Out of the Darkness and Into the Light: Students with Disabilities’ Perceptions and Perspectives on Writing in the Secondary Classroom

Jacqueline Mantz. M.S. Special Education

“Writing is not life, but I think it is sometimes a way back to life.” (king, On Writing)

Literature Review

Examine the history of special education Review academic performance of students with

disabilities Discuss Disability Theory and Reproduction Theory Review Student Voice Survey effective writing strategies for general

education and special education

History of Special Education

Until the 1970s, there were no federal laws that explicitly protected the rights of citizens with disabilities.

Previous to 1975, only one out of 5 children with disabilities attended public school.

History In 1975, the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA)

recognized children’s rights Attend public school Have the services they required free of charge Be educated along their non-disabled peers whenever

appropriate (Aron and Loprest, 2012).

History of Special Education

Students with disabilities were guaranteed a free and appropriate public education (FAPE) in the least restrictive environment (LRE).

The individual education plan (IEP), required by Congress, outlined the services for the student and upheld every student's FAPE. (Yell, Katsiyannis & Hazelkorn, 2007).

History of Special Education

By 2005, 6.7 million children were eligible for special education services.

Students with disabilities still have lower academic performance, less rigorous education expectations and higher dropout rates than their non-disabled peers (Aron & Loprest, 2012).

Lens of Disability Theory

In our view it is society which disables physically impaired people. Disability is something imposed on top of our impairments by the way we are unnecessarily isolated and excluded from full participation in society. Disabled people are therefore an oppressed group in society (UPIAS, 1976 p. 14).

Disability Theory

Individual and Medical View: Sees disability as a tragedy and as something that requires fixing

Social View: Looks at how society is constructed and the barriers facing individuals (Priestley, 1998)

Emancipatory Approach

The emancipatory approach then strives for people with disabilities to be valued participants and be represented in an accurate manner (Barnes & Mercer, 1997).

Reproduction Theory

Jean Anyon in Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work (1980) documented the visible and hidden ways in which the education system reproduced the existing social classes.

Pierre Bourdieu (1998) claimed that social reproduction was due to advantages based on the students’ social classes.

Student Voice

Many times when a person speaks about others, they begin to speak for others (Alcoff, 1992)

So the researcher may reinforce inequities in systems such as education (Humphries, 1994)

Educators may reinforce inequities in education rather than create meaningful change (Fielding, 2004)

Effective Strategies for All Writers (Graham & Perin, 2004)

Writing Strategies Summarization Collaborative Writing Specific Product Goals Word Processing Sentence-Combining Prewriting Inquiry Activities Process Writing Approach Study of Models Writing for Content Learning

Effective strategies for Students with Disabilities

Olinghouse et al. (2010) suggestions: Teachers should set simple and specific goals for

students’ tasks Teach basic and foundational skills Use the SRSD model in writing papers Reinforce the strengths of the students Explicitly teach sentence construction, paragraph

composition and editing Encourage struggling writers

Strategies to Support Students with Disabilities Post-Secondary

Post-Secondary supports needed within program for students with disabilities:

Diagnostic testing Academic advising Subject area tutoring Counseling (Hadley, 2007)

Reality

Colleges and universities do not always have all components in their programs (Brinckerhoff, 1996).

They have important things to say, and our society needs to hear them. They can tell us about schools that hurt instead of help, and

they can describe how children felt when they are accused of being stupid, lazy, or irresponsible. They can remind us that all students want to learn and can learn, though some learn differently. Above

all, they can teach us to celebrate difference instead of condemning it. (Summers, 1997 p. 100)

Overview of Research

Research designed to assess students with disabilities experiences, perceptions and perspectives of writing instruction in the secondary classroom both in general education and special education classes

Phenomenological research methodology as the goal is to understand the students with disabilities experiences in the secondary classroom setting in regards to writing (Seidman, 2013 &Van Manen, 1990)

Survey will be given to the students in order to have multiple sources of data (Patton, 1989)

References

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