completed the Attitudes Towards
Integrated Sports Inventory (ATISI), (Block & Malloy, 1998) twice; just before and
immediately after their participation in the DAP. ATISI consists of two subscales:
general and sports-specific. The results of the 2 X 2 repeated measures analysis of
variance revealed statistical significant differences on the experimental group, both in
general and in sport-specific attitude subscales. These findings imply that participation
in this particular DCP can had a positive influence on childrens attitudes towards the
inclusion of children with disabilities in summer sport and leisure activity camp.
Over the past decade, the inclusion of children with disabilities in regular schools has become a global
trend (DePauw & Doll-Tepper, 2000). A basic premise of the inclusion philosophy is placing children
with disabilities into regular schools will break down negative stereotypes towards children with
disabilities. The concept of inclusion has been the subject of significant discussion and debate among
professionals in the adapted physical activity domain (Block & Obrusnikova, 2007; Goodwin
& Watkinson, 2000; DePauw, et al., 2000).
Studies have revealed that the majority of children with disabilities seem to function well in physical
education classes, while other studies have pointed out that there are some difficulties to obtain
acceptance, social contact and inclusion (Bramston, Bruggerman, & Pretty, 2002; Chamberlain, Kasari,
& Rotheram-Fuller, 2007; Goodwin & Watkinson, 2000; Kuhne & Wiener, 2000; Pijl, Frostad, & Flem,
2008). Some argued that these difficulties are caused by personal and environmental factors. Attitudes of
classmates or friends towards peers with disabilities can be regarded as an environmental factor that
might facilitate or inhibit the inclusion of children with disabilities (Vignes, et al., 2009).
Attitudes of children without disabilities and their preparation to accept, coexist and cooperate with peers
with disabilities in the same physical education classes in regular schools is one of the most important
factor for successful inclusion (Obrusnikova, Block, & Dillon, 2010; Tripp, Rizzo, & Webbert, 2007;
Siperstein, Parker, Norins, & Widaman, 2007). During the last decade studies indicated that some
children have held positive attitudes towards inclusion of peers with disabilities in physical education
classes (Arampatzi, Mouratidou, Evaggelinou, Koidou, & Barkoukis, 2011; Beck, Fritz, Keller, &
Dennis, 2000; Nikolaraizi & De Reybekiel, 2001), while other studies reported negative attitudes
(Kalyva & Agaliotis, 2009). Nikolaraizi et al., (2005), suggested negative attitudes of children without
disabilities are a result of feelings of fear and lack of information. Vignes et al., (2009) went further
stating negative attitudes may be just as obstructive as physical barriers in limiting children with
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disabilities from participating fully in schools and communities. Negative attitudes may result in low
acceptance by peers, few friendships, loneliness and even being rejected and/or bullied. This can have
dramatic effects on the lives of children with disabilities, resulting in difficulties in joining group
activities, declining academic performance, dropping-out of school and/or problem behavior (Jackson &
Bracken, 1998; Aluede, Adeleke, Omoike, & Afen-Akpaida, 2008; Lund, et al., 2009).
Attitude theorists have suggested that people have an interest to become aware about issues related to
disability in order to form attitudes. With respect to including children with disabilities in regular
education and especially in regular physical education classes, such knowledge may be focused on
understanding the needs of children with disabilities and to reduce misunderstandings and feelings of
pity. An essential question is whether providing knowledge about disability to children without
disabilities will lead to more positive attitudes (Aluede, et al., 2008). Disability Awareness Programs
(DAP) are key factors to create awareness and understanding about individuals with disabilities (Holtz,
2007; Ison, et al., 2010). It was found that a well structured multifarious DAP can influence childrens
attitudes positively (Kalyvas & Reid, 2003; Kippers & Bouramas, 2003; Loovis & Loovis, 1997;
Papaioannou, Evaggelinou, Barkoukis, & Block, 2013).
The Education Committee of the International Paralympic Committee recognized the value of the DAP
and developed an educational program called Paralympic School Day (PSD) (IPC, 2006). Information
and project activities in this program offer opportunities for children to learn about the Paralympic
Games and become aware of the unique abilities of the athletes with disabilities. Research on PSD
programs indicated a positive effect on general attitudes toward the inclusion of peers with disabilities in
physical education class (Jesina, et al., 2006, Liu, Kudlacek, & Jesina, 2010, Lukas, et al., 2006,
Panagiotou, et al., 2008, Van Biesen, Busciglio, & Vanlandewijck, 2006, Xafopoulos, Kudlacek, &
Evaggelinou, 2009). However, attitudes toward adaptation of sports rules tended to decrease (Jesina, et
al., 2006, Liu, et al., 2010, Panagiotou, et al., 2008, Wilhite, Mushett, Goldenberd, & Trader, 1997,
Xafopoulos, et al., 2009). It appears many children without disabilities did not want to adapt sport rules
and have a peer with disability as a teammate.
Hesitations to adapting sports and having a peer as a teammate may be the result of concerns that the
inclusion of a child with a disability may slowdown and change the game making it less fun for
everyone. Perhaps a less competitive, recreational environment involving physical activities might offer
a more appropriate setting to influence attitudes towards children with disabilities. Recreation is defined
as an activity developed by society that is designed for the primary reasons of fun enjoinment and
satisfaction. The notion of recreation relates directly to the activity and its independent of the
participants feelings and experiences. People who participate in recreation activities may experience
enjoinment and satisfaction or may encounter failure, rejection and feeling of helplessness. This is
particularly important for children with disabilities, especially children with intellectual disabilities and
autism, who often face barriers when attempting to participate in community recreation and sports
programs (Block, Taliaferro & Moran, 2013). An interesting dialogue has occurred during the last fifteen
years regarding alternative settings where inclusion might succeed, such as interscholastic secondary
school athletic programs (Kozub & Porretta, 1996), aquatic programs (Conatser, Block, & Lepore, 2000),
outdoor recreation programs (Herbert, 2000), and organized summer camps programs (Fenning, et al.,
2000).
Summer camps are recreational setting, in which children have the opportunity to participate in activities
and games with peers on a daily basis, which foster inclusion and develop close relationships. Summer
sport and leisure activity camps are usually designed to provide leisure and sport specific activities.
These camps provide a wide range of sport (i.e., basketball) and leisure (i.e., art) opportunities for
children and teens who love to try new and different activities or want to combine two or more interests.
In these settings children get the chance to sample and enjoy a range of exciting sports and recreational
pursuits in a high-energy environment or begin to develop sports skills and have the chance to learn or
develop their game as an athlete (Thurber, Scanlin, Scheuler, & Hederson, 2007). However, there is no
past evidence investigating the effect of DAP in summer camps. Thus, the purpose of the present study
was to examine the impact of a three-week DCP on attitudes of children without disabilities toward the
inclusion of a hypothetical peer with physical disability in a summer sport and leisure activity camp.
Based on prior research in physical education, we hypothesized that the DCP would result in more
positive attitudes towards disability.
Methods
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Participants
Three hundred eighty seven campers without disabilities (M =11.25 years old, SD = .97), from a summer
sport and leisure activity camp in Northern Greece specialized in basketball participated in the study. The
campers were divided into two groups, an experimental group (n = 197, M = 11.08 years old, SD = .98)
that attended a DCP, and a control group (n = 190, M =11.43 years old, SD = .93) attending the regular
program of the camp which consisted of sports and leisure activities.
Instrument
Participants completed a modified version of the Attitudes Towards Integrated Sports Inventory (ATISI)
(Block & Malloy, 1998). ATISI is a modified version of the Children's Attitudes Towards Integrated
Physical Education-Revised (CAIPE-R) (Block, 1995), a validated survey instrument designed to
measure children's attitudes toward inclusion of peers with disabilities in regular physical education. The
version of the ATISI used for this study was modified from Block and Malloy (1998) in that statements
contained within the inventory dealt with adaptations and attitudes toward inclusive participation on a
basketball team. The questionnaire measures two dimensions of attitudes; a general dimension assessing
attitudes towards inclusion in the team (8 items, example item - It would be ok having a camper like John
on my team), and a sport-specific dimension measuring attitudes of participants with respect to specific
rule and game modifications to basketball (5 items, example item - It would be ok to allow John to shoot
at a lower basket?). Responses were given on a 4-point Likert scale from 1 (no) to 4 (yes). Higher scores
indicate more positive attitudes towards inclusion (Table 1).
Table 1: Total Scores for General and Sport-Specific Attitudes
General Attitudes Sport-Specific Attitudes
(8 items)
(5 items)
24 (yes)
20 (yes)
18 (probably yes) 15 (probably yes)
12 (probably no) 10 (probably no)
6 (no)
5 (no)
Disability Camp Program
The DCP designed for this study was based on the principles of the Paralympic movement and more
specifically on the educational program called PSD. Consistent with PSD program, the aim of the PCP
was to increase awareness and provide information about children with physical disabilities in the
camps enjoyable and playful environment. The DCP involved a range of practical and theoretical
activities in which children enrolled by themselves such as disability simulation sport activities,
information about Paralympic Games using lectures and video presentations and drawing activities with
topics related to the Paralympic sports, athletes and equipment (http://www.paralympic.org/theipc/paralympic-school-day).
The DAP in the current study included ten activities (theoretical-practical): (1) Human Rights; (2)
Information about Paralympic Games; (3) Boccia; (4) Classification; (5) Wheelchair Rugby; (6)
Athletics; (7) Accessibility games; (8) Swimming; (9) Wheelchair Basketball; and (10) Drawing. The
experimental group was divided in 10 sub-groups of approximately 20 children/per group. Each
subgroup of children participated every day for 20 consecutive days in all the above mentioned activities.
Each activity lasted for 35 minutes and children rotated to the next activity until the completion of all ten
activities. Participants had the opportunity through the DCP to become aware of the personal uniqueness
of individuals with a disability and to become familiar with a physical disability through the Paralympic
Games (i.e., rules, adaptations and regulations of the events, famous athletes, equipment and actual
participation). In addition, other activities, such as conversation regarding reading, discussion and
watching a film that included a person with a physical disability, were organized during the midday.
Procedure
Upon the arrival of the campers, a written permission was granted from the parents and the camp
directors. During the first day of the camp all children answered the questionnaire in which there was a
hypothetical scenario in which a peer with a physical disability would be participating in their basketball
league. Exact wording for the scenario follows: John is a child who really enjoys playing basketball.
However, due to the nature of his disability, he is unable to use his legs to walk and must, therefore,
move around by using a wheelchair. He has the full use of his upper body. He is able to dribble, pass,
and shoot the basketball, and also fully understands the rules of the sport. He has played in a wheelchair
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basketball league in the past; however, he is interested in playing in the sport camp league because he
wants to have fun and meet other children without disabilities.
After being presented with this situation, participants were asked to comment on a series of statements
designed to assess their attitudes toward participation of an individual with a physical disability in their
basketball summer league. In the next 20 days the activities of the DAP were implemented to the
experimental group. Children in the control group attended the regular program of the camp. During the
last day the post-intervention measurement was held. In both measurements the questionnaires were
administered during midday recess at childrens cabins by the research personnel. The whole procedure
was supervised by researchers, and both oral and written instructions were provided to children. All
participants were reassured about the confidentiality of their responses and their right to withdraw.
Data Analysis
A 2 X 2 repeated measure analysis of variance was used to examine the effects of the disability
awareness program on childrens general and sports-specific attitudes (group X pre-post measure). In
particular the first independent variable was group with two levels (experimental and control group).
The second independent group was a within factor variable measure with two levels (pre and post
measurement). Two such ANOVA s were contacted, one using the general attitudes as the depended
variable and the other using sports-specific attitudes. The statistical package that was used was SPSS 19.0
(for Windows). The significant level was set at .05.
Results
Participants reported positive general and sports-specific attitudes towards the inclusion of peer with
physical disability in summer sport and leisure activity camp. The correlations between the attitudes
dimensions were moderate to high in both measurements (r > .79). Analysis of variance revealed two
significant main effects regarding pre-post measure (F (1, 385) = 63.62, p < .001, partial = .142) and
group (F (1, 385) = 99.08, p < .001, partial = .205). Moreover an interaction between the two independent
factors was also noticed (F (1, 385) = 65.74, p < .001, partial = .146). Whereas responses of the control
group did not change between the pre and post measure (Mpre = 14.41 3.09, Mpost = 14.30 2.79), the
experimental group was significantly improved after the awareness program (Mpre = 15.30 2.82, Mpost =
17.88 1.79) (Figure 1).
The same pattern of results was noticed for the sport-specific attitudes. In particular, the two main effects
were statistical significant, pre-post measure F (1, 385) = 84.26, p < .001, partial = .180 and group F (1,
385) = 56.73, p < .001, partial = .128, as well as their interaction, F (1, 385) = 65.53, p < .001, partial =
.145. Figure 2 depicts the observed interaction. Whereas responses of the control group did not change between
the pre and post measure (Mpre = 15.46 3.41, Mpost = 15.64 3.16), the experimental group was significantly
improved after the implementation of the awareness program (Mpre = 15.80 2.60, Mpost = 18.73 1.73)
(Figure 2).
General Attitudes
30
15.3
17.88
Experimental
20
14.41
10
pre-test
14.3
Contol
post-test
Figure 1: Scores of pre and post-test for General Attitudes
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Sport-Specific Attitudes
30
18.73
15.8
Experimental
Contol
20
15.46
15.64
10
pre-test
post-test
Figure 2: Scores of pre and post-test for Sport-Specific Attitudes

Discussion
The hypothesis of the present study was that the DCP would have a positive effect on the attitudes of
children without disabilities. Results of the analysis supported our hypothesis on the positive effect of the
DCP on general and sports-specific attitudes towards the inclusion of peer with physical disability in a
summer sport and leisure activity camp.
Participants of the experimental group who attended the DCP surveyed in this study had relatively
positive general attitudes toward the inclusion of a camper with physical disability in the summer sport
and leisure activity camp. The mean score of 17.88 for the eight statements measuring this global general
attitude indicated children participating in the DCP were generally receptive to having a camper with
physical disability participate in their team. With respect to the general attitudes, findings of the present
study are in accordance with past evidence suggesting that DAPs like PSD including information,
assimilation games, and interactive group discussions about disability can shape the attitudes of children
without disabilities (Liu, et al., 2010; Panagiotou, et al., 2008; Papaioannou, et al., 2013; Rillotta &
Nettelbeck, 2007; Van Biesen, et al., 2006; Xafopoulos, et al., 2009). Also, results of this study are
similar to results of other findings who implemented other DAPs in outdoor recreation activities (e.g.,
Block & Malloy, 1998, Townsend & Hassal, 2007). It appears that this type of activity can have a
positive effect on childrens attitudes. For example, Magouritsas et al., (2005) and utzlers and Levi,
(2007) revealed children were more favorable to accept peers with disabilities in their recreation outdoor
activities after the implementation of intervention programs. utzler et al., (2007) suggested participation
in active simulation disability activities increases childrens attitudes toward inclusion of peers with
disabilities positively.
Inclusion in an outdoor recreation setting such as summer sport and leisure activity camp where children
get the chance to participate in activities and games with peers on a daily basis and develop close
relationships should be effective in developing positive attitudes. A summer camp setting may allow
children to take healthy risks in a safe and nurturing environment. Summer camps are a typical life
experience for children and young people and in this setting children can learn new skills, build
friendships, and experience personal growth. Unlike the school setting which emphasizes academics, the
camp setting provides a unique experience emphasizing less-competitive sports, social interaction, and
having fun.
As far as the sport-specific attitudes, as mentioned in the second part of the questionnaire, results showed
the mean response score for these statements for the experimental group was 18.73. This score indicated
attitudes of respondents toward sport-specific modifications (i.e., scoring system, height of basket, rule
adaptations, equating competition by having another individual compete in a wheelchair) were positive,
and nearly as favorable as the general attitudes toward inclusion statements. In addition, results of other
studies indicated negative attitudes on sports-specific attitudes (Van Biesen, et al., 2006) or a decrease of
attitudes after the inclusion of students with disability in general physical education classes (Korologou,
et al., in press, Wilhite, et al., 1997). These other studies found some children, particularly older
children, felt the adapted game was not very challenging because it was too easy, not competitive and
differed from what they were used to (Kalyvas, et al., 2003). In addition, previous research seems to
show are accepting of peers with disabilities physical education classes but not necessarily as
teammates in a competive sport setting (Wilhite, et al., 1997). One logical conclusion is that this is a
natural behavior of children who want to share the game with powerful teammates in order to become
winners. These other studies suggest inclusion in physical education in regular schools where the focus
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is more learning and educational lead to more favorable attitudes compared to sports settings where the
focus is more on competition and winning.
This contrasted to results of the present study which found that the DCP can promote a positive effect on
sports-specific attitudes of campers based on the camps setting. Positive changes in sport-specific
attitude in this study might be due to the fact that the DCP in this study was a multifarious program
consisting of both theoretical and practical activities such as physical disability simulation, physical
activities through non-competitive games, information through videos about individuals with
disabilities who took place in a recreational setting. It is hypothesized that the present results are due to
the fact that in summer sport and leisure activity camp most emphasis is on having fun on a daily basis
for three weeks and be a part of a team rather than competition and wining (Papaioannou, et al., 2013).
The way that the DCP was organized seemed to play a major role on influence of childrens sportspecific attitudes (Liu, et al., 2010). To further promote positive attitudes, the researcher team in the
present study initiated an interactive discussion among the campers at the end of the day. Also videos,
reading, familiarity with sports for children with physical disabilities, and experiences in participating in
basketball using wheelchair may have affected improvement in attitudes during the study. Perhaps the
most important activity that lead to positive attitudes was though simulated disability sport activities like
wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby and boccia. These simulated activities helped participants
understand that it is not easy to participate in sports using a wheelchair, and these experiences most
likely lead to positive attitudes towards making modifications to rules. In fact, after trying these sports
children without disabilities felt it was difficult to play such a game, and this most likely led to favorable
attitude towards changing the rules of their basketball game.
It should be noted that some of the simulated activities presented were chosen from previous Paralympic
sports programs used in other studies. However, some of these activities such as shooting a basketball
from a wheelchair proved to be too difficult for children aged 11 years old. It is recommended that age of
participants and choice of activities be considered when planning of a disability awareness program.
Finally, although part of the PCP was focused on sports, it appeared to foster more generally positive
attitudes since attention was given not only to the quantity but also to the quality of time which children
spend together (Kippers, et al., 2003). Summer sport and leisure activity camps generally include the
development of the whole child; not just how they are as an athlete but also how they are as a person, a
bunkmate, a teammate, and a friend. It seems that these camps do much more than just improve a
camper's soccer, tennis, or basketball skills; they help each child become a more skillful athlete, a more
gracious competitor, a more committed team player, and a more confident and accepted person.
Given the discrepancy in this area between research from the physical education setting and the summer
sport and leisure activity camps context, further research in this area is warranted. However, results of
this preliminary investigation indicated more extensive future research is warranted to examine a number
of variables (e.g., impact of level of competitiveness, different types of disability, intramural versus
interscholastic activities, contact with children with disabilities and longitudinal follow-up study)
associated with children in terms of their attitudes concerning inclusive outdoor recreation programs.
In conclusion, a DCP in outdoor recreation setting does not just happen; it needs to be planned. DCP
have become a major force in promoting inclusion in recreational settings, particularly in a summer sport
and leisure activity camp. The model used in the present study that combined elements of PSD not only
provided the necessary support, but it also orientated the staff and helped to spread awareness about the
inclusion. In addition, the content and the duration of a DCP appear to play a key role in creating an
inclusive environment. There is a growing shift from segregated summer camp programs to a more
integrated (Block, Horton, & Davis, 1997). Results of this study have shown that the PCP was able to
provide quality programming to meet each childrens individual needs but also providing young
participants with or without disabilities an additional incentive to work together. Following the specific
philosophy of community-based programs such as PCP can facilitate and promote positive attitudes.
Although behaviors that reflects negative attitude can limit opportunities for individuals with disabilities.
These negative attitudes and subsequent behaviors can be changed. The recreation professional can
implement programs which are designed in moving participants attitudes about people with disabilities
from those that are negative to attitudes that reflect acceptance and understanding of diversity. Programs
such as the PCP, which structure interactions, encourage extensive personal contact, promote joint
participation, facilitate equal status, foster cooperating interdependence, focus on similarities, and
develop effective communication, may be considered in developing positive attitude toward individuals
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with disabilities. The model used in the present study that combined elements of PSD not only provided
the necessary support, but it also orientated the staff and helped to spread awareness about the inclusion.
The implementation of national as well as awareness educational program could contribute to develop
positive attitudes toward inclusion of peers with disabilities in summer sport and leisure activity camps.
This program are recommended to be implemented in recreational as well as educational settings because
could be an effective pedagogical method in order to develop positive attitudes towards individuals with
disabilities.
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TRANSITIONING CHILDREN WITH AUTISM TO AUSTRALIAN SCHOOLS: SOCIAL

VALIDATION OF IMPORTANT TEACHER PRACTICES
Wendi Beamish
Fiona Bryer
Helen Klieve
Griffith University
The transition of young children with autism from early intervention to school needs to
be carefully managed in order to maintain intervention gains, protect against the risk
of child-and-family anxiety, and enable a successful start to formal education. While
many North American studies have mapped high-intensity practices for transitioning
children with disabilities to school, only a few have recently examined autism-specific
practices. The present study drew on this literature to identify and socially validate
transition-to-school practices for Australian children with autism and their families.
Queensland intervention and advisory teachers (N = 91) used an on-line survey to rate
36 transition practices. Results indicate that all practices were perceived to be highly
important in the Australian context. Future transition-to-school research can draw
upon this socially validated practice listing.
The increasing number of children on the autism spectrum requiring intensive supports provides an
unexpected 21stcentury challenge to teachers and education systems (Coakley, 2010). The sharp spike in
autism prevalence in the USA (Lord & Bishop, 2010) and Australia (MacDermott, Williams, Ridley,
Glasson, & Wray, 2007), coupled with the complex communicative and socio-emotional needs of these
children, can destabilise the routine process of transitioning young children to school. Considerable
attention has been paid to how teachers use low-intensity practices to manage entry to school for most
children and their families (Dockett & Perry, 2001; Pianta & Kraft-Sayre, 2003; Rous & Hallam, 2012),
but competencies and practices needed by sending teachers to effectively manage this transition for
children with autism have received little attention.
A strong North American commitment to mapping high-intensity practices for sending teachers to use
with individual children with disabilities has been evident across the past three decades. For example,
DeStefano, Howe, Horne, and Smith (1991) generated a listing with 16 transition practices; Odom,
McLean, Johnson, and LaMontagne (1995) a listing with 22 transition practices; and Rous and Hallam
(2006) a listing with 21 transition practices. In the main, these practice listings have focused on (a)
interagency coordination and collaboration and (b) child and family preparation and adjustment.
The initial autism-specific study by Forest, Horner, Lewis-Palmer, and Todd (2004) drew on this
comprehensive bank of practices to construct an autism-specific listing of 25 transition practices. They
clustered these practices into an activity-based timeline of transition phases (12 months prior to
kindergarten placement; 6-12 months prior to kindergarten placement; 6 months prior to placement; 3
months and 12 months follow-up after placement). They used this listing to interview families and
teachers who were supporting three children with autism in transition between preschool and
kindergarten and obtained retrospective ratings of perceived levels of importance and implementation of
each practice on a 1-6 response format. High mean ratings of importance for most practices examined in
this small-scale North American study provided the content validation for the listing. Denkyirah and
Agbeke (2010) then used importance as the measure in a 10-item survey of issues identified by Forest et
al. to gather information from sending teachers of preschoolers with autism in Ghana and the USA.
A gap has been acknowledged in teacher readiness to support and coordinate successful transitions into
school for children with developmental disabilities generally (Hanson, 2005; Daley, Munk, & Carlson,
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2011) and for children with autism specifically (Forest et al., 2004; Quintero & McIntyre, 2011). Many
sending and receiving teachers presently have limited knowledge about effective, high-intensity
transitions. Teachers reported they did not use transition practices specific to children with special
needs; rather, they used low-intensity practices such as those for the class as a whole (Rous & Hallam,
2012, p. 233).
Rous and Hallam (2012) have articulated the need to focus on teacher practices that are responsive to
context when transitioning individual children to school rather than to overfocus on strategies to teach
children specific skills to deal with their transition. Similarly, drawing on previous autism-specific
research (Forest et al., 2004; see, also, subsequent cross-cultural work by Denkyirah & Agbeke, 2010),
Quintero and McIntyre (2011) argued that children with autism may require more comprehensive
transition supports than other children (p. 418). They emphasised contextual issues in preparing for
transition (e.g., practices related to engaging the transition team, including parents and receiving
teachers) rather than strategies for preparing the child per se.
The present study was a response to the emerging need of Queensland teachers working in early
intervention services to better support young children with autism to go to school. The state government
has increased provision of autism-specific intervention services for these children and their families as
prevalence has increased. This situation has placed additional pressures on teachers, parents, and
children. Quintero and McIntyre (2011) reported that teachers were much more concerned about
transitioning young children with autism to school compared to children with other developmental
disabilities. Moreover, there is substantial evidence that parents of a child with autism are more stressed
than parents of children of typically developing children and those with other disabilities (Keen,
Couzens, Muspratt, & Rodger, 2010; Pisula, 2007). There is also considerable evidence that, from an
early age, children with autism display more symptoms of anxiety and stress than other children
especially in relation to coping with change (e.g., MacNeil, Lopes, & Minnes, 2009; van Steensel,
Bgels, & Perrin, 2011; White, Oswald, Ollendick, & Scahill, 2009).
In order to establish an Australian listing of teacher practice in transitioning young children with autism
to school, the study capitalised on the work of Forest et al. (2004) and, more broadly, on the collection of
recommended practice studies for young children with disabilities. The aim of this study was to identify,
through social validation, important practices from the perspective of teachers sending these young
children from intervention programs to Preparatory (Prep) classes in government schools throughout the
state of Queensland, Australia. Prep is equivalent to kindergarten elsewhere.
Method
Two interrelated methodological approachesthe definition of and judgment about transition
practiceswere used to construct the listing in this study. First, a listing included practices ranging
across service delivery patterns, organisational structures, programming principles, and instructional
strategies documented as effective and relevant within a specific educational context (Beamish, 2008, p.
44). Second, this listing was seen to require strong endorsement by practitioners (i.e., their social
validation of the practice listing in the local context for service provision with its unique sociopolitical
and geographical features). As a rule, practice inquiries in special education (e.g., Eichinger & Downing,
1992; Williams, Fox, Thousand, & Fox, 1990) and early intervention (e.g., Odom et al., 1995; McLean,
Snyder, Smith, & Sandall, 2002) have used support from the field to validate practices.
Transition practice generation
The study followed the established procedure used to generate practice listings for special education and
early intervention (Odom et al., 1995; Williams et al., 1990). This procedure has typically involved three
steps (i.e., identify-sort-edit). In order to identify specific recommended practices (Bussye, Wesley,
Snyder, & Winton, 2006), the literature is reviewed. In order to sort and reduce the set of practices from
different sources, each practice (and its elements) is then compared for overlap and duplication. Finally,
the practice is edited for contextual meaning. That is, while care is taken to retain the intent and integrity
of the practice content, the language of the practice is adjusted to match that used within the service
system. In this case, the service was the early intervention service of the Queensland Department of
Education.
This structured identify-sort-edit procedure was used to generate a set of practices for transitioning
young children with autism to school that is recommended, comprehensive, and contextually meaningful.
Recommended practice has been described as systematically constructed, based on scientific and
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experiential knowledge, and designed to facilitate sound decisions under specific circumstances (Bussye
et al., 2006). Within this definition, all practices considered for this listing fitted within the Simpson
(2005) classification of scientifically based and promising practices for children with autism. For
example, in this study, one of the weaker practices in terms of evidence base was social story. This
practice, however, was accepted for teacher scrutiny because it has been identified as promising autismspecific practice (Simpson, 2005), it has attracted strong support in the field (Reynhout & Carter, 2009),
and it is a well-documented intervention for children with autism (see, for example, review by Test,
Richter, Knight, & Spooner, 2012).
The first step led to the identification of 86 specific research-based practices. Practices were sourced
initially from the autism-specific list of 25 practices provided by Forest et al. (2004). The extra 61
practices were identified from published practice listings from the more general disability literature (e.g.,
DEC, 1993, with 22 practices; DeStephano et al., 1991, with 16; Mitchell, 1991, with 1; Rous, 2008,
with 21) and from specific articles (e.g., Fox et al., 2002; Stoner et al., 2007).
In the second step, practices were sorted into a working set of 36 practices. Eleven new practices
relevant to autism were extracted from the extra disability practices over and above those in the Forest et
al. (2004) practices. This set of practices was sequenced into five transition clusters, from initial
planning to follow-up, as developed by Lerner, Lowenthal, and Egan (1998). All practices were checked
for their feasibility (i.e., sensible and do-able by teachers) when supporting the transition of children out
of and into educational programs.
The third step, editing, involved progressive rewording and elaboration of practices. Editing protocols
used in previous studies provided a systematic procedure for assuring practice quality (Beamish, 2008;
Beamish & Bryer, 2012). A three-part process was followed. First, the primary source for the wording
of each practice was systematically re-checked, and its wording was adjusted to absorb refinements
embedded in similar practices. For example, the teacher-friendly language used by Mitchell (1991) was
used to elaborate on the brief wording of Specific kindergarten placement is selected used by Forest et al.
(2004). This change more clearly expressed the teachers practice in assisting parents to make a decision
about placement (see Appendix, Decision support). Second, the list was reviewed independently by two
early intervention teachers with both substantial field experience and specific postgraduate training in
early intervention, and further minor contextual adjustments to wording suggested by these reviewers
were made. Finally, researchers polished the wording across the list of 36 recommended practices (see
Appendix).
Setting and sample
For almost 30 years, the Queensland Department of Education has made a substantial investment in
providing a statewide early intervention service for young children with developmental disabilities,
including those with autism. Teachers at these early childhood developmental programs (ECDPs) have
always played a central role in supporting the transition-to-school experience for children and their
families. In rural and remote communities with no local ECDP, advisory visiting teachers have
performed this role. Both groups of teachers have acquired practical experience in transitioning young
children with high support needs to school. Hence, the entire population of sending intervention and
advisory teachers in this large governmental service was targeted as potential participants in the present
study. A statewide invitation and recruitment process was undertaken across all education regions in
order to obtain email addresses of potentially interested and experienced teachers at ECDPs and in
advisory visiting teacher positions. This process yielded 123 potential participants for a statewide
survey.
On-line survey development and administration
An on-line survey was constructed to collect teacher views about the relative importance of the identified
36 transition practices. Survey content comprised 10 demographics items (background information,
teaching experience, and self-appraisal), the 36 practice items, and a final question to elicit any
additional comments about transitioning children to school. The practice items were distributed across
the five transition areas: Initial Planning (n = 7); Preparing Child and Family (n = 11); Preparing the Prep
Class (n = 8); Introduction to Prep Class (n = 7); and Follow-up Support and Evaluation (n = 3). Each
practice statement was presented with a six-category response format from not important to highly
important. This response format was similar to that used by Forest et al. (2004).
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The on-line content was prepared in LimeSurvey, a reliable open-source application hosted by Griffith
University. The survey then received university ethics approval, was pilot tested by experienced early
interventionists, and was activated in the middle of the school year (see Klieve et al., 2010). An initial
email containing an information-and-consent package about the study established contact with the target
population. A subsequent email invitation provided a direct link to the survey that allowed each
individual to respond anonymously to the survey. A register of invitations then monitored all responses
to the invitation and issued two follow-up email reminders to non-respondents at fortnightly intervals to
boost the overall return rate (Cook, Heath, & Thompson, 2000).
Participants
Altogether, 91 teachers (74% response rate) submitted a completed survey. All but one were female (n =
90), and this gender distribution was consistent with that of teachers working in this service. Table 1
shows that most respondents (76%) worked in ECDPs fulfilling teaching and administrative roles
respectively. Other respondents were advisory visiting teachers and other teachers performing a variety
of support roles. Most respondents were in their midcareer years, in the 39-49 age bracket, but younger
and older teachers also took part. Metropolitan, regional, and rural locations were well-represented in
responses. The majority of respondents (56%) had a Bachelor of Education degree, and almost half the
teachers (46%) held a qualification in special education.
Characteristics
Age (years)
<30
30-49
50+
Location
Metropolitan
Regional
Rural
Table 1. Key Characteristics of Responding Teachers

ECDPa Teacher ECDP HOSESb AVTc|
Others|
(n = 39)
(n = 30)
(n = 14)
(n = 8)
Total
(N = 91)
5 (71.4%)
24 (42.1%)
10 (37.0%)
0 (0%)
21 (36.8%)
9 (33.3%)
1 (14.3%)
6 (10.5%)
7 (25.9%)
1 (14.3%)
6 (10.5%)
1 (3.7%)
7
57
27
29 (61.7%)
6 (25.0%)
4 (21.1%)
10 (21.3%)
10 (41.7%)
9 (47.4%)
3 (6.4%)
8 (33.3%)
3 (15.8%)
5 (10.6%)
0 (0%)
3 (15.8%)
47
24
19
7 (53.8%)
4 (15.4%)
8 (32.0%)
1 (16.7%)
9 (52.9%)
1 (25.0%)
4 (30.8%)
3 (11.5%)
2 (8.0%)
3 (50.0%)
2 (11.7%)
0 (0.0%)
1 (7.7%)
5 (19.2%)
0 (0.0%)
1 (16.7%)
0 (0.7%)
1 (25.0%)
13
26
25
6
17
4
Highest Teaching Qualification

Teaching Dip
1 (7.7%)
BEd
14 (53.9%)
BEd (Special Ed) 15 (60.0%)
MEd
1 (16.7%)
MEd (Special Ed) 6 (35.3%)
Other
2 (50.0%)
a
ECDP denotes Early Childhood Development Program; bHOSES denotes Head of Special Education Services; cAVT denotes
Advisory Visiting Teacher.
Responding teachers reported extensive experience not only in early childhood education and
intervention but also in working with and transitioning children with autism (see Table 2). Experience in
early childhood education was clustered and evenly dispersed across the 2-5 year (26%), 6-10 year
(25%), and 11-20 year (27%) periods. By comparison, teachers with the most experience in early
intervention were clustered across two periods: 2-5 year (35%) and 6-10 year (34%). In addition, three
quarters of the teachers (76%) indicated that they had been working with children with autism for at least
6 years, and the majority (94%) had been involved in transitioning these children to school for at least 2
years. On average, teachers reported involvement in transitioning at least 17 children with autism to
Prep across the 2005-2010 period.
Experience
< 1 year
2-5 years
6-10 years
11-20 years
> 20 years
Table 2. Work Experience of Responding Teachers

Early Childhood Ed Early Intervention With Autism
(n = 81)
(n = 83)
(n = 89)
3.7%
4.8%
1.1%
25.9%
34.9%
23.6%
24.7%
33.7%
32.6%
27.2%
16.9%
21.3%
18.5%
9.6%
21.3%
Transitioning
(N = 91)
5.6%
43.3%
32.2%
13.3%
5.6%
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In this study, teacher experience was paired with knowledge of and confidence in the transition process.
High to very high levels of knowledge and confidence were self-reported by 69% and 72% of
respondents, respectively. The effectiveness of actual transitions during the 2007-2009 period received
somewhat lower evaluations, with the majority of teachers assigning either a moderate (35%) or high
(40%) rating to transitions in which they had involvement.
Analyses
The quantitative components of the survey comprising demographics and practice ratings were analysed
using SPSS Version 18.0. The assessment of level of practice importance was measured on a 6-point
scale from not important = 1 to highly important = 6. In order to examine the level of importance of
each of the 36 practices, the research team then used two long-established benchmarking conventions:
the 50% criterion level (Odom et al., 1995) and the more stringent 80% criterion level (Williams et al.,
1990).
The text from the final comments, the qualitative component of the survey, was compiled and analyzed
using the linguistic analytic tool, PASW Text Analytics for Surveys (TAS) 3. This SPSS-compatible
software provided a systematic means for the research team to build, refine, and cross-member check a
set of key issues or themes in respondents views of and experience with the transition process.
Automatically generated themes were reviewed by inspection of actual comments, renaming and
expansion of themes if not appropriate to text, and final rechecking of text linkages to all themes. A bar
graph showing the frequency of thematic issues was then produced and subsequently tabularized to
display theme frequency (see Table 4). Finally, a graphic map (see Figure 3) was created to show theme
importance (viz., circle size relating to frequency) and relationship between themes (i.e., the greater the
thickness of the line between themes indicating the stronger the connection between themes).
Results
Ratings of practice importance
Figure 1 provides a summary of ratings for the 36 practices across five clusters: Initial Planning;
Preparing Child and Family; Preparing for Prep Class; Introduction to Prep Class; and Follow up After
Transition to Prep. All respondents assigned very high levels of importance (average mean scores all
above 5; maximum possible score = 6), thereby exceeding the stringent 80% international benchmark
convention for a recommended practice (Williams et al., 1990). Strong consensus about these highly
sensible practices was evident among these sending teachers.
Figure 1. Mean ratings of importance for the 36 transition practices (N = 91).

Table 3 shows examples of some differentiation across practices. Participants gave slightly lower ratings
to a few items scattered across the five areas. For the five most and least supported practices, average
mean ratings ranged from 5.93 to 5.36 on the 6-point scale. These minor fluctuations in high ratings,
which occurred within each cluster of transition practice, suggested that some practices were perceived
as critical and others, while valuable, were potentially more subject to discretion in the field.
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Table 3. Most and Least Supported Transition Practices by Mean Rating and Standard Deviation
Cluster
Transition Practice
Abbreviation
Intro to Prep Class

Initial Planning
Child is well supported on initial visit to Prep classroom Child visit

Parents are provided with information about the transition Parent information
process and available program options
Preparing Child and Teachers (sending & receiving) share information about Teacher sharing
Family
the child and link needs to curriculum, resourcing, and
facilities
Initial Planning
Prep placement options (regular school, special school, Placement
specialised program) are identified
identification
Preparing Child and Parents are supported in making their decision for Decision support
Family
selecting a specific Prep placement
Preparing Child and Sending teacher visits receiving Prep classroom
Family
Preparing
the Support staff needed for Prep placement are identified
Prep Class
Follow-up
Mean
SD
5.93
5.92
.327
.271
5.92
.307
5.91
.325
5.89
.348
Sending teacher visit5.48
.970
Support
staff5.43
identification
.845
Evaluation of transition is passed on to administrator, who Evaluation

is responsible for transition planning
administrator
Parents and sending teacher visit multiple placement Visit support
options at least one time
to5.42
.861
5.39
.976
prepared for the childs transition into Peer preparation
5.36
.913
Preparing Child
and Family
Preparing
the Prep children are
the class
Prep Class
Differences in role, location, and experience may have contributed to minor fluctuations observed among
ratings. For example, in the Preparing Child in Family cluster, teacher sharing was one of the most
highly rated practices (Mean = 5.92), while the practice of assessing multiple placements in visit support
was one of the lowest (Mean = 5.39). While both practices require time and effort, the relative ratings
may reflect the difference between a practice that is considered critical to effective transition and
essential to the sending teachers role versus one that is resource intensive and less practicable in the
transition context.
The ratings of ECDP teachers and ECDP HOSES (i.e., administrators) were also graphed in order to
consider whether their respective roles in sending a child with autism to school contributed to these
minor fluctuations. Closer inspection of Figure 1 shows that the sending teachers consistently assigned
higher ratings than HOSES. Moreover, in the Preparing Child in Family cluster, they gave higher ratings
to 5 of the 11 practices. Respective roles appeared to contribute to these discrepancies, with teachers as
aspirational do-ers wanting to deliver the best outcomes for the child and the family and administrators
taking a more pragmatic view of do-ability because they are sensitive to procedural and resourcing
issues.
Comments on transition practice
A large number of responding teachers (45%) took up the option to provide additional comment. These
comments were expansive with some remarks exceeding 200 words. Some comments addressed a single
issues or theme, but many covered several concerns about transition. Table 4 summarises the 12 key
themes, with the transition process (n = 36), links with parents (n = 15), and constraints (n = 12) being
the most frequently raised issues and concerns. Initial inspection revealed the espousal of professional
values in all key issues.
Three examples related to these issues are cited to illustrate the kind of values held by teachers in this
field (see below). In these examples, teachers affirmed transition as a distinct process in intervention
practice for children with autism, acknowledged the critical role of continuous communication among
stakeholders, and recognised the need to circumvent constraints on achievement of the best possible
outcomes.
Transition is extremely important for children with Autism, as it is for all children with disabilities. We
don't treat it as part of the IEP process; transition is treated as a separate process.
The most important factor in transitioning students with Autism into Prep is a continuous stream of
communication between all staff (Prep, special education, specialists, other agencies) and parents.
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Current practices are often based on 'the best you can do with what you have' and some very creative
responses to meet children, families, teacher and school needs are required.
Table 4. Key Themes Raised in Final Comments by Frequency
Themes
Transition
Parent links
Constraints
Teaming
Stress
Individualised approach
Individual Education Plans (IEPs)
Communication
Placement
Administrative support
Teacher training
Importance of Early Childhood Development Programs (ECDPs)
Frequency
36
15
12
10
6
6
5
5
5
3
3
3
Figure 2 shows the varied response patterns among these issues revealed in TAS text analysis. Very
strong links between issues, shown by the strength or thickness of lines, were evident between transition
process and links with parents and between transition process and constraints. Quite strong linkages
occurred between transition process, links with parents, teaming, and communication. These patterns of
connections suggested that partnerships and communication between staff team and family are essential
elements throughout the transition process.
Figure 2 Connections among issues in final comment (n = 51).

This study brought together a range of sensible and feasible practices into a new listing of important
practices. Sending teachers and administrators affirmed the importance of all of these practices to the
transition process. However, their slightly less positive response to some practices suggested that
salience and context are issues.
Discussion
This Australian study obtained sending teacher views about the importance of 36 transition-to-school
practices previously identified as recommended practice in the North American context and compiled as
a practice listing for the Queensland context. A substantial sample of experienced intervention and
advisory teachers (N = 91; 74% response rate) dispersed over the wide geographic area of Queensland
consistently allocated high ratings of importance to each and every one of these practices using an online survey. They did not choose to reduce the number of practices or to add to them. This strong
endorsement confirmed the ecological relevance of the practices to this Queensland service. The sending
teachers demonstrated their awareness that transition is a comprehensive process that extends beyond
their specific roles and responsibilities (Rous & Hallam, 2012), and, in their extra comments, they made
clear their awareness of contextual linkages affecting this process.
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In the present study, strength of field endorsement exceeded expectation, with all transition practices
surpassing the stringent 80% criterion level. These results are akin to those obtained by McLean et al.
(2002) in the validation of the revised Division of Early Childhood practice listing. In that North
American study, every practice was socially validated by a large field sample (N = 388; overall 51%
response rate), and for every practice, 90% or more of the respondents indicated either agree or strongly
agree (McLean et al., 2002, p. 123).
Comparison of the present study with the earlier Forest et al. study shows strong similarities in the core
finding about importance. The present study involved a larger sample of 91 specialist teachers who were
engaged in sending roles only. The Forest et al. sample was much smaller (N = 10) and comprised a mix
of parents and early years teachers engaged in sending and receiving roles. Except for one of their 25
practices, the Forest et al. sample rated all practices above a mean level of 4.8/6.0. For our sample, all 36
practices were rated above the mean level of 5.35. For example, comparison of a specific practice about
sending and receiving teachers sharing information (see Appendix, Teacher sharing) showed very little
difference in teacher ratings, with a 5.92 mean rating in the Queensland sample and a 5.85 mean rating in
the Forest el al. sample of early years teachers. Furthermore, the Forest et al. study provides some
guidance for subsequent research activities in three aspects: (a) perceived importance ratings of teachers
with different levels of qualifications and experience; (b) the perceived importance ratings of parents
with their consumer perspective and experience; and (c) the pairing of importance ratings with those of
implementation or use of transition practices within and between services.
The strong field validation of this transition practice listing is an important outcome. The present study
delivers a local list of high-intensity practices, which teachers can put into immediate use in transitioning
children into school. This research on specialist teachers professional practice extends earlier work on
strategies that enable children to make a successful transition and other work on teacher and parent
perceptions about transition. For example, Australian research on early childhood transitions for children
with developmental disabilities has identified essential skills that young children need to function
effectively in regular school (e.g., Chadwick & Kemp, 2000, 2002; Kemp & Carter, 2000, 2005).
Parents views about transition issues have also been canvassed (e.g., Bentley-Williams & Butterfield,
1996; Campbell, 1997; Johnstone, McAlpine, & Wheeler, 1993), together with teachers views about
child-focused transition issues (e.g., Green & Kemp, 1998; Newman-Brewer, 1996).
Therefore, this comprehensive practice listing provides a legitimate Australian tool to investigate
transition-to-school practice for children with autism and their families. The manageable size of this 36item listing also provides a convenient tool for benchmarking transition practice in the field. Previous
Queensland research on recommended practice (Beamish, 2008; Beamish & Bryer, 2012) indicates that
specialist teachers value and use such lists when they are restricted to 30-40 items. A tool of this kind is
essential to the setting up of professional action learning cycles in which individual teachers and teaching
teams are willing to use a list of specified practices to accept, guide, monitor, and evaluate their practice
over time (Umbreit, Ferro, Liaupsin, & Lane, 2007).
In addition, listing content can be infused into tertiary training programs and professional development
activities. The building of teacher capacity in the area of transition-to-school practice can positively
influence the implementation of these recommended practices (Wolery & Bailey, 2002). Moreover,
because joint training of cross-agency staff is seen to increase the likelihood of team cooperation and
collaboration across the transition process (Rous & Hallam, 2006), professional development activities
can feature joint training opportunities for sending and receiving teachers and other stakeholders.
Limitations and future research
The present study was restricted to one early intervention service and its sending teachers. Immediate
follow-up prospects involve a series of on-line surveys to strengthen the validation of this listing and
refine practice content to suit child and family needs and service contexts. First, more extensive field
testing in a range of services should be conducted in autism-specific intervention organisations, early
education and care services, and schooling sectors across Australian states and territories. Second,
surveys should be conducted to establish the acceptance of these practices by other key stakeholders who
work in partnership with sending teachers in the transition-to-school process. These partners include
receiving teachers, families, therapists, guidance personnel, and school administrators.
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The iterative process of action research on this socially valid listing has the capacity to build a
trustworthy knowledge base among stakeholders and a practical framework for meaningful ongoing
communication among parents, teachers, and administrators. This iterative process is consistent with the
current view that successful transitions for children with autism need intensive parent-professional
relationships and support for the future staff in program planning and monitoring in order to ensure that
treatment gains are not lost (Fava & Strauss, 2011, p. 517).Moreover, multiple perspectives may clarify
whether stakeholders place less importance on practices in those transition phases in which they are less
directly engaged.
Additionally, this initial inquiry sought views only on the level of practice importance. Level of practice
implementation has yet to be investigated. An initial step is to follow-up with the intervention and
advisory teachers who participated in the present study. These teachers assigned only moderate-to-high
evaluation ratings to their transition experiences and also described the presence of constraints in their
transition activities. Hence, this second survey will establish the do-ability of each validated practice,
together with the identification of barriers and supports for practice implementation within this
Queensland service.
Finally, within this large government service, it would be informative to conduct some case studies using
the Forest et al. triadic format (sending and receiving teachers and parents) to examine practice
importance and use simultaneously. The focus of practice around a single child would allow solutionfocused actions to be generated for specific family conditions. Data from sufficient cases should
facilitate building an enhanced transition support system into specific service policies and procedures.
Conclusion
This study represents the first Australian autism-specific inquiry into transition to school. As and when
targeted federal and state funding to stimulate autism research has run its course in Australia, research of
this kind should provide a starting point to examine the effectiveness of implementation and
sustainability of these practices (Umbreit et al., 2007) for transitioning young children with autism to
school. This practice tool seems likely to be highly portable across local communities and service
systems. Moreover, with additional field testing and modification, the tool should assist individuals and
teams to guide, assess, and monitor actual transitions against these practices.
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Appendix.Practice Listing for Transitioning Children with Autism to School

Abbreviation
Practice
Initial planning
Team establishment
Transition team (parents and sending program staff) is established
Parent information
Parents are provided with information about the transition process and
available program options
Parent-parent support
Parents have access to a key person (e.g., veteran parent) to support them
through the transition process
Placement identification
Prep placement options (regular school, special school, specialised program)

are identified
Timeline
Initial transition timeline is created
Team responsibilities
Contents of initial transition timeline include roles and responsibilities of

team members
Transition coordinator
A team member is identified as the transition coordinator

Preparing child and family
Planning visits
The transition coordinator arranges classroom visits to placement options
Visit support
Parents and sending teacher visit multiple placement options at least one time
Family assessment
Families needs related to transition are assessed and addressed
Decision support
Parents are supported in making their decision for selecting a specific Prep
placement
Formal plan
Transition plan is formalised
Planning steps
Transition plan includes specific steps to complete the transition
Sending teacher visit
Sending teacher visits receiving Prep classroom
Receiving teacher visit
Receiving Prep teacher visits sending program to observe child
Teacher sharing
Teachers (sending and receiving) share information about the child and link
needs to curriculum, resourcing, and facilities
Readiness skills
identification
Readiness skills needed by child to be successful in Prep placement are

identified.
Readiness skills teaching
Identified readiness skills are taught to the child, and progress is monitored
Preparing the Prep class
Prep staff identification
Staff to work with child in Prep are identified
Support staff identification
Support staff (e.g., speech & language pathologist, occupational therapist,

physiotherapist, autism advisor) needed for Prep placement are identified
Social story
A social story about the transition to Prep is created for the child
Curriculum adjustments
Adjustments to the Prep curriculum are identified
Specialised materials
Materials specific to the childs needs at Prep are created/ modified
Daily schedule
Individual daily schedule for the child at Prep is created
Environment preparation
Prep learning environment is made ready/ appropriate
Peer preparation
Prep children are prepared for the childs transition into the class
Introduction to Prep class
Child visit
Child is well supported on initial visit to Prep classroom
Classroom exploration
Child is allowed to explore the Prep classroom at times of low stress and with
few expectations
Staff training
Staff to work with child in Prep program are provided with the necessary
training
Increased attendance
Childs attendance at Prep program is gradually increased
Child data
Child's file and data are sent to the receiving school administrator
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Skill maintenance
Arrangements for maintenance of childs existing skills and behavioural

supports are put in place
Support coordination
Support staff to work with child in Prep classroom are coordinated and
monitored
Follow-up support and evaluation
Open communication
Communication lines are kept open between receiving and sending teachers
through telephone calls, e-mails, and personal contact
Evaluation of process
Parent and teachers (receiving and sending) evaluate the transition process
Evaluation to administrator
Evaluation of transition is passed on to administrator, who is responsible for

transition planning
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WHAT DOES TEACHERS PERCEPTION HAVE TO DO WITH INCLUSIVE EDUCATION: A

BAHAMIAN CONTEXT
Dr. Yvonne Hunter-Johnson
The College of the Bahamas
Norissa G. L. Newton
Janelle Cambridge-Johnson
Bahamian classrooms are comprised of students with varying disabilities (emotional,

physical, mental, and learning), and these students are failing to meet the requirements
of their various grade levels due to inadequate interventions critical to addressing
their individual needs. For these needs to be met in mainstream classrooms, Inclusive
Education is inevitable. Consequently, a qualitative phenomenological study was
conducted to survey perceptions of primary school teachers towards this practice. The
sample included teachers from various schools within New Providence, The Bahamas.
Data was collected through semi-structured interviews. Responses were qualitatively
analyzed for themes and main concepts through open-coding. The study emphasizes the
need to recognize teachers perceptions towards inclusive education as a fundamental
aspect of the practices success in primary schools. Findings indicated that ninety
percent of the teachers interviewed expressed negative perceptions of inclusive
education. It was also revealed that the most prevalent influencing factors of the
teachers negative perceptions were lack of training in special education and inclusive
education, and lack of resources. Twenty percent of the teachers expressed positive
perceptions of inclusive education, stating however, that the success of such a practice
depends greatly upon a myriad of elements.
If the right to education for all is to become a reality, it is imperative that all learners have access to
quality education that meets every students individual learning needs. Still, today, millions of children
continue to experience exclusion within education around the world, according to the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO, 1994). Education should be effective,
therefore, education should not be about making schools available to whom it is easily accessible. It
should be about being proactive in identifying the obstacles which learners encounter while attempting to
access Inclusive Education opportunities. Additionally, effective education should seek to remove those
obstacles which result in students exclusion.
The implementation of the principle of Inclusive Education depends primarily upon a fundamental
change of the mainstream school system; Inclusive Education advocates that children with special needs
have to be educated along their normal peers in the regular classrooms. According to Foreman (2008),
schools should provide for the needs of all the children in their communities, regardless of ability and
disability. In order to achieve this undertaking, teachers in inclusive classrooms play a major part through
their attitudes. The practice of Inclusive Education requires the involvement of and collaboration
between educational professionals.
At present in The Bahamas there are students within general education classrooms who are
unsuccessfully meeting grade level requirements because their needs are not met in their respective
educational environments (Ministry of Education National Commission on Special Education, 2005).
Coupled with low achievement, is the fact that many of the Bahamian public schools are comprised of a
large number of foreign nationals, for whom language and cultural barriers exist, preventing academic
success for these students. Consequently, this study was conducted to ascertain teachers perceptions of
Inclusive Education, and the influences of their perceptions.
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In addition to the students frustration resulting from low achievement, teachers are also frustrated
because they lack the means and knowledge of instructional methods for educating Special Needs
students (Ali, Mustapha, & Jelas, 2006). In contrast, some teachers refuse to instruct the students who are
characterized as slow or struggling and would rather focus on the more independent workers often
referred to as the high flyers. The role of teachers in Inclusive Education is a crucial one; it is imperative
that their perceptions towards this practice are assessed so that necessary elements are implemented in an
effort to address both the students and teachers needs. The preceding factors are the rationale behind
the decision to conduct this study on teachers perceptions of Inclusive Education. While many teachers
welcome the change, some may feel challenged, even confused, about the expectations of their new role
as an Inclusive Educator. This study is crucial in determining reasons for teachers apprehensions
towards including special needs students into their classrooms. Through this study, best practices for the
implementation of inclusive Education within a Bahamian context have also been explored.
Inclusive education is a reality in The Bahamas; not in terms of the actual instructional practice, but in
terms of the composition of the primary schools classrooms. These classrooms are comprised of
students with mixed abilities as well as special needs (a diverse range of needs often caused by a
medical, physical, mental or developmental condition or disability).
DeBoer, Pijil, & Minnaert (2011) suggest that the successful implementation of inclusive policies is
greatly dependent upon the educators acceptance of them. Therefore, teachers perceptions of inclusive
education must be evaluated in an effort to improve the deficiencies within the education system which
negatively influence their perceptions and attitudes. Inclusion implies accommodating the learning
environment and curriculum to meet the needs of all students and ensuring that all learners belong to a
community (Cushner, McClelland, & Safford, 2012).
Unfortunately, many educators have reservations about Inclusive Education and the thought of
supporting the wide spread placement of students with special needs in general classrooms. According to
Shade and Stewart (2001), one of the main factors influencing the successful implementation of any
inclusive policy is the positive attitude of teachers; teachers acceptance of the policy of inclusion is
likely to affect their commitment to implementing it (Bradshaw, 2003; 2004).
Over the years, inclusive education research has yielded varied results. Avramidis, Bayliss, and Burdens
(2000) study suggests attitudes towards inclusive education are strongly influenced by the nature of
disabilities. In contrast, Blackman, Conrad, and Brown (2012) found that teachers were positive about
including only those children whose characteristics were not likely to require extra instructional or
management skills on the part of the teacher. (David & Kuyini, 2012) indicate that some change in
attitude has occurred over the past 10 years, partly as a result of teachers experiencing working with
students with special needs. Although it is important to evaluate teachers perceptions of Inclusive
Education, it is even more critical to determine the factors that influence these perceptions because it is
these factors which serve as obstacles to the success of any Inclusive Education program.
The purpose of this present study is to ascertain what perceptions primary teachers have toward Inclusive
Education, and the factors that influence their perceptions. As a result of this study, the Government of
The Bahamas will be well-informed as to the areas that need to be improved upon within the public
primary schools, in an effort to make Inclusive Education an effective practice.
In the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act
(ADA), it is clear that students with disabilities must be educated in regular education settings to the
maximum extent appropriate in light of their needs, and prohibit their exclusion unless education there
cannot be achieved satisfactorily even with appropriate supplementary aids and services. Therefore, it is
imperative to ascertain primary teachers perceptions about Inclusive Education because they are the
persons who will be required to effectively execute this practice. Through ascertaining the reasons
behind teachers perceptions towards Inclusive Education, the Department of Education would be better
able to accommodate teachers through the provision of the necessary tools that would make them more
accepting of Inclusive Education.
This study is imperative to the development of Inclusive Education in primary schools throughout The
Bahamas. As a result of this study, it is hoped that training and instruction at the primary (elementary)
level may be enhanced so that teachers will be able to enter classrooms confident in their ability to cater
to the special needs of all students in their mainstream classrooms.
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Theoretical Framework
This studys theoretical framework is based upon Vygotskys Social Constructivist Theory, which is
supportive of the implementation of more Inclusive Education classroom practices. This theory supports
that such implementations should be carried out via emphasis on the sociocultural context (of the
classrooms), the role of social activity in learning, and the contributions of learners to their own
development.
Research Questions
The research questions that guide this research are as follows:
1. What are the positive and negative perceptions of primary school teachers towards Inclusive
Education?
2. What are some possible factors that influence teachers perception towards inclusive education?
3. What are some recommendations for promoting best practices for inclusive education at the primary
school level?
Review of Literature
According to Cushner, McClelland, and Safford (2012), inclusive education refers to the practice of
including another group of students in regular classrooms: students with physical, developmental, or
social-emotional disabilities, and those with chronic health problems (p. 403). The philosophical basis of
Inclusive Education rests on the principles that heterogeneity within a group is both unavoidable and
desirable, and that differences in ability are not marks of greater or lesser worth. The idea of Inclusive
Education is to provide whatever adaptations are needed (as unobtrusively as possible) in an effort to
ensure that all students (regardless of their disability) can participate in all classroom experiences, and as
much as possible, in the same manner as everyone else.
The fundamental characteristic of inclusive education is the teachers willingness to accept students with
special needs; their attitudes and knowledge about inclusive education are important as these are
indicators of such willingness. The review serves to emphasize and explain the factors that influence
these teachers perceptions. It is crucial to ascertain why teachers perceive Inclusive Education the way
in which they do so that policy makers can address the deficiencies in an effort to ensure successful
inclusion of all students with special needs. The review of literature comprises three sections: Firstly, it
provides a cross section of recent studies that have examined teachers perceptions of Inclusion and the
influencing factors. Secondly, it compares the findings of these interrelated studies. Finally, it presents
implications of the research presented in relation to teachers perceptions of Inclusion, which, if ensued,
will consequently enhance the success of Inclusive practices within primary classrooms.
Inclusive Education Research
Extensive research has been conducted in an effort to examine teachers attitudes on Inclusion
(Avramidis, Bayliss, & Burden, 2000; Hammond & Ingalls, 2003; Ali, Mustapha & Jelas, 2006;
Loreman, Forlin, & Sharma, 2007; Jerlinder, Danermark, & Gill, 2010; De Boer, Pijl, & Minnaert,
2011). Avramidis and Norwich (2002) reviewed a variety of international studies carried out on teachers
perceptions of Inclusive Education, and explored various factors that could possibly have an impact upon
teacher acceptance of the Inclusion principle. Their results found evidence of positive attitudes of
teachers, but no evidence of acceptance of a total inclusion. Teachers attitudes were found to be strongly
influenced by the nature and severity of the students disabilities presented (child-related variables) and
less influenced by teacher-related variables.
A review of literature compiled by Avramidis and Norwich in 2002, contend that teachers attitudes
could become more positive if more resources and support are provided. This review of literature
indicates that a key element in the successful implementation of the Inclusive Education policy is the
views of the personnel who have the major responsibility for implementing it - that is, teachers.
Teachers beliefs and attitudes are critical in ensuring the success of inclusive practices since teachers
acceptance of the policy of inclusion is likely to affect their commitment to implementing it (Norwich,
2002). Other researchers (Carrington, S. & Brownlee, J., 2001; David, R., & Kuyini, A.B., 2012)
mention that although teachers may agree on a theoretical level with inclusion, they have negative
attitudes as far as its implementation is concerned. Teachers negative attitudes towards disability lead to
low expectations from their students which result to decreased learning opportunities and low academic
performance (Carrington & Brownlee, 2001). Avramidis and Norwich (2002) also discovered that
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teachers who have no direct experience with integration, have very negative attitudes whereas those with
more experience with disabled people adopt more positive attitudes towards integration.
De Boer, Pijil, and Minnaert (2011) also show that educational environment-related variables, such as the
availability of physical and human support, were consistently found to be associated with attitudes to
inclusion. According to Avramidis and Norwich (2002), various studies concur that teachers attitudes
towards Inclusion are strongly influenced by the nature of the disabilities and/or educational problems
being presented, the professional background of teachers, limited or non-existent training for teachers to
acquire integration competencies, teachers lack of confidence both in their own instructional skills and
in the quality of support personnel available to them.
Hwang and Evans (2011) conducted a study which examined thirty-three Korean general education
teachers from three primary schools in Seoul regarding their attitudes towards, and willingness to
accommodate, the needs of a student with a disability. The study incorporated both quantitative and
qualitative methods of research, and the results revealed that 41.37% of general education teachers had
positive attitudes towards inclusion programs, while 55.16% were unwilling to actually participate in the
practice of Inclusive Education. Qualitative findings reveal that the teachers reluctance towards the
practice was due to a lack of training in the area of Inclusive Education. Additionally, teachers expressed
that they did not have enough time to effectively meet the needs of students with disabilities as well as
those without disabilities simultaneously.
As the relationship between general and special education is one of co-equal partnership and mutual
support, Muhanna (2010) argues that administrative support and collaboration are powerful predictors of
favorable attitudes towards full inclusion. As with previous studies conducted by Subban and Sharma
(2001), this study agrees that although many teachers express a willingness to accommodate students
with disabilities in their classroom, this willingness varies according to the type and extremity of the
students disability, and the resources provided to support Inclusive Education.
Kilanowski-Press, Foote and Rinaldo (2010) investigated the state of inclusion practices in general
education classrooms via a survey of seventy-one inclusion teachers serving as special educators across
the state of New York. Small group instruction, co-teaching, one-to-one instruction, and planning support
were explored in relationship to class size, number of students with disabilities, and severity of disability.
In this study, Kilanowski-Press, Foote, and Rinaldo (2010) suggest that a lack of understanding of what
Inclusive Education is, presented an impediment to the process of improving the quality of inclusive
special education practices.
Inclusive Education Implementation Strategies
According to Scruggs, Mastropieri, and McDuffie (2007), providing educators with greater awareness of
the range of inclusion programs in our schools is a first step toward success in inclusive education. This
implies, therefore, the teachers must be knowledgeable about all that inclusion entails, if they are to
successfully implement the practice.
Several studies which were conducted on best practices of Inclusive Education (Carrington & Brownlee,
2001; Cushner, McClelland, & Safford, 2012) highlight the importance of teacher collaboration.
Carpenter and Dyal (2001) assert that inclusion is most effective when proactive principals establish
models of effective co-teaching. However, in an effort for collaboration between general classroom
teachers and special education teachers to be effective, teachers perceptions must be positive in this
regard. Kilanowski-Press, Foote, and Rinanldo (2010) suggest that, given teacher reports indicating an
overall lack of preparation for work with students with disabilities in their training programs, it is
plausible that the quality of inclusion programs established in the schools may suffer as a result of both
attitudinal and training factors.
David and Kuyinis (2010) study reveals that teachers with more than three students with disabilities in
their classrooms displayed the least effective classroom practices. This suggested that the greater the
number of students with disabilities in the classroom, the less the evidence was of teachers effective
classroom practices on social inclusion. Correspondingly, Kavoori (2002) in relating the success of
inclusive classrooms in New Delhi stressed that it is dependent on the number of students with
disabilities in the regular classroom. The need for extra time and additional responsibilities imposed on
teachers by the increase in number of students with disabilities in classroom is expected to affect
teaching processes and teachers attitudes as well.
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Subban and Sharma (2001) concur with Bradshaw and Mundia (2006) in their study when they state that
It is probable that teachers who received the appropriate training experienced fewer concerns about
including students with disabilities into mainstream settings, as the training provided them with some
form of preparedness (p. 50). The increased need for more specialized training and professional support
is viewed as critical to the success of inclusive education. Sharma, Ee, & Desai (2003) in a comparative
study between Singapore and Australia, found that training in special education appeared to lessen preservice teachers concerns regarding inclusive education.
Subban and Sharma (2001) advise that educational planners and policy makers should incorporate
practical and effective instructional techniques that would be useful in the inclusive classroom, into
teacher preparation programs and professional development programs. This view is supported by the
recommendations of the Meyer Report (2001) which acknowledges the need for additional support,
training and expertise for general education teachers (Department of Education Victoria, 2001).
Blackman, Conrad, and Browns (2010) findings suggest that there were significant differences between
Barbadian and Trinidadian teachers attitudes towards integrating special needs students in general
education settings. Blackman, Conrad and Brown (2012) admit that more research is required in an effort
to understand the basic factors which influence the attitudes of Caribbean teachers towards the
integration of students with special needs in mainstream settings.
In accordance with the framework of Vygotskys Social Constructivist Theory, Brown, Odom, and
Conroy (2001) suggest that positive interactions between students with and without disabilities determine
the success of Inclusive Education within any given classroom. This theory supports that learning is a
social advancement that involves language, real world situations, and interaction and collaboration
among learners (Rodina, 2007).
Cook (2001) implies that in order for teachers to effectively facilitate such positive interactions, they
need to have a positive disposition or attitudes towards students with disabilities and strong sense of selfefficacy. Blackman, Conrad, and Brown (2012) suggest the use of successful strategies including:
continued and varied professional development exercises, single courses and content-infused approaches,
and inclusive units of study.
There is sufficient evidence in the literature that suggests that teacher attitudes are a decisive factor in
determining the success of Inclusive Education programs and the philosophy of Inclusion (Jerlinder,
Danermark & Gill, 2010; Avramidis & Kalyva, 2007; Niemeyer & Proctor, 2002). Teachers determine
whether or not the theories associated with the philosophy of inclusive education translate into the actual
practice within educational realms.
The increased need for more specialized training and professional support is viewed as critical to the
success of Inclusive Education (Hammond & Ingalls, 2003; Sharma, Ee, & Desai, 2003; Van Reusen et
al., 2001). Sharma, Ee and Desai (2003) in a comparative study between Singapore and Australia, found
that training in special education appeared to lessen pre-service teachers concerns regarding Inclusive
Education. According to Leatherman (2007), it is reported that teachers need coursework on strategies
for working with children who have disabilities. Additionally, practical hands-on experiences in
inclusive classrooms are required in an effort for teachers to feel comfortable to teach all children.
In an effort for an Inclusive Education program to be effective, certain resources must also be in place.
Without the necessary resources, Inclusive Education would not be very successful (Leatherman, 2007).
In this study, findings indicate that the availability of support services was a factor that teachers
perceived as important in order to have a successful inclusive classroom. The types of services
considered beneficial are consultation with speech and language therapists, physical therapists,
occupational therapists, and special educators.
A major factor, as noted in the study by Hwang and Evans (2011), in the success of Inclusive Education
is the degree of collaboration between general and special teachers, and their perceptions of their
respective roles. This study argues that administrative support and collaboration are powerful predictors
of favorable attitudes towards full inclusion.
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Kilanowski-Press, Foote, and Rinaldo (2010) explain that when understanding the implementation
logistics and success of inclusive practices, including collaborative and consultative teaching models, it
is imperative to realize the impact that interpersonal factors may have in terms of the programs overall
success.
Cook and Friend (1995) identify the need for mutual understanding between general and special
educators in terms of instructional beliefs, time for solid instructional planning, agreement on the
establishment of classroom routines, establishment of classroom discipline norms, as well as parity, or
the projection of both teachers as equally responsible for instruction, as critical components of strong
collaborative teaching programs. However, underlying such efforts is the necessity of both general and
special educators to work together in a mutually respectful manner that is devoid of territoriality or
power struggle.
The preceding review of literature has emphasized several influencing contributors of teachers negative
perceptions towards inclusive education. Although teachers perceptions in some studies were less
negative than those in other studies, identical negative influences were prominent among all of the
studies explored. This review of literature has shown that a lack of resources, inadequate teacher training,
lack of knowledge about inclusive education, and the number of students with disabilities within one
classroom setting contributed to the teachers negative perceptions.
Teacher collaboration, student interactions, instructional techniques, and teachers attitudes were
common factors which, according to the findings of the various studies, can affect the successful
implementation of inclusive education. If inclusive education is to be a success, all stakeholders must
assume responsibility for their role in this practice, and realize that without collaboration, inclusive
education will never become a reality.
Method
Study Setting
The Ministry of Education is the governing institution for education in The Bahamas. There are two
hundred and six schools in the school system of The Bahamas; one hundred, sixty-one are fully
maintained by the government and forty-five are private schools. Of the one hundred and sixty-one
public schools, fifty are situated on New Providence and one hundred and eleven are in the Family
Islands. Schools are divided into districts. The following are the school districts within the island of New
Providence: North Eastern, North Western, South Eastern, and South Western. There are approximately
eight hundred primary school teachers within New Providence (Retrieved from Bahamas Education
website: http://www.bahamaseducation.com/teachers.html).
The primary category caters to preschool and grades one to six (1 - 6), after which pupils transfer to the
junior category (grades 7- 9) and later to the secondary category (grades 10-12). These levels are fairly
distinct in the Department of Education schools in New Providence with slight variations in Family
Island schools, where some All-Age schools remain. The Bahamas, like many Caribbean islands, follows
the British educational system therefore, the national examination is the Bahamas General Certificate of
Secondary Education (based on the British equivalent). Teachers are given preference for employment if
they possess a Bachelors Degree and Teachers Certificate from an accredited college or university.
Due to large class sizes within the public schools comprising of students from various ethnicities and
ability levels, the practice of inclusive education is critical (Commonwealth of The Bahamas National
Census of Special Education Population and Related Services Grades 1-12 Report, 2005). According to
this report, of the 5,396 students who were noted as having special needs, a combined total of 3,236 were
categorized as slow learners or remedial. It is this reason why the Department of Education has decided
to pursue the practice of Inclusive Education within the public schools. This qualitative study took place
among public primary schools within the island of New Providence in The Bahamas.
Study Design and Data Collection
The research methodology used in this study was a qualitative phenomenological design which was
reflective of semi structured interviews with participants using preset questions outlined by the
researcher. Data was collected through the use of semi-structured interviews conducted with ten public
primary school teachers. The interviews were tape-recorded and immediately transcribed. Analysis was
conducted through the process of open coding (Miles & Huberman, 1994; Strauss & Corbin 2007).
Working within the research structure provided by the research objectives and the conceptual framework,
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transcribed data was qualitatively analyzed through open coding to establish themes and main concepts.
Recurring topics in the text were recognized as themes and sub-themes. A table of central themes and
sub-themes was constructed. This process allowed a deeper understanding and explanation of issues that
were being studied. To ensure greater validity and reliability a peer reviewer read through the data to
ensure themes and categories corresponded with the research questions.
Participants
Utilizing convenience sampling, a group of teachers (n=10) were selected, who met the following
inclusion criteria: These teachers were all primary school teachers employed by the Ministry of
Education, with a minimum of 5 years teaching experience, and currently posted at a school within the
island of New Providence, and consisted of males and females. Convenience sampling was utilized,
because of feasibility and access to the participants (Andrews & Frankel 2010).The schools used English
as the language of instruction and catered mostly to students of families from low income groups. Class
sizes across schools ranged from 30-35 (mean = 34 students) (Commonwealth of The Bahamas National
Census of Special Education Population and Related Services Grades 1-12 Report, 2005). All
participants were informed of their rights as it relates to the Institutional Review Board.
Findings
Results from the study revealed that primary school teachers perceptions of inclusive education are
primarily negative. Upon analysis of the data collected, the following themes emerged as the most
prominent among teachers responses in regards to the factors which influenced their perceptions
towards the implementation of inclusive education (a) lack of teacher training, (b) insufficient resources,
(c) limited administrative support, (d) teachers attitudes, (e) large class sizes, and (f) poor building
infrastructure. Although rarely identified as a contributing factor of the teachers negative perceptions,
the misunderstanding of what inclusive education meant, was a significant factor for two of the
respondents (20%).
The participants within the study were very candid with their responses. While most of the teachers
(60%) demonstrated negative attitudes towards the implementation of inclusive education within primary
schools, some of the teachers (30%) displayed mixed feelings about the practice, and one teacher (10%)
firmly support the practice of inclusive education (see table 1 for teachers perceptions of inclusive
education by gender and teaching experience). In general, the teachers viewed the idea of inclusive
education as an extremely difficult feat due to the myriad deficiencies within the public education
system, which, in their opinion, would impact the success of inclusive education. Teachers reported that
at this present time, it is not feasible for the government of The Bahamas to venture into such an
undertaking because there are too many concerns in dire need of immediate resolution.
The mean age of teachers was 37 years and the mean number of years of professional experience was 12.
With the exception of two participants, all teachers were married and had children. Ninety percent of the
teachers within the group (n = 9) had completed a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Primary Education, which
involved 4 years of teaching training. One male teacher had completed a Doctorate of Education Degree,
which involved eight years of training (see table 2 for demographic information about teachers).
Positive and Negative Perceptions of Inclusive Education
Teachers perceptions of inclusive education in the primary schools were primarily negative. Of the ten
teachers interviewed, only one teacher (10%) fully supported the idea of inclusive education. This
respondent stated, I think this [inclusive education] is what education is all about. Students should not be
stigmatized; they should be taught in an inclusive environment because we are preparing these children
for life. Similarly, another teacher reported, It is a great idea; we need it [inclusive education] because
the number of students who fall into such category has increased over the years.
The teachers who expressed mixed feelings towards the implementation of inclusive education agreed
that the practice is an excellent idea, and it could work as long as the prerequisites are in place. To this
effect, one of the male respondents said, Inclusion could work, but you cant make teachers accept this
practice if they are against it. Another male respondent reported, It is a lofty idea but a strong foundation
must be built before implementing inclusion.
The teachers did not perceive inclusive education as being beneficial to students with disabilities. One
teacher proposed that the practice should not be implemented in primary schools because the special
needs students may feel ostracized, and their non-disabled peers disadvantaged. Many of the teachers felt
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that the non-disabled students would be negatively impacted by inclusive education due to classroom
teachers spending too much time with the special needs students. The teachers were of the opinion that
Table 1. Teachers Perceptions of Inclusive Education by Gender and Teaching Experience
Strongly Disagree with
the implementation of
Inclusive Education
Somewhat Disagree with

the implementation of
Inclusive Education
Strongly Agree with the

implementation
of
Inclusive Education
Gender
Female
Male
Total
3
3
6
2
1
3
0
1
1
Years
of
Teaching
Experience
5-10
11-15
16-20
>20
Total
3
1
1
1
6
2
1
10
Table 2 Demographic Information About Participants

a
Variable
Gender
Female
Male
5
5
50
50
1
6
2
1
10
60
20
10
Years of Teaching Experience

5-10
11-15
16-20
>20
3
3
3
1
30
30
30
10
Current Grade Level

1
2
3
4
5
6
a
Other
1
0
4
0
1
1
3
10
0
40
0
10
10
30
Professional Qualifications
Associates Degree
Bachelors Degree
Masters Degree
Doctoral Degree
Total
0
9
0
1
10
0
90
0
10
100
Age
20-29
30-39
40-50
>50
Other = Physical Education.
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students with disabilities, regardless of the severity, would benefit more from being taught in special
schools with teachers trained in special education. One teacher stated, There should be a special
education unit attached to every public primary school.
One of the female teachers, who held a negative perception of inclusive education, stated that she would
only reconsider the idea of its implementation if she had a disabled child of her own. Subsequently,
another teacher agreed that one factor which would positively influence her perception towards inclusive
education is empathy. If you [the teacher] could put yourself in the parents or special needs childs
position, you would ask yourself, What kind of education would you want this child to have?
The teachers defined inclusive education is various ways. Few of the teachers (20%) expressed that their
understanding of inclusive education was not clear. When asked about his understanding of inclusive
education, one teacher reported, It is not clear. It needs more clarification. Similarly, another teacher
admitted, I am not certain of its meaning. Other teachers (30%) stated their presumed meaning of
inclusive education, admitting that they were not sure. I think it has something to do with slow learners,
one teacher said. Fifty percent of the teachers interviewed, however, explained their understanding of
inclusive education without an indication uncertainty. Within this group of teachers, some individuals
stated that inclusive education was defined as teaching special needs students with non-disabled students
in regular classrooms settings, while others explained it as combining lower level learners with average
students in the same classroom. Another teacher described inclusive education as, The involvement and
practice of reaching all children, no matter their mental, physical, social, or financial ability.
Several teachers suggested that inclusive education would be more practical if classroom teachers were
provided with aides. One teacher reported, Inclusive education would mean a lot more work for
classroom teachers; they should be assisted by a teachers aide. Another teacher stated, Teachers aides
should be provided because the large class sizes make it a lot more difficult for only one teacher. I would
reconsider [inclusive education] if I had an aide.
Influencing Factors of Teachers Perceptions.
Teachers identified a variety of factors that influenced their perceptions of inclusive education. Such
factors included (a) teacher training, (b) resources, (c) support, (d) infrastructure, and (e) the
understanding of inclusive education.
Teacher training. As seen in table 3, which displays influencing factors of teachers perceptions, 100%
of the teachers identified insufficient, or lack of teacher training as a factor which negatively influenced
their perceptions of inclusive education. One teacher explained, I am not interested in inclusive
education because I am not trained to deal with students with disabilities. I cannot cater to their needs.
Another teacher reported, They [teachers] have to be properly equipped to teach mainstream students.
Teachers were of the perception that in an effort to be an effective and efficient inclusive educator, they
had to be trained in special education. One male respondent stated, I am not trained to teach special
needs students; I have a difficult time teaching normal students. Teachers felt that their lack of training in
special education or inclusive education would result in their inability to adequately meet the needs of
the students in their class, those with or without a disability.
A respondent said, If I am not trained to the point of being able to identify various disabilities in
students, how can I be expected to adapt my teaching methods to cater to the needs of students with
various disabilities? Teachers believed that if they were sufficiently trained in special education and
properly educated as to the intricacies of inclusive education, they would express a more positive
perception towards inclusive education, and would more than likely be influenced to participate in the
practice.
As a result of these perceptions, the majority of the teachers (90%) suggest that special needs students
should be educated at special schools where there are teachers who specialize in special education, and
where critical resources and infrastructure are present. According to the teachers, this is only way that
special needs students would truly benefit from the inclusive program designed.
Resources. All of the teachers (100%) reported that a lack of resources negatively affected their
perceptions of inclusive education. The teachers described resources as being critical to the
implementation of any inclusive education program. Many teachers expressed that inclusive education
requires many types of resources for both teachers and students. One teacher expressed concern
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regarding the provision of assistive technology for special needs students, Whose responsibility will it be
to provide special equipment for these students; the government or the parents? Another teacher
responded, For a school to be considered inclusive, state of the art facilities must be provided, along
with properly designed buildings.
Table 3. Influencing Factors of Teachers Perceptions
Factors
n %
Teacher Training
Female
100
Male
100
100
100
Female
60
Male
100
Female
40
Male
40
40
Resources
Female
Male
Support
Infrastructure
Unclear Understanding of Inclusion

Female
Male
Note. Factors are listed in order of priority.
Several teachers argued that regular classroom teachers currently spend a lot of money on teaching
resources each school year without being reimbursed by their schools administration, or the Ministry of
Education. Many teachers suggested that their perceptions towards inclusive education would only
improve if they were guaranteed by the government or school administration that they would receive the
resources needed to enhance inclusive instruction.
This factor has caused several teachers to doubt the success of inclusive education in Bahamian, public
primary schools; one teacher justified this position by stating, If we cant even get enough basal readers
for one class, at this present time, how can we expect to get resources for an inclusive education setting,
which cost more than basal readers? Similarly, another teacher responded, My administrators give
teachers a hard time when they ask for dry erase markers. Inclusive education is a joke. Another teacher
stated,
This is why I doubt that inclusion would work, because were [the regular classroom teachers]
not seeing any improvement in the students who attend the resource room every day. So, if a
child is being remediated daily by a teacher who is trained in special education, and nothing is
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improving, what results could you expect from me, a teacher who is not trained in special
education?
Support. Sixty percent of the female teachers (n = 3) reported that a lack of support from administrators
or Ministry of Education would negatively influence their perceptions towards inclusive education (see
table 3, for influencing factors of teachers perceptions). However, 100% of the male teachers (n = 5)
indicated that the inconsistent support from administration negatively influenced their perceptions. In
total, 80% of all the teachers interviewed reported support as an influencing factor. These teachers also
stated that if support was consistent throughout the public primary schools, they would view the practice
of inclusive education more positively.
Infrastructure. Two out of five females (40%) indicated the schools physical structure as a negative
influencing factor of their inclusive education perception. Forty percent of the male respondents felt the
same way (n = 2). In total, therefore, four out of a total of ten teachers (40%) felt that the infrastructure
of a school has the potential to determine whether or not a teacher would be willing to participate in the
practice of inclusive education.
Understanding of inclusive education. Forty percent of the female teachers (n=2) reported that they did
not completely understand the meaning on inclusive education. One teacher stated, It [the meaning] is
not clear; it needs more clarification. The other teacher reported, Im not certain of its meaning. This
signifies, therefore, 80% of the total number of teachers (n = 8) had some knowledge of what inclusive
education entailed.
Challenge with Implementing Inclusive Education.
Lack of Support Many teachers mentioned the lack of administrative or government support as a negative
influencing factor of their perception of inclusive education. The administration must be sensitive to the
work we would be expected to do in an inclusive setting, one teacher stated. Another teacher suggested
that administrators, as well as teachers may act as obstacles to the successful implementation of inclusive
education. She explained, Teachers and administrators can be obstacles; if teachers and administrators
do not buy into it [inclusion], forget it it wont work.
Receiving support from the schools administration is not the only source of support which the teachers
spoke of; many of the teachers reported that support is also needed from the schools special education
teacher and the Ministry of Education as well. Some teachers described the work of the special education
or resource teacher as being disjointed when compared to the work that the classroom teachers do with
struggling learners. We [the teachers] need the special education teachers to assist us with strategies for
teaching special needs students, one respondent emphasized.
Teachers indicated that support from the Ministry of Education could be given in a variety ways. The
Ministry should provide the necessary materials and resources needed to operate an inclusive education
program, as well as provide free training for teachers, stated one of the teachers. About 30% of the
teachers (three teachers) mentioned that the Ministry of Education should support teachers by increasing
salaries. One teacher stated, I would support inclusion if I got a pay-raise.
Teachers Attitudes.
Several respondents identified teachers attitudes as a challenge in
implementing inclusive education in the public primary schools. Developing an intrinsic desire within
teachers to willingly participate in such programs is a challenge, reported one of the male respondents.
The majority of the teachers (90%) shared similar, negative attitudes regarding inclusive education.
Responses ranged from, My degree is not in special education, to, I dont want to teach special needs
students. Many teachers indicated that teaching struggling readers was more than enough to deal with,
without the complexities of inclusive education practices. Some teachers expressed the attitude that it
was not in their job description to teacher special needs students.
When asked about the general perceptions of teachers regarding inclusive education, one teacher
responded, They [teachers] think that special needs students should be taught in special education
classes because their needs cannot be appropriately met otherwise. This study revealed that several
teachers felt that special needs students should be removed from the regular classroom and taught at their
pace. Some teachers felt that inclusive education would never be successful in The Bahamas because,
The Bahamas government cannot afford to spend the amount of money that inclusive education
programs demand.
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Class Size. Several teachers indicated that class sizes in public primary schools were too overcrowded for
inclusive education to be effective. It is difficult addressing individual needs of thirty-four non-disabled
students, one teacher noted. Several teachers (50%) reported that implementing inclusive education with
such large class sizes would result in the special needs students not receiving the level of attention they
require. One male respondent reported, classrooms are already overcrowded, and we dont know how
the parents would react [towards their child being in an inclusive classroom].
The need for extra time and additional responsibilities imposed on teachers by the large numbers of
students with disabilities in the classroom has been found to affect teaching processes. As indicated by
several teachers, this is due to the reality that each student with a disability has different needs and calls
for more work, in terms of adapting instruction. Some teachers reported that large class sizes was
frustrating, especially without teachers aides.
Eight out of ten teachers (80%) suggested that inclusive education would be promoted more positively in
the primary schools if the class sizes were reduced. One teacher reported, I might reconsider inclusion if
the class sizes were smaller. In contrast, one teacher stated, Even if the class sizes werent reduced, the
teachers would react more positively towards inclusion if teachers aides were provided.
Infrastructure. Poorly designed infrastructure was another challenge which the teachers identified as a
challenge to the success of inclusive education. One teacher noted, Students are not considered included
if they cannot access classrooms and other schools facilities. In comparison, several teachers mentioned
that they viewed inclusive education at their primary school dubiously because the classrooms are too
small, and they are not accessible to students who require a wheelchair. One teacher stated, My school
doesnt have any ramps to accommodate students in wheelchairs. Another teacher reported, My school
has two levels accessible by stairs, and the bathroom stalls are too narrow. Inclusive education cant
work here not like this.
Many teachers mentioned that reconstructing the buildings would not be sufficient. One female teacher
responded, Students desks and chairs will have to be replaced as well. One teacher emphasized that the
location of some classes would have to be changed where there is a problem of stairs. Students have to be
able to access their classrooms, as indicated by one of the female respondents. One if the male
respondents stated, Inclusive education will not be successful without state-of-the-art classrooms.
Discussion and Implications
Findings of this study implied that there is much preparation required of all stakeholders before The
Bahamas can attempt to successfully implement inclusive education practices within its primary schools.
This studys findings coincide with those of the review of literature, indicating similar implications as a
result of the implementation of inclusive education in the primary school.
In comparison to the literature review, this study has also revealed that one of the primary influencing
factors of teachers negative perceptions is that of the teachers lack of confidence in their ability to teach
special needs students due to a lack of training in the area of special education. This means that the more
special education training teachers receive, the more comfortable they would feel teaching in an inclusive
environment. In its annual budget, the government of The Bahamas should allot additional funding for
international teacher training in the area of special education. Opportunities for training should primarily
be offered to teachers who express an interest in special education.
This study revealed that teachers are of the opinion that collaboration should exist between classroom
teachers and special education or resource teachers. This finding implies that teacher training should be
ongoing both at the school level and off-site. Inclusive education should not be implemented without
educating all stakeholders [teachers, parents, students, and community] first. Special education is a very
broad area therefore training will take a lot of time. Therefore, it is impossible for training to be done
during school hours. This implies, therefore, that teachers will have to participate in after-hours training.
Consequently, the Ministry of Education must create incentives for teachers as a way of encouraging
them to participate in the training.
Teachers attitudes play an integral role in the successful implementation of inclusive education program.
This implies that if consistent professional development is provided, teachers attitudes towards inclusive
education would tend to be more positive. Since positive teacher attitudes are linked to good teaching
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practices, policy makers would also need to provide the school supports and resources that promote
positive teacher attitudes, which also enhance inclusive teaching practices.
Findings also imply that changes at the tertiary level of education with regards to teacher education
programs in The Bahamas must occur. Teacher education providers, such as local colleges and
universities, must ensure that graduates have the necessary attitudes and competencies to design and
deliver an inclusive curriculum to a diverse range of learners.
If there is to be a realistic change in the Bahamian educational system, and creation of educational
models aligned to those of inclusive education, it is paramount that local colleges and universities work
in close partnership with the teaching profession to formulate new knowledge about inclusive learning,
especially in the hearts and minds of those entering the profession. Further, if inclusive education is to
become a reality in Bahamian public primary schools, it is suggested that the government of The
Bahamas will have to readjust its budget for education in an effort to accommodate the costs of teacher
training and ensuring the necessary accommodations are implemented.
The teachers responses would imply that the curriculum currently taught should be reconstructed to
accommodate the needs of special needs students. The purpose of a curriculum is to direct instruction. As
a result, the content presented within curriculum should be concise and applicable to an inclusive
classroom setting. This leads to a domino effect of sorts, in that, curriculum officers at the Ministry of
Education will have to collaborate on the production of one integrated curriculum for each grade level
inclusive of activities, objectives, and strategies catering to the demands of inclusive education. This then
dictates that curriculum and subject officers must also receive professional development training in
inclusive education, specifically, in curriculum development for such an instructional model. Once the
curriculum has been adapted, teachers will then have to become familiar with the new design, which
implies more thorough lesson planning sessions.
Findings within this study, in relation to methods of instruction, imply that classroom teachers must
modify their teaching methods in an effort to accommodate the special needs students in their classrooms
and facilitate these students learning in an inclusive environment. One such adaptation would involve
the utilization of differentiated instruction. This implies that teachers must become responsible for
keeping up-to-date with current trends in inclusive education. Further, in an effort for classroom teachers
to learn more about inclusive education strategies, it is crucial that primary schools establish a coaching
program as an avenue through which the special education teachers can model instructional practices for
the classroom teachers on a daily or weekly basis.
Limitations
There were a few minute limitations to this study. First there was the limited sources from which the
data was collected. Data was collected from only 10 participants from only one island of The Bahamas
all of which were employed in the public educational system. Data could have also been collected from
primary school teachers throughout the family of islands within The Commonwealth of The Bahamas.
Recommendations for Future Research
Although some demographic variables were mentioned in this study, teachers perceptions of inclusive
education were not explored in relation to these variables. Therefore, future studies may focus on
investigating teachers perceptions of inclusive education as they relate to specific variables such as age,
gender, and years of teaching experience. Additionally, future study may investigate administrators, and
parents perceptions towards inclusive education, which may be followed up with a comparative study of
teachers', parents' and administrators perceptions of inclusive education. Finally, future research efforts
should seek to broaden data collection to a greater number of islands within The Bahamas including
teachers employed in the private schools.
Conclusion
This study investigated public primary school teachers perceptions of inclusive education in The
Bahamas, and the influencing factors of their perceptions. This study has shown that 90% of the teachers
interviewed displayed negative perceptions towards inclusive education and its implementation.
Prominent factors which influenced these negative perceptions included insufficient teacher training,
lack of resources and support, poor infrastructure, and large class sizes. Teachers also felt that special
needs students would not have their needs met in an inclusive setting, and should be education in
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specialized schools. Several teachers indicated, however, that the solution of these negative influencing
factors would possibly result in more positive perceptions towards the practice of inclusive education.
Implementing inclusive education in Bahamian, public primary schools will indeed yield several
implications: The curriculum would have to be re-designed; the government will have to invest a large
amount of money for resources, teacher training, reconstruction of schools physical plant, and salaries;
and the teacher preparation programs at the tertiary level will have to developed for teacher education
candidates.
As revealed through this study, inclusive education school reform is not only a school-related matter; it is
a matter for all stakeholders involved [teachers, administrators, students, and parents], which includes the
communities in which these public primary schools are located. It is a social issue, as it is supported by
the philosophical framework of Vygotskys Social Constructivist Theory. Inclusive education involves
cohesion between administrators, parents, and students; it involves the sensitization of all towards the
needs of students with special needs. This study has reiterated what other researchers within this review
of literature have found, which is the fact that teachers are regarded as the key to change in education,
and if not addressed, their feelings of frustration and inadequacy pose as potential barriers to the success
of inclusive education.
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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SPECIAL EDUCATION

Vol 29, No: 1, 2014

ISSN 0827 3383

A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Teachers Perspectives on Inclusive Education through a

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International Journal of Special Education

IJSE is also indexed at Education Index (EDI).

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A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Teachers Perspectives on Inclusive Education through a Study Abroad

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A CROSS-CULTURAL COMPARISON OF TEACHERS PERSPECTIVES ON INCLUSIVE

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How do Brazilian schools facilitate inclusion?

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Table 2. Teachers Perceptions of Inclusive Education

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Research Question One: How do Brazilian Schools Facilitate Inclusion?

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EFFECTIVE SPELLING STRATEGIES FOR STUDENTS WITH DYSLEXIA IN HONG KONG

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Spelling is a very complex process as it includes many sub-processes, involving phonological,

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(2) omission of letters such as bals for balls

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