Models of classroom ecology: Understanding the context of learning for high school students with learning disabilities.

摘要

The concept of least restrictive environment (LRE), which has been the basis for educating students with disabilities since the Education for the Handicapped Act was passed in 1975, guarantees students the right to be educated in a setting most like the settings of their peers without disabilities with minimal supports. For many students with learning disabilities, the LRE has been a combination of general education and special education classrooms. A steady rise in the number of students identified as having learning disabilities in the past 30 years has led to a body of research analyzing the effectiveness of both the general education and special education environments for these students.;Findings from this body of work have been more or less equivocal. Some studies have found that the special education classroom has the most positive effect on the achievement of students with learning disabilities while other studies have concluded that the general education classroom is the most effective environment for these students. However, most of these studies have not addressed curricular and instructional issues such as what types of instructional activities occur or what kind of curriculum is being emphasized. As a result, it has not been possible to describe the contexts in which teaching and learning occur so as to accurately understand the experience of the students with learning disabilities.;Using qualitative methodology and multiple data sources, this study investigated the learning environments of a selected group of high school students with learning disabilities in both general and special education environments. The purpose of the study was to create a portrait of these learning environments, describing them in detail (including instructional methodology, instructional activities, teaching techniques, and curriculum) to discover the variables which most affect the educational experiences of these students.;Findings revealed ten major variables related to the experiences of the students with learning disabilities in this study. Using these variables, models of classroom ecology for each of the learning environments are presented and analyzed to explain the experiences of these students. These findings underscore the transactional nature of learning---that learning occurs in the context of a classroom community and that the variables that affect students' experiences must be analyzed within the context of the classroom ecologies in which students and teachers interact. Recommendations for future classroom ecological research are made.