Elementary Inclusive Education

C&T4000 Disability, Exclusion, and Schooling

This course explores the cultural and historical foundations of ableism in the U.S., with a particular emphasis on how it operates within K–12 educational settings. We will examine current legal and bureaucratic structures, discourses, and practices, while also learning about the pedagogical supports necessary to provide students access to equitable education. We will also consider the ways in which disability status intersects with other facets of identity – such as one’s race, ethnicity, class, language background, gender, sexuality, religious [non]affiliation, etc. – to understand how intersections work in tandem in the sociocultural processes of exclusion in schools. The course is open to all; it is designed to address issues relevant to educators, administrators, and policymakers who work with students with disabilities.

C&T4019 Literacy Supports

The course explores the teaching and assessment of literacy for developing readers with an emphasis on providing multiple pathways for students to access and interact with texts in meaningful ways. Throughout the course, we investigate teaching practices that build students’ knowledge and flexible use of key dimensions of reading. The framing and content of this course draw on disability studies in education (DSE) (Collins & Ferri, 2016) as a way to frame and understand the teaching of elementary students to read. That is, the course takes up the idea that literacy exists on a continuum and develops across an individual’s lifetime (Koppenhaver et al., 1995) and rejects the notion of a literate/nonliterate dichotomy (Biklen, 2007; Keefe and Copeland, 2011). As such, the course is designed to teach preservice educators to presume competence (Biklen & Burke, 2006) and engage in asset-based, relational approaches with students.

C&T4037 Relational Approaches to Challenging Behavior

This course explores the possibilities for building strong classroom communities when students’ behavior is understood as communication rather than defiance and when supports are understood as relational rather than punitive. Course content critiques punishment and reward systems for disciplining and managing students. Punishment systems, behavior modification, positive behavior support approaches, and functional behavior analysis programs are typically implemented for students with disabilities and youth of color and are exclusionary, oppressive, ableist, and carceral. We’ll examine approaches that focus on compliance and zero-tolerance policies, which are a gateway to funneling youth into the school-to-prison pipeline. This course emphasizes approaches that build trusting relationships with families and colleagues, are culturally sustaining, and inclusive. We will focus on healing practices, restorative justice, conscious discipline, and collaborative and proactive solutions. We will also illuminate how these practices intersect with disability studies, anti-oppressive, and abolitionist principles and pedagogies.

C&T4060 Instructional Approaches for Students with Complex Support Needs

This course offers an in-depth understanding of pedagogic strategies to support the instruction of students with complex support needs. Students will critically examine conceptions of literacy development and models of skill instruction for students labeled “significantly disabled.” Students will explore literacy as a complex set of social practices that include the use of multiple modalities for learning. Particular attention is paid to older emergent readers, assessment, and integration of a wide range of assistive technologies (AT), including the use of augmentative and alternative communication systems, within curriculum and instruction.

C&T4123 Curriculum and Instruction in Elementary Inclusive Education

Curriculum and Instruction in Elementary Inclusive Education is an introduction to teaching, learning, curriculum, and child inquiry in elementary classrooms. In keeping with the conceptual framework that undergirds teacher education at Teachers College, the course emphasizes inquiry about children and classrooms, planning instruction, and preparing to be inclusive, social justice-oriented educators. The four major frames, which will be interwoven throughout the semester, include: 1) To explore the complex intersections among ableism, racism, classism, heteronormativity, linguicism and other forms of ideological oppression in students’ experiences of marginalization and exclusion in schooling; 2) To engage in critical reflection on one’s own beliefs and practices, as well as in critical reflection on the structures, practices, and discourses of inclusive education; 3) Presuming competence in children and their families: developing a capacity (rather than deficit) perspective and focusing on student learning (rather than achievement); 4) Taking an inquiry approach to learning to teach which includes abolitionist teaching, cultivating genius, classroom discourse and social change as it intersects with inclusive teaching.

C&T4124 Curriculum and Instruction in Elementary Inclusive Education

Core is an introduction to teaching, learning, and curriculum in elementary classrooms. In keeping with the conceptual framework that undergirds teacher education at Teachers College, the course emphasizes inquiry about children and classrooms, planning curriculum and instruction, and preparing to be social justice-oriented educators. This course is designed to support student teachers to become curriculum designers and evaluators, with children at the center of this planning. We undertake this work with a commitment to inclusivity and social justice, and an inquiry-based approach. This course invites course participants to take up the challenge of sustaining these commitments as they navigate the complex terrain of schooling and its fixed requirements for adequate performance. Through the understanding of curriculum development and a UbD and UDL framework, it offers beginning teachers opportunities to approach teaching as an intellectual and moral endeavor that requires thoughtful decision-making and purposeful collaboration. Additionally, collaborative teaching as a key tenet of inclusive teaching is explored.

C&T4132

Examines principles of literacy learning in young children and introduces theories, practices, and materials for teaching reading/writing in primary grades in diverse settings.

C&T4135 Emergent Bi/Multilingual Learners in Incl Eng-Medium Clssrms

This course is an introduction to the education of emergent multilinguals. It is designed to prepare educators to teach students who are identified as English Language Learners in classrooms that are not designated as bilingual settings, and it is particularly relevant for monolingual, English-speaking teachers. We will learn about second language acquisition and engage with pedagogical approaches that build on students’ knowledge from asset-based frameworks (e,g., UDL and translanguaging). We will examine historical, legal, cultural, linguistic facets of education relevant to emergent bilinguals and consider the responsibilities of teachers in navigating these areas. We will explore current issues and tensions among research, policies and practices in educating multilingual learners, with particular attention to the forms of intersectional marginalization disabled, multilingual learners experience both institutionally and interpersonally. This course is open to students across the College.

C&T4143 Social Studies for Justice and Inclusion: Elementary and Middle Grades

Are you committed to teaching the truth about complex history? This course is grounded in a critical antiracist, anti-oppressive perspective. Students will expand their content knowledge of United States history and learn methodological practices for teaching Social Studies with a focus on justice and inclusion. In developing and analyzing social studies curriculum, one must be enriched by a multiplicity of perspectives and likewise critical of cultural and social exclusion. In this course, students will engage in work that recognizes divergent viewpoints on curriculum; the deconstruction of archetypes and stereotypes; critiques of power, politics, and media; controversial subjects; the arts; social action; and future visions for social studies teaching and learning. Assignments and course materials are inquiry-based and multimodal. You’ll have the opportunity to engage in self-directed research, field trip planning, and book clubs, all of which demand creativity, innovation, art, and critical thinking.

C&T4301 Educational Assessment of Students with Disabilities PK-12

This course is designed to acquaint educators with a range of formal and informal tests and assessments used to identify and support students with disabilities in PK-12 settings. The purpose of this course is to engage educators in critically evaluating how assessments are designed and conducted and what these practices and processes mean in terms of equity in inclusion for students with disabilities. This course is not just about examining assessments and how to use them, but pays attention to the ways in which assessments can both help and harm students with disabilities. This course is designed within a larger framework of critical disability studies and disability justice, paying attention to the ways in which we can address persistent inequities in the field of special and inclusive education, and elevate and enrich how we teach and support students in our classrooms.

C&T4320 Practicum for Disability, Exclusion, and Schooling

This practicum supports students’ understanding of course concepts introduced in C&T 4000: Disability, Exclusion, and Schooling. It provides a field-based experience that connects theory to practice as students examine the cultural, historical, and ideological constructions of disability in schools. The practicum focuses on special education systems and practices within the New York City Department of Education. Students gain experience working with PK–12 students across diverse urban school settings and are required to spend one day per week engaged in fieldwork.

C&T4321 Practicum for Instructor Students with Complex Support Need

This practicum is designed to support students’ learning of pedagogical strategies for working with students with complex needs (Grades PK–12) and to deepen understanding of course concepts introduced in C&T 4060: Instruction for Students with Complex Support Needs. The field component integrates theory with practice as students examine the structural frameworks and instructional models that shape the education of students with complex needs. Students work directly with learners in small-group and individualized settings, engaging in observation, participation, and leadership of classroom activities. Students are required to spend a minimum of two days each week engaged in the practicum.

C&T4726 Prof Lab Exp-Stu Tchg:Elm Schl

As part of this course, you will participate in a student teaching field placement for the equivalent of 3.5 days a week in a New York City public school classroom (Grades 1-6). This immersive and intensive field placement is supported by the mentorship of a classroom teacher. The cooperating teacher and Teachers College staff members share in coaching and supervision, including formal and informal observations. This hands-on experience will provide you with invaluable opportunities to refine your lesson planning and teaching practice with students in one-on-one, small-group, and whole-class settings. Students complete daily and weekly reflection logs, lesson plans, and specific teacher practices to support their learning. This course also includes a seminar with program faculty designed to foster a supportive learning community for emerging educators, with an emphasis on developing inclusive lesson plans, supporting emergent bilinguals, collaboration, and communication. We will explore strategies for navigating both the instructional and relational aspects of your field placements.

C&T4729 Prof Lab Exp-Stu Tch: Elem Ed

This seminar is intended for students in the Elementary Inclusive Education Program during the second semester of student teaching. It includes an intensive field placement in grades 1–6. Placements are situated in diverse New York City Department of Education classrooms, offering rich opportunities to apply theory to practice. Alongside their fieldwork, students will participate in a weekly seminar that serves as a space to connect practice with scholarship. Students will document their reflections through journal writing and peer sharing, using their insights to explore issues central to inclusive and equitable education. Seminar sessions will incorporate focused study on educational topics that emerge from students’ reflections. Students will work in inquiry teams to investigate areas of professional interest, thereby contributing to a shared community of professional knowledge and practice.