Education Commons^™

Accommodation And Curriculum Modification For Students With Special Needs: A Study Of Teachers' Attitudes, Ramona D. Williamson

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the attitudes of teachers towards providing accommodations and modifications required for students with special needs in general education classes. The study also examined the differences between these educators’ willingness, preparedness, and selected demographic and descriptive characteristics, which included teacher education, educational setting, and support provided for inclusion. As such, it contributed to both the theory and the practice of teaching students with disabilities in inclusive settings.

The sample included willing general and special education teachers in one suburban school district in the southeastern United States. The instrument was a modified version of …

Measuring Early Numeracy Of Kindergarten Students In A Group Setting, Stacy A. Winck

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Early identification practices in assessment are crucial to preventing academic failure as well as identifying students at-risk for later learning disabilities. The PAM Early Numeracy Screening is a set of subscales designed to measure early numeracy in kindergarten students in a group setting. Given that the existing early numeracy measures are individually administered, the purpose of the current study was to explore the psychometric properties of the PAM Early Numeracy Screening. Correlational analysis was the primary research design used to investigate the evidence of reliability, criterion-related validity, and construct validity of the PAM Early Numeracy Screening. Criterion measures …

Common Characteristics Of School Administrators Who Are Perceived As Effective In Meeting The Needs Of Students With Disabilities., Carissa Gail Mitchell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study was conducted in 3 school systems in East Tennessee by interviewing special education directors, school principals, and teachers. The purpose of this study was to identify administrators who are successful in meeting the needs of special education students and determine characteristics they possess that facilitate success. The grounded theory study employed purposeful sampling and the snowball sampling method. It also included the use of a pilot study to refine the interview protocol. This study includes the characteristics of effective principals as perceived by the special education directors, principals, and teachers. Although some variety of conclusions existed within …

Perspectives Of Special Education Teachers On Implementation Of Inclusion In Four High Schools In East Tennessee., Lori Bellar Goodin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The terminology found in state educational policies coupled with congressional intent provides a supportive framework for integration of inclusion into public education (Duhaney, 1999; Heumann, 1994). The U.S. Department of Education declared that the required continuum of alternative placements reinforces the importance of the consideration of the individual versus programming for the masses in determining what placement is the LRE for each student with a disability (Heumann, 1994). This disagreement of what constitutes the best educational model affects political agendas and funding issues (Idol, 2006).

The purpose of this study was to examine special education teacher perceptions through a qualitative …

Childhood Family Factors That Influenced The Enrollment Of College Students With Learning Disabilities, Abigail Kirk

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to use qualitative measures to investigate the childhood family factors that influenced the enrollment of college students with learning disabilities. Six participants were interviewed, all of whom were registered through the University Accessibility Center at a four-year university and were served at some point during their school years for a learning disability. Interviews were held in a confidential location and lasted approximately thirty minutes. The interview protocol was constructed in a way that allowed participants to reflect on their experiences and tell their story in their own manner. Planned prompts were included to solicit …

Twenty-First Century Learning: Is Project Based Learning The Learning Of The Future?, Rebecca Ringrose

Honors Theses

Project based learning (PBL) allows students preschool to grade twelve to get involved in research projects in a hands-on manner. Project based learning provides students with access to a wide variety of technology to use to collect information, analyze data, and present their research. Twenty-first century skills is a goal for PBL projects which include team work and critical thinking to encourage students to become more interested in what they are studying. PBL is being used at Myrtle Beach High School by seventy-five tenth grade students in the subjects of English, Math, and Social Studies. The projects the students are …

A Qualitative Analysis Of A Junior High School Eating Disorder Prevention Program, Janine Ruth Stickney

Theses and Dissertations

Past research conducted in the areas of diagnosis and treatment of eating disorders have provided information in regards to understanding the epidemiology, base rates, damages and longitudinal course of eating disorders. Few studies, however, have focused on prevention, especially in adolescents. In this particular study, students in a Utah junior high school health class received preventative curriculum called, Eating Disorders: Physical, Social, and Emotional Consequences. Ten, female participants were then interviewed to explore their thoughts and feelings about their experiences and to qualitatively ascertain the success of the prevention program.

Examining Implementation Processes Of Positive Behavior Support, Julia Helzer Rollins

Theses and Dissertations

This study is a summary of themes found in the meeting notes of school teams implementing school-wide Positive Behavior Support. Positive Behavior Support (PBS) is a systems change process of reorganizing a school's discipline structure to put in place a positive, teaching and reinforcing focus for the improvement of student behavior (Sugai & Horner, 2006). In recent years, education researchers have established that school-wide PBS is an effective way to deliver research- based interventions to improve student behavior (Colvin & Kameenui, 1993, Gottfredson, Gottfredson, & Hybl 1993; Taylor-Green & Kartub, 2000). This study focused on the implementation process in order …

A Content Analysis Of Evaluation Instruments Used By Special Education Teacher Preparation Programs, Megan Sue Langford

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to conduct a content and component analysis of evaluation instruments used to evaluate preservice teacher performance by special education teacher preparation programs. Direct observation (DO) and summative evaluation (SE) forms were collected from a random sample of Special Education teacher preparation programs that are recognized by the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC). The forms were then coded for content and components based on predetermined categories to identify similarities and differences. Variances among the DO and SE forms indicated possible methods for evaluating preservice teacher knowledge, skills, and dispositions.

Exploring The Concerns Of Teachers And Principals Implementing Response To Intervention In A Pilot Project: Where Policy And Practice Collide, Lisa Michele Bilton

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this mixed-methods, multi-site study was to identify and explore the concerns of teachers and principals implementing a pilot Response to Intervention (RTI) model in three elementary schools in the southeast United States and to determine whether these concerns differed significantly from the beginning to the end of the first year of implementation. The Stages of Concern from the Concerns-Based Adoption Model (George, Hall, & Stiegelbauer, 2006; Hord, Rutherford, Huling, & Hall, 2004) served as the theoretical framework for the design and analysis of this study.

Between Fall 2008 and Spring 2009, 18 participants, including six administrators and …

Movement Of The Organized Blind In India: From Passive Recipients Of Services To Active Advocates Of Their Rights, Jagdish Chander

Cultural Foundations of Education - Dissertations & Theses

In recent years, the subject of the newborn disability rights movement in India has been attracting the attention of researchers, but there has been very little effort to document the movement of blind people in India for their rights, which preceded the broader disability rights movement. I therefore conducted a qualitative study of this movement of blind people in India by using the methods of oral history and document analysis. For this purpose, I conducted 93 interviews (by interviewing 45 informants) and analyzed relevant documents. Borrowing terminology from the self-advocacy movement of the blind in the United States, I describe …

Development, Implementation, And Evaluation Of A Social Skills Training Intervention In A Rural Special-School Setting For Students With Mild/Moderate Disabilities, Sheree Duncan

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Given the critical degree to which a person’s level of social competence influences one’s academic, mental, social, and interpersonal success, it is imperative that schools facilitate the learning of social skills. The purpose of this study was to design, implement and evaluate a social skills training intervention for students with mild disabilities (and behaviors that adversely affect their participation in a general curriculum or resource settings) in a rural special school setting. A review of literature guided the design and evaluation of the intervention. According to analysis of data on student behavior, the social skills training intervention did not consistently …

Instructional Accommodations For Students With Asperger Syndrome In The General High School Classroom, Myrna Baylis

Dissertations, Masters Theses, Capstones, and Culminating Projects

General education teachers in the secondary sector are held responsible for adapting their lessons and classroom environment for students with Asperger Syndrome. With the growing number of students within the autism spectrum disorder being placed in general education classrooms, teachers are faced with yet another challenge in making their curriculum inclusive. It has been my observation that teachers who have no prior training or knowledge of Asperger Syndrome struggle with making instructional accommodations to ensure these students reach their greatest potential. This study is intended to describe what secondary high school teachers are doing to differentiate instruction for their students …

Effects Of High-Interest Writing Prompts On Performance Of Students With Learning Disabilities By, Kelsey J. Chlarson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The following study was done to examine the extent to which high-interest narrative writing prompts for 12- to 13-year old students in special education increase accuracy and total words written (TWW) in a 3-min timed writing sample compared to low-interest writing prompts.

Students who will participate will be individuals from a sixth- and seventh-grade special education language arts class who have been classified with LD. In this study, participants select high-interest writing prompts as story starter topics as preferred prompts for writing tasks. Initially, participants will select high- and low-interest writing topics using a prompt selection procedure. Given 40 potential …

Latency As A Dependent Variable In Trial-Based Functional Analysis, Elizabeth Dayton

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The following research project consisted of two parts. The first was a data analysis of previously collected data. The second was conducted in local public schools at no cost to the teachers, students, or schools. Many individuals with disabilities engage in aberrant behaviors that negatively affect their lives and the lives of those around them. The following research paper examined a tool currently being used in schools (trial-based functional analysis; FA) to determine its effectiveness at identifying the function of an individual’s behavior.

The trial-based FA is an assessment tool that is accessible to classroom teachers to help them identify …

Students With Reading Disabilities Participating In Literature Discussions: A Case Study, Elysha Patino O’Brien

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This qualitative case study addressed a lack of research concerning literature discussions for students with learning disabilities in reading. Fourth and fifth grade students with reading disabilities participated in twice-weekly literature discussions, 30- to-60 minutes each, for 12 weeks. The students attended a Title I school and most were Hispanic males. Together, they read and discussed five postmodern picturebooks. The purpose of the study was to understand (a) reader responses to the illustrations, text, and postmodern features of the books, and (b) the individual reader’s response habits. Situated within a sociocultural frame, the theories guiding this study pertained to language …

The Decision-Making Process Of Finding Students With Significant Intellectual Disabilities Eligible For Participation In The Virginia Alternate Assessment Program, Karren Streagle

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to understand the decision-making process used by IEP teams and case managers for students with significant intellectual disabilities who participate in alternate assessments based on aligned academic achievement standards (AA-AAS). Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with case managers for students participating in the Virginia Alternate Assessment Program (VAAP) from school divisions in central Virginia. Traditional inductive data analysis techniques were used to analyze data collected from the in-depth interviews, the researcher’s reflexive field notes and observations, and a review of VAAP training and guidance documents provided by study participants. Findings illuminated the decision-making process …

High Stakes Play: Early Childhood Special Educators' Perspectives Of Play In Pre-Kindergarten Classrooms, Joanne Scandling Manwaring

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examined Early Childhood Special Educators' perceptions of play as a developmentally appropriate practice in special education prekindergarten classrooms in one southeastern school district. Through purposeful sampling, eight prekindergarten special educators were identified because they held multiple teaching certifications and some held National Board certification. The participants had many years of experience in pre-kindergarten special education, and were professional development trainers, teacher mentors and or leaders in the prekindergarten special education community. These eight accomplished pre-kindergarten special education teachers were interviewed using an informal, semi-structured format about their beliefs concerning play, how they implement it in their classrooms as …

Supporting Artists In The Gallery: The Role Of The Museum Educator At An Art College, India N. Clark

MALS Final Projects, 1995-2019

Campus museums are uniquely positioned to enhance student learning and support faculty in achieving course objectives. By tapping the potential of objects, exhibition themes, and the gallery environment, museum professionals can empower faculty and students to make meaningful and relevant connections to curriculum content. Inspired by the successes in such endeavors of revered teaching museums at elite liberal arts colleges, but frustrated by the challenges of transferring model practices to the context of an art college, I set out to investigate what was possible at my own place of employment, the nation's only publicly funded art college, Massachusetts College of …

General Education Elementary Teachers' Perceptions Of Developing "Interventionist" Beliefs And Practices, Michelle Pompeo

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis investigates how “Interventionist”, “general education” (GEN) teachers, (or “core” teachers, as opposed to special educators) in the elementary stream, in Ontario, have learned inclusive beliefs and practices that have been considered effective for teaching and including children with exceptionalities in their classrooms. 10 GEN elementary teachers, consisting of 3 men and 7 women, from 2 local school boards, were interviewed to determine if they were “Interventionist” (Stanovich & Jordan, 1998). From this sample, 6 GEN teachers; 2 men and 4 women, were found to be “Interventionist”. Classroom observations and follow-up interviews were used to gain insight into the …

Effect Of Response Cards On Academic Outcomes, Ellen L. Duchaine

Communication Sciences and Disorders Dissertations

ABSTRACT

EFFECT OF RESPONSE CARDS ON ACADEMIC OUTCOMES FOR HIGH

SCHOOL STUDENTS WITHOUT DISABILITIES AND HIGH SCHOOL

STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES WHO EXHIBIT

CHALLENGING BEHAVIORS

by

Ellen L. Duchaine

Response cards (RC) support effective teaching strategies such as maintaining a brisk

pace of instruction, increased opportunities to respond, immediate and frequent corrective

feedback, and high rates of behavior specific praise statements; all of which have been

effective in increasing student engagement for students with and without emotional and

behavioral disorders (E/BD) (Emmer & Stough, 2001; Simonsen et al., 2008; Sutherland,

Wehby, & Copeland, 2000). RC during academic instruction are successful in …

Check, Connect, And Expect In A Self-Contained Setting For Elementary Students With Emotional And Behavioral Disorders, Sara C. Mcdaniel

Communication Sciences and Disorders Dissertations

Check, Connect, Expect (CCE) is a secondary tier behavioral intervention for at-risk students who require targeted behavioral support in addition to school-wide positive behavioral interventions and supports. A full-time coach in the CCE intervention provided behavioral supports including daily check-in and check-out procedures, as well as targeted social skills instruction. This study extended CCE to a self-contained elementary school for students with emotional and behavioral disorders. Twenty-two students participated in the 17-week study that involved a four week baseline phase, followed by a 13-week intervention phase. The following research questions were addressed: (a) How did CCE affect student behavior?; (b) …

Evaluating The Relationship Among Parents' Oral And Written Language Skills, The Home Literacy Environment, And Their Preschool Children's Emergent Literacy Skills, Nicole A. Taylor

Communication Sciences and Disorders Dissertations

Studies have examined the impact of parents’ educational level on their child’s emergent literacy skills and have found positive associations (Korat, 2009). However, a review of the literature indicates that previous studies have not investigated whether parents’ oral and written language skills relate to their child’s emergent oral and written language skills. This is important in light of the fact that parents’ educational level does not provide a complete picture of their academic skills (Greenberg, 1995). In addition to parental characteristics, the home literacy environment (HLE) is seen as important in the growth of children’s emergent literacy skills (Hood, Conlon, …

Effects Of Tiered Training On General Education Teachers' Use Of Specific Praise, Michele T. Thompson

Theses and Dissertations

Research suggests a compelling correlation between teacher behavior and effective learning environments (Sutherland & Morgan, 2003; Brophy & Good, 1986). Focusing on the evidence-based teaching skill of offering behavior-specific praise (BSP), the researcher worked with 3 elementary-level general educators in a tiered model of instruction, commonly known as response to intervention (RtI). Although RtI commonly provides targeted instructional support to students, this study, a systematic replication of Myers, Simonsen and Sugai (2011), used the RtI framework to provide professional development to teachers. The researcher also tracked the behavior of 3 students, identified by the teachers as having behavioral difficulties, who …

The Effects Of Wilson Reading System And Guided Reading On The Reading Achievement Of Students With Learning Disabilities, Rachel Ricci

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose for this study was based on Millville Public School's need for students to meet annual yearly progress in language arts literacy according to state standards. This study evaluated the results of the use of the Wilson Reading System compared to a Guided Reading program on the reading achievement of students with learning and reading disabilities using the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) first grade assessment data. DIBELS was used to assess the students on nonsense word fluency, whole words read and oral reading fluency. Combining all of the DIBELS skill areas assessed, the students in …

Preparing Elementary Teachers To Teach Students With Disabilities A Comparison Of Program Structures & Elements Across Teacher Preparation Institutions, Jessica Close

HIM 1990-2015

Students with disabilities have the right to the least restrictive environment (IDEA, 2004). Elementary teachers are teaching more of these students in the inclusive classroom because of this right. Elementary teachers are willing to take on this responsibility, but most feel they are not prepared to do so. In order to address this concern, elementary teacher preparation at the institution level must be addressed. This is a descriptive thesis which identifies and compares methods that different institutions across the country use to prepare teachers to teach students with disabilities. Institutions chosen for this thesis were recognized by either the U.S. …

Proposal Project To Improve Greeting Skills Of An Adult With Disabilities Using Social Stories, Jamie Dawn Palmer-Ormsby

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Mike is a 22 year-old adult with CHARGE Syndrome and autism spectrum conditions. Mike often struggles to greet and interact appropriately when people come to visit him and his family at his house. The purpose of this project was to help Mike improve his greeting and overall social skills. One event that seems to provoke problem behavior in people with autism is sudden unannounced schedule changes. Advanced warning of schedule changes have been used to prepare people with disabilities similar to Mike’s to teach social and behavioral skills. Social stories have also been used as an intervention to give individuals …

Creating And Evaluating Teacher Training Modules In Applied Behavior Analysis, Summer Lynn Navarrete

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

The use of applied behavior analysis (ABA) in the treatment of young children with autism has been shown to be effective in increasing their developmental trajectory. Many teachers, however, are unfamiliar with these teaching techniques. In training individuals to implement ABA interventions, didactic training should be paired with activities such as supervised practice and immediate feedback. The purpose of this project was to evaluate the effectiveness in the use of computerized training modules to teach specific information related to implement ABA programming with children with disabilities.

The Effects Of Concrete-Representational-Abstract Sequenced Instruction On Struggling Learners Acquisition, Retention, And Self-Efficacy Of Fractions, Elizabeth Hughes

All Dissertations

A growing body of research supports instructional strategies, such as concrete-representational-abstract (CRA) sequence, to teach mathematics to students at risk of failure, including those with disabilities. This study extends the current body of CRA research by analyzing the effects of CRA sequence of instruction on student achievement, and retention, and self-efficacy of performance on computations of fractions. Thirty-five students participated in this study. A series of repeated measures ANOVAs were performed to assess main effects and interaction effects for performance and self-efficacy of students in a control group who received traditional fractions instruction and a treatment group who received CRA …

Investigating The Effects Of Addition With Regrouping Strategy Instruction Among Elementary Students With Learning Disabilities, Christi Miller Carmack

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Many students, specifically those with learning disabilities, struggle to master foundational computation skills such as addition with regrouping. With this in mind, the purpose of this research was to examine the effects of strategy instruction that involved the use of the concrete-representational-abstract teaching sequence on the addition with regrouping computation and word problem-solving skills of students with learning disabilities. This study involved the use of a multiple probe across participants design with two replications. The participants included nine second through sixth graders who had been identified as having a learning disability and were demonstrating mathematics difficulties. There were three females …