The effects of professional development for middle school general and special education teachers on implementation of reading strategies in inclusive content area classes

Ten sixth-grade middle school teachers, including general and special education teachers, participated in a four month professional development and intervention program to enhance the reading outcomes of struggling students in inclusive content area classes. The professional development program consisted of an examination of teachers' personal knowledge of struggling readers and reading instruction, and staff development and support to help the teachers, integrate three reading strategies, which focused on word identification, fluency, and comprehension skills, into their content area instruction. Implementation of the strategies was monitored and teachers' perceptions of the effectiveness of the reading strategies for their students were obtained.