Abstract

Vignette: Mr. Fischman, a veteran middle school teacher, teaches seventh grade social studies, and this is the first year he has teamed with the special education teacher to teach an inclusive social studies class. As Mr. Fischman thinks about his upcoming unit on World War I, he begins to wonder how he and the special educator are going to be able to meet the needs of all the students in their classroom to help them learn about this important part of American history.

The class is made up of 30 students. Nine of them are English Language Learners (ELLs) with varying levels of English proficiency, ranging from beginner to advanced. With varying levels of English proficiency, there will be varying levels of reading and writing abilities. Four of the ELLs also have disabilities. Nancy and Marco have specific learning disabilities in reading and writing. Ricardo has a speech impairment, and Dina has multiple disabilities, including Cerebral Palsy and ADHD. Most of the ELLs in Mr. Fischman’s class speak Spanish; however, Kadijah and Ma’ruf do not. They have had very little exposure to English, and their first language is Arabic, a language with a completely different alphabet.

Mr. Fischman thinks about how he is going to make sure that all of his students can access the material presented. He also considers how he is going to assess all the students on what they have learned. Another concern he must address is how to help the students be successful on the school district’s high-stakes standardized tests that they all are expected to take.