Teacher Attitudes on Including Special Education Students in Accelerated Grade Eight Scienc

There is a large body of research focused on tracking and ability grouping over the past decades (Oakes, 1985; Burris & Welner, 2008). Tracking, sometimes referred to as ability grouping, is defined as sorting or grouping students by ability into separate homogeneous classes based on achievement (Loveless, 2009) in order to shape the pace and rigor of the curriculum to meet the learning needs of all students (Hallinan, 1994; Burris, 2008). The inequities of tracking are well documented: white students and students with high socio-economic status (SES) are more often placed in honors and high-rigor classes and should, therefore be better prepared for the rigors of college, while low SES, special education students, and students of color are more often placed in low-rigor classes and are ill prepared for the rigors of college (Oakes, 1985; Burris & Welner, 2008).;Considerably less attention has been paid to the deleterious effects of tracking on special education students, particularly as it relates to their course taking in grade eight science. A survey of 127 school districts on Long Island (2016, 2017 NYS School Report Card data). revealed that when middle schools offer the high-track accelerated science courses in grade eight, Regents Earth Science or Regents Living Environment, special education students are often not able to access those high-track accelerated courses, even while the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires that public schools provide special education students with access to the general education curriculum in the least restrictive environment (LRE). This dissertation research was conducted as a civil rights-based commitment to inform the body of knowledge on the experience of special education students in middle school science.;The purpose of this dissertation research was to: 1) to investigate the attitudes of teachers on including special education students in science eighth in three acceleration settings: (a) criteria-based acceleration; (b) self-selection acceleration; and, (c) universal acceleration, and 2) what instructional strategies do teachers use when special education students are present. The themes that emerged from the interviews included: (a) self-select and universal talk, (b) criteria talk, and, (c) talk about instructional strategies.;The findings from these interviews reveals the story of committed and passionate science educators and special educators having vastly different attitudes about acceleration for special education students and employing different instructional strategies in their classes, depending on the acceleration setting in which they teach. The research labels this the acceleration effect. Based on its findings, this study makes numerous recommendations to teachers and central office and building administrators about creating the conditions for special education students to have access to accelerated curriculum.