Final Project Ideas and Information

Topic: Inclusion of students with a reading disability in the secondary English education classroom.
Questions:
1. What kind of testing accommodations are appropriate for students with a reading disability.
2. What curriculum changes are appropriate for students with disabilities? (Is it appropriate to
give students with an LD the same material as given to other students? If we give them
separate material, is there a way to help them "fit in" with the rest of the class?)
3. What kinds of techniques are beneficial to help students with a reading disability develop and
progress towards goals (as stated in IEPs).

I found a great deal of information on this topic. A reading disability is especially important to be aware of when teaching English, and if a student is labeled as having a disability in high school levels, it will likely be quite severe (since many districts require a 4 year achievement gap before providing any special education once the child reaches the secondary education level). Also, students with learning disabilities are the most common group to "include" in the general education classes--partly because this group makes up about 50% of students with disabilities, and because those who only have a learning disability are less likely to cause classroom disturbances. I think the difficulty will be narrowing down what areas I am looking to use in my paper. Pennsylvania supports in inclusion, but many other states are more hesitant, so it is a controversial issue. Further, the question of full inclusion is still being debated. I think I will need to focus on full inclusion, though, because that is going to be the extreme example. There are problems with this too, though. I am not sure if I need to talk about the different resources that English teachers would have--as far a consulting with a Special educator, co-teaching with a special educator. There are just so many possibilities of how this situation would be handled. It is a little overwhelming, but I am looking forward to narrowing down what I am focusing on and getting into the writing.