Capacity Building Pedagogy for Diverse Learners

Introduction

Differentiated instruction (DI) originated within the field of special education (Artiles, Kozleski, Dorn, & Christensen, 2006) to address the individualized education needs of students as required through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, Public Law 94-172, 1975). The reauthorization of this law, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA, 2004) required DI methodology to move beyond special education practices into general education classrooms. Formerly, learning opportunities for students with exceptionalities were provided in segregated special education classrooms within a regular school environment as an effort to fulfill the least restrictive environment (LRE) mandate of IDEA (1975). Terminology for this approach was “mainstreaming” or “partial inclusion.” These approaches led students with exceptionalities to lack access to the general education curriculum and were not able to participate fully with their peers in the school community (McLeskey, Landers, Williamson & Hoppey, 2012). Further, with the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, standardized assessment practices for school performance were mandated and held schools accountable to ensure students with exceptionalities were making adequate yearly progress within the general education curriculum. In response, school placement trends revealed more students with exceptionalities in general education settings; yet, general educators lacked the training, knowledge, and skills to adequately serve diverse student needs (Oyler, 2011; Grskovic & Trzcnka, 2011; Frey, et al, 2012; Hamilton-Jones & Vail, 2013).

These legislative acts influence current LRE interpretations that favor full inclusion in the general education classroom (Hwang& Evans, 2011; Pugach, Blanton, & Correa, 2011), however, the extent to which general education teacher programs adequately prepare educators for full inclusion of diverse learners has not yet been fully addressed. Thus, our study directly described student teachers’ experiences with special education practices in general education settings. We sought to investigate student teachers’ ability to accurately reflect on inclusive education practices. Specifically, this study examined student teachers’ responses to prompts to uncover themes of understanding of special education practices as presented in their pre-service program.