Jennifer Katz

• PhD
• Professor (Assistant) at University of British Columbia

Students with significant disabilities often attend general education (mainstream) classrooms, yet they are not receiving adequate support to experience full school participation. This qualitative case study was conducted to explore how key intrinsic (i.e. personal skills and abilities) and extrinsic (i.e. environmental) factors influence the parti...

Teacher preparation in Canada benefits from innovative programming that supports vibrant, inclusive classrooms. We examine two Canadian-made programmes: The Three-Block Model of Universal Design for Learning, with particular focus on the social emotional learning block, and the Teaching Continuum, a model for inclusive physical education settings....

In a cluster randomized control trial, a school-based mental health program combining mental health literacy and dialectical behavior skills was implemented by teachers to determine effects on protective factors related to resilience for students in 3rd–12th grade. As part of a larger study, a subsample of 113 students with developmental disabiliti...

In Canada, inclusive educators wishing to design education for all, must consider one of the most excluded groups in our schools and our society - Indigenous students and peoples – in their efforts to design for diversity. This article is based on a keynote lecture given by the author at a conference, Exploring Intersectionalities for Leadership an...

A multisite cluster-randomized trial (by school) was conducted to examine the effects of a combined mental health literacy and dialectical behavior therapy skills program implemented by teachers on three protective factors related to social and emotional well-being. The sample of eight schools that were randomly assigned to intervention included 99...

Responding to the growing diversity of students within North American schools today, educators have recognized the value of social inclusion as an important goal, supporting both social-emotional and academic success for all students. This special issue explores how teachers play a significant role in promoting inclusive classes by understanding th...

The academic achievement of diverse kindergarten to grade 12 students in inclusive classrooms implementing the Three-Block Model (TBM) of universal design for learning was investigated. Fifty-one teachers and 684 of their students, including students with disabilities, students who were English language learners (ELL), and Indigenous students, part...

This chapter explores the Three-Block Model of inclusive education, which is situated in the framework of Universal Design for Learning (UDL). The chapter demonstrates how the model informs both instructional design and social-emotional learning objectives focused on fostering community through celebrating diversity, and explores the essential role...

This study provides a Canada-wide snapshot of the self-efficacy and beliefs of 1490 preservice teachers in relation to inclusive teaching using the Teacher Efficacy for Inclusive Practice and the Beliefs about Learning and Teaching Questionnaire. At the time of data collection, these preservice teachers were in the final stages of their teacher edu...

Inclusion in Canadian schools, both academic and social, is explored through the historic legislative structures that have resulted in a diversity of approaches to meeting the educational needs of Canadians. Innovative programmes that have been developed which showcase Canadian commitment to inclusive academic and social practices are described. Fi...

Fifty-eight teachers of grades 1–12 in 10 schools located in two rural and three urban school divisions in Manitoba were involved in a study implementing the Three Block Model of Universal Design for Learning and exploring its outcomes for teachers and students. This article reports teachers' perceptions related to the outcomes of the implementatio...

When the Three Block Model of Universal Design for Learning (Katz, 2012a) is implemented, outcomes related to student academic and social engagement were investigated in this study. 631 students from Grades 1 to 12 attending ten schools located in two rural and three urban school divisions in Manitoba took part in the study. Intervention and contro...

Thirty-one middle school students (grades 4-7) were interviewed at length about their perspectives regarding academic and social inclusion of students with disabilities; the barriers they perceive to a compassionate, inclusive learning community; and what they believe helps overcome these barriers. In discussing the inclusion of students with disab...

Emotional and behavioral outcomes of the Respecting Diversity (RD) program, a social and emotional learning (SEL) intervention to develop self-awareness, self-respect and respect for diverse others, were investigated with 218 students in Grades four to seven and their teachers. Intervention and control groups were assessed pre and post intervention...

This paper focuses on gifted children's and adolescents' narrative interpretations of learning using a neo-Piagetian theory of conceptual development (Case, 1992; Case & Okamoto, 1996) as a framework. Children's narratives develop from action based reasoning to intentional reasoning that incorporates understanding of their own and others' mental st...

Pedagogical practices based on Gardner's (1983) theory of multiple intelligences (MI) are often cited as potentially facilitative of inclusion of students with developmental disabilities (Armstrong, 1994; Eichinger & Downing, 1996; Falvey, Givner, & Kimm, 1996). However, no research to date has examined this relationship. The purpose of this study...

The goal of this review is to examine the educational outcomes of inclusion for students with and without developmental disabilities in the early grades, including studies that have measured both traditional academic outcomes (e.g. literacy, mathematics, etc.) and non-academic skill development in areas such as basic life skills (e.g. communication...

Acceptability to the client plays an important role in adherence to psychological interventions for atypical children. Previous research has established that teacher acceptance of psychological treatments varies as a function of the severity of the target problem, the time needed to implement the intervention and several other factors. The major ob...