In this article, Participation of Students with Moderate to Severe Disabilities in the General Curriculum: The Effects of the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction, the main aim of the study was to find out how Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI) affects the performance of the children with varying degrees of disabilities. That is, moderate to severe intellectual disabilities. The study’s main objective was to find out whether there is variation among the group on this process of learning through this model.
This study is based on the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) which insists on the need for the students to participate in the curriculum as much as possible. This is what the study wanted to verify.
The authors use current information from past literature in an attempt to address their problem. For instance, the authors recognized previous studies that have been done on this field that indicated that if Individualized Education Programs were integrated into schools, this can increase the expectations of the teachers from their students (Agran et al, 2006, p.1). The study has used the past literature in identifying the gaps in this field which requires filling. They have identified that the past study rarely paid the necessary attention to how the instructional process affects the outcome.
The study has identified several measures that have been applied as an effort to ensure that students with disabilities benefit from the general curriculum (Agran et al, 2006, p.2). It has also recognized the importance of the research to the community. For instance, it has recognized the effect of SDLMI on community-living functional skills (Agran et al, 2006, p.1). The study has raised concerns about the effect of applying the SDLMI method in the general curriculum with students with varying degrees of disability.
To verify the hypothesis, this study experimented on students with different range of intellectual disabilities. However, this sample suffers some limitations. First, the sample is not representative. It includes two males and one female. There is a need to have a more representative sample to avoid bias in the final results.
In this research, an experiment was carried out to show whether SDLMI affects the performance of the students with moderate to severe intellectual disabilities. The first student was Mary, who from middle school and was an eighth-grader. She received level two supports. She was therefore entitled to an associate in general education classes. The amount of support that was given depended on the level in which a student was. That is, level 3 got more support than level 1. Mary was subjected to social studies, science, and physical education classes. Mary reacted by refusing from participating in in-class activities.
The second student involved in the experiment was Dan. He was in the eighth grade. Dan was exposed in a speech, band, geography and physical education class. He was categorized in a class of students with a moderate level of disability. He suffered from attention deficit attention disorder. Dan received level two support services. Dan’s general education teachers were in close contact with his resource teacher who reviewed his assignments to ensure his understanding. On the other hand, Lee was in the seventh grade. He had a problem with interacting with others. He also had to be supervised very closely to ensure that he keeps in line with what was required. Lee rarely interacted with fellow students.
Mary was exposed to a physical science classroom. There were lab stations in the room which were situated in three walls of the four. Teachers supplied the students with these places. The lab groups were composed of two four or five students. It was observed that Mary received very little assistance from peers (Agran et al, 2006, p. 4).
For Dan, his class was set withy typical rows. He sat at the back of the room and received assistance from the associate.
Lee, on the other hand, was exposed in a lab which had several stations. Lee was situated kin a small area in the room that had a sofa and textbooks. He was put in certain groups of five, four or three students depending on the activity in hand. It was observed that Lee was assisted by other students.
The experiment indicated that students with moderate to severe intellectual disabilities tended to withdraw from the rest as they considered themselves different from other general education students (Agran et al, 2006, p.3).
An intervention I, SDLMI was used in the investigation. This was applied so that the students can major participants in their lives. This involved training the students on how to develop their problem-solving mechanisms independently. It was aimed at helping them in forming goals and how to evaluate their performance in their effort to meet these goals.
There was also intervention II. In this intervention, there was a need to make observations on the long term effects of training. This included perpetual observations that took place either one or two times a week. All the students were able to complete the third phase. In this intervention, students were accessed on their track in achieving their desired goals.
The graphs and tables in this study have summarized the findings and observations of the study. They indicate that student-directed learning can significantly affect access of students with moderate to severe disabilities to the general curriculum. This is verified by the tables on the findings. The study has significantly contributed to this area by identifying the fact that children with moderate to severe disabilities acquire varying academic skills directed by the standards. The study has therefore proposed the adoption of the self-regulated learning procedures in children with disabilities.
One of the most interesting things about this article is that it has clearly described the process followed in the research. This is of great importance to the readers since it is possible to conduct a similar experiment to verify the results using the same procedure. This is one of the requirements in research. The research has also given a relevant summary of the findings and conclusion. This has provided the reader with the necessary ideas which the study has generated.
In conclusion, this article has clearly described the research conducted in verifying its hypothesis. However, there is a need to improve the sample selection process to avoid bias.
Reference
Agran, M. et al. (2006). Participation of Students with Moderate to Severe Disabilities in the General Curriculum: The Effects of the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction.