Ashby to Education Week: Teacher Training Can Focus Too Much on Labels

Associate Professor Christine Ashby was quoted in a recent article in Education Week. “Overlooked: How Teacher Training Falls Short for English-Learners and Students With IEPs” discusses the ways that many general education teacher preparation programs leave gaps in how English-language learners and students with disabilities are served and taught.

“The instruction that’s given to [general education] teachers tends to be disability-of-the-week focused,” said Ashby. “It’s much more about learning to see kids as individuals than it is about learning, ‘This is what autism is, this is what learning disabilities are.'”

The Syracuse University School of Education was one of the first schools in the nation to require dual certification in students with disabilities for our general education teacher prep programs. These Inclusive Education programs at both the undergraduate and graduate level define inclusion broadly, including students with disabilities, students who are not native English speakers, LGBTQ youth, and students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.