In this article, we draw on DisCrit to critically analyze how a group of early childhood educators approached assistance with young children of color with disabilities in a Head Start inclusion classroom. Using examples from data collected over one school year, we demonstrate how child-centered assistance advances justice for young children of…

Although Finnish politics relating to the Roma tend to be perceived internationally as fairly successful, several obstacles exist for the Roma in education and the labour market. Training of Roma mediators has been actively promoted in Finland to improve the school performance and equality of Roma pupils. This article, based on ethnographic…

This report uses expenditure data from the Common Core of Data (CCD) "National Public Education Financial Survey (NPEFS)" for fiscal years 1991 to 2011 and instructional staff data from the CCD "State Nonfiscal Survey of Public Elementary/Secondary Education" for school years 1990-91 to 2010-11. The CCD annually collects fiscal…

Over the past 20 years, the number of teacher's aides in the United States has more than doubled, potentially in response to the growth of special education programs now taking place in general education schools. Surprisingly, little research at all has focused on the role that teacher's aides may play in improving student achievement, and no…

Aim: This study sought to identify the impact of a maths intervention aimed at enhancing performance, self-concept and self-regulation, while reducing negative emotional responses. Method: A quantitative, between-group repeated-measure experimental design was used to investigate differences between the groups over time. One-hundred-and-forty-four…

The number of teaching assistants (TAs) in schools in the UK has risen in recent years, but there remains a lack of clarity about the roles being undertaken by these support staff. This article reports findings from a study investigating how the TA role is understood both by the pupils being supported and by TAs themselves. Eleven students with…

This article discusses how psychosocial health in adolescence influences adult mental health among former students with special educational needs in Norway. These individuals have been followed prospectively from their teens and into their mid-30s. The study is inspired by life course perspectives with an emphasis on cumulative processes. The…

The purpose of this study is to identify problems such as administration, program and parental issues that pre-school teachers encounter. The other purpose is to investigate whether the teacher perceptions on problems that pre-school teachers encounter differ statistically significantly depending on the presence of a helper in the class, school…

The notion of inclusion has gained momentum worldwide, with most countries around the world embracing inclusive policies in their educational systems. However, there is still an ongoing debate as to what is inclusion and hence, the consequent challenge of coming up with an agreed definition, which could then be used to plan for and subsequently,…

To maintain team learning for assistants in preschools, dialogue and group discussions are important. These dialogues and discussions can happen both as a part of spontaneous supervision and as a part of an organized process of supervision. Bakhtinian theory of understanding and its notion of dialogue could be used to organize supervision of…

For many non-traditional candidates, the path into teaching is riddled with bumps and detours. They must pay for increasingly expensive coursework and certification costs, attend classes that conflict with work schedules, and forgo wages to complete unfunded student teaching requirements. These roadblocks can deter valuable local…

This paper will consider how teaching assistants' (TAs') roles are changing from the historical 'mum's army' (Bach Kessler & Heron, 2006) of paint-pot washers, as some considered it pre-national curriculum, to the developing conception of the TA as a 'paraprofessional'. Contemporary issues arising from the loosely defined current expectations…

Naturalistic behavioral interventions increase the acquisition, generalization, and maintenance of child social communication skills among children with developmental delays (DD). Teaching Assistants (TAs) are ideal interventionists for delivering social communication interventions because of the significant amount of time they spend working…

Teacher aides have been part of New Zealand classrooms for many decades. Initially, they were employed to perform clerical and supervisory duties that required no professional training, such as typing, duplicating and playground supervision. Over the years, however, their role has changed significantly. They now play a pivotal role as a 'people…

The aim of this exploratory study was to investigate the level of skills and training needs reported by special educators and teaching associates in functional behavioral assessment (FBA) and behavioral interventions within special education (SPED) schools in Singapore. The Skills and Needs Inventories in Functional Behavior Assessments and…