Date of Graduation

2003

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

Abstract

With the advent of inclusion students with disabilities have been placed in settings that can maximize their opportunities to interact with their nondisabled peers. However, the inappropriate social behaviors of students with disabilities often prevented them from acceptance or classroom membership. Cooperative learning has been seen as one means of teaching all students in an inclusive classroom. Teacher support in the form of management systems and reward structures used in cooperative groupings are examined in this study. The use of qualitative research methods (observations, interviews, document analysis) in combination with a quantitative element (simple count) helped to determine the effectiveness of teacher supports for children in cooperative groupings. Teacher management systems and reward structures were examined to determine their effect on the social behaviors of children with disabilities who were placed in cooperative groupings. For the most part, children with disabilities exhibited more positive behaviors when teachers facilitated groups by instructing students in the appropriate group interactions, prior to placing students in cooperative groupings. This teacher facilitation in combination with positive verbalizations and points or tokens provided the greatest success. Teachers used cooperative groupings because they prevented children from alienation, and in many instances, promoted friendships between children with disabilities and nondisabled children. Many group interactions were positive in nature, with helping behaviors being displayed by all children.

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