What Do Math and Special Educators Gain from the Course?

The comments are from course evaluations filled out anonymously by participants in the course.

Relevant information and practical ideas

"All the material was relevant and provided strategies you could actually use with students."
"Working on specific algebra pattern/expression problems... wasn't the typical "here are the struggles of working with special needs kids”... It gave specific SOLUTIONS to those types of word problems."

"I liked having time to spend with my colleagues to discuss math, learn new techniques, and plan lessons together. I liked that the course instructors included Math and Special Ed teachers."
" I truly appreciated the opportunity to DO some math… I also liked the fact that we were able to see some math instruction in action - the videos were quite good!"

"One of the benefits was having both math and special ed teachers in the class together. It helped both of us see, and understand a little bit better, the other person’s role."
"I think the most valuable aspect of the class was to have us both there, so we could talk about ideas as they came up and plan how we were going to continue (and improve) our teaching for the rest of the year."

"These accessibility strategies helped all students, not just those on IEPs."
"I feel that I am more keenly aware of the disabilities affecting some of my students."
"The ideas and strategies can be used right away."
"I am being much more thoughtful about planning accessibility to our lessons."
"I am differentiating more based on my assessment of who needs continued work with concrete or with representational vs. who is ready to move to abstract representations."

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This project is supported by the National Science Foundation Grant No. ESI-9911831. Opinions expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Foundation.