Target, Act, Graph (TAG): Teachers Empowering Classroom Resource Personnel in Monitoring Student Progress

This article provides teachers in rural settings with suggestions on how to engage classroom resource personnel (i.e., volunteers, instructional assistants) in monitoring students' achievement. The target, act, and graph (TAG) strategy offers rural special educators ways to empower classroom resource persons through training and use of the TAG Form. The TAG Form provides a comprehensive and easy-to-use snapshot of learner's needs, a data-collection reporting section, and a graphing tool. The three-step TAG Form implementation process is suggested for rural special educators' engagement of classroom resource personnel in recording and graphing the progress of rural students with exceptionalities towards their educational goals.

A RETROSPECTIVE: DESIGNING A CAREER DEVELOPMENT PREPARATION COURSE IN A MANDATORY COOP ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM

In the 2012-2013 academic year McMaster’s University School of Engineering Technology (SET) introduced a Professional Workplace Practices course (GENTECH 2PW3) within the Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) Program. The course uses an experiential learning approach to instill key employability skills required to successfully participate and progress in today’s dynamic engineering and technology organizations. It is a second year academic prerequisite before a student can commence the B.Tech Program mandatory 12 month coop work experience. The course is delivered and supported by a multidisciplinary team that includes faculty members, career development practitioner, who serve as instructional assistants, and the McMaster Engineering Career and Coop Services (ECCS) department. For the purposes of knowledge sharing, this paper will discuss the GENTECH 2PW3 course structure, delivery, administration, and outcome results for 470 students from the last three cohort years.

Reducing Reading Failure for Kindergarten Urban Students

Six instructional assistants taught the Early Reading Intervention (ERI) curriculum to 38 at-risk kindergarten students, and 32 nonrisk students served as comparisons. Student risk was determined based on performance on the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills subtests of Nonsense Word Fluency, Letter Naming Fluency, and Phoneme Segmentation Fluency (PSF). The Word Attack (WA) and Letter-Word Identification (LWID) subtests of the Woodcock–Johnson III Tests of Achievement were used to confirm risk status and also as pre- and posttest measures. Treatment students received between 6.85 and 13.70 hr of instruction, with varying degrees of treatment quality. Multiple linear regression was used to analyze the amount of variance in gain scores that could be explained by participation in ERI, treatment quality, and treatment duration. Results showed WA and LWID gains with large effect sizes for treatment students. Findings for treatment quality and duration were mixed, without clear indications of their effects on gain scores.

Research, Reflection, Practice: December 2001

During the 1999–2000 school year, the teaching staff, including teachers and instructional assistants, at Jefferson Elementary School, Jefferson, Oregon, engaged in an action research project to investigate how student interviews would influence the way that teachers present mathematics in the classroom. For the purpose of this article, action research is defined as the process of asking a worthwhile research question, collecting credible evidence to answer the question, and using the evidence to guide further improvement in a school. Action research is similar to traditional research in that it embodies a desire to inquire and understand and a commitment to use data to guide improvement efforts. Unlike traditional research, which is usually conducted by university researchers to construct general theories, action research is conducted by school personnel to build local knowledge. Although action research can yield results that can be generalized outside the local school setting, the outcomes of action research are primarily directed toward meeting the needs of children in a school through changes made by the school's teacher-researchers.

Professional Skills for Serving Students Who Use AAC in General Education Classrooms

The roles of school-based professionals serving students with augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) needs are changing in light of the inclusion movement. Focus group research methodology was used to investigate professional skills regarded by educational team members as necessary to support students who used AAC in general education classrooms. Educational teams consisted of speech-language pathologists, classroom teachers, inclusion support teachers, instructional assistants, and parents. All valued the ability to work collaboratively, provide access to the core curriculum, cultivate social supports, maintain and operate the AAC system, and create classroom structures to educate heterogeneous groups of students. Implications are discussed for AAC service delivery and the professional preparation of speech-language pathologists serving as members of AAC teams in inclusive classrooms.

Helping or Hovering? Effects of Instructional Assistant Proximity on Students with Disabilities

This study presents data on the effects of the proximity of instructional assistants on students with multiple disabilities who are placed in general education classrooms. Based on extensive observations and interviews, analyses of the data highlighted eight major findings of educational significance, all related to proximity of instructional assistants. Categories of findings and discussion include (a) interference with ownership and responsibility by general educators, (b) separation from classmates, (c) dependence on adults, (d) impact on peer interactions, (e) limitations on receiving competent instruction, (f) loss of personal control, (g) loss of gender identity, and (h) interference with instruction of other students. The article concludes with implications for practice related to policy development, training, classroom practices, and research.

A Descriptive Study of Instructional Assistants in Rural and Remote Eastern Oregon: Implications for Professional Development

This study focuses on the personal characteristics and background of instructional assistants, their job status, and their professional development in a rural and remote area of eastern Oregon. A model career ladder for instructional assistants is presented.