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Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA)

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Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA)

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What teachers must know in order to effectively adhere to the basic guidelines as listed under IDEIA:
-A child with a disability may not be deprived of a free, and appropriate education
-States must identify and track the number of students with disabilities and make concrete plans to meet their needs
-Students must be taught in the least restrictive environment
-Students suspected of having a disability must receive a nondiscriminatory evaluation
-Guarantees due process in that everyone involved in the students education gets a say in proceedings regarding special education services and parents are appropriately notified
-Guarantees confidentiality of records
-Using person-first language

(Vaughn et al., 2018)

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The Importance of Understanding Cultural Characteristics 

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The Importance of Understanding Cultural Characteristics 

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Teaching styles often do not match with the learning styles of students with diverse cultures and backgrounds. That why it is absolutely vital for teachers to understand students cultural characteristics.

Cultural characteristics to consider include:

-Space: What degree of personal distance do students use when interacting with others?
-Time: How do students perceive time?
-Dress and Food: How does dress differ for different ages, genders, and social classes? What forms of dress are considered appropriate?
-Rituals and ceremonies: What holidays do students celebrate? How do students show respect?
-Gender roles: What is expected from girl vs boys?
-Work: What responsibilities do the students have outside of school?
-Goals: How much value do they place on education? What careers/work are considered to be prestigious?
-Communication:  What roles do certain language conventions play in communication?
-Interaction: Cooperation vs competition?
-Behavior: What is considered to be appropriate behavior in a school setting?
-Family and community: What are appropriate/effective ways to include family members in the classroom?

(Vaughn et al., 2018)

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Simply providing all students with the exact same instruction creates an environment that favors some, while putting others at a massive disadvantage. Students have a large variety of complicated needs, and in order to truly have equity, we must make appropriate accommodations to meet those needs. When working to create an equitable environment it is important to consider all areas of diversity including race, social class, sexual orientation, disability (Vaughn et al., 2018).

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The overrepresentation of minority students in special education programs is working to be rectified by programs such as RTI. The first tier of RTI consists of monitoring students while using best practices in a general education classroom. If you decide that a student is still having difficulties despite the research-backed instruction, then they may need to move on to tier two. Tier two typically consists of small group instruction meant to supplement the general education curriculum. After about 10 weeks of tier two instruction, if students are found to have not made adequate progress, they will likely move on to tier three. Tier three instruction is in smaller groups/individual, it is done more often, and for longer periods of time (Vaughn et al., 2018).

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One way that I will implement what I have learned in this course into my classroom is by implementing the dimensions of a multicultural education into my curriculum.
1. Content integration: A variety of ethnicities and cultures are naturally infused into everyday curriculum.
2. Knowledge Construction: Teaching students about how cultural perceptions, frames of references, and biases effect that way that knowledge is constructed.
3. Prejudice reduction: Dispelling misconceptions and stereotypes about various cultural groups.
4. Equity Pedagogy: How teachers address different learning styles and make accommodations to help facilitate the learning of students of various backgrounds.
5. An empowering school cultural and social structure: Examining a schools potential biases and making concrete steps to overcome them.
(Vaughn et al., 2018).

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Access Google Sites with a personal Google account or Google Workspace account (for business use).

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One way that I plan to implement multicultural curriculum into my classroom is through the contributions approach. This approach involves integrating diverse historical figures and cultural artifacts into the curriculum. This approach has it's weaknesses, but it is a great way to introduce some historical figures that are often overlooked in mainstream curriculum. This approach gives students the chance to learn about influential people who come from similar backgrounds as them. This approach has the potential to be incredibly engaging and even inspiring for students (Vaughn et al., 2018).

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One way that I will work to make sure that learning is relevant and effective for students of diverse backgrounds is by implementing culturally responsive teaching practices. This includes:
-Maintaining high expectations for all students
-Developing a knowledge of diverse cultures
-Small group instruction
-Having a positive perspective regarding students families
-Giving students time to participate in and lead discussions
-Having cultural and linguistic sensitivity
(Vaughn et al., 2018)