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Research Article Assignment

Research Article Assignment

Lauren Tipton
EDU 482
Geneva College
Dr. Mack
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Research Article Assignment
The article, “Planning Supports for Students with Intellectual Disability in General

Education Classrooms” was written by a small group of scholars led by James Thompson. As I

was reading through the abstracts of various articles, I was struck by how data-focused this

article was. They used input from 33 educations in 6 schools from three different states to paint a

picture of what inclusive classrooms and individualized supports for students with disabilities

truly look like. To me, it seemed like a very valuable resource going forward, as I try to get a

gage for the classrooms I will very soon be entering as an educator myself.

The article began by explaining the various participants in the study, how they collected

data, the data analysis procedures. They then described the results of their three research

questions and analyzed the six themes that surfaced. Following that, they discussed the results

further, and offered some more practical advice and some strategies for breaking barriers.

The first research question was, “How do educators currently plan, arrange, and

implement supports for students with ID in general education settings and what information do

they value in this process?” (Thompson, 32) The first theme they highlighted was that educators

did not really used a structured process for their, “planning, arranging, and implementing

supports; current practices are mostly informal and are context-and-educator dependent.” Most

educators said that they when they did have the time, they had quick, informal meetings. In

actuality, this looked like catching one another before or after school in the hallway or sending

text messages or emails. The second theme was, “when identifying, arranging, and implementing

supports, educators expressed a desire for comprehensive information on both the student and the

general education context. Teachers expressed a desire for more information about students’

strengths, weaknesses, needs, current skill sets, and behavioral patterns, as well as, “goals as

identified by educators, family members, and the student.” (Thompson, 33) The third theme was
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Research Article Assignment
that educators perceived SIS-C assessment information as an important and useful tool when

planning supports for students.

The second research question was, “What are the challenges educators encounter in

planning, arranging, and implementing supports for students with ID in general education

settings?” (Thompson, 34) The theme they found that specifically addressed it was that educators

found the most common barrier to including students with ID in general education settings were

time, resources, and personel. This included a lack of time for collaborative planning within

special education teams and the general education teachers.

The last research question was, “What are educator’s attitudes toward suing s systematic

problem-solving process to plan, arrange, and implement supports for students with ID in general

education settings?” The first theme that arose in response to that question were that educators

were supportive of using, “systematic problem-solving processes as the basic for planning,

arranging and implementing supports,” (Thompson, 36) though they had different opinions about

actual implementation. The second theme was teacher’s expressing a need for resources and

more technical assistance if they were to implement those problem-solving processes.

As I said in the introduction, I think that this article gives great insight into the realistic

situation I will find myself in as a general education teacher. Despite my expectations, there may

not be many resources or support available to me for the purpose of creating a healthy inclusive

classroom. Because of this, there is all the more need for me to find a way to make that a

priority. This article gave me a sense of urgency to find helpful strategies for inclusive

classrooms, as well as creating a relationship with my coteaches that benefits our students.

This article on inclusivity in the classroom, from a secular point of view, is essentially

how to create a welcoming “hospitable” space for students with and without disabilities.
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Research Article Assignment
However, as the article on hospitality, “Hospitable Classrooms: Biblical Hospitality and in

Inclusive Education” explained, the term hospitality in the secular world is often synonymous

with “generic friendliness.” (Anderson, 15) The article I read showed that despite educators’ best

intentions and hopes for inclusive classrooms, we often fail to truly support and engage students

with disabilities on a beneficial level. Educators often do not have the time or resources to invest

into their inclusive classrooms, and administrators fail to make it a priority. However, “inclusion

mandated by law…cannot guarantee that people will experience the kinds of human connections

and rootedness that give us a safe and meaning-filled place in the world” (Pohl, 1999, 78) In

light of all of this, we as teachers ought to begin shaping our classroom from a place of empathy,

Christ-like love, and understanding. I think that one of the most helpful points from the article,

was that we should practice our hospitality as if Jesus were the recipient. (Thompson, 16)

Because it will not always be easy to be patient with every student in our classroom, some will

seem beyond help, and some will be unresponsive or even hostile to it. But, if we hold the love

of Christ in our hearts for our students, and meditate on the Word of God, we will see that

Scripture is clear that God’s hospitality likewise declares His “concern for justice, particularly in

the case of those who tend to be marginalized.” (Thompson, 16) So while it will not always be

convenient, easy, or cheap, we as educators must find a desire to create a truly welcoming

classroom that is inclusive of, and beneficial for, all students with disabilities and without. And

our hope will continually be that in this, they will see and feel the love of Christ.
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Research Article Assignment

Be sure the article is within the last 5 years

 Then, write a paper (approximately 2 pages; double spaced) including the
following:
 Why you selected this topic
 Summarize the findings of the article
 How this will influence your teaching or teaching position
 Add a cover page and APA formatted citation at the end
 Include a link and upload your article title in e-learning’s DB
 Relate the conclusion to Biblical Hospitality 
 Paste this entire document at the end of your paper following the
reference(s)
 
Focus – Did your paper have a main idea and stick to it? 1  2  3 4  5 6  
Content – Did you include details from the article, 1  2  3 4  5 6
summarized, in your own words? Did you answer all
required elements listed above while keeping the length
appropriate?
Style – Did you use a variety of words and sentence 1  2  3 4  5 6
styles?
Organization – Did you include at least 3 paragraphs?  1  2  3 4  5 6
Did you use transition words?  Did the order make
sense?
Mechanics – Are your sentence formations correct?  Is 1  2  3 4  5  6 
your spelling correct?
TOTAL POSSIBLE POINTS = 30