Inclusion Mastery - Competency-based Strategies for Grades 6-8 Quick Reference Guide

Early adolescent students who have learning, behavioral, or social differences and disabilities present a unique challenge to general education teachers in inclusive classrooms. Teachers of 6th-8th classrooms need in-the-moment tools to keep this age group motivated and engaged while they prepare them academically for the transition to high school.The two-page quick reference guide Inclusion Mastery: Competency-Based Strategies for Grades 6-8 is a handy cheat-sheet for teachers on how to tailor their classrooms to meet the needs of all of their students, including those with oppositional defiance disorder (ODD), ADHD, autism, depression, and other learning disabilities and health impairments.With this easily accessible classroom tool, teachers will find tips on how to use competency-based strategies that encourage goal setting, collaboration, and organization while focusing on each student’s strengths instead of their disabilities.

Toby Karten is an experienced staff developer, instructional coach, educational consultant, author, adjunct professor, and inclusion specialist who has taught from preschool to graduate level. She designed online courses and professional development units for pre-service and practicing educators and related staff in school districts across the country. As a speaker and inclusion coach, Karten has collaborated with administrators, staff, students, and their families at local, national, and international school sites. She has been recognized by the Council for Exceptional Children and the New Jersey Department of Education as an exemplary educator, receiving two “Teacher of the Year” awards.