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Full-Text Articles in Education
Examining Social Capital And Its Role In Special Education Leadership, April K. Rist
Examining Social Capital And Its Role In Special Education Leadership, April K. Rist
Doctoral Dissertations
The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to analyze the relationships that existed between the special education leaders and other members of a district leadership team in order to measure their access to social capital. Quantitative data were collected using surveys of one school district’s leadership team and social network analysis (SNA) was used to visually analyze the connections between members of the team. Qualitative data were subsequently collected via semi-structured interviews of each of the 19 members of the leadership team. What types of ties do the special education administrators have to fellow administrators within district leadership teams? What …
The Impact Of Special Education Status And Text-To-Speech On Test-Taker Engagement, Maura O'Riordan
The Impact Of Special Education Status And Text-To-Speech On Test-Taker Engagement, Maura O'Riordan
Doctoral Dissertations
If a student is not engaged during a test, their test score will not be an accurate representation of what they are capable of. This is a concern because of the possible negative impact on the validity of test score interpretations and decisions being made based on such test scores that are not in the best interest of the student. If this is negatively impacting an entire subgroup of students, such as special education students, differentially, there may be larger-scale impact. To date, limited research has examined the relationship between test-taker engagement and special education status. The purpose of this …
Conceptualization And Operationalization Of College Readiness For Students With Learning Disabilities: A Grounded Theory Study With Transition Stakeholders, Jordan A. Abbott
Conceptualization And Operationalization Of College Readiness For Students With Learning Disabilities: A Grounded Theory Study With Transition Stakeholders, Jordan A. Abbott
Doctoral Dissertations
The poor success rates of students with learning disabilities transitioning to postsecondary education signal that special education transition services, as currently delivered, are failing to prepare students adequately for the demands and expectations they face in college. To date, transition research has provided limited guidance for IEP team members and other stakeholders charged with preparing students with learning disabilities for success in higher education. Furthermore, existing literature is nearly silent on the process of postsecondary education transition service decision-making, and team member understanding of college readiness. I use constructivist grounded theory and semi-structured interviews to explore the question, “How do …
Examining Stakeholder Engagement Among State Special Education Agencies In The Results Driven Accountability Process, Anne Louise Thompson Granfield
Examining Stakeholder Engagement Among State Special Education Agencies In The Results Driven Accountability Process, Anne Louise Thompson Granfield
Doctoral Dissertations
This qualitative study is designed to investigate how state special education agencies (SEAs) implement the policy tool of engaging stakeholders to respond to the federal expectations of improving results for students with disabilities through their State Systemic Improvement Plans (SSIPs). The traditional top-down, authoritarian roles of SEAs have not adequately met the stakeholder policy expectations at the local level. With federal policy pressuring SEAs to deliver on local education outcomes, stakeholder engagement has become an operation reporting expectation in SSIPs. Both federal policy and the engagement and collaboration literature informed this study. This deductive qualitative research study employed thematic analysis …
The Leadership Experiences Of Female Special Education Administrators, Kerry E. Weir
The Leadership Experiences Of Female Special Education Administrators, Kerry E. Weir
Doctoral Dissertations
When Ella Young Flagg, the first female superintendent of the Chicago Public Schools, proposed that educational leadership was a woman’s “natural field” she could not have predicted that one hundred years later women would have neither a majority of school leadership positions, nor would they be proportionally represented when compared with female teachers (Grogan & Shakeshaft, 2011). Unlike the school leadership positions of the principal and superintendent that have been traditionally dominated by men, female leaders have achieved greater parity in special education administration (Keefe & Parmley, 2003). Although female special education administrators represent an exception to this phenomenon of …
Using Social Network Analysis To Investigate The Diffusion Of Special Education Knowledge Within A School District, Martha H. Von Mering
Using Social Network Analysis To Investigate The Diffusion Of Special Education Knowledge Within A School District, Martha H. Von Mering
Doctoral Dissertations
The primary purpose of this study was to analyze the relationships that existed between the district-level special education leadership team and two elementary schools. The study used social network analysis (SNA) as the primary methodological and analytic approach to reveal the structural dimensions of the advice giving/receiving networks within the schools to delve more deeply into network relationships, collaboration, and knowledge impact. By mapping the existing network relationships through the lens of network centralization, reciprocity, and density, the study sought to analyze what, if any, link existed between the network properties and the extent to which leadership was distributed. The …
Special Education And Massachusetts Charter Schools: Examining Issues And Practices Associated With Enrollment, Placement And Compliance, Jennifer C. Baribeau
Special Education And Massachusetts Charter Schools: Examining Issues And Practices Associated With Enrollment, Placement And Compliance, Jennifer C. Baribeau
Doctoral Dissertations
Over the last ten years, charter schools have become a viable choice for parent’s seeking an alternative to traditional public schools. However, research shows this is not the case for students with disabilities. The purpose of this dissertation was to examine special education in charter schools and traditional public schools located in Massachusetts. I examined three key areas specific to special education; enrollment, placement and compliance, to determine if differences exist between charter schools and traditional public schools located in the state. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine differences between Massachusetts charter schools and public schools with respect to …
Special Education Leadership Practices That Support Postsecondary Transition Service Delivery For Students With Severe Disabilities, Laurel A. Peltier
Special Education Leadership Practices That Support Postsecondary Transition Service Delivery For Students With Severe Disabilities, Laurel A. Peltier
Doctoral Dissertations
ABSTRACT SPECIAL EDUCATION LEADERSHIP PRACTICES THAT SUPPORT POSTSECONDARY AND TRANSITION SERVICE DELIVERY FOR STUDENTS WITH SEVERE DISABILITIES SEPTEMBER 2015 LAUREL A. PELTIER, B.A., GORDON COLLEGE, WENHAM M.A., UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND, KINGSTON C.A.G.S., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Ed.D. UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Directed by Dr. Mary Lynn Boscardin In the past decade, researchers have made new forays into understanding educational leadership and the connections between leadership practices and outcomes for students. While evidence-based leadership practices at the building and district level are critical to the success of students in general and special education settings as a whole, the need for …
Perceptions Of Leadership Through The Lens Of Special Education Administrators And Principals, Adam C. Garand
Perceptions Of Leadership Through The Lens Of Special Education Administrators And Principals, Adam C. Garand
Doctoral Dissertations
The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate leadership perceptions of 30 leaders of special education: 10 administrators of special education, 10 principals, and 10 assistant principals. A Q-sort methodology is used to obtain and analyze participant rankings of 50 leadership statements representing instructional, distributed, and collaborative leadership. Research questions that guide this study include: 1) How are the leadership style statements ranked in relationship to participant roles?; 2) To what extent did the highest ranked leadership style component statements differ from the lowest ranked leadership items?; 3) How did the participants describe the rankings of the overall most and …