Project IDEAL — Teacher Education for Inclusive Education

Teacher Education for Inclusive Education

Statewide Need
Federal law states that schools must teach students in the least restrictive environment possible and encourages inclusion of students with developmental disabilities in regular classrooms with necessary supports. Many find it difficult to switch gears to teach differently than they have been taught. Future teachers, administrators, and other school personnel who begin their careers knowing how to teach and co-teach diverse groups of students effectively will be better prepared to meet expectations of federal law. Barriers that prevent or interfere with all students being taught in inclusive classrooms need to be addressed and eliminated.

Project Goal
Establish a replicable model for a teacher preparation program that promotes the education of all children in their local schools with peers their same age in classrooms with appropriate supports. Develop and distribute information about the program to other teacher preparation programs. Implement in-service trainings for groups that include practice for special education teachers, regular education teachers, and school administrators to demonstrate methods of teaching children with diverse backgrounds, abilities, and learning styles.

Project Summary
Project IDEAL (Informing and Designing Education for All Learners) developed a fully accessible website with teaching videos, PowerPoint presentations, and classroom activities for pre-service teachers and school administrators. Sample quizzes and resource lists with other contacts and materials were included for each teaching module.

The development of a website with easy-to-disseminate electronic materials allowed Project IDEAL to reach more educators and programs throughout Texas and the nation. Project IDEAL staff and Planning Advisory Committee (PAC) members presented to educators, parents, and general and special education teachers across Texas. Presentations were also made to teacher preparation programs, including at Angelo State University, the University of North Texas, the University of Texas of the Permian Basin, and Texas Tech Highland Lakes and Fredericksburg satellite campuses.

Project IDEAL had its modules infused into the curriculums of the certification programs for special education teachers at the Texas Tech Highland Lakes and Fredericksburg satellite campuses. Their approach included online and face-to-face course instruction. Education Service Center, Region 4 used several of the teaching modules to help train school administrators through its alternative certification program. Angelo State University and the University of Texas of the Permian Basin also requested to utilize the Project IDEAL website and began to develop additional teaching materials based on the model program.

Project IDEAL staff, students, and PAC members advocated for a fully accessible website, helping the College of Education at Texas Tech University (TTU) become the first college within the TTU System in Lubbock to establish a fully accessible website. Students with visual and hearing impairments were paid to review the newly designed College of Education website through project funding.

• Impact
  
  • TTU College of Education established a fully accessible Project IDEAL website
    • Project IDEAL website received 239,895 page views
  • Project modules were infused into curriculum for the new certification programs for special education teachers at two institutions and through an ESC4 alternative certification program