In this study focus group interviews were conducted with educational administrators to examine how the inclusion of students with learning disabilities has changed their professional lives in ways they did not expect, and how inclusion has changed the lives of students with learning disabilities and the lives of other students in their schools in…

Although a great deal of the recent professional literature in the field of learning disabilities has been devoted to the topic of inclusion, relatively little is known about special education teachers' experiences and how inclusion impacts their professional lives and the lives of students in unanticipated ways. To investigate these issues, we…

A focus group of 5 general education schoolteachers from one rural middle school in Hawaii was conducted to investigate their perspectives on the unintended effects of including students with learning disabilities. The general education teachers were asked how the inclusion of students with learning disabilities had impacted (a) their professional…

The inclusion of students with learning disabilities in the general education setting has resulted in a dramatic shift in the roles of educators, school psychologists, and administrators alike. Although many changes were anticipated, some were not. The primary purpose of this study was to engage school psychologists in a focus group to explore…

This study investigated the perspectives of high school students with learning disabilities on co-teaching. Two focus groups were conducted at two high schools in southern California, involving 10 students with learning disabilities. Guiding questions were used to seek students' perceptions on how participation in co-taught general education…

This study investigated the unexpected effects of inclusion on the families of students with learning disabilities. A focus group interview was conducted with 13 parents who have children with learning disabilities. The children's ages ranged from 5 to 24 years. Findings are reported regarding participants' comments in response to two guiding…

The perspectives of general and special education teacher educators, who are nationally recognized for their work in the areas of learning disabilities, inclusive education, and teacher education, were explored. Study participants were asked to reveal how the inclusion of students with learning disabilities has impacted their professional lives in…

A focus group with nine university professionals from two large Midwestern universities was conducted to investigate their perceptions regarding the unexpected impact of increasing numbers of students with learning disabilities attending college. Participants consisted of six faculty members, two directors of Offices of Student Disability…

In this article, we summarize the findings from eight separate focus group studies, conducted with various stakeholders--special education teachers, general education teachers, administrators, school psychologists, students with learning disabilities, parents of students with learning disabilities, teacher educators, and higher education faculty…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the direct instruction of story mapping in improving the reading comprehension for high school students with specific learning disabilities. The participants included four eleventh grade students with specific learning disabilities served for literature in a resource room in a public…

To be taken seriously, proposals for education reform must be grounded in realities. One of these realities is that labels are indispensable in special education. Another is that special education is needed, even if general education is excellent. Most proposals for educational reform will be disastrous even if only one of their assumptions fails…

Although teacher teacher collaboration as a way of schools delivering services for student with learning disabilities is much described, in fact, little literature grounded in data or theory is available. This leaves us with a gap in knowing what collaboration is or could be. In this article, one of the few theories of collaboration is presented,…

This qualitative investigation examined the nature of administrators' beliefs about students referred to them for classroom disruption. A second purpose was to see whether beliefs about teachers who make a high number of office referrals were linked to administrator practices. Data were obtained from semi-structured telephone interviews with six…

The objectives of this study were twofold: (a) based on Bandura's theoretical framework, develop a four scale instrument to assess specifically general educators' teaching efficacy beliefs (TEB) concerning students with learning disabilities (Teacher Efficacy for the Inclusion of Students with Learning Disabilities Scale, TEISLDS), and (b) employ…

This article describes one professor's attempt to use an evolving series of course websites to improve learning outcomes and foster participation with a group of college students with learning disabilities. Spurred by an initial "failure," the authors share the process of coming to better understand the conditions needed in order for students with…