Education Commons^™

Elementary Science Essential Elements Curriculum Map & Progress Monitoring With Evidence-Based Teaching Strategies, Tasha Jenkins

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

Little research has explored the field of science instruction tailored to students with significant disabilities. However, research studies have begun to emerge that suggest, with specific instructional strategies, these students can be successful in learning science curriculum. This project evaluated literature to find evidence-based instructional strategies for teaching science to students with significant cognitive disabilities. Six strategies were consistently found across multiple studies. The six strategies include (1) time delay, (2) systematic instruction, (3) multiple exemplar training, (4) task analysis, (5) graphic organizers, and (6) guided inquiry-based learning. These strategies were shared with a team of nine special education teachers …

Manifestation Determination Reviews: What Is The Role Of The Speech Language Pathologist And Are The Language Abilities Of The Student Considered?, Joan Turner

All Theses, Dissertations, and Capstone Projects

The purpose of this study is to seek best practices for Manifestation Determination Review (MDR) meetings with regards to Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) participation, how frequently expressive and receptive language of the student are considered throughout the process, and the degree to which MDR teams follow best practice recommendations. Given the vague federal guidelines regarding the MDR process, SLPs are not consistently invited to MDR meetings and expressive and receptive language of the student being disciplined are not consistently considered in the manifestation determination meetings and process (Fisher et al., 2021; Knudsen & Bethune, 2018). The researcher used a mixed …

Music Education Within An Autism Support Classroom: Building Community And Educational Skills, Emma Lamberti

Honors Theses

The purpose of this action research study was to explore how music education might provide a sense of community, develop educational skills, and discuss general best practices for teaching students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in a middle school autism support classroom. To examine community, educational skills, and best practices, this study completed two cycles of action research. The curriculum in Cycle 1 consisted of typical music lessons for a general music classroom. Interviews with teachers and students, video observations, and researcher reflections after each lesson were used to inform the development of Cycle 2. Cycle 2 retained the overall …

Evaluating The Perceived Preparedness Of Pre-Service Music Educators To Teach Students With Disabilities, Emily Jarvis

Honors Projects

This study evaluated the perceived preparedness of pre-service music educators to teach students with disabilities based on their university’s curriculum. Ten participants responded to a survey that asked questions on their feelings of preparedness in classroom management, teaching students with disabilities, university education, and personal perspectives. Overall, participants indicated they felt comfortable with teaching students with disabilities, but felt unprepared to teach specific components of disability education based on their program studies alone. Suggestions to improve university programs are based on implementing Universal Design Learning (UDL) practices.

Moments Of Meeting: 'Intersubjective Encounters' And ‘Emancipatory’ Experiences Of Individuals With (Intellectual) Disabilities In Inclusive Musical Contexts, Caroline Blumer

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The purpose of this study was to explore an intersubjective framework to better understand the relational aspects of two inclusive musical programs in London, ON. I focused on mutual recognition moments, called moments of meeting (MoM), researching how they are formed and manifested while music is shared, created, or experienced within these two environments. Approaching such programs as potentially intersubjective spaces, this study investigated the impact of MoM and intersubjective experiences on the participation of individuals with Intellectual Disabilities (ID) in music making as well as on their perceptions of themselves as subjects. Equally significant, this study looked at emerging …

Teacher Self-Efficacy And The Inclusive Christian School Classroom, Richard J. Mudrow

Doctor of Education (Ed.D)

Research indicates that one in five students nationwide struggles with a learning difficulty or disability that affects the student’s ability to learn (Galiatsos et al., 2019). Nationwide, Christian schools are enrolling students with disabilities (SWDs), but it is difficult to determine the specific number of SWDs enrolled in Christian schools (Association of Christian Schools International, 2021). In the inclusive school setting, whether public or private, teachers and administrators are often underprepared in their approach to the education of SWDs (Cooc, 2019; Kirk et al., 2021; Krämer et al., 2021). The purpose of this study is to explore how teaching SWDs …

Inclusive Education Is Power: Revising Sexual Health Education For People With Disabilities, Carly M. Tsuruda

Master's Projects and Capstones

For people with disabilities in the United States, comprehensive sexual health education is not always available. There are a number of reasons for the lack of comprehensive sexual health education, including excessive censorship and curriculum that is not representative of people with disabilities. Sexual health education and disability are both topics that have several preconceived notions attached to them, yet there is a dearth in resources that could provide accurate information to those both with and without disabilities. These preconceived notions that have been associated with these identity labels lead to negative health outcomes for people with disabilities such as …

On-Campus Mental Health Service Use Among College Students With Autism: A Case Study Applying The Andersen Behavioral Model Of Health Services Use, Estella C. Lilyquist

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The unique set of impairments and limitations presented by students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) make the accessing of campus-based nonacademic resources more difficult and complicated than their typically developed peers. Each year, the rate of students entering college with disabilities continues to grow, but their mental well-being is relatively poor. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to apply the conceptual framework of the Andersen behavioral model of health services use (ABMHSU) to the experiences of college students with ASD to understand and predict their utilization of campus-provided mental health resources. The participants were seven college students with …

Special Education: Inclusion And Exclusion In The K-12 U.S. Educational System, Erik Brault

Dissertations

The U.S. Department of Education defines students with disabilities as those having a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more life activities. Previous research has found that students with disabilities placed in inclusive environments perform better academically and socially compared to students with disabilities who are placed in segregated environments. Yet, we know that inclusion in K-12 general education classrooms across the country is not consistently implemented.

The purpose of this study was to better understand the effects, if any, of general education high school teachers’ personal and professional experiences and knowledge on their attitudes toward educating …

Disability Justice In Higher Education: The Lived Experiences Of Disabled White Women Disability Services Directors, Emily Gaspar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Eight disabled white women disability services directors shared their experiences working in disability services in higher education. The ten principles of disability justice provided the framework for this interpretative phenomenological analysis. Individual interviews were used to gain an understanding of the lived experiences of the participants with specific focus on disability identity of the professionals working in disability services and how their identities inform their campus experiences, along with how their intersectional identities inform their disability identity. Participants were found to experience ableism and oppression, a broad spectrum of relationships, disability solidarity, disability disclosure, identity hierarchy, disability management and coping …

Are There Consequences For Multiple Marginalized Identities? The Relationship Between Race, Disability Status, And Discipline In San Antonio K-12 Schools, Michaela Robinett

Honors Program Theses and Research Projects

Black and Latino/a/x students with disabilities experience significant marginalization that adversely affects their experiences with school discipline. The current study examined the disciplinary experiences of Black, Latinx, and White K-12 students with disabilities in 464 schools located in San Antonio, Texas, and discovered that Black and Latinx students with disabilities were overrepresented in various categories of exclusionary discipline practices, restraints, and seclusion. Black and Latinx students with disabilities were also found to have a higher risk of receiving exclusionary discipline practices, some restraints, and seclusion compared to White students with disabilities. Additionally, Black and Latinx student enrollment was found to …

Adapting Higher Education: Revamping Curricula For The Inclusion Of Theatre Students With Disabilities, Kevin Kemler

Theses and Dissertations

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion initiatives in higher education have been largely driven by administrators who have little to no contact with the students for whom they are working for. This top-down approach negatively impacts marginalized students and disproportionately affects the quality of experience for students with Disabilities, an often-overlooked demographic. For Disabled students enrolled in performance programs, barriers to access and inclusion don’t just exist at the institutional level, they also exist in the traditional classroom or studio as well. Through a dismantling of ableist structures inherent within higher education (i.e., American grading practices, the Western and Theatrical Canons), I …

Is Online Course-Taking Helping Or Hindering Students With Disabilities In U.S. Community Colleges?, Francisco Expression Narciso Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

Students with disabilities in U.S. community colleges continue to disproportionately experience lower degree attainment compared to students without disabilities. Furthermore, students with disabilities are twice as likely to choose community colleges for postsecondary education compared to four-year colleges. Students with disabilities in postsecondary education endure learning barriers including inflexible instruction, inaccessible content, and intimidating and unsafe learning environments. The purpose of this study is to address the increasing achievement gaps for students with disabilities in community colleges. Specifically, this study intended to answer the question to what extent, if at all, does online course-taking impact degree attainment for students with …

The Gendered, Racialized, & Dis/Abled Experiences Of Neurodivergent Black Women Graduate Students Across Higher Education, Kat Stephens

Doctoral Dissertations

Black women graduate students with dis/abilities; those identifying as neurodivergent are scarce in contemporary research. Throughout widespread disability studies, research, and the research on neurodiversity, this lack is consistent regarding minoritized race and gender groupings (Matthews, 2019; Strong et al., 2020). Larger neurodivergent, ADHD, and Autism conversations tend to skew toward White boys and men (Travers, 2018). The convergence of disability (race, gender, and place/space) as another marginalized community and diverse student population, is an additional gap in the literature, despite the benefits of DisCrit (Annamma et al., 2013). Black women graduate students with disabilities, specifically those identifying as neurodivergent …

The ‘Ezel Project’ Inquiry: Mesotransformative Praxis To Decenter Whiteness In Racialized Organizations And Schools, Justin Gerald

Theses and Dissertations

In this study, a Black scholar in the midst of understanding his neurodivergence and his identity as someone who has been dis/abled reacts to the prodding of white peers by creating a course on decentering whiteness. The scholar then interviews ten of the participants in said class to understand how they came to select such a course and what they might have accomplished in attempting to challenge the structure of whiteness in their institutions. Drawing on Critical Race Theory, Critical Whiteness Studies, Dis/Crit, and in particular the work of Victor Ray, this work seeks to examine the narratives that brought …

Accommodations, Inclusion, And Communication With Students With Disabilities In The Music Classroom, Cora M. Wilson

Music Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to learn how music educators create inclusivity in their classroom and how to better do that without potentially alienating the students with disabilities. For this study, inclusivity is defined as providing an equal opportunity for participation and education in the classroom. It is also to bring more awareness to disabilities and how they can and should be managed in the classroom. The goal for this study is to aid in informing educators on how to enable students with disabilities to be included without feeling alienated or having undue attention drawn to them.

As the …

Perceptions Of Tenured Science Faculty Regarding The Provision Of Reasonable Accommodations For Students With Disabilities, Rebecca J. Riggs

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This phenomenological study used qualitative research methods to explore the perceptions of tenured science faculty regarding the provision of reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities. Thirteen tenured science faculty at postsecondary institutions throughout the United States participated in one-on-one interviews. The participants provided their perceptions and experiences regarding the provision of academic accommodations for students with disabilities in a laboratory science. In these interviews key themes emerged, such as the importance of providing reasonable accommodations for successful academic outcomes for students with disabilities, the perception that providing reasonable accommodations to students with disabilities is fair, the concern that providing reasonable …

Exploring The Motivations Of College Students With Adhd To Disclose Their Disability And Use Accommodations, Carol M. Haynes-Buchanan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

College enrollment numbers reflect that the admission rates of students with disabilities are increasing as time progresses (Newman et al., 2020). Despite this spike in college attendance, degree completion rates of students with disabilities (SWD) are significantly lower than their nondisabled peers (DuPaul et al., 2018). This disparity was addressed via laws and regulations geared towards higher education institutions to level the playing field for SWD through providing services and support. This study aimed to explore what motivates SWD to disclose their disability and to accept or decline accommodations in the university setting. Students and faculty at a Texas private …

Investigating Bilingual Aac Practices In Bilingual Communities, Johanna R. Salisbury

Masters Theses

This thesis investigates best practices for teaching and supporting bilingual augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) users as they develop their communication skills. Although there are guidelines that inform best practices for teaching and supporting bilingual AAC users, there is very little information on what these practices look like. This thesis investigates the techniques and strategies that bilingual speech-language pathologists (SLPs) who practice in Catalunya, a bilingual community in northeastern Spain, use to evaluate, teach, and support people who use pictogram-based AAC modalities to communicate.

To do this, six SLPs who practice in Catalunya participated in interviews regarding their practices when …

School Administrator Preparation In Special Education: A Cross-Case Analysis, Emily Ruiz

Dissertations

Special education has been part of public education for 46 years and has evolved considerably in that time. Despite improvements made in special education law, there remains a disconnect between law and current practices. Several studies suggest this disconnect is associated with administrators’ insufficient preparation for supporting special education in their schools.

This study utilized an explanatory sequential design to study Southern California school principals’ special education preparation. During the first phase of the study, the researcher emailed surveys to administrators who were selected using a stratified random sampling strategy. Unfortunately, the response rate was too low to employ the …

Adults Perspectives Of Friendships And Social Interaction Between Students With And Without Complex Support Needs During A Pandemic, Jorden Morales

Special Education ETDs

Social interactions and friendships are important for all individuals including those with complex support needs (CSN). The voices of adults including parents/guardians, primary caregivers, teachers, and related service providers who responded to a survey provided insight into supporting social interactions and friendships for children with CSN during the Covid-19 pandemic This mixed methods study used thematic analysis to explore participants’ responses to open-ended questions while multiple choice questions were analyzed through descriptive statistics. Additionally, this study included a research narrative to speak to the various roles I hold related to this study (i.e., parent, educator, researcher). Three themes emerged from …

Representation In Visual Schedules For Individuals With Disabilities, Colleen Fowkes

Masters Theses, 2020-current

A visual activity schedule (VAS) is an evidence-based intervention that can assist individuals to follow a routine, see what is coming next, reduce dependence on others, and aid in transitions. A VAS is a sequence of visuals (photographs, avatars, line drawings, etc.) that can be used to show the user what they are to do in a specific order. A VAS acts as a template for the task the user is supposed to accomplish. Visual schedules can be beneficial for a wide range of users; they have been seen to be especially effective when used with individuals with disabilities, autism …

Coronavirus Disability Survey: Assessing The Impact Of Covid-19 On Young Adults With Disabilities, Hena Rashid

Student Research Submissions

This paper seeks to inform individuals of the importance of digital inclusivity, diminish the digital divide, and accessibility to technological services of college students who experience a form of disability. The United States has conducted minimal research on the digital disability rhetoric, promoted minimal disability-inclusive measures to protect the rights and well-being of college students, and minimal assistance to mitigate Coronavirus (COVID-19) impacts to this population subgroup. This subject can have a big impact on individuals who suffer from disability stigma, low accessibility issues, and who have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. Furthermore, this subject will benefit college students …

Assessing Professionals Working With Latinx Families With Special Needs In Monterey County, Jose Francisco Hernandez Rivera

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Special Kids Connect (SKC) is a nonprofit organization serving children with disabilities and their families in Monterey County. This capstone project concentrated on the professionals working with children as part of SKC’s Early Start Intervention Program. The project’s objective was to discover local agencies' professional development training needs that serve Latinx families with disabled children between 2 to 8 years. Seventy-five child-care providers, early intervention service professionals, regional center staff, and school district personnel responded to the survey. They indicated an overall 60 % needed an understanding of systems related to IEPs, Early Start Services, Developmental Screenings, Social-Emotional Screenings, Regional …

Inclusive Pedagogy: Connecting Disability And Race In Higher Education, Meredith Persin

All Theses

Higher education was never made for marginalized people. The academy was created based on the privileged white, able-bodied, males who preoccupied higher education for the longest time. While that has certainly changed over the years, the institution itself is still in the past resulting in BIPOC students and disabled students continuing to struggle within higher education. While instructors have begun to take interest in the need for inclusive pedagogy within the last decade, it still has a far way to come in order to help the marginalized students with intersecting identities and students who may not benefit from a one …

La Discapacidad En Los Sistemas De Educación En Bolivia Y Chile, Kree Pace

Student Research Submissions

The flawed approach to the education of disabled students is an issue that plagues countless countries across the globe, and those in Latin America are no different. Bolivia and Chile are two vastly different countries from a cultural and economic perspective. However, one issue that they have in common is the manner in which they attempt to teach disabled students. There are two major models of disability; social and medical. The social model teaches that disabilities are not inherently negative traits to have, and that those who have them should be supported by society. It also emphasizes that the organization …

Accessibility And The University Experience: Where Does Bowling Green State University Stand?, Abigail Mcnichols

Honors Projects

Accessibility is a rather broad term, but this paper focuses specifically on accessibility issues for students with disabilities pursuing higher education. While K-12 institutions have disability legislation like IDEA, higher education is governed by several different acts which work together to create a legal minimum. This paper serves to outline what that legal minimum is, whether Bowling Green State University (BGSU) is in compliance with the minimum, and what BGSU could be doing to go beyond the minimum. Based on an analysis of the ADA, Section 504, the 2008 ADAAA, and expert legal opinion, BGSU does appear to be compliant …

Issue In Equity For Culturally And Linguistically Diverse Students With Complex Support Needs: A Comparative Analysis Of District-Level Student Data, Rosalia Pacheco

Special Education ETDs

Research has shown that English learners with disabilities should have access to both special education and Title III services as required by law (de Valenzuela et al., 2006, 2018, 2016, 2022; de Valenzuela & Copeland, 2018; Kangas, 2014, 2018, 2019, 2021). This quantitative study uncovers issues of educational inequities related to: (a) the identification of these students as English learners; (b) their access to Title III services; and (c) the instructional settings in which they are educated for culturally and linguistically diverse students with Autism (ASD), Developmental Delay (DD), Intellectual Disability (ID), Multiple Disabilities (MD), or Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). …

How Important Are Accommodations? Examining The Retention Of Students With Specific Learning Disabilities In Higher Education, Donna Stanic

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Students with disabilities are entering higher education at higher rates than ever before. However, the retention rates of these students are disproportionately low compared to peers without disabilities. More so, students with learning disabilities are less likely to be retained compared to those with other types of disabilities. This study sought to examine the factors that influence first to second year retention of students with disabilities, specifically those with learning disabilities. Among these factors, the study placed a specific focus on the use of accommodations. Utilizing data from the High School Longitudinal Study (HSLS:09), descriptive and inferential analyses were conducted …

Examining The Lived Experience Of University Students Receiving Academic Accommodations For Concussion, Mary C. Prior

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Purpose. The present study aimed to gain insight into the lived experiences of post-secondary students with concussion(s) who are receiving academic accommodations. This was explored in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, where the shift to online learning became ubiquitous. The purpose was to determine whether university students with concussion face similar challenges compared to (1) younger populations of students with concussion (i.e., elementary and high school aged students) and (2) individuals with more severe Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBIs). Method. Nine university students who were registered with academic accommodations at a Canadian university engaged in semi-structured interviews. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis …