COMPARING INSTRUCTIONAL CONTEXTS OF STUDENTS WITH AND WITHOUT SEVERE DISABILITIES IN GENERAL-EDUCATION CLASSROOMS

This study compared the instructional concerts of 15 students with sev ere disabilities who were educated in general education elementary cla ssrooms, and 15 general education students in those same classrooms. R esults suggest that (a) different instructional contexts existed for s tudents with severe disabilities; (b) more individualized instructiona l supports were provided for the students with severe disabilities, in cluding one-to-one instruction, small group instruction provided by sp ecial education staff, physical and gestural prompting, and teacher fo cus on the student with severe disabilities; (c) most of the more indi vidualized supports were provided by special education staff. Implicat ions for supporting students with severe disabilities in general educa tion elementary classrooms are discussed.