Education Commons^™

Strategies For Creating An Inclusive Environment In Early Childhood Education, Jenica Boelter

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

The articles reviewed in this literature review examine key strategies needed to create a positive learning environment and successfully include students with disabilities in an inclusive elementary classroom. Key strategies include relationships, collaboration, providing feedback, the use of visuals and nonverbal communication, accommodations, and understanding a students perception of school climate. The literature review concluded that creating this type of collaborative environment with strong relationships ultimately has a positive impact on student success in the classroom. Considering the current trend of inclusion in education, it is important to research and develop strategies that support children with disabilities in the classroom. …

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 …

Activity-Based Intervention And One-To-One Correspondence For Children With Developmental Delays, Cyndy Anang

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

PreK children with developmental delays in inclusive classrooms need access to math interventions helps them develop foundational math skills that are needed to succeed during their K-12 education. Research is significantly lacking that addresses increasing math skills for children with disabilities in PreK classrooms. The purpose of this study was to examine how using activity-based intervention (ABI) increases one-to-one correspondence for children with disabilities in an inclusive classroom. A single subject multiple probe design across participants was implemented to embed one-to-one correspondence math goals into daily routines and preferred activities. The participants of the study were two 3–5-year-old children categorized …

Friendship Between A Child With Disabilities And Peers Without Disabilities In An Inclusive Setting In Elementary Schools In South Korea, Soyoung Lee

Culminating Projects in Special Education

No abstract required.

Teachers Of General Education: Perceptions And Experiences Teaching Inclusion In U.S. Schools, Ann C. Sander

Teacher Education, Educational Leadership & Policy ETDs

This phenomenological qualitative study explored the perceptions and experiences of a group of U.S. public schools, kindergarten through fifth grade teachers, certified in general education with experience teaching inclusion--a federally mandated practice requiring schools to educate students both with and without disabilities in the same classroom. Much of the literature surrounding inclusion focuses on the perceived benefits of the program and children with disabilities' legal rights. The literature has a limited number of references describing the perceptions and experiences of teachers who are required to provide the educational services necessary for inclusion in the classroom.

In this study, 35 participants …

Using Behavior Skills Training To Promote Self-Advocating Behaviors: A Single Subject Research Design To Examine The Effectiveness Of Behavior Interventions Among Teachers, Clarence Cooper

Theses and Dissertations

Using Behavioral Skills Training to Promote Self-Advocating Behaviors: A Single-Subject Research Design to Examine the Effectiveness of Behavior Interventions Among Teachers. Clarence Cooper, 2022: Applied Dissertation, Nova Southeastern University, Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice. Keywords: applied behavior analysis, behavioral skills training, inclusion, individual education plan, operant conditioning, prompting, reinforcer, self-advocacy, accommodation

This applied dissertation utilized the behavioral skills training to train teachers on how to prompt, identify, and reinforce self-advocacy behaviors among students with learning disabilities. In applying behavioral analytic interventions to strengthen desired outcomes, a one- day intervention that was grounded in a …

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 …

Elementary Special Education Teachers’ Attitudes Regarding Inclusion, Tara Ridarick, Ravic Ringlaben

LC Journal of Special Education

This study looked at the attitudes of elementary special education teachers in a school district in the Southeastern United States that has been regularly including students with disabilities in general education classrooms for the past ten years. Teacher attitude has been shown to be an important indicator of the success of inclusion. However, students with disabilities as a group continue to not meet expectations on state standardized testing. Clearly, even though schools are practicing inclusion, they may not be experiencing success. The success of inclusion has been linked to the support of the special education teachers (Cook et al., 1999). …

Phenomenological Study Of Positive Coteaching Dyads Perceptions Of Their Coteaching Relationship, Ashley Weber

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand how coteaching dyads perceive their coteaching relationships including how they implemented coteaching and how their school leaders supported them. Participants in this study were located in one county school system in East Tennessee. Data was collected through an online survey distributed to 40 teachers, of whom 28 responded. Then data was collected through in person one-on-one interviews. Coteachers who participated in the interview process all rated themselves high on the Coteaching Rating Scale. The overarching research question was What makes coteaching relationships effective? Three research questions were analyzed. From the data, …

An Examination Of The Working Relationships Between General Education Teachers, Special Education Teachers, And Paraprofessionals In General Education Settings, Rita Page Hosay

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to provide an examination of the relationships between general education teachers, special education teachers, and paraprofessionals and the influences of these relationships on students with disabilities. This study was conducted through the process of semi-structured interviews with general education teachers, special education teachers, and paraprofessionals working in two Tennessee school districts. The researcher found that communication practices, training, perspectives, time, role expectations, development of partnerships, and the creation of supportive environments affect the development of working relationships among special education teachers, paraprofessionals, and general education teachers. The researcher found that these relationships influence the …

Facilitating Successful Inclusion At Secondary Schools In Dominica: A Study Of Teachers’ Perspectives, Jean Thomas-Jeremy

LC Journal of Special Education

The introduction of Universal Secondary Education (USE) in Dominica some 15 years ago has given rise to inclusive education in the country’s secondary school system. Although there is no legislation to govern or regulate inclusive based practices, the Ministry of Education in Dominica is encouraging secondary school administrations to put measures in place to facilitate inclusion. One of the major questions that remain is: Are schools prepared to meet the challenges of inclusion in the regular classroom? This survey seeks to answer this and other questions by eliciting teachers’ perception on inclusive education practices in Dominica.

Academic Interventions For Students With Asd, Deanna B. Cash

LC Journal of Special Education

Following the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act in 2004 and its emphasis on inclusion of students with disabilities in the general education setting, students with Autism Spectrum Disorder are increasingly taught in general education classrooms (Leblanc, Richardson, & Burns, 2009; Simpson, Boer-Ott, & Smith-Myles, 2003). Data from the Annual Report to Congress on Implementation of IDEA (U.S. Department of Education, 2010) indicated that almost 90% of students with autism in public schools in the United States receive their education in general education classrooms for some part of the school day. Yet, both general education and special …

Building Teacher Differentiation Self-Efficacy In The Classroom, Tyler Krattenmaker

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

The practice of inclusion has allowed more students with disabilities to participate with their peers in general education classrooms than ever before. However, research findings show that in many cases, educators have low self-efficacy when it comes to their ability to serve students with disabilities within their classrooms. Studies have documented a need for professional development to target inclusion and accommodations, showing that increased training increases teacher self-efficacy in implementing students supports. With this research in mind, a school improvement plan was developed that focuses on a professional development series to increase educator self-efficacy in implementing accommodations frequently included in …

Examining California’S Title 22 Community Care Licensing Regulations: The Impact On Inclusive Preschool Settings, Aja Mckee, Audri Sandoval Gomez, Sardis Susana Rodriguez, Janice Myck-Wayne, Scott Turner, Markus Trujillo

Education Faculty Articles and Research

Access to general education preschool in California has varied for children with disabilities. One reason for the disparity of educational placement is the preschool regulations outlined in California Department of Education’s Title 22: Community Care Licensing guidelines. These regulations, particularly in preschool, support or hinder preschool inclusion. Examining the preschool section of Title 22 through document analysis resulted in identifying three major themes that embrace or deter inclusive practices: (a) language (i.e., supportive language, antiquated language, and ambiguous language); (b) training, experience, and education; and (c) staff-student ratio. California’s educational leaders should consider these results to provide opportunities for preschool …

The Pillars That Support School Principals In Cultivating Inclusive, Equitable Practices For Diverse Learners, Karime Asaf

College of Education Theses and Dissertations

Special education students benefit in important ways from receiving academic and social-emotional support in the general education classroom and natural learning environment of their nondisabled peers. This capstone proposes a theory of action that can serve as the foundation for creating a leadership development program to support principals in promoting the adoption of inclusive practices for Diverse Learners in their schools. When properly organized, inclusive schools become cohesive, supportive communities where all members learn and value each other. Autoethnography was the methodological approach used to invoke, account for, and analyze experiential data from the author’s 30 years of service as …

De Bono's Six Hats Thinking Strategy For All Content Areas, Jamie Mahoney, Lynn Patterson, Carol Hall

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

Problem-solving and collaboration require people to compromise, negotiate, and brainstorm to understand, create, manage, judge, and be intuitive and remain positive and calm while working as a team to address problems. Teachers can teach students to collaborate and problem-solve in any content area using de Bono's Six Thinking Hats Strategy. Using de Bono's strategy, university students in this study explored learning hats and ways to apply learning hat properties to collaborate and problem solve in group activities. Researchers employed a mixed-method study enlisting both general education and special education pre-service undergraduate and in-service graduate teachers to discover personal thinking hat …

Teaching Students With Intellectual Disability To Create A Slope-Intercept Equation, Andrew Wojcik Ph.D., Alison R. King Ph.D.

The Journal of Special Education Apprenticeship

Increasingly individuals with Intellectual Disability (ID) are showing the capability of learning abstract mathematical skills like algebra. The purpose of the study was to show a method for teaching high school-aged individuals with ID the algebra skill of creating an equation from a line using a time-delay strategy and equation template. We employed a non-concurrent multiple probe across participants design with four participants who showed an increase in performance after the intervention. All participants showed improvements with a percentage of a nonoverlapping data effect size of 86.84%. The study supplied more evidence that the use of time delay approaches can …

The Effectiveness Of Practicums On Preservice Physical Educators’ Attitudes And Self-Efficacy Toward Teaching Individuals With Disabilities., Megan E. Johnson

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

The aim of this study was to explain the effects a practicum had on the attitudes and perceived self-efficacy of preservice physical educators toward teaching students with disabilities in an inclusive learning environment. Existing literature established most physical educators receive one semester-long course in adapted physical education (APE), which often leads to feelings of unpreparedness and negative attitudes toward teaching students with disabilities in the general physical education (GenPE) classroom. The present study utilized a mixed-methods approach to combine quantitative data results from the Physical Educators Attitudes toward Teaching Individuals with Disabilities (PEATID-III) survey (Rizzo, 1993) and qualitative data findings …

Collaborative Teaching And Data Collection In The Inclusive Classroom: Utilizing The Activity Matrix, Jamie L. Cota

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

Educators first began to focus on the impact of inclusive teaching practices with the passing of the Education for All Handicap Children Act 1975 law (Public Law 94-142), now known as the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA). Inclusive practices have come a long way, but can still vary from district to district. It is easy to claim to have an inclusive classroom, but it takes collaboration, communication, shared responsibility and shared data collection to truly include students of all learning abilities in the classroom. The focus of this project is to show how teams can work together to support an …

Inclusive Employment Opportunities For Adults With Down Syndrome, Valerie Schlieder, Susan Macdermott

Spring 2022 Virtual OTD Capstone Symposium

Adults with Down syndrome (DS) face several barriers to inclusive and community-based employment opportunities, including the DS phenotype, volition, and disability stigma. The purpose of this project was to create a strengths-based occupational therapy (OT) group program to address these barriers. Using information from the needs assessment as well as the Ecology of Human Performance model, the Model of Human Occupation, and the Social Model of Disability, the EmployAble program was created. EmployAble took place twice a week for five weeks and included six adults with DS, ages 19-32. The group focused on employment readiness skills such as interpersonal skills, …

Best Buddies Club: A Phenomenological Study Of The Non-Disabled Peer Perspective On Socially Interacting With Students With Disabilities, Joanna Marie Cavender

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to describe the shared experience of non-disabled peers serving as a “best buddy” to high school students with a disability in the southeastern United States. The theory guiding this study was Vygotsky’s Social Constructivism Theory, where learning between two diverse learners occurs through social interaction with one another, specifically a high school student with a disability and a non-disabled peer buddy. Participants in this study (N=14) were selected from three different high schools throughout one school district, each with active extracurricular Best Buddies Clubs in place. Data were collected through 1:1 interviews, …

A Study Of K-12 Classroom Teachers' Concerns And Perceived Self-Efficacy In Implementing Inclusive Teaching Practices To Instruct Students With Disabilities, Pankaj Khazanchi

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Research over the past decade suggests teachers have low instructional self-efficacy/confidence and more concerns about implementing inclusive teaching practices. This quantitative correlational study explored whether reported concerns and demographic variables (gender, age, education, and years of teaching experience) predicts teachers’ instructional self-efficacy with students with disabilities. The Concerns about Inclusive Education and the Teachers’ Efficacy in Implementing Inclusive Practices scales were administered to 123 K-12 classroom teachers in Georgia. Data were subjected to hierarchical linear multiple regression to examine whether systematically adding select demographic variables and teachers’ concern scores to the overall model significantly improved the model’s ability to predict …

Making It Work! Increasing Collaboration Between Our Special Education And General Education Licensure Programs At Msu Denver, Rebecca L. Canges, Lisa Altemueller, Kara Halley

Journal of Educational Research and Innovation

Teachers have been identified as one of the most important factors in the success of inclusive education. However, many preservice teachers report feeling inadequately prepared for supporting the needs of students with disabilities in their classroom. The following paper presents a detailed look at how one Institution of Higher Education has been working to build a collaborative program so that their preservice elementary and secondary teachers graduate with a higher rate of self-efficacy for teaching students with disabilities in an inclusive classroom.

A Phenomenological Study Of The Shared Lived Experiences Of Students With Disabilities In Inclusion Classrooms, Michelle Lynette Brown

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to describe the lived experience of inclusion for students with disabilities regarding the practice of inclusion at a rural middle school in Southwest Virginia. The theories guiding this study were Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory of cognitive development and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. The central research question for the study was: What are the shared lived experiences of students with disabilities in an inclusion classroom? Other questions addressed social and academic experiences of students with disabilities in inclusion classrooms. The study took place in intermediate and middle schools in rural Southwest Virginia. Purposeful sampling …

Flexible Facilitation: Coaching And Modelling To Support Inclusive Education, Danielle Lane, Sarah Semon, Nicholas Catania, Khalid M. Abu-Alghayth Phd

The Qualitative Report

The practices of education, such as separate and resource placements, pull-out services, scripted intervention programmes, an emphasis on diagnoses, and behaviorist discipline practices, are not conducive to the goals of inclusive education. This study demonstrates how one instructional coach worked to disrupt traditional special education practices and guide special educators towards the use of more effective research-based instructional strategies and collaborative practices to promote inclusion. Using Robert Stake’s intrinsic case study methodology, we explored the perceived roles of coaching and modelling to promote inclusion through the lens of one coach who modelled methods for the special education teachers in multiple …

Preparing Australian Special Educators: Courses And Content, Jennifer Stephenson, Rahul Ganguly, Coral Kemp, Catherine Salisbury

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

: The characteristics and content of post-graduate courses in special and/or inclusive teacher education in Australian universities were examined using publicly available material on university websites. Content analysis was guided by a set of content area elements covering desirable skills and knowledge for special educators that were identified in the Australian literature. The presence or absence of these content elements in each course and in core or elective units was coded for 28 courses from 21 universities. All or most courses covered generic content such as teaching strategies and evaluating and using research. However, more specialist content, such as explicit …

A Cord Of Many Strands: A Case Study Of Inclusive Practice Within The Archdiocese Of Los Angeles, Patrick James Allison

LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations

The foundational philosophy of Catholic schools impels them toward inclusive practice. Scholars have repeatedly established that a moral mandate exists in Catholic Social Teaching for Catholic schools to include all students. However, students with disabilities have traditionally been excluded from Catholic school settings due perceived resource constraints, lack of practitioner skill, and the disposition that students with disabilities are better served in public schools. Many Catholic schools have made tremendous progress in inclusive practice, and stand at the forefront of this work, but these efforts have not been replicated at scale.

The purpose of this study was to explore how …

Physical Educators’ Socialization And Self-Efficacy Toward The Behavior Management Of Students With Disabilities, Amelia Chloe Simpson

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Intro: Although studies have evaluated how physical educators learn behavior management, little effort has been made to identify the socializing experiences and sources of self-efficacy that influence how physical educators approach the behavior management of students with disabilities (SWD).

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to understand how physical educators develop self-efficacy toward the behavior management of SWD throughout the phases of occupational socialization theory.

Method: Data for the mixed-method study included 85 U.S. public (K-12) physical educators who completed a survey that collected demographic information and responses to the Teaching Students with Disabilities Efficacy Scale (Solomon & Scott, …

Autoeficacia Del Docente De Educación Física General Y La Inclusión De Estudiantes Con Necesidades Especiales [Self-Efficacy Of The General Physical Education Teacher And The Inclusion Of Students With Special Needs], Raul Berrios

Theses and Dissertations

El propósito de este estudio fue determinar el nivel de autoeficacia de los docentes de educación física general, sobre la inclusión de estudiantes con necesidades especiales en las áreas de estrategias de instrucción, manejo de la sala de clases y cómo lograr la participación de los estudiantes.

El diseño utilizado fue uno no experimental con un enfoque transeccional o transversal descriptivo. El marco teórico seleccionado fue la teoría social cognitiva de Bandura, de la cual se desprende el componente de la teoría de autoeficacia.

La muestra estuvo conformada por los 37 docentes de educación física general de un municipio del …

Inclusive Practices In Teacher Education Programs, Melike Yozgatli

Theses and Dissertations--Early Childhood, Special Education, and Counselor Education

Inclusive education is a global trend and an educational right that refers to the inclusion of students with disabilities in general education settings (GECs). Applying to the most effective practices is particularly essential for students with disabilities in GECs. Most of the responsibility to implement inclusive practices and create a positive inclusive classroom environment falls on special and general education teachers in GECs. Thus, pre-service teacher education is crucial for teachers’ future achievements in inclusionary settings to address the diverse needs of students with disabilities. The purpose of this survey study was to investigate teacher education programs in the United …