Digital Commons Network^™

The Effect Of Language Used In The Home On Academic Achievement In English Language Learners With Special Needs, Rebecca Dawn Bramblett

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The number of students classified as English language learners enrolled in schools in the United States continues to multiply yearly. An increasing number of these students also qualify for special education services. Students in either group have underperformed compared with their general education peers for years, and the basic academic proficiency levels of these students are concerning when either language proficiency or disability is considered separately. However, when a lack of language of proficiency is compounded with a disability, academic proficiency levels become even more concerning. While student language proficiency and disability are well-researched in terms of academic performance, the …

Special Education Teachers’ Perceptions Of Self-Determination Supports In Inclusion Classrooms, Suzanne Tiffany-Salogub

Theses and Dissertations

The outcomes presented in this dissertation were motivated by a scarcity of research that explores self-determination practices explicitly within inclusive classrooms. Three overarching goals motivated my research. The first was to understand what inclusion teachers know and do in relation to self-determination (Chapter 2). The second was to understand how their practices align with existing knowledge about self-determination in the field (Chapter 3). Finally, I sought to create an accessible, research-based tool tailored to inclusion teachers who seek to support their students in developing self-determination skills (Chapter 4). To achieve these goals, I designed an investigation using a case-study design …

Dordt Adds Master In Special Education, Bethany Van Voorst

The Voice

No abstract provided.

Love And Support Is All They Need!, Krysten Yoho

Fall Student Research Symposium 2022

What skills are needed to teach students with disabilities? Well, because I am going into the special education field for a career, I wanted to find some examples of skills to help me further expand my knowledge of needed skills. In my literature review, I was looking online at sources of previous special educators and their personal experiences and the skills they used in a special education classroom. After evaluating these sources, I found the most common and necessary skills needed to teach students that have disabilities are, love and unconditional support. Though there are many other skills that are …

A Transcendental Phenomenology Of Teachers' Experiences With Common Referral And Assessment Practices Of Twice-Exceptional Minority Students, Margeaux Kittles

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study is to understand which common practices are perceived to be the greatest contributors to the disproportionate representation of 2E, minority students in gifted education programs in north Georgia. The theories guiding this study are the theory of cognitive dissonance and the theory of social cognitive development. The theory of cognitive dissonance asserts that some level of dissonance is unavoidable when individuals are deciding the best course of action for 2E minority students. The theory of social cognitive development describes the influence of peers, adults, and culture on the cognitive development of a child. The …

Education On Boyer 4th Newsletter - December 2022, Tina Keller

Education Student Scholarship

"Education on Boyer 4th" is the newsletter for the Messiah University Department of Education. The newsletter consists of articles written by faculty, profiles highlighting faculty, current students, and alumni, "Photos from the Field," a student devotional, and more! The newsletter is put out monthly.

• Math manipulatives and cultural responsiveness
• eSTEAM Saturday
• Guest Speaker, Michele Struss
• Polar Party
• Alumni profile, Amanda Maye Kirk

Broken Promises: The Granite State’S Return To The Institutionalization Of Children With Disabilities, Elizabeth Trautz

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

In 1975, the New Hampshire legislature enacted a progressive statute which mandated the Department of Health and Human Services “to establish, maintain, implement and coordinate a comprehensive service delivery system for developmentally disabled persons.” This law was innovative for its time; it decreed that individual service plans (ISPs) be developed for every client in the state’s service delivery system, guaranteed “a right to adequate and humane habilitation and treatment[,]” and contemplated the state’s area agency system as we know it today. The statute was a steppingstone for the 1981 class action lawsuit of Garrity v. Gallen. This was one of …

Special Education Teachers’ Self-Efficacy During The Times Of A Global Pandemic, Vanessa G. Leal

Theses and Dissertations

This quantitative dissertation aims to describe and compare the perception of special education teachers' self-efficacy amid the COVID-19 pandemic using the practice of distance and their self-efficacy pre-pandemic using face-to-face instruction and describe the perceived valuable supports teachers received from educational leaders during the pandemic and considered valuable. The study population includes special education teachers teaching in inclusive settings before and during the pandemic in grades 6–12 in districts located in South Texas. The current study's data was analyzed using a two-way factorial analysis of variance, with both factors including repeated measures within subjects (2 x 3). A descriptive statistical …

What Attributes Do Educators Use To Assign Early Childhood Special Education Students To A Federal Classroom Setting (Inclusion Vs. Non-Inclusion, Elise Kosloski

Culminating Projects in Child and Family Studies

Inclusion and non-inclusion are two very common models used in the early childhood education

profession. Given the two models, it is unclear currently how to decide what setting would best

benefit a student. Is non-inclusion a better option for a student with social-emotional deficits?

Or perhaps they would better benefit from typical peer models in an inclusive setting. The

following research was designed to survey early childhood educators and ask what

qualifications, strengths, and deficits would lead them to place a student in an inclusive early

childhood classroom. With a small number of respondents, data showed that many educators

seemed …

Special Education: Middle School Support Binder, Moncerrat Jamilett Aviles-Bernal

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Monterey Bay Charter school, located in Pacific Grove, CA, serves kindergarten to eighth-grade students (K-8). Working specifically with the Special Education Department to help students with Individual Education Plans (IEP), helping to minimize the fallback and disadvantages they might face in their classrooms because of their learning disabilities. The “support binder” is available for 6th,7th, and 8th-grade students and includes references for samples like key vocabulary words, charts, Cornell notes, and essay structures. To help middle school students with Math and English to support at home or in a classroom setting. We will implement the support binder to help middle …

Teaching Students With Maladaptive Behaviors In Special Education, Giselle Valdez Tejeda

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Thousands of students engage in maladaptive behaviors in Special Education classrooms throughout the world every single day. It is very important for parents and others related to the field to know and get an understanding of how teachers teach students effectively according to their functional skills and understanding. This senior capstone examines how teachers teach students with maladaptive behaviors in Special Education. Through the use of literature review and interviews with three specialists in Special Education, the findings reveal that by finding ways to keep their maladaptive behaviors to interfere with their learning is by providing one-to-one support in classroom …

Predictors Of Self-Efficacy Of Christian School Teachers Toward Inclusion Of Students With Disabilities, Lisa Halsey Joyner

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this quantitative correlation study was to determine how accurately self-efficacy for inclusion of students with special needs could be predicted from a linear combination of predictor variables (pre-service training in special education; in-service professional development on topics related to special education; years of teaching experience) for general education teachers in Christian schools. When the factors that predict teachers’ self-efficacy for inclusion of students with disabilities (SWD) are understood, school leaders can tailor more effective professional development and training to improve the willingness and effectiveness of teachers to create inclusive school environments. An online survey of teachers’ self-efficacy …

Education On Boyer 4th Newsletter - November 2022, Tina Keller

Education Student Scholarship

"Education on Boyer 4th" is the newsletter for the Messiah University Department of Education. The newsletter consists of articles written by faculty, profiles highlighting faculty, current students, and alumni, "Photos from the Field," a student devotional, and more! The newsletter is put out monthly.

• Emily Nell shares about her experiences teaching Native Americans as we observed Indigenous Peoples' Day.
• Technology in the Classroom
• Trevor Swartz Senior Presentation (December 2022 Special Education certification)

Teacher Professional Development For Disability Inclusion In Low- And Middle-Income Asia-Pacific Countries: An Evidence And Gap Map, Syeda Kashfee Ahmed, David Jeffries, Anannya Chakraborty, Toby Carslake, Petra Lietz, Budiarti Rahayu, David Armstrong, Amit Kaushik, Kris Sundarsagar

Assessment and Reporting

In the Asia‐Pacific region, around one‐third of the children who are out‐of‐school have a disability and given that teacher readiness and capability are key contributors for inclusive education, it is high time for a mapping of disability inclusive teacher professional development (TPD) interventions in this region. The key objective of this evidence and gap map (EGM) is to locate evidence on interventions for in‐service TPD focussing on education for the inclusion of students with a disability in low‐ and middle‐income countries (LMICs) in the Asia‐Pacific region. A broad range of bibliographic databases and repositories were searched electronically to identify the …

The Involvement Of Parents Of Students With Disabilities In Rural Early Head Start Programs: A Case Study, Cassandra Annette Justice

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative collective case study was to describe parent participation for home-based educators and parents at an Early Head Start home-based program in rural Appalachia. Parental participation in the Early Head Start home-based program was generally defined as the active participation of children with disabilities’ parents in a home-based program guided by home-based educators through the implementation of early intervention services. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs guided this study, as it relates to both identifying barriers that may prevent parents from being involved and illuminates how Early Head Start educators help families meet growth and developmental needs. The …

The Lived Experiences Of General Education Teachers' Consultative Interactions With Special Education Team Members: A Transcendental Phenomenological Study, Meredith Kearney Auscavitch

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to describe general education teachers’ lived experiences of consultative interactions with special education team members in an urban school in New England. Information regarding desired outcomes of consultation as well as general education teacher-identified outcomes was explored. The theory that guided this study was the collaboration theory identified by Lee Vygotsky, which details the benefit of collaboration with others to gain knowledge of a task or process using a partnership to support a deeper understanding. A sample of 10 general education teachers provided their perspectives on consultation with special education team members. …

Assistive Technology In Special Education Students And Its Impact On Engagement Into Education, S. Aldehami

Information Sciences Letters

This paper was displaying the importance of several laws, regulations, resources, and practices that support the understanding of students with disabilities, as well as emphasized the impact of implementing assistive technology (AT) in schools. Also, this paper presented the evidenced-based practices to implement AT and the potential impact on students with disabilities when utilizing concepts such as WATI, Quality Indicators of AT, the assistive technology continuum (high- low tech), and the SETT Framework. Moreover, it provided some of the implications of using AT (i.e., procedures, resources, cost, referral, professional development, attitudes, etc.) toward the integration of AT in school.

Education On Boyer 4th Newsletter - October 2022, Tina Keller

Education Student Scholarship

Monthly updates from the Education Department of Messiah University

• Message from the Chair
• Departmental Honors with Trevor Swartz
• Devotional by Elena Stonge
• What Picturebook Marginalia Say about Children’s Earliest Independent Reader Text-Place Experiences by: Dr. Sarah Fischer
• Spotlight on Dr. Mfum-Mensah
• Spotlight on Professor Temple
• Why I teach? by Dr. Carol Buckley

What Keeps Teachers Of Students With Autism Spectrum Disorder Teaching?, Kimberley Rodriguez

All NMU Master's Theses

Currently, staff shortages exist in all areas of education. In the field of special education, there are sub-groups of teachers and classrooms, each with unique challenges. This study explores the experiences of teachers of students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) disability in order to identify important retention factors specific to them. In this qualitative, phenomenological study, the researcher conducted four, one-on-one interviews to discover the district-related factors shared by teachers of students with ASD when considering staying or leaving their current position. Interview responses were categorized into the four themes critical to teacher retention according to the four capital theory …

Disrupting Inequitable Practices In Special Education: Privileging Student And Family Voices, Armineh E. Hallaran

Theses and Dissertations

Black, Latinx, and other minoritized students have long been overrepresented in the high-incidence, subjective, disability classifications including Learning Disability, Speech and Language Impairment, Emotional Disturbance, and Intellectual Impairment. Special education places these students on trajectories that deny them access to quality education and the same postschool outcomes and opportunities as their nondisabled peers. Using Disability Critical Race Theory (DisCrit), and grounded theory analysis this study foregrounds the voices of minoritized middle school students receiving special education under high-incidence classifications. DisCrit allowed for an investigation of how student’s intersecting marginalized identities impacted their experiences as special education students. Further, Education Journey …

Leaders And Restraints: Investigating How Attitudes Of School Leaders Predict The Number Of Physical Restraints, Sarah S. Ulmer

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study investigates how attitudes of school leaders predict the number of physical restraints that occur in schools that serve students under IDEA. This study focuses on the attitudes of school leaders from the geographical regions of Virginia in public and private schools. The “Educational Leadership and Behavioral Interventions” survey was used to gather research from 33 schools within Virginia. After collecting the data through the survey, the data was analyzed using a predictive correlation research design. The bivariate linear regression was used to analyze the predictor and criterion variables using SPSS. Based on the results of the data analysis, …

Perspectives Of Students With Asd And Their Parents: What Does It Truly Mean To Be Included?, Keara M. Browne

Theses and Dissertations

Though there are a number of practices identified by researchers and other professionals as inclusive, the question remains about whether the students themselves truly feel included. There has been limited research surrounding specific experiences in inclusive classrooms that students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) perceive to be facilitators and barriers to being included in general education and co-teaching settings. The purpose of this study was to inform educational policies and school practices surrounding the inclusion of students with ASD in general education and co-teaching settings by analyzing the perceptions of students with ASD and their parents to determine what it …

Emotional And Behavioral Disorders: Current Definitions, Terminology, And Prevalence, Edward A. Polloway, Rosel H. Schewel, James M. Kauffman, Antonia Charles, Tom E.C. Smith, James R. Patton, Lihua Yang

LC Journal of Special Education

This study provides an analysis of state guidelines with respect to terminology and definitions in emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) as well as demographic trends. The data were analyzed from the web-based state guidelines for terminology and definitions for all 50 states and the District of Columbia and then from mining data from the most recent reports of the United States Department of Education on IDEA (USDOE, 2015, 2016). Significant findings included current information on state-based terminology, state definitions, and school prevalence. Implications are made with special attention to these factors as identified above as they relate to educational programs …

Graphic Models And Instructional Tools For Students With Special Needs (Revised), Edward A. Polloway, Jacqueline Lubin

LC Journal of Special Education

This document is intended for educators with interest in students with special needs. It provides various graphical models and instructional tools that relate to teaching reading, writing, math, and social studies and science to students with disabilities. The paper is divided into four sections: reading, writing, math, social studies and science. In each section, multiple examples of models are provided. The information provided can be used for general knowledge, as part of course content in special education classes and/or as reference material. The authors acknowledge the work of Allison Meade and Wendy Bailey-Joseph in developing an earlier edition of this …

Demographic Trends In Educational Programs For Students With Emotional And Behavioral Disorders, Edward A. Polloway, Rosel H. Schewel, James M. Kauffman, Tom E.C. Smith, Antonia Charles

LC Journal of Special Education

This study analyzes demographic data in the field of emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). The data are from the most recent reports of the United States Department of Education on IDEA (USDOE, 2015, 2016). Findings focus on school prevalence, ethnicity, placement in educational environments, and school exit patterns. Implications focus in particular on attention to these respective demographic areas identified above as they relate to educational programs.

Alternatively Certified Special Education Teachers’ Implementation Of Pbis, Mandy Lusk, Donna Sayman, Calli Lewis Chiu

The Advocate

Teachers are the primary conduit through which positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) are implemented. The purpose of this qualitative study is to investigate alternatively certified special education teachers’ implementation of PBIS. All participants were in their first or second year as teachers in classrooms for pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade students with disabilities. This study examines how alternatively certified special education teachers perceive and implement PBIS within their classrooms.

Homework Problems And Remedies, Antonia M. Charles

LC Journal of Special Education

This literature review provides a summary of some of the homework problems experienced by students with learning difficulties documented in previous research. It also seeks to outline some practical suggestions which can be utilized to remediate the homework problems experienced by this group of students. Finally, this review examines the role of teachers in assisting this group of students become successful in this regard.

Phonemic Awareness: An Important Piece Of The Reading Puzzle, Brandi Booker

LC Journal of Special Education

The purpose of this paper is to provide research findings on phonemic awareness. The major topics to be discussed are assessment, strategies, and effectiveness. This paper will conclude with a discussion on the major topics and its importance for special education.

Choice Making And Individuals With Significant Disabilities, Jacob Wolf, Kristin Joannou

LC Journal of Special Education

This literature review addresses issues and trends pertaining to choice making for individuals with significant disabilities. The benefits and development of choice making will be addressed, followed by a summary of several barriers to choice making. The review concludes with a synthesis of strategies and interventions for increasing effective choice-making opportunities, including choice-making formats, teaching choice making, and building choice making into daily contexts.

Communicative Competence And Self-Determination, Sonya Spolsky, Gina Debarthe

LC Journal of Special Education

Self-determination describes people acting as the primary causal agents in their lives through their own volition (Wehmeyer, 1998; Wehmeyer, 2005). Volition means making choices with intention and consciousness. Self-determination consists of four essential characteristics related to volition: Autonomy, self-regulation, psychological empowerment, and self realization (Wehmeyer et al., 2007). Acting autonomously, in a manner to achieve specified goals, problem solving to meet those goals and being aware of the possible outcomes describe some of the activities related to volition and the characteristic of self determination (Light & Gullens, 2000; Wehmeyer et al., 2007). Self-determined people influence their own lives. People with …