Inclusive Education: Mathematics for Children with Orofacial Clefts

Abstract

Students in Philippine public schools are diverse but due to limited schools offering special education, students with special needs are studying in the mainstream classrooms. The K-12 curriculum promotes inclusive education to cater to students with special needs for them to receive equal learning opportunities as regular students. This quantitative study aimed to determine the factors affecting the mathematics performance of the students with orofacial clefts in the mainstream classroom. Among the indicators considered are demographic profile, attitude and beliefs towards mathematics, and classroom interaction. Twenty students with cleft lip and cleft palate were selected from 10 public secondary schools in Oriental Mindoro, Philippines. Employing the Descriptivecorrelational method, the data were analyzed using mean, frequency-percentage, Pearson’s r, and coefficient of determination. A variety of attitudes and beliefs were manifested by the respondents. Results showed that they are confident they could learn mathematics through practice and active participation and preferred collaborative learning such as group and pair work. Further, results showed that grade level, attitude towards mathematics, and self-confidence are predictors of their mathematics performance.

Keywords

• inclusive education
• orofacial clefts
• determining predictors
• improving mathematics performance