Although much research has been done on the effectiveness of teaching for nonhandicapped students, relatively little analysis has been made of teacher effectiveness in special education. Most of the recommendations about what special education teachers should do to be effective are based on the following: inferences from basic research showing exceptional students learn more slowly, with greater difficulty, or in different ways from normal learners; conclusions from applied research showing that specific groups of exceptional students respond more favorably to particular “packages” of instructional methods and materials; and analysis of opinions about what teachers should do to be effective. In this article, the results of teacher effectiveness research in general education are summarized, the best practices in special education are hypothesized, and the discrepancies between prevailing and actual practices are discussed. Areas for further research are suggested based on discrepancies that exist between levels of current practice.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AlgozzineR.AlgozzineK.MorsinkC., & DykesM. K. (1984). Summary of the 1983–84 ESE classroom observations, using COKER. Gainesville: University of Florida Department of Special Education.
2.
AugustG. (1980). Input organization as a mediating factor in memory: Comparison of EMR and nonretarded individuals. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 30, 125–143.
3.
BatemanB. (1979). Teaching reading to learning disabled and other hard-to-teach children. In ResnickB. L. & WeaverP. A. (Eds.), Theory and practice of early reading (Vol. 1). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Erlbaum Associates.
4.
BeckerW., & CarnineD. (1980). Direct instruction: An effective approach to educational intervention with disadvantaged and low performers. In LaheyB. B. & KazdinA. E. (Eds.), Advances in clinical child psychology (Vol. 3). New York: Plenum.
5.
BickelW., & BickelD. (1986). Effective schools, classrooms, and instruction: Implications for special education. Exceptional Children, 52, 489–500.
6.
BloomB. J.EnglehartM. D.FurstE. J.HillW. H., & KrathwohlD. R. (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives handbook I: Cognitive domain. New York: McKay.
7.
BrophyJ. E. (1981). Teacher praise: A functional analysis. Review of Educational Research, 51, 5–32.
8.
BrophyJ. E., & EvertsonC. M. (1974). The Texas teacher effectiveness project: Presentation of nonlinear relationships and summary discussion (Report No. 74–6). Austin: Research and Development Center, University of Texas.
9.
BryantT., & WheelerR. (1976). Teachers' behaviors in classes for severely retarded, trainable, LD and normal children. Mental Retardation, 14(4), 41–45.
10.
CottonK., & SavardW. (1982). Topic summary report: Direct instruction. San Francisco: Northwest Regional Education Laboratory.
11.
CoxL., & WilsonA. (1981). A comparison of academic gains in reading among mildly LD students in three program structures. Reading Improvement, 18, 132–137.
12.
DeciE. L., & PoracJ. (1978). Cognitive evaluation theory and the study of human motivation. In LepperM. R. & GreeneD. (Eds.), The hidden cost of reward: New perspectives on the psychology of human motivation. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
13.
EnglemanS., & CarnineD. (1982). Theory of instruction: Principles and applications. New York: Irvington.
14.
EpsteinM., & CullinanD. (1982). Using social comparison procedures in educating behaviorally disordered pupils. Behavior Disorders, 1, 219–224.
GableR.HendricksonJ.YoungC.ShoresR., & StowitschekJ. (1983). A comparison of teacher approval statements across categories of exceptionality. Journal of Special Education Technology, VI, 15–22.
17.
GettingerM. (1982). Improving classroom behaviors and achievement of learning disabled children using direct instruction. School Psychology Review, 11, 329–336.
18.
GoldsteinH., & GoldsteinM. (1980). Reasoning ability of mildly retarded learners. What research and experience say to the teacher of exceptional children. NIE Contract #400-76-0119. Reston, VA: The Council for Exceptional Children.
19.
GradenJ.ThurlowJ.YsseldykeJ., (1982). Instructional ecology and academic responding time for studens at three levels of teacher-perceived behavioral competence (Research Rep. No. 73). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota IRLD.
20.
GradenJ.ThurlowJ.YsseldykeJ., & AlgozzineB. (1982). Instructional ecology and academic responding time for students in different reading groups (Research Report #79). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota IRLD.
21.
GreenerJ.ThurlowM.GradenJ., & YsseldykeJ. (1982). The educational environment and students' responding times as a function of students' teacher-perceived academic competence (Research Report #86). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota IRLD.
22.
IsaacsL., & StennettR. (1980). The DISTAR reading program in junior opportunity classes: Phase IV—Positive results after three full years of instruction. Special Education in Canada, 54, 18–20.
23.
KaufmanM.AgardJ., & SemmelM. (In press). Mainstreaming: Learners and their environments.
24.
KehleT., & BarclayJ. (1979). Social characteristics of mentally handicapped students. Journal of Research and Development in Education, 12, 46–56.
25.
LarriveeB. (1982). Identifying effective teaching behavior for mainstreaming. Teacher Education and Special Education, 5, 2–6.
26.
LloydJ.CullinanD.HeinsE., & EpsteinM. (1980). Direct instruction. Effects on oral and written language comprehension. Learning Disability Quarterly, 3, 70–76.
27.
LloydJ.SaltzmanN., & KauffmanJ. (1981). Predictable generalization in academic learning as a result of preskills and strategy training. Learning Disability Quarterly, 4, 203–216.
28.
MaggsR. (1980). Direct instruction: Why it works. ASET Journal, 12, 7–12.
29.
MaierA. (1980). The effect of focusing on the cognitive processes of learning disabled children. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 13, 143–147.
30.
McGrawK. O. (1978). The detrimental effects of reward on performance: A literature review and a prediction model. In LepperM. A. & GreeneD. (Eds.), The hidden costs of reward: New perspectives on the psychology of human motivation. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlebaum.
31.
MedleyD. M. (1977). Teacher competence and teacher effectiveness: A review of process product research. Washington, DC: American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education.
32.
MeyenE. (1976). Developing instructional units (2nd ed.). Dubuque, IA: William C. Brown.
33.
MorsinkC. (1984). Teaching special needs students in regular classrooms. Boston: Little, Brown.
34.
RicheyD.MillerM., & LessmanJ. (1981). Resource and regular classroom behavior of learning disabled students. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 14, 163–166.
35.
RoweM. B. (1974). Relation of wait-time and rewards to the development of language, logic and fate control: Part II—rewards. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 11, 291–306.
36.
SherryS. (1979). Behavioral characteristics of educable mentally retarded, emotionally handicapped, and learning disabled students. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Florida, Gainesville.
37.
ShoresR.CegelkaP., & NelsonC. M. (1973). Competency based special education teacher training. Exceptional Children, 40, 192–197.
38.
SmithD. (1983). Classroom management: Approaches of regular education teachers and learning disability resource teachers. Psychology in the Schools, 20, 363–366.
39.
SoarR. S. (1968). Optimum teacher-pupil interaction for pupil growth. Educational Leadership Research Supplement, 26, 275–280.
40.
SoarR. S., & SoarR. M. (1979). Emotional climate and management. In PetersonP. L. & WalbergH. J. (Eds.), Research on teaching: Concepts, findings, and implications. Belmont, CA: McCutcheon.
41.
SoarR. S., & SoarR. M. (1983). Context effects in the teaching-learning process. In SmithD. C. (Ed.), Essential knowledge for beginning educators. Washington, DC: American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education and ERIC Clearinghouse for Teacher Education.
42.
SpauldingR., & SpauldingJ. (1982). A coping analysis schedule for educational settings (CASES). San Jose: San Jose State University.
43.
StallingsJ. A., & KaskowitzD. H. (1974). Follow through classroom observation evaluation. Menlo Park, CA: Stanford Research Institute.
44.
StephensE. (1980). Direct instruction research with moderately and severely retarded in Australia: A review. ASET Journal, 12, 41–46.
45.
StevensR., & RosenshineB. (1981). Advances in research on teaching. Exceptional Education Quarterly, 2, 1–9.
46.
SwansonL. (1982). Conceptual process as a function of age and enforced attention in learning-disabled children: Evidence for deficient rule learning. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 7, 152–160.
47.
ThomasR. (1985). View from the front line. Unpublished manuscript, University of Florida, Department of Special Education, Gainesville.
48.
ThurlowM.YsseldykeJ.GradenJ.GreenerJ., & MecklenbergC. (1982). Academic responding time for LD students receiving different levels of special education services (Research Report #78). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota IRLD.
49.
WangM., & BirchJ. (1984). Comparison of a full-time mainstreaming program and a resource room approach. Exceptional Children, 51, 33–40.
50.
YsseldykeJ., & AlgozzineB. (1982). Critical issues in special and remedial education. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
51.
YsseldykeJ.ThurlowM.GradenJ.WessonC.AlgozzineB., & DenoS. (1983). Generalizations from five years of research in assessment and decision making: University of Minnesota Institute. Exceptional Education Quarterly, 4(1), 75–94.
