Education Commons^™

A Comparative Study Of Three Approaches For Enhancing Teaching Knowledge Of Dyslexia, Kayla Steltenkamp

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Capstones

Teachers are the foundational component of the education system. Annually, they are required to engage in professional development opportunities to expand their knowledge. Since 1985 there has been a profusion of legislative attention to the reading disability dyslexia. Included in legislation is the mandate for teacher training, but there is a lack of research on effective professional development to increase teacher knowledge of dyslexia. This study compared three models of professional development to assess their efficacy in increasing declarative knowledge of dyslexia for elementary general education teachers. The results indicated that the use of simulation training alone was less effective …

A Mother's Spiritual Journey With Her Disabled Son: An Autoethnography, Margaret C. Higgins Edd

Dissertations

Abstract

This autoethnographic research delves into a mother’s experiences with her disabled son over thirty-five years. Beginning with a thick description of the crib accident that resulted in physical and cognitive disabilities that profoundly change the course of both mother and son’s life, this research chronicles the search for meaning, community, and healing as they negotiate the realms of medicine, education, career, family, and spirituality. Models of disability that seek to explain various ways in which society often views disability are examined, but none resonate with the researcher’s intimate experiences nor satisfies her deepest needs for insight and healing. Making …

The Elusiveness Of Inclusiveness: A Discursive Analysis Of Inclusion In A District Level Exceptional Student Education Leadership Team, Karen Ramlackhan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This poststructural study utilizes Foucault’s theories of power/knowledge nexus and disciplinary power to explore the discursive formation of inclusion of a district level Exceptional Student Education leadership team in order to understand how the discourses are constructed, practices are normalized, and power relations are legitimized. This type of analysis interrogated the assumptive groundings of special education in the district, and how these have been taken-for-granted and normalized in the professional knowledge, policies, and practices of the field. Data from multiple sources: semi-structured interviews, observations, multimodal forms of communication, observation journal, and researcher reflexive journal produced findings within four dominant discourses---the …

Bridges To Employment For College: Graduates With Disabilities, Elizabeth E. Brake

Graduate Education Student Scholarship

This evidence-based, qualitative study explored the experiences of college graduates with disabilities who are employed. The study used criterion-based analysis and examined the ways these graduates participated in internships, communicated, and the navigations in general that led directly to employment success. Data was collected from programs that resulted in successfully employed college graduates with disabilities, empirical studies, and case studies. The study ends with a consideration of the findings in light of theory and implications to practice. Suggestions for future research are also made pointing to the immense gaps in the literature pertaining to the process of becoming a successfully …

Raising A Child With A Severe Disability: The Impact On Parents And Siblings, Kathleen A. Packingham

Culminating Projects in Special Education

A review of 10 recent studies that reported on the effects of raising a child with a severe disability. The paper examines the effects of stress on parents raising a child with a severe disability, as well as outcomes for siblings being raised in the same households. Mothers reported higher daily parenting hassles and stress than did fathers. Maladaptive behaviors were the biggest contributing factor to increased stress in the family. Positive coping strategies and increased service utilization lead to decrease in stress and increase in positive outcomes.

A Multivariate Exploration Of School Counselor Engagement With Students With Disabilities, Jaime Hernando Castillo

Dissertations - ALL

Students with disabilities are at risk for a myriad of academic and personal/social challenges. School counselors are in a unique position to act as advocates for students with disabilities and their families to ensure that they have the educational and community supports they need for healthy academic, career, and personal/social development. Unfortunately, the professional school counseling literature highlights that school counselors are not adequately trained to effectively engage with students with disabilities. This study explored the predictive factors that may play an influential role in the engagement of school counselors in school counseling activities with students with disabilities. Variables explored …

Immigrant Parent Perceptions Of Disability And Special Education Services, Sally K. Ratemo

Culminating Projects in Special Education

The purpose of this paper was to review the literature investigating the attitudes and perceptions of immigrant parents toward disability and special education services. The nine studies in this chapter examine cultural perceptions of disability, limitations caused by disability, the grieving process for the family of a child with a diagnosis, parental hopes and wishes for their child with a disability, the diagnostic process, the special education process, and communication/language barriers. Studies are presented in ascending chronological order. Perspectives of immigrant parents from various cultures are examined. Studies are organized by the country of origin and include parents from Mexican, …

Middle School Teachers' Experiences With Teaching Self-Regulation Skills To Adolescents With Disabilities, Jessica Traylor

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Research shows that adolescents with disabilities often lack self-regulated learning skills. Current research further indicates that explicit teaching of self-regulation skills is beneficial to adolescents with disabilities. The site of this study was a local middle school in rural Georgia that did not assess whether or not teachers were explicitly teaching self-regulation skills to adolescents with disabilities. It was unknown, therefore, whether adolescents with disabilities were learning self-regulation skills in school and whether teachers faced problems in teaching these skills. The study sought to explore this gap in knowledge and practice. Zimmerman's self-regulated learning theory and Bandura's self-efficacy theory served …

Impression Management Strategies Of College Professors With Disabilities, Chelsie Gaspar

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This qualitative study examined how college instructors with disabilities utilize impression management strategies in order to enhance their ability to teach more effectively in the classroom. Eight instructors from mid-size universities and community colleges across the United States were interviewed. A thematic analysis approach was used to identify emergent themes pertaining to the ways in which college instructors with disabilities use impression management in the classroom. Results showed that instructors in this study use a wide variety of impression management strategies in order to influence how they are perceived in the classroom and to improve their teaching effectiveness. These strategies …

A Design Thinking Approach To Professional Development In Reasonable Adjustment: A New Methodology For Trainers In The Vocational Education And Training Sector Of Western Australia, Russell Thom

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This research has demonstrated that design thinking (DT) could be used as a professional development (PD) methodology for Vocational Education and Training (VET) trainers in understanding and applying reasonable adjustment (RA). The use of design thinking has the further benefit of raising the trainer’s empathy and understanding of the impact of injury and disability upon a person’s life and the significance of RA outside of the training context.

A workshop (PD session) was designed and conducted to explorer the relevance and success of the PD framework and the use of design thinking in developing an understanding and applying RA. The …