Susan Casto
Reynoldsburg City School District
Keywords
Inclusion, Mathematics, Co-Teaching, Learning Disabilities, Special Education
Abstract
Preparing all students for high-stakes testing programs is an enormous task for
educators, especially for special education teachers. In an inclusive mathematics
classroom, both regular and special education teachers need to provide a wide range of
instructional alternatives in order to facilitate increased understanding and participation
of students with disabilities.
This study was designed to document quarterly assessment gains made by students
diagnosed with specific learning disabilities who participated for 45 minutes daily in an
inclusive classroom where both the special and general education mathematics teachers
utilized specific co-teaching strategies. The participants were 38 seventh grade students,
12 of whom were diagnosed with a specific learning disability in math. Participants
were tracked over a twenty-seven week period to determine the effect of utilizing specific
co-teaching strategies on quarterly assessment scores. The results suggest that the
students with learning disabilities benefit from flexible student grouping strategies.
Students without disabilities in the inclusive classrooms achieved at or above their peers
in three non-inclusive classrooms taught by the same teacher.
Table of Contents
Academic Outcomes for Students with Learning Disabilities in an Inclusive Mathematics
Classroom ........................................................................................................................... 1
Rationale ............................................................................................................................. 2
Context................................................................................................................................ 2
Literature Review................................................................................................................ 3
Procedure ............................................................................................................................ 5
Findings............................................................................................................................... 8
Implications for Practice................................................................................................... 10
References......................................................................................................................... 11