Special Education and Teaching Commons^™

Exploring Self-Determination And Recreational Sports Participation For Adolescents With Disabilities, Samantha K. Papp

Honors Theses

Self-determination is a vital skill for individuals with disabilities and provides significant benefits, such as more positive adult outcomes and greater quality of life. Recreational sports participation is another fundamental aspect of life for individuals with disabilities, as it leads to increased physical activity, enhanced self-esteem, and improved peer acceptance. Despite the well-researched benefits of both self-determination skills and recreational sports participation, a literature review revealed few studies that examined the relationship between self-determination and recreational sports participation for individuals, particularly adolescents, with disabilities. This mixed methods study was designed to fill this void, using questionnaires, interviews, and observations to ...

Transition Portfolio, Sarah Atkinson

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports

Teaching self-determination skills has been shown to be successful among those who are from Anglo-Saxon decent. However, not much has been done to study the effects of teaching culturally responsive self-determination skills to those who are from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. The literature review in this transition portfolio addresses how teaching culturally and linguistically responsive self-determination skills can be useful to help individuals who receive special education services to more fully succeed in a post-high school setting.

Educational Life In The Interregnum: Race, Dis/Ability, And Special Education, Benjamin Kearl

Democracy and Education

This article undertakes a comparative analysis of special education policy through the juxtaposition of two recent Supreme Court actions: Allston v. Lower Merion School District (2015) and Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District (2017). This comparison reveals an ordering of special education policy around questions of race. Specifically, this article argues that special education policy is governed by a racecraft of disability labeling that defines students of color as variously disabled and through a biopolitics of special education that expands disability services for individual students who are within the truth demarcated by scientific-juridical mediations of life. Against such negative ...

Including Autism: Confronting Inequitable Practices In A Toddler Classroom, Emmanuelle N. Fincham, Amanda R. Fellner

Occasional Paper Series

As co-teachers in a toddler room, we share a personal narrative about our experiences working with a child diagnosed with autism while in our care. Framed within the competing discourses of the medicalized perspective on disability and the individual, child-centered philosophies of early childhood education, we investigate the inequities we felt in the classroom and make connections to the field of early childhood inclusive education at large.

The Ripple Effects When A Refugee Camp Becomes A University Town: University Teacher Education In Dadaab, Kenya, Lorrie Miller, Abdi O. Aden, Jama A. Mohamed, Zainab B. Hussein, Abulogn O. Okello

Journal of Educational Research and Innovation

Dadaab, Kenya is the site of the first university teacher education program created by a consortium of institutions (UBC, York, Moi, Kenyatta) within the Borderless Higher Education for Refugees. Dadaab is also the host town to what has been described as the largest protracted refugee camp, at its peek nearly a half million residents. Here, four program graduates, who are secondary school teachers in Daddab tell their stories of the impact that their education diploma and degrees have had on them and their communities. Their stories are of leadership, resilience, and hope.

Collaborate For Change (C2), Kathleen Marie Oertle

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

Grading For Growth: Using Sliding Scale Rubrics To Motivate Struggling Learners, Dina Mahmood, Hugo Jacobo

Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning

In an effort to adopt more equitable and humanizing grading practices, this teacher inquiry explores how educators attempted to improve students’ views of learning and assessments by utilizing rubrics on a sliding scale. Using the sliding scale rubric approach to grading provided an opportunity for students and educators to rethink how learning is evaluated. The authors found that the logistics of using sliding scale rubrics as a grading tool does need to be refined and further evaluated; however, the belief that a student can receive a grade based on her or his individual starting point did have some positive implications ...

The Physiology Of Social-Emotional Learning: Integrating Biomarkers Of Self-Regulation Into The Assessment And Implementation Of Programs, Martin E. Blank

Master of Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) Capstone Projects

In the last two decades, formalized social-emotional learning (SEL) programs in schools have proliferated in response to a staggering increase in mental, social, and emotional challenges for youth. SEL programs differ in their theoretical foundations, though there are commonalities among them. Self-regulation (SR) surfaces as an important pillar. Researchers have relied mostly on self-reporting and teacher questionnaires to measure the effectiveness of these programs to improve SR and other aspects of youth well-being, without explicitly considering the physiological effects of these interventions on the biomarkers of youth. By addressing this gap, program researchers, developers, and educators can reach their stated ...

Special Education In Catholic Schools Viewed From A Liberatory Hermeneutic, Mary Carlson, Jeffrey Labelle

Journal of Catholic Education

This study explores anew the issue of providing special education in Catholic schools by viewing the ethical implications from a liberatory hermeneutic. By utilizing an interdisciplinary perspective, the research draws upon liberation theology, liberation psychology, liberation pedagogy, and liberation ethics to support the moral mandate for providing education for all God’s children, including those persons with disabilities. The study challenges Catholic educational leaders to reimagine their positions on how schools might promote a more inclusive, liberatory approach to serving the special needs of children with disabilities. Finally, this research provides a Catholic, liberatory, ethical framework for inclusive Catholic education ...

The Effects Within A Church Of A Music Program For Special Needs Students, Stephanie Jean Toepoel

Masters Theses

This project investigated the effects that a faith-based music class for special needs students had upon the students, their families, and the participating church body. Two special needs students participated in a four-week faith-based general music class sponsored by their local church. Significant spiritual growth was demonstrated by the families of the special needs students and the church body and was reported in personal interviews and anonymous surveys. The study evaluated the physical, cognitive, and spiritual progress the students demonstrated during the four-week class. Data was collected through researcher observation and journaling, audiovisual recordings, personal interviews of the assistant teacher ...

Music Therapy’S Role In The Education System, Madison Riley, Tori L. Colson, Moriah Smothers

Kentucky Teacher Education Journal: The Journal of the Teacher Education Division of the Kentucky Council for Exceptional Children

Music therapy is a lesser-known and used related service, yet it provides significant benefits to students that have language, behavioral, and social needs. This article reviews the literature on music therapy, discusses its historical and theoretical roots, and examines its use in educational settings. Special attention is given to therapeutic practices that are geared toward students on the autism spectrum because their social and communication needs are often a good fit for music therapy practices. Recommendations on using music therapy in special and general education classrooms are also made. Additionally, recommendations for including music therapy content in teacher preparation programs ...

Choice As An Antecedent Intervention Provided To Children With Emotional Disturbances, Alexandra J. Taylor, Amy Lein

Kentucky Teacher Education Journal: The Journal of the Teacher Education Division of the Kentucky Council for Exceptional Children

Students with ED typically demonstrate social, behavioral, and academic deficiencies within the school setting. This article addresses the antecedent behavior interventions (ABI) of the provision of choice-making opportunities which are an effective practice within the PBIS framework. This study employed a single-subject multiple-baseline across-participants design to examine the effect of choice-making provided in social skills instruction on both academic (i.e., correct responses) and behavioral outcomes (i.e., task engagement, disruptions) for three elementary-aged students with ED.

Results demonstrated improved behaviors of three student participants. All participants showed an increase in task engagement and a decrease in number of disruptions ...

The Importance Of Teacher Behavior In Increasing Student Success: Are Teachers Prepared To Meet The Needs Of Students With Emotional Or Behavioral Disorders?, Justin T. Cooper

Kentucky Teacher Education Journal: The Journal of the Teacher Education Division of the Kentucky Council for Exceptional Children

Despite the dissemination of specific instructional practices including High Leverage Practices and other pedagogical strategies that are considered fundamental to the success of students with emotional/behavioral disorders, research suggests that many of these practices are occurring in schools at unacceptably low rates. This research-to-practice gap is not a new phenomenon. This paper provides an overview of some of these specific teacher-driven instructional behaviors and the implications of the paucity of their use in schools. In addition, the importance of the role that teacher preparation programs play, and steps that they can take to alleviate the research-to-practice gap are discussed.

Collaboration With Community Partners To Enhance Clinical Practice, Susan Keesey, Christina Noel, Nancy Hulan, Pete Hoechner

Kentucky Teacher Education Journal: The Journal of the Teacher Education Division of the Kentucky Council for Exceptional Children

Teacher preparation programs are shifting focus to models that integrate pedagogy and coursework into an applied clinical teaching model. Research clearly supports this change to help new teachers prepare for the demographics of today’s classrooms. Teacher preparation is improved through the implementation of high-leverage practices, the key skills new teachers are expected to know and apply. This article highlights a collaborative professional development day designed to strengthen the clinical partnership by developing a shared vision and common language by incorporating high-leverage practices.

Cross-Cultural Considerations: Raising Language Teachers Awareness About The Importance Of Multiculturalism, Abir El Shaban

Journal of Research Initiatives

Abstract

With the worldwide use of English as a second language (ESL) and globalization, teachers are expected to understand, acknowledge and interact with culturally and linguistically diverse students and integrate their linguistic and multicultural backgrounds in classroom settings. Teachers need to be multicultural to be able to successfully impact their students to be multicultural. This paper provides English language teachers with valuable recommendations based on cross-cultural studies and my experience, as an ESL teacher, on how to be responsive to students from different cultures to empower and enhance their language proficiency skills.

Empowering Special Education Clients Through Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration: Lessons Learned For Current Clients And Future Professionals, Patricia E. Roberts, Kelly Whalon

Patricia E. Roberts

No abstract provided.

Special Educational Needs For Gifted Students: A Case Study About Melinda, Jennifer E. Brown

Mānoa Horizons

A rhythmic and rhyming poem that highlights characteristics through which giftedness may be identified, how latent features of gifted children may be recognize, and what teachers can do to help all kids discover and expand their unique abilities and interests as much as their self-determination.

Understanding Equitable Assessment: How Preservice Teachers Make Meaning Of Disability, Melissa K. Driver

Journal of Multicultural Affairs

Disproportionality of historically marginalized populations in special education continues to be a critical concern. The identification of students with disabilities is reliant on valid and reliable assessment that is free of bias. The extent to which this is possible given measurement constraints and an increasingly diverse student population is unclear. How teachers are trained to design, select, administer, score, and interpret assessment data related to the identification of students with disabilities is vastly under-researched considering the significant implications of assessment practices. In this study, six special education preservice teachers engaged in an assessment methods course during their second semester of ...

Table Of Contents

The Journal of Special Education Apprenticeship

No abstract provided.

Teaching Addition To Students With Moderate Disabilities Using Video Prompting, Scott A. Dueker, Helen I. Cannella-Malone

The Journal of Special Education Apprenticeship

Academic performance for students with moderate to severe disabilities falls far behind their typically developing peers and puts them at risk for continued dependence after school ends. Video prompting is an evidence-based practice that has been used to teach various non-academic skills; however, few studies have focused on using video prompting to teach academic skills other than reading. This study used a delayed multiple baseline across students design to evaluate the use of video prompting to teach single- and double-digit addition to three students with moderate disabilities. Results indicated that all three students improved their accurate completion of addition problems ...