A collaborative effort to enhance reading and writing instruction in inclusion classrooms. Learning Disability Quarterly

Abstract. A year-long researcher-teacher professional development group with a next-year followup was conducted with seven general education teachers from two elementary schools in a large urban school district in the southeastern United States. The two schools had recently restructured their special education program to include students with LD in the general education class full-time. Teachers were taught four reading and writing practices (one during each nine-week grading block). All but two of the teachers partially or completely implemented the prac-tices during the nine-week period. Sustained implementation during the school year was maintained by four of the seven teachers, and three of the seven teachers con-tinued high implementation of the instructional practices during the next school year. The components of successful professional development programs are dis-cussed and implications for teacher education are offered. There is little question that if students with teachers consider many adaptations designed to learning disabilities (LD) are to be instructed ef- meet the needs of students with disabilities as fectively in general education classrooms, con- desirable to make in their classrooms, few view siderable effort is needed to alter traditional in- them as feasible (Schumm & Vaughn, 1991). structional practices, particularly in reading. When adaptations are made by teachers, they Recent reports on instructional practices in are largely incidental, inconsistent, idiosyncratic, reading in general education classrooms indi- and not part of a systematic instructional plan cate that most instruction is for the class as a (Schumm & Vaughn. 1995b). For the most whole, with little or no differentiated instruction part, teachers do not perceive that they have to meet the needs of special learners ( e.g.. the skills, knowledge, or confidence to meet th