Teaching High School Students with Learning and Emotional Disabilities in Inclusion Science Classrooms: A Case Study of Four Teachers' Beliefs and Practices

In an effort to provide a fair and appropriate education for all, educational reformers and policy makers expect the majority of the 5.8 million school age children identified with disabilities to learn science in general education classrooms whenever possible (Caseau & Norman, 1997; IDEA, 1997). For this paper, students with disabilities [SWD] consist of high school students identified with non-severe learning or emotional needs who receive special education services in the schools. These students have the cognitive, emotional, and social capacities to construct scientific knowledge, participate in scientific investigations, and apply scientific reasoning for problem solving and decision making inherent to the secondary science curriculum. Students with learning and emotional disabilities comprise the majority of all students eligible for special education services in public schools according to the U.S. Department of Education (1996). Science education reform documents such as Project 2061: Science for all Americans (American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1990), the National Science Education Standards (National Research Council, 1996), and Scope, Sequence, and Coordination (National Science Teachers Association, 1996) clearly identify science teachers as key in developing scientific literacy for all students. The success of these educational reforms will be determined in large measure by the practices and beliefs of general education science teachers who often teach in inclusion classrooms enrolling both SWD and students without disabilities. Approximately 11% of all K-12 students have an identified disability and most of these students are included within general education science classes (Norman, Caseau, & Stefanick, 1998). Yet, relatively few of the general education science teachers in inclusion classrooms have been prepared to teach SWD (Cawley, 1994; Pyle & Butera, 1997). Although there have been reported successes in teaching science to SWD (Jakupcak, Rushton, Jakupcak, & Lundt, 1996; Wielert & Sheldon, 1984), there remains a clear need for research to determine best teaching practices for these learners (Bursuck, Polloway, Plante, & Epstein, 1996; Kearney & Durand, 1992; Norman, Caseau, & Stefanick, 1998; Patton, Polloway, & Cronin, 1986). In particular, there is a need to examine adaptations that take place for SWD in general education, or inclusion, science classes (McIntosh, Vaughn, Schumm, Hagger, & Lee, 1993). This paper begins to address this need by examining the practices and beliefs of four experienced high school science teachers who teach SWD in inclusion classrooms. Teaching High School Students with Learning and Emotional Disabilities in Inclusion Science Classrooms: A Case Study of Four Teachers’ Beliefs and Practices