The educational backgrounds of DIY musicians

In this qualitative, exploratory study we examined the music education backgrounds and current creative practices of thirteen self-described do-it-yourself (DIY) musicians from around the United States. A growing community of scholars within and outside of education have noted the relative inclusionary nature of DIY communities as compared to mainstream society. Several themes have emerged in DIY music participation literature, including social influences and isolation, and music making for self care and self expression. DIY music-making can offer a potentially liberating space for those marginalized by traditional schooling, providing students with social, educational and musical opportunities they could not find or participate in at school. Through an analysis of interviews and participation-observations of creative practices such as band rehearsals and improvisation sessions, we found that similar themes emerged in our own data. Implications for music education include the importance of more individualized instruction and opportunities for self care and self expression.

Individualizing Literacy Instruction in Co-Taught Classrooms Through a Station Teaching Model

The Project CALI (Content Area Literacy Instruction) instructional framework is designed to enhance reading comprehension for all students, those with disabilities as well as their typically developing peers, in inclusive co-taught middle school content-area classrooms. For students with and at-risk for disabilities, even well-designed, research-based, and whole-class instruction often leads to inadequate improvement in reading comprehension and thus learning of content material. In CALI, teachers use student data to determine which students need more support and targeted, individualized instruction, and by contrast, which students may benefit from opportunities to extend their learning with more challenging texts and student-managed work. This article provides guidance for designing and implementing customizable lessons using station-teaching to individualize instruction. The Project CALI student support model is the final instructional piece of the CALI instructional framework.

Students with mild intellectual disability engaging in proportions word problems

The researchers conducted a qualitative case study to describe the experiences of two seventh grade students with mild intellectual disability as they engaged in mathematics word problems involving proportions. The researchers analyzed student performance in large group settings and with individualized instruction to gain perspective on the students’ tendencies with challenging mathematics content. During the teaching sessions in this study, one of the participants initially struggled with the proportions word problems, but demonstrated success after teachers connected new information in the tasks to students’ long-term memory and utilized gestures and diagrams to facilitate the students’ processing of information. Another participant succeeded more easily with proportions word problems which, along with the success of the other participant, provides support that students with a mild intellectual disability can succeed with challenging topics, such as proportions word problems.

Digitized Education: A New Social Divide between Rural and Urban India

Digital learning is any instructional practice that effectively uses technology to strengthen a student’s learning experience. It entails high-quality instruction, at the same time allows students to access content through presentations and assessments. Feedback is also one of the elements, akin to classroom teaching. Digital learning’s prime benefit is that it offers opportunities to innumerable learners to learn anytime and anywhere. Yes, individualized instruction is possible through online learning as the learner can attend classes based on his readiness and interest and reach his full potential.

Individual Education Programs: What Music Teachers Need to Know When Working With Students With Disabilities

Since the original passing of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in 1975, students with disabilities are required to have services that are individualized to meet their needs as documented in their Individual Education Program, or IEP. These documents can often be long and determining the implications for students in music classrooms can be difficult. This article details the history of Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, what is required to be included in the IEP, and what music teachers need to know to be able to apply goals, adaptions, and individualized instruction from students’ IEPs in music classrooms.

Mining Instruction From Student Mistakes: Conducting an Error Analysis for Mathematical Problem Solving

The mathematics performance of students identified with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) is poor. Students identified with EBD require individualized instruction aligned with their unique academic and behavioral needs. One way that teachers can efficiently identify core mathematics deficits and provide individualized instruction is through the effective use of error analysis. In this article, we describe how error analysis can be used to individualize mathematics instruction for students with EBD, providing a case scenario as an exemplar.