ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AND INCLUSION

For each article, write a critique of each study's design validity by demonstrating knowledge of most of the elements of quantitative and qualitative validity. This means steps the researchers took to improve their internal, external, construct and statistical conclusion validity, what they didn't do to improve these elements, and what they might have done in the context of their study.

This paper includes a synthesis that summarizes the implications of these research articles toward: a) policy; b) practice, and; c) future research.

This part synthesizes the research to practice recommendations that emerged from the studies.

Study 1: One School District's Efforts to Develop a Formal Inclusion

Program at the Secondary Level. (Hamill, Lee B., Xavier University, 1999, 13 p.)

This qualitative study investigated efforts to develop a formal inclusion program

at the secondary level in a small urban school district. About 60 of the 550 students in the junior and high school programs were identified with disabilities, including learning disabilities, behavior disorders, and mental retardation. Analysis of observations and interviews with 13 members of the

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The research was part of an extensive study of teachers in three elementary schools that were the focus of systematic observations, teacher and student interviews, and academic assessments. Quantitative as well as qualitative data were collected in an effort to triangulate on the effects of innovative curriculum and teaching techniques on target students. Two intervention schools were selected, as well as a third school that acted as a comparison. The students were selected on the basis of the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS). Specific criteria were further used to define the target population. Observational, interview, and academic performance data were collected over the 1993-94 school year. Two different measures were administered to assess the effects of the intervention. The third grade level of the ITBS was used as both a pretest and as a posttest. This norm-referenced test has well documented reliability and validity. The second measure, the Informal Mathematics Assessment (IMA) is an individually administered test of problem-solving abilities. Individual student protocols were scored with a rubric that was analytically derived from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) standards, while the
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Xavier University, III RECOMMENDATIONS, Children Act, Skills TAAS, University Maryland, Research Nov, Future Research, University Apr, Act IDEA, Project Leader, special education, education students, regular education, special education students, inclusion program, students inclusion, fifth graders, learning disabilities, developmentally appropriate, regular classroom, students learning, students learning disabilities, students inclusion classes, special education teachers, developmentally appropriate traditional,
Approximate Word count = 6407
Approximate Pages = 26 (250 words per page)

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