Teachers’ Colleges of Jamaica

Bachelor in Education

e Title: Teaching Students with Special Needs in General Education Classrooms

Specialization: Primary/Secondary Education
Course Code:
Credit Hours: 30hrs

Course Description: 

 This course seeks to provide teachers in the general education classroom with knowledge and
skills and disposition, needed to working  with students with special learning needs in their
classrooms. Student-Teachers will be exposed to the characteristics of various exceptionalities as
well as strategies for modification, accommodation and instruction.  The course also explores
collaboration with parents and professional in the education of children with special needs.

CONTENT

UNIT 1:  INTRODUCTION AND  OVERVIEW 5 hours

Students will be able to :

1. Identify and describe various factors that contribute to diversity in the classroom
2. Differentiate between the terms disability, handicap, and impairment 
3. Use appropriate terminology when referring to persons with special needs
4. Elaborate  the rights of persons with disabilities in Jamaica
5. Outline  the tenets of the National Disability Act/ Policy
6. Discuss the function of the Special Education Unit in the Ministry of Education
7. Outline  key  principles  governing  Inclusion

CONTENT 
A. Diversity: Understanding diversity in the class- ESL, Cultural Deprivation , Slow
learners/learning difficulties, gender, disabilities 
B.  Identifying Exceptionalities- 
 Definition of terms - impairment, disabilities, handicap, exceptionalities, at-risk, 
 Person first language  
C. The Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Jamaica
D. The National Disability Act/ Policy
E. The Special Education Unit in the Ministry of Education
F. The Practice of Inclusion

 UNIT  2: EXCEPTIONALITIES IN THE JAMAICAN CLASSROOMS 12 Hours

Students will  be able to :
1. Define various exceptionalities
2. Describe indicators that may suggest that a child may have a particular exceptionality
3. Identify characteristics of learners with different exceptionalities
4. Describe accommodations and modifications that can be used to facilitate learners with
different exceptionalities in the classroom
CONTENT 

Definitions, Chracteristics, accommodations/modifications for the following:

     A. Cognitive - Learning Disabilities

    Intellectual Disabilities
                Gifted /Talented
B. Behaviour – Emotional/ Behaviour Disorders, Attention Deficit Disorders, Autism    
Spectrum Disorder

C. Sensory –  Visual Impairments, Hearing loss

D. Physical – Physical Disabilities, Health Impairment

UNIT 3    STRATEGIES FOR LEARNERS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS (9 hours )

Students will be able to : 

1. Explore the principles of Universal Design for Learning
2. Analyze a given skill
3. Demonstrate various teaching approaches used with students with special needs
4. Develop differentiated lessons which accommodate the needs of various learners
5. Explain  the purpose, components and process of developing an IEP 
6. Participate in the development of an IEP

A. Universal Design for Learning

B. Teaching Approaches

 Direct Instruction
 Multisensory Teaching
 Differentiated Instruction – ( Content, Process, Product, Environment)
 Task Analysis/ error analysis
 Peer Tutoring/Classwide Peer Tutoring
C. Individualized Education Plans
 Components
 Function
 Process
 D. Accommodations for Assessment ( extended time, breaks). 

 UNIT 4 COLLABORATION AND CONSULTATION 4 hours

Learning Outcomes
Students should be able to :
1. Evaluate different models of collaboration in inclusive settings
2. Describe different ways of collaborating with families of children with special needs
3. Demonstrate how to effectively conduct a parent conference with a parent of a child with
special learning needs
4. Describe the role of the parent in the IEP process
5. Explain the referral process
6. Generate a list of agencies which provide services to children with special needs in
Jamaica

A. Models of Collaboration (Lead teacher model, station teaching, parallel teaching,

alternative teaching, tag team/co-teaching)
B. Working with families- Parent Conferences, telephone calls, written messages, IEP
meetings
C. Referral Process ( pre-referral, referral, identification, eligibility, development of IEP,
implementation of IEP, Evaluation 

TEACHING METHODS 

 Videos (Documentary/movies)  
 Discussions
 Role play
 Presentations
 Symposiums
 Cooperative Learning  (creating IEP’s, mock Parent Conference)
 Observations in Special Schools/Inclusive Settings

Assessment:  
100% Course Work

In-class Test on Unit  2 20%

Case Study   30%
50%( Reflections on class activities/movies, observation report, strategies, Directory of
Services, Differentiated Lesson   Plans,  IEP samples, accommodatios/ modifications,  glossary
of terms, Referral Process)
Recommended Readings

Tom E.C. Smith, Edward Pollaway, James Patton, Carol Dowdy.; (2012) Teaching Students with
Special Needs in Inclusive Settings. Pearson Education

Heward, W. L (2009). Exceptional Children: An Introduction to Special Education. (ninth

edition) Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall 

Smith, D. D. (2010). Introduction to Special Education: Making a Difference.

(7 edition ). Boston: Allyn and Bacon
th

Turnbull, A., Turnbull, R, Shank, M & Leal D. (2009). Exceptional lives: Special Education in
today's schools. (6th Ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ

Daniel P. Hallahan ,James M. Kauffman , Paige C. Pullen (2011), Exceptional Learners: An

Introduction to Special Education (12th Edition) Prentice Hall

Mary Dixon, Barbara Matalon (1999)

Exceptional Students in the Classroom 

Recommended Videos
-Like Stars on Earth

-A Smile as Big as the Moon

You Tube videos: www. Youtube.com

 Inclusion: A Special Education Dilemma ( Part 1-4)
 The Inclusion Breakthrough: Practical Ways to Include Students with Special Needs
 What is it like to have dyslexia?
 What is Intellectual Disability?

Recommended Websites

http://nichcy.org/  National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities

 http://www.cec.sped.org/  Council For Exceptional Children