Teaching Students with Special Needs in Inclusive Classrooms

Prepare and inspire teachers to ADAPT to the needs of all their students!  Using the research-validated A-D-A-P-T model as an instructional guide, problem-solving approach and mnemonic, this new book clearly promotes the thoughtful practices and adaptations which have been proven as the most effective means to teach hard-to-reach students.  It inspires classroom teachers to want to meet the challenges of students with disabilities and other learning challenges in their classroom and then gives them the tools to do it confidently.  

FEATURES:

PREPARE

• ADAPT in Action is an illustrative section integrated directly within the book discussion, applying the ADAPT framework to the student and teacher introduced in the Opening Challenge case studies. In these features, the teacher “thinks out loud” using the ADAPT framework
• ADAPT Framework boxes provide a helpful summary chart that applies the ADAPT model to practical, frequently encountered teaching and learning topics

INSPIRE

• Making a Difference features are first-person essays written by classroom teachers, special educators, and parents that offer their realistic insights and experiences about the impact of inclusive settings on the success of students with disabilities and other special learning needs and their families

ADDITIONAL FEATURES

• Opening Challenge begins each chapter with a case study illustrating a teaching challenge, which is revisited throughout the chapter, providing a consistent situation in which to apply the ADAPT model
• What Works features present key research-to-practice findings or interesting, classroom-based statistics that are relevant to topics within each chapter
• Working Together features provide practical advice for how an idea or concept can be taught using a collaborative approach involving other school professionals and/or family members
• Instructional Activities, included in each of the “content area” chapters (10-13), present sample lessons for teaching skills in each area. Each activity indicates the instructional objective, instructional content, instructional materials, a means to deliver the instruction, and methods tomonitor progress
• Considering Diversity features highlight a specific idea from a cultural or linguistic perspective to help readers see examples of how to consider factors of diversity as they relate to academic instruction and management
• Tech Notes provide readers with information about assistive and instructional technologies that can be employed with students that have learning and behavior problems. Examples from classrooms are used to show practical applications
• CEC and INTASC Standards are correlated to each chapter in end-of-chapter charts to facilitate student understanding of the standards and principals that must be mastered by all beginning inclusive educators

"The ADAPT feature offers a consistent strategy, it's very good.  It seems quite different from many of the other intro books.  It has more information, more research info and more practical information combined."

Kathy McMahon Klosterman, Miami University

Diane Pedrotty Bryant is a professor in the Learning Disabilities/Behavior Disorders program in the Department of Special Education at The University of Texas at Austin. She is currently the principal investigator of the Three-Tier Early Mathematics Assessment and Intervention project with the Vaughn Gross Center for Reading and Language Arts, also at the University of Texas at Austin.  She is the author/co-author of numerous articles, books, test, and professional development products that focus on learning disabilities, assistive technology, behavior managmeent, reading, and assessment.  Her research interests include validating interventions in reading and mathematics for students with early learning difficulties and learning disabilities.

Deborah Deutsch Smith (Ed.D. University of Washington) is a professor of Special Education at the School of Educational Studies (SES) at Claremont Graduate University (CGU). She currently is co-principal investigator of the IRIS Center for Faculty Enhancement funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu. The national center is charged with developing course enhancement materials for the non-special education faculty who are preparing the next generation of school personnel who work in inclusive school settings.  She also directs IRIS-West, which housed at CGU, and is the national outreach component of The IRIS Center.

Brian R. Bryant, Ph.D. has served as Director of Research for PRO-ED, Inc. for 10 years and has since served as the Director of the Office for Students with Disabilities at Florida Atlantic University, as Project Director of the Texas Assistive Technology Partnership (Texas' Tech Act project), and as a private consultant. For 12 years, Brian has had an adjunct faculty Lecturer appointment in the Department of Special Education at The University of Texas at Austin. For the past 5 years, he has also had an appointment as a Research Fellow with the Vaughn Gross Center for reading and Language Arts, also at The University of Texas at Austin. Brian is the author/co-author of dozens of psycho-educational tests, articles, books, chapters in books, professional development materials, and other products dealing with remedial education, learning disabilities, mental retardation, assessment, and assistive technology. His primary research interests are in assessment and instruction in learning disabilities (especially reading and mathematics) and mental retardation (especially support provisions), and the exploration of assistive technology applications for children and adults with a variety of disabilities.