Ashley Kirkland

Intellectual Disability Strategy

Name of the Article: Inclusion of Students With an Intellectual Disability in the General
Education Classroom With the Use of Response Cards

Population: Students with an intellectual disability.

Objective: Students with intellectual disabilities will use response cards to respond to questions
during lessons in a general education classroom.

Grade Level: 3rd grade

Procedure:

Recently, it has been a major discussion to include children with disabilities in a general
education classroom. However, it can be very difficult for teachers to find ways to include
students with disabilities into the general education classroom. Once the teacher finds a way that
can include students with disabilities into the general education classroom, it can be very
beneficial to all in the classroom. The following strategies are ways to help students with
intellectual disabilities to succeed in the general education classroom.

One of the main issues teachers have while incorporating students with disabilities into
a general education classroom is the fact that students with disabilities are far less responsive. A
strategy to help with student participation for students with intellectual disabilities is, the use of
response cards. Response cards can be used for both the student with a disability and the students
without a disability. Response cards are answers that can be held up in class and can be in the
form of dry erase boards, preprinted cards, etc. The setting of this study was in a third-grade
general education classroom, with the desks in a horseshoe shape, on a lesson about science and
social studies. Students would hold up different response cards when the teacher asked a
question. This allowed every student in the class to answer a question so the teacher knew where
each student stood academically. The author states, “The overall mean active student response
during hand-raising phases was 7.40%. Specifically, the mean overall ASR per student was
9.76% during hand raising and 3.93% during return to hand raising. In contrast, the overall mean
active student response in both response card phases was 100%” (Clarke 39). This statistic
proves that all students were participating with response cards, whereas only a few students
answered questions when hands were raised. Overall, this was a great study that drastically
improved student participation for students with intellectual disabilities and for students without
intellectual disabilities.
Possible Adaptations: If I were to change anything about this lesson it would be the setting. The
author stated that the students’ desks were in the shape of a horseshoe. Because of this, some
students could see other students’ answers and might just copy down their answers. I would
arrange the desks in a way that the students could not really see their classmates’ answers.

Reflection: Overall, I really enjoyed this lesson. I think it is great to incorporate students with
intellectual disabilities into the general education classroom. The response cards seemed to really
enhance students’ participation. I remember using response cards when I was in grade school and
I really enjoyed it. When I am a teacher I would love to incorporate some kind of response cards
into my classroom.

Research: The author states that the strategy of response cards works because it allows the
teacher to give quick individual feedback based on students’ answers. This strategy actively gets
students with intellectual disabilities to participate as well.

Reference

Clarke, L. S., Haydon, T., Bauer, A., & Epperly, A. C. (2016). Inclusion of Students With an
Intellectual Disability in the General Education Classroom With the Use of Response
Cards. Preventing School Failure, 60(1), 35-42. doi:10.1080/1045988X.2014.966801