Effects of special education teachers’ specialization and teaching experience on using evidence-based cognitivist instructional strategies in Inclusion Classrooms

Abstract

Evidence-based instructional strategies are considered fundamental for educating students with special needs. The use of study skills is an instructional strategy is considered beneficial as students can locate, organize and recall concepts. This study’s main purpose was to measure the effect of special education teachers’ qualification for using evidence-based strategies in Kuwait’s public elementary inclusive schools. The study’s research was three-fold which was to: (1) determine the effect size of evidence-based congnitivism instructional strategies (e.g., study skills, concept mapping, and reciprocal teaching), (2) measure the effects of special education teachers' education qualifications and teaching experiences on using evidence-based congnitivism instructional strategies, and (3) provide recommendations for administrators and special education teachers in Kuwait's public elementary inclusion schools. Data were collected using a questionnaire that found reciprocal teaching the most important strategy. It was concluded that while there were no significant differences found in teacher’ educational qualifications, there were significant differences in teachers’ teaching experiences. Based on these conclusions, the following recommendations were made which include: providing specialized professional training workshops for special education teachers, specifically addressing qualifications which are not special education related and changing recruitment policies and requirements for teachers who specialize in teaching students with special needs in inclusive classrooms.