Education Commons^™

Parents’ Expectations Of Developmentally Delayed Children With Special Education Needs (Sen) When Transitioning Out Of Non-Classroom Based Independent Studies Charter High Schools, Yolanda Vazquez

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this phenomenological study was to identify and describe the expectations of parents of developmentally delayed special education needs (SEN) high school children regarding their children’s transition out of independent studies charter high schools. In addition, it was the purpose of this study to identify how parents perceived independent studies charter high school schools addressed the needs of their SEN children during the transition process.

Methodology: This study used qualitative methodology to gain insight into the lived experiences and perceptions of parents with SEN high school students in a NCB ISP high school transition program. Data was …

Positively Reinforcing Parent Communication With Students In Special Education Classrooms For The Reduction Of Attention Maintained Maladaptive Behaviors In A School Setting, Jennifer Rose Harmon

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

A mixed-method multiple-baseline experimental design explored the relationship of frequency of attention-maintained maladaptive behaviors and positive parent communication in a fourth through sixth grade special education classroom using visual analysis and a Wampold-Warsham (Wampold & Brown, 2005) statistical design. The obtained result of -11.021 was found to be the 6th highest mean difference across all 24 possible outcomes, resulting in a p-value of 6/24 = 0.25, which is not statistically significant with α = .05 (one-tailed). However, when looking at the visual analysis of the multiple baseline design graphs, one can see a clear decrease in each of the participants …

Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (Idea) Workforce Shortage, 2022-2023 Cohort Of New Hampshire-Maine Leadership Education In Neurodevelopmental And Related Disabilities (Nh-Me Lend) Program Trainees

Policy Analysis

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), our nation’s special education law, ensures special education and related services to children with disabilities. The Education for All Handicapped Children Act (PL 94-142) was created in 1975 to ensure that children with disabilities are able to access free and appropriate public education (FAPE) in the least restrictive environment (LRE). This act was reauthorized as IDEA in 1990. One in every seven students in the United States receives special education services through the IDEA, requiring a large, highly qualified special education workforce to support students’ rights to FAPE. Highly qualified personnel provide specialized …

Student Inclusion In The Least Restrictive Environment, Jennifer Grossman

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

This school improvement project explores student inclusion in the general education environment. Inclusion is an important topic in schools and is important to discuss. Inclusion is defined and explained. This school improvement project will explore the problem, leadership assistance, differentiated instruction, and implementation of inclusion in the least restrictive environment. Inclusion is imperative to student success in the inclusive environment. An analysis of inclusion suggests students with varying abilities be included in as much of the general education environment in order to succeed in social and academic domains. Results of inclusion in the general education environment indicate that students with …

Navigating Age Of Majority-Related Issues In Special Education: The Current Needs And A Potential Means For Aligning Professional Values With Policy And Practice, Charles Blayne Walters

Theses and Dissertations

The paper that follows serves to collect three articles that investigate policy and practice regarding adult decision-making support for students with disabilities receiving special education services. Each has been led by the author of this multiple-manuscript dissertation, Charles Walters. Following a short introduction to these works as Chapter One, Chapter Two provides a reformatted version of an interview-based study with special education directors at the school district level. It was originally published in Volume 35, Issue One of the Journal of Special Education Leadership and titled “An Exploratory Study of Special Education Director Experiences with Issues Related to Age of …

An Examination Of The Relationships Between Campus Administrators And Special Education Teachers And Its Influence On Teacher Retention, Tai Lea Peacock

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Teacher shortages have plagued U.S. school districts for many years now as special education and other high-need fields struggle to retain highly qualified teachers. School leaders must gain a better understanding of why special education teachers are leaving at such alarming rates in order to formulate a plan for improving retention. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to examine how campus administrators’ relationships influence the retention of special education teachers. Leader-member exchange theory, which contends that the relationships between leaders and followers impact our work environment and job satisfaction, served as the theoretical framework of this study. A …

Increasing Phonemic Awareness In Intellectually Impaired Students By Using Wilson’S Fundations Phonics Program In A Self-Contained Classroom, Theresa Lynne Garcia

Theses and Dissertations

This study aims to investigate if students who have been identified intellectually disabled are able to gain phonemic awareness by using Wilson’s Fundations in a self-contained setting. Most research has focused on students who are not identified as intellectually disabled. In this mixed method action research study, the students were given a first grade reading fluency test and a first grade word reading test for six weeks as the quantitative data. Both instruments were tested using a two-tail t-test, week one’s results were compared to week six’s results on both tests. All five the participants showed growth over the six …

Differential Access Of Young Children Of Immigrants To Special Education In Massachusetts, Cady Landa

Developmental Disabilities Network Journal

Accessing services for children with special needs is complex and challenging for even U.S.-born parents. Is it even more difficult for immigrant parents, and what are the consequences for their children? This article reports on a mixed methods approach to examining the access of immigrants’ children to special education and inclusive placement. A multivariate analysis of Massachusetts education data finds that children of immigrants are significantly less likely than children of U.S.-born parents to participate in special education. It also finds that among children who do participate in special education, children of immigrants are more likely to be in substantially …

Investigating Evidence-Based Practices And Interventions Using Multifaceted Learning Theory For Students In A Special Education Self-Contained Classroom, Adam Maitland

Ed.D. Dissertations

Teachers working in a special education self-contained classroom were required to implement evidence-based practices and interventions, rarely researched in a school setting, with fidelity to meet the needs of students with intellectual disabilities. Evidence-based practices and interventions for students with intellectual disabilities were researched in clinical settings with one to three student participants and without a common evaluation tool. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to use the Tennessee Educator Acceleration Model General Educator Rubric to investigate how experienced teachers used multifaceted learning theory when implementing evidence-based practices and interventions in a diverse special education self-contained classroom to …

Elementary Principal Leadership And Special Education: A Case Study In The United States, Vivian M. Garrison

Dissertations and Theses

School districts have called upon principals to build capacity for inclusive learning environments and prioritize the needs of an increasingly diverse group of students. A principal's work to effectively include students so they are part of the school community and have opportunities to achieve academically has been challenging. As the instructional leader of the school, principals have played an essential role by collaborating with teachers and specialists, removing obstacles to learning, and ensuring that teachers meet the needs of all learners in their classrooms. They have also been held accountable for knowing the laws, policies, and best practices to support …

Role Play: Actualizing The Iep Meeting For Pre-Service Teachers, Courtney A. Toledo

The Qualitative Report

Teacher preparation programs provide numerous teaching and learning opportunities for pre-service teachers; however, participating in an Individualized Education Program (IEP) meeting is not an experience that can be guaranteed. Leading and participating in IEP meetings are a responsibility that all special education teachers will be held accountable for, but many pre-service teachers will never be able to observe a real IEP meeting before entering the field. In this qualitative case study, the researcher utilizes a simulated IEP meeting to provide pre-service teachers with experience in participating in an IEP meeting prior to entering the profession. The case study method is …

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 …

Reclaiming Power. Activating Black Middle-Class Mother Engagement In The Committee On Special Education, Kellie M. Ramsey

Theses and Dissertations

From conversations in school hallways, to SEPTA meetings, to parking lots and church benches, Black middle-class parents have engaged in talk of disillusionment with the IEP development process for their special needs child. Previous literature has provided limited insight into the navigational capital of Black middle-class parents in the special education system. This author interviewed Black middle-class parents who felt overwhelmed by the IEP development process and came to utilize their cultural capital (Yosso, 2005) to overcome systemic barriers to their active engagement in the CSE (Ladson-Billings, 1995) and to explore opportunities they have had for positive interactions. Findings of …

Co-Teaching: An Influence On Teacher Growth Mindset And Student Academic Achievement, Lori Goldstein

Theses and Dissertations

Co-teaching is an instructional strategy for pairing special education and general education teachers to provide specially designed instruction to students with disabilities in general education settings. Instructional coaching is a professional development model that can provide co-teachers with additional strategies to effectively educate special and general education students in their classes. This type of professional development can also influence co-teacher perceptions and mindsets about co-teaching. This study examined the relationships between co-teacher instructional coaching and co-teacher growth mindsets. This mixed methods study, utilizing an explanatory sequential design, analyzed the relationship between instructional coaching and co-teacher perceptions of growth mindset. Special …

Social Emotional Learning For Latinx High School Students With Specific Learning Disabilities, Jennifer Lynn Tucker Mottes

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Social, emotional, and academic skills are essential to success in school, the workplace, our homes, and our communities, allowing individuals to contribute successfully and meaningfully to our society (Durlak, Weissberg, Dymnicki, Taylor, & Schellinger, 2011; Jones & Kahn, 2017). The labor market acknowledges the importance of these skills as well, actively seeking employees who have the necessary skills to manage their emotions, collaborate with peers, and persist through challenges (Jones & Kahn, 2017). Researchers have established a link between the implementation of social emotional learning programs in schools and positive social, emotional, behavioral, and academic outcomes for those students as …

Special Educators’ Experiences With Professional Development And Implementation Support In Using Digital Social Stories For Students With Autism, Simbi Mignon Animashaun

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Students with autism need social skills to succeed academically, which can be fostered with the use of digital social stories (DSSs). While many special educators are expected to use DSSs to teach social skills because of increased elementary autism diagnoses, a significant number of DSS users are unprepared. The problem addressed in this qualitative project study was that special educators were not receiving adequate professional development and implementation support to use DSSs to teach autism-related social skills. The purpose of this research was to explore the special educators’ experiences with professional development and implementation support. The concerns-based adoption model and …

Special Educators’ Experiences With Professional Development And Implementation Support In Using Digital Social Stories For Students With Autism, Simbi Mignon Animashaun

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Students with autism need social skills to succeed academically, which can be fostered with the use of digital social stories (DSSs). While many special educators are expected to use DSSs to teach social skills because of increased elementary autism diagnoses, a significant number of DSS users are unprepared. The problem addressed in this qualitative project study was that special educators were not receiving adequate professional development and implementation support to use DSSs to teach autism-related social skills. The purpose of this research was to explore the special educators’ experiences with professional development and implementation support. The concerns-based adoption model and …

Student With Twice-Exceptionalities Iep Meeting Assignment Description, David Wolff

Open Educational Resources - Teaching and Learning

General education teachers should remember that all students are general education students, first. We need to be prepared to work with students of all abilities in our classrooms. As general education teachers, we have an active role on a child’s IEP team and an active role during the IEP meeting. This assignment asked preservice teachers to develop a script of what they would say at an IEP meeting of one character from four different novels that would be considered a child with twice-exceptionalities.

Awareness Of Universal Design For Learning (Udl) Among Teachers In India, Som Krishan, Navneet Sharma

Journal of Educational Technology Development and Exchange (JETDE)

The present study investigates the awareness of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) among special and general teachers working in inclusive settings. UDL is a framework used to design a curriculum reachable to students with all abilities. UDL assists teachers to increase meaningful access to the curriculum and remove barriers for students with all abilities in learning. The roles and responsibilities of the teachers play an important role in implementing and transacting any curriculum to the learners. In the present study, the sample consisted of 429 teachers, teaching in primary, upper primary, secondary, and higher secondary stages of regular schools in …

Understanding Novice Special Education Teachers’ And Paraeducators’ Mentorship Relationships: A Comparative Case Study, Maya Evashkovsky, Anna V. Osipova

The Journal of Special Education Apprenticeship

Novice special education teachers (SETs) often report on stress and burnout in their jobs, identifying collaboration with colleagues as a factor that supports them during the first years (Belknap & Taymans, 2015). While previous research focused on teachers' support from their mentor teachers, administrators, and colleagues, in this study we examined the mentorship relationship between SETs and their classroom paraeducators. We analyzed interviews of three novice SETs who taught in a large urban school district. All participants taught in Special Day Classrooms (SDC) and worked closely with paraeducators. The findings of this comparative case study suggest that these relationships are …

Conceptualizing And Reimagining The Future Of Inclusive Education In The Uae, Lawrence Meda, Efthymia Efthymiou, Muna Alhammadi, Cara Williams, Mohamed Fteiha

All Works

The current study explored how students in various universities across the United Arab Emirates (UAE) conceptualized inclusive education and views of the future with participation from twenty-one pre-service teachers from different universities within the UAE. Data collection consisted of an open-ended questionnaire and semi-structured interviews analyzed using a qualitative case study within an interpretive paradigm. Results indicated that students unanimously conceptualized inclusion from a holistic point of view and projected the future to be associated with a higher level of differentiated instruction. However, the conditions of the Education Act and the results were not in agreement with the premise of …

Feasibility And Reliability Of Health-Related Physical Fitness Tests In Children And Adolescents With Hearing Impairment, Jiafu Huang, Jianmei Yang, Justin A. Haegele, Lijuan Wang, Sitong Chen, Chunxiao Li

Human Movement Sciences & Special Education Faculty Publications

Although research supports the feasibility and reliability of health-related physical fitness (HRPF) tests in typically developing children and adolescents, little is known regarding the feasibility and reliability of these tests for those with hearing impairments (HI). The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and reliability of a HRPF test battery for children and adolescents with HI. A test–retest design with a one-week interval was conducted with 26 participants with HI (mean age: 12.7 ± 2.8 years; 9 male). The feasibility and reliability of seven field-based HRPF tests (i.e., body mass index, grip strength, standing long jump, vital …

A Comparative Analysis Of Applied Behavior Analysis And The Montessori Method, Emily Webb

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

The Montessori method is a multi-sensory curriculum design based on Dr. Maria Montessori’s observations of the positive outcomes a multi-sensory educational approach had when working with children with disabilities; however, there is little empirical data to support the outcomes of using the Montessori method to teach children with disabilities. Despite the limited amount of quantitative research on the Montessori method and early childhood special education, studies suggest Montessori educators are open to professional development on working with children with disabilities and are willing to implement other methods to provide support for those children while still maintaining the integrity of the …

Effects Of Video Modeling With Voice-Over Narration Versus No Voice-Over Narration, Kennedy Carpenter

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

In the current study, the effects of video modeling with voice-over narration (VMW) was compared to the effects of video modeling with no voice-over narration (VMN) when learning the acquisition of a vocational skill. Four high-school students within a public school who spent most of their school day in a special education classroom participated in the study. An adapted alternating treatments design was used to compare the VMW and VMN conditions and then a best alone condition was conducted for each participant that used the video modeling procedure that demonstrated superiority during the comparison. A modification of the inclusion of …

Rural Inclusive Education For Students With Disabilities In The United States: A Narrative Review Of Research, Katie Mae Mccabe, Andrea L. Ruppar

The Rural Educator

Despite a long history of overrepresentation in segregated settings (Brock, 2018), students with disabilities who require extensive supports are more likely to receive inclusive placements in rural schools. In this paper, we present findings from a narrative literature analysis of inclusive education for students with disabilities in rural schools located in the United States. Our search yielded 24 articles, published between 2002 and 2019, which reveal three storylines: (a) perceptions about inclusive education in rural schools and communities, (b) inclusive placements are common for students with disabilities, and (c) access to resources is a factor for rural schools to provide …

Equitable Access To The Career And Technical Education Graduation Pathway For Students Receiving Special Education Services, Mike Snow

WWU Graduate School Collection

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the access of the Career and Technical Education (CTE) graduation pathway for students who receive special education services in a selected school district. Analyzing the course taking of three cohorts of high school students, who had individualized education plans, involved a deep dive into each one of their transcripts. This type of analysis enabled me to compare and contrast the course taking between students served in special education who lost an elective opportunity to receive additional IEP services to those who did not. Did the students who lost an elective …

Comparing 1:1 And Small-Group Instruction With Preschool Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Danyel Hen

Theses and Dissertations

This applied dissertation was designed to evaluate alternative and effective forms of instruction for young students with autism spectrum disorder. The researcher examined and compared the difference in the instructional formats of 1:1 discrete trial teaching and small-group discrete trial teaching. Targets were chosen in receptive language and preacademic concepts, and differences were compared based on skill acquisition, speed of acquisition, generalization, and maintenance of skills. The participants engaged in the 8-week intervention phase of the study by following an alternating treatments design schedule during their designated center time rotations in the classroom. All participants engaged in 1:1 discrete trial …

Restraining The Disabled: A Program Evaluation Of Nonviolent Crisis Intervention In The Educational Setting, Taner Jarrett

Doctor of Education Dissertations

Students with disabilities are 200% more likely to be restrained by school personnel compared to nondisabled peers (Katsiyannis et al., 2020). The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of Nonviolent Crisis Intervention (NVCI) in de-escalating the risk behavior of children with disabilities from exceptional children (EC) teacher perspectives. This study was a mixed method program evaluation of the Crisis Prevention Institute NVCI program using Daniel Stufflebeam’s (1968) Context, Input, Process, Product (CIPP) evaluation framework. The setting for this study was a large suburban school district in the piedmont region of North Carolina. The sample included 15 NVCI- …

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 …