Using Action Research
To Empower North Carolina Educators
A Race to the Top Initiative
NC Department of Public Instruction
Educator Effectiveness Division
Jeanne Marie Penny
Durham Public Schools
SPECIAL EDUCATION FOR THE GENERAL
EDUCATION TEACHER
What is Action Research?
Systematic inquiry conducted by teachers and
other educators to find solutions for critical,
challenging, relevant issues in their classrooms and
schools.
Mills, Geoffrey E, Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher,
2014
What is Action Research?
Main Goals Include:
•Positively impact student outcomes
•Identify and promote effective instructional
practices
•Create opportunities for teachers to become
reflective practitioners
•Share research results with other educators
Mills, Geoffrey E, Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher,
2014
What is Action Research?
A systematic research process to:
1. Identify an area of focus (critical, challenging
issue)
2. Develop an action research plan
3. Implement action research plan in
classroom/school
4. Collect, analyze, and interpret data
5. Share findings to inform practice
Mills, Geoffrey E, Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher,
2014
SPECIAL EDUCATION FOR THE
GENERAL EDUCATION TEACHER
•Many General Education Teachers teaching
Students With Disabilities feel unprepared to
teach them.
•Most Students With Disabilities are mainstreamed
into General Education Classes ; Teachers need to
know how to support them.
•General Education Teachers Will be prepared to
include Students With Disabilities.
•Students With Disabilities will be fully included.
Why is This Important?
•http://rossieronline.usc.edu/wpcontent/uploads/2012/08/specialeducation-infographic-rossier.jpeg
•http://youtu.be/A9Z06EeIhFM
Make Knowledge Public
Analyze/Interpret Data
Collect Data
I conducted an Action
Research Project to
determine what all
teachers need to be
successful with Students
with Disabilities. This
session will share the
results and teach you to be
an effective, inclusive
teacher.
Innovation/Intervention
Action Research Plan
Focus Statement
Make Knowledge Public
Analyze/Interpret Data
Collect Data
The intent of this project is
to provide general
educationteachers with
information about teaching
Students with Disabilities
so that they are more
comfortable and more
successful teaching these
students.
Innovation/Intervention
Action Research Plan
Purpose of the Study
Action Research Plan
Teachers in their first 3 years
of teaching at a North
Carolina High School.
Make Knowledge Public
Analyze/Interpret Data
Collect Data
Innovation/Intervention
Study Participants
Make Knowledge Public
Analyze/Interpret Data
Collect Data
Analysis Method: The
researcher reviewed the pre
and post surveys and
assessments to identify
patterns or themes. The
patterns and themes were
analyzed to interpret the data
as it pertained to the
objectives/research
questions.
Innovation/Intervention
Action Research Plan
Study Variables
Make Knowledge Public
Analyze/Interpret Data
What do General Education
Teachers need to know to be
successful teaching Students
With Disabilities?
Collect Data
What do General Education
Teachers need to know about
Special Education?
Innovation/Intervention
Action Research Plan
Research Questions
Make Knowledge Public
Analyze/Interpret Data
Teachers were provided
with a self paced study
packet that provided
information about Special
Education and Teaching
Special Education Students.
Collect Data
Innovation/Intervention
Action Research Plan
Innovation/Intervention
The data source for this project
was such that researcher
objectivity is necessary for the
most accurate interpretation of
the data.
Make Knowledge Public
The qualitative research method
was used to collect data. The use
of the qualitative research method
allowed the researcher to strive
for objectivity in analysis.
Analyze/Interpret Data
Data Collected
Innovation/Intervention
Action Research Plan
Data Collected
Activity
Do Now-Activating Prior Knowledge
•Fill out the K (What I Know) and the W( What I
want to Know) part of your graphic organizer.
The session will focus on:
•Alphabet Soup-- Acronyms of EC
•The IEP and You
• Differentiated Instruction
Part 1: Alphabet Soup
•How many of these acronyms do you know?
•SWD, AU, ASD,HFA,DB,DD,ED,SED,
BED,HI,ID,IDMO,IDMI,MU,OI,OHI,SLDLD,SI,TBI,VI,
ADD,ADHD,BIP,EC ,FAPE
FBA,IDEA,IEP,IT,LRE,ODD,PLP,SLT, SLP ,SPED
Activity
•1a—Handout 1
•Individual: Refer to Handout 1 and fill in as many
answers as you can.
•Partner: Turn to your partner and work to fill in
your blanks.
•Group: Partner with another pair to fill in the rest
How Many Did You Get?
•Were some familiar, but you didn’t quite know?
•Which ones stumped you?
•Where could you go in your building to get
answers?
SWD
•Let’s start with a simple matter of semantics.
We have a lot of Students with Disabilities
(SWD). We also refer to them as Children with
Disabilities. We never say disabled children.
We always want to put the STUDENT first.
Students With Disabilities usually fall
into one of Fourteen categories:
•The following defines each area of disability
included in the
•Policies Governing Services for Children with
Disabilities (Amended – June 2010), Public
Schools of North Carolina, State Board of
Education Department of Public Instruction:
Exceptional Children Division, Section NC 15002.4 (b) (1-14) Definitions:
1.Autism Spectrum Disorder.( AU). This is a
developmental disability affecting verbal and
nonverbal communication and social interaction.
There are a huge range of skill abilities in the
Autism Spectrum Disorder.
•Other Acronyms you might see ASD ( Autism
Spectrum Disorder) HFA (High functioning
Autism)
2. Deaf-Blindness (DB) The combination of vision
and hearing impairments
3.Developmentally Delayed (DD) Is when a child
aged 3-7 development is delayed and /or atypical
in one or more areas (physical, cognitive,
communication, social, emotional or adaptive)
and because of the delay requires Special
Education and related services.
Deafness means a hearing impairment that is so
severe that the child is impaired in processing
linguistic information through hearing, with or
without amplification that adversely affects the
child’s educational performance.
4.
5. Emotional Disability (ED) Serious Emotional
Disability is a condition that exhibits one of the
following, occurs over a long period of time AND
adversely affects a students educational
performance:
•An inability to make educational progress that
can not be explained by intellectual, sensory, or
health factors.
•An inability to maintain satisfactory interpersonal
relationships with peers and teachers
•Inappropriate types of behaviors under normal
circumstances
•A general pervasive mood of unhappiness or
depression
•A tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears
associated with personal or school problems
•Other Acronyms you might see SED ( Serious
Emotional Disability) BED ( retired in 2008)
6. Hearing Impairment (HI) An impairment in hearing
that adversely affects a child’s educational performance.
•Other terms used are Deaf and Hard of Hearing.. These
are often preferable in the Deaf community who do not
like the use of the phrase impaired.
7. Intellectual Disability ( ID) Intellectual Disability is a
significant sub average general intellectual functioning
that adversely affects a child's educational performance.
. Other Acronyms you might see IDMI ( Intellectual
Disability Mild) IDMO (Intellectual Disability Moderate)
and IDSE (Intellectual Disability Severe)
8. Multiple Disabilities (MU) Two or more disabilities
occurring together, the combination of which cannot be
treated by a Special Education program designed for
just one of the disabilities.
9. Orthopedic Impairment (OI) A Severe physical
Impairment that affects a child's educational
performance
10. Other Health Impairment (OHI) This is having
limited strength, vitality, alertness, including a
heightened alertness to stimuli that
•Is due to chronic or acute health problems ( such as
asthma, attention deficit disorder, diabetes, sickle cell
anemia etc...) AND
•Adversely affects child’s academic performance
11.Specific Learning Disability (SLD) Specific learning disability is
a disorder in
•one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in
understanding or in
•using language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in the
impaired ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do
mathematical calculations, including conditions such as
perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction,
dyslexia, and developmental aphasia. Specific learning disability
does not include learning problems that are primarily the result
of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities, of mental retardation, of
serious emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural, or
economic disadvantage.
•Other Acronyms you might see LD ( Learning Disability)
12. Speech or Language Impairment (SI)
•(i)A communication disorder, such as an impairment in
fluency, articulation, language, or voice/resonance that
adversely affects a child’s educational performance.
•(ii)Language may include function of language
(pragmatic), the content of the language (semantic), and
the form of the language (phonological, morphologic
and syntactic systems).
•(iii)A speech or language impairment may result in a
primary disability or it may be secondary to other
disabilities.
13. Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Traumatic brain injury is
an acquired injury to the brain caused by an external
physical force, resulting in total or partial functional
disability or psychosocial impairment, or both, that
adversely affects a child’s educational performance.
Traumatic brain injury applies to open or closed head
injuries resulting in impairments in one or more areas, such
as cognition; language; memory; attention; reasoning;
abstract thinking; judgment; problem-solving; sensory;
perceptual; and motor abilities; psychosocial behavior;
physical functions; information processing; and speech.
Traumatic brain injury does not apply to brain injuries that
are congenital
14. Visual Impairment (VI) Visual impairment is an
impairment in vision that, even with correction,
adversely affects a child’s educational performance. The
term includes both partial sight and blindness. A visual
impairment is the result of a diagnosed ocular or
cortical pathology.
Other Terms
•ADD Attention Deficit Disorder. A
neurological disorder,
• Not being able to focus (inattentiveness)
•Not being able to control
behavior (impulsivity)
•ADHD Attention Deficit Disorder with
Hyperactivity, the addition of
•Being extremely active (hyperactivity)
•FBA—Functional Assessment of Behavior. A PROCESS to determine why a
behavior occurs and to develop a plan to help the student modify the unwanted
behavior.
•BIP—Behavior Intervention Plan. This is developed by a team and
implemented by all teachers and staff members. If a student has a BIP you
need to be aware of it, what is in it and what you need to do in your classroom
to meet the behavioral needs of this student. It is designed to teach appropriate
and social skills. It should be positive NOT punitive.
•EC Exceptional Children
•FAPE –Free Appropriate Public Education
•IDEA—Individual with Disabilities Act. The legal Act that Governs Education
for Students with Disabilities
•IEP—Individualized Education Plan
•IT—Intervention Team. The first step in providing academic
intervention to struggling students
•LRE—Least Restrictive Environment. The environment that is
as close to possible as the General Education Environment. It
allows the child to receive the maximum educational benefit
•ODD—Oppositional Defiant disorder. Anti social Behaviors
exhibited over a long period of time
•PLP—Present Level of Performance . Description of students
strengths, weaknesses and learning styles
•SLT—Speech Language Therapy
•SLP –Speech Language Pathologist
•Sped—Special Education
Activity 1a Role Play
•What’s it like to have a Disability?
•In your groups follow the directions for the role
play
•Share—What did you learn? How did you feel?
Activity 1b Case Study
•You have a student in your class who has Anemia.
She misses many days. Her mother gets her
assignments and she works with a tutor. She
turns in all her makeup work in your class. She has
B’s and C’s in all her classes. Does she qualify for
Special Education Services? Why or Why Not?
Activity 1c BIP/FAB
•Which would you do first A FBA or a BIP ? Why?
What does a BIP do? Why do you WANT to be
involved in the process?
Activity 1d—Interventions
•What is the Intervention Team called at your
school? Who is on the team? What do they do?
How would you refer a student to them? Why
would you refer a student to them?
Part 2: The IEP and You
•What’s an IEP?
•Who MUST attend an IEP meeting?
•What’s in an IEP?
•What is my role in the IEP process?
Activity 2a/ Planning
•You have been invited to an IEP meeting—Do you
have to go? How do you prepare? What do you
do? What should you bring?
What is an IEP?
•An IEP is an Individualized Education Plan for
a Student With a Disability. It is a legal
document. Whole books have been written
about the subject; I’m just going to give you the
bare minimum.
•The IEP includes ( but is not limited to):
•The Student’s Disability
•The Student’s Strengths
•The student’s Present Level of Performance
•How the Disability affects the Student accessing the general
curriculum
•Accommodations and Modifications to assist the student in
accessing the General Education curriculum
–Accommodations help the student access the general
curriculum.
–Modifications are changes to the general curriculum
•Goals and Objectives for the Student
•The IEP is developed by a TEAM. The Team
MUST legally consist of at least 3 people:
•LEA
•EC Teacher
•Regular Education Teacher ( At least one)
– A teacher of the general education curriculum
who has content knowledge and who is the teacher
of the child.
– If the child does not have a regular education
teacher, a regular education teacher qualified to
teach a child for his or her age is appropriate.
Role of the Regular Education Teacher
•Provide information regarding the child's current level of performance in the
regular education environment—What can the Student do? ( Student can read at
grade level with assistance, Student can produce a written response to a prompt,
student can add, subtract, multiply and divide whole numbers with a calculator,
student can solve one step equations…) Yes, we would love for you to bring work
samples.
•Provide information on the general education standards, curriculum
and expectations. What is the content of your class? What will the student need to
able to do to be successful?
•Assist in determining appropriate positive behavioral
interventions and strategies. How can we support the child’s behavioral needs?
•Assist in determining supplementary aids and services; and
•Assist in determining program modifications and support needed for
school personnel. What accommodations/modifications does this student need in
your class?
Activity 2b/ Planning
•Consider the class you teach—What kind of data
could you provide for:
•Strengths
•Weaknesses
•Behaviors
Activity 2c/ Planning
•You have been invited to an IEP meeting—Do you
have to go? How do you prepare? What do you
do? What should you bring?
Part 3: Differentiating Instruction
•What does it mean to Differentiate Instruction?
•What are some different ways you can
differentiate instruction?
Differentiating Instruction
•Differentiation is providing students with
different paths to the same goal. Differentiating
instruction can take a lot of planning but pays
off in results.
•You can differentiate the presentation of
material, the content, or the product.
Differentiating Presentation
•You probably already know about differentiating
presentation. In college you probably learned some
students are visual , some are auditory and some are
kinesthetic learners. In class you can address this by
providing content in multiple ways. I suggest that for
instructions you provide all 3. Write the instructions
on the board (or provide a written copy), read the
instructions, provide examples. Use text, pictures, and
videos to engage all learners.
Differentiating Presentation
•Please do NOT depend on lecture for all or
most of your material. The Journal of
Pediatrics says 12.5% of kids between 6-19
suffer from loss of hearing. These students
will not (can not) learn to listen any more than
a blind student will learn to see.
Differentiating Content
•You can differentiate content. One way of
doing this is providing the same content at
different reading levels. For example 3
different articles at low, medium and high
reading levels. You can provide recorded
material for struggling readers. You can group
students so you can provide extra instruction
to struggling learners and extend the thinking
process for higher-level learners. You can
provide manipulatives for some learners.
Differentiating Product
•You can also differentiate the product you are
asking for. Allow student a choice of projects to
present their learning to you—an essay, a song,
a game, a picture. You can also use different
rubrics to grade the same product based on
their level
Activity 3a/ Differentiation
•Handout 3—Fill in as many examples as
your team can come up with for each
column.
Bonus: Classroom Management
Do’s:
•Meet Students at the Door. This allows you to “take their
temperature” and solve problems before they start.
•Put serious thought and consideration into your seating
arrangements. Move seating arrangements as often as
necessary to maintain discipline
•When seating Students with Disabilities think about
minimizing distractions ( For example, away from a
window.) You also want to consider how easy it will be for you
to monitor their work.
•Give Students CHOICES not ultimatums. The key is providing
the student two or more choices you find acceptable. “You can
stay in that seat and choose to do your work OR you can choose
to move to that seat over there.” NOT “Move to that seat over
there!” If a student feels they have no choice/control they may
become defiant.
•Practice Proximity Control. Move around the
room. Off task behavior will decrease as you
move closer. You can make a small non-verbal
signal like tapping their work to get them back
on task.
•Use post it Notes. “Great Job” or “See me after
class”
•Recognize students who are on task
•Structure your class time.
•Work bell to bell
•Overplan
•DO NOT:
• Yell.
•Call Out a Student.
•Engage in arguing with a student Always
remember-- Arguing with a student is like
wrestling with a pig—you both get dirty and
the pig enjoys it.
Additional Resources
•Edutopia.com
•http://projectparticipate.org/handouts/TipsG
eneralEd.pdf
•https://sites.google.com/site/inclusionsecond
aryclassroom/training-general-educationteachers
•http://www.teachhub.com/18-inclusionstrategies-student-success
Research Based Interventions
•Http://www.interventioncentral.org/
•http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/
•http://www.jimwrightonline.com/php/rti/rti_wi
re.php
Resources for Differentiating
Instruction
•http://www.glencoe.com/sec/teachingtoday/s
ubject/di_meeting.phtml
•http://www.edutopia.org/blogs/tag/differenti
ated-instruction
•http://www.teachnology.com/tutorials/teachi
ng/differentiate/
References
• Bergren, B. A. (1997). Teacher Attitudes toward Included Special Education Students
and Co-Teaching.
• Cramer, E., Nevin, A., Thousand, J., & Liston, A. (2006). Co-Teaching in Urban
School Districts to Meet the Needs of all Teachers and Learners: Implications for
Teacher Education Reform. Online Submission,
• Dieker, L. A. (2001). What Are the Characteristics of "Effective" Middle and High
School Co-Taught Teams for Students with Disabilities?. Preventing School Failure,
46(1), 14-23.
• Mastropieri, M. A., Scruggs, T. E., Graetz, J., Norland, J., Gardizi, W., & McDuffie, K.
(2005). Case Studies in Co-Teaching in the Content Areas: Successes, Failures, and
Challenges. Intervention In School And Clinic, 40(5), 260-270.
• Simmons, R. J., & Magiera, K. (2007). Evaluation of Co-Teaching in Three High
Schools within One School District: How Do You Know when You Are TRULY CoTeaching?. TEACHING Exceptional Children Plus, 3(3)
Conclusion of Presentation
•Thank you for your participation
Contact Information:
Name: Jeanne Marie Penny
School/District: Durham Public Schools
Phone: 919-560-3956 Ext 56290
Email: jeanne.penny@dpsnc.net
Website:
Questions
•Questions