Education Commons^™

Because I Said So: The (Re)Production Of White, Ableist Narratives Through Legal Discourse In Endrew F. V. Douglas County Re-1, Stephen F. Fusco

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As families and advocates of students of color labeled with dis/abilities face mounting inequities they turn to the courts seeking protection. Unfortunately, even after courts issue written decisions ostensibly designed to protect students labeled dis/abled, these students continue to experience systematic oppression in school. This is due, in part, to the discourse used by the courts when addressing issues affecting students labeled dis/abled and the elitism of the judicial system. The purpose of this study was to examine the legal discourse used in the most recent Supreme Court case concerning the education of students labeled dis/abled, Endrew F. v. Douglas …

An Lre Placement Loophole: A Critical Policy Analysis Of Lre Placement In Defining Disproportionality Of Culturally And Linguistically Diverse Students In Special Education, Arti Sachdeva

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The policies adopted by the Exceptional Children’s Education Act (2016) enabled disproportionality within LEAs by overlooking undocumented classroom removal practices, underestimating the monitoring and reporting criteria, and overlooking non-dominant cultural and linguistic groups within the Colorado community. In this critical policy analysis, I used quantitative methods to analyze and explore the difference between the odds ratio calculation of culturally and linguistically diverse students (CLDS) in special education with a least restrictive environment (LRE) of 40% and greater compared to Colorado’s acceptance of the federal mandate of the minimum requirement of the student LRE of less than 40% and alternate school …

How Parents, Teachers, Psychologists, And Educational Environments Influence Developmental Transitions Of Preadolescent Twice-Exceptional Students, Karen B. Arnstein

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this collective case study was to examine the perceived developmental transitions of preadolescent, twice-exceptional students to understand both the supports and barriers from the perspective of parents, teachers, and psychologists. The case for this study, located in a western U.S. state, was a private school educating twice-exceptional students. The research questions guiding the study included the following: How do parents perceive growth in both academic and psychosocial development? How do educators perceive growth in both academic and psychosocial development? What are the supports that promote successful developmental transitions? What are the barriers that inhibit successful developmental transitions? …

Living The Dream: Building Self-Determination To Improve Postsecondary Outcomes, Pete Gladstone

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Despite recent federal legislation outlined in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) reauthorization of 2004 that mandates effective postsecondary transition planning for all students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), students with intellectual disability (ID) continue to experience inequitable postsecondary outcomes, particularly in the areas of postsecondary education (PSE), employment, and independent living (Lipscomb et al., 2017). It has been established that one effective method for improving those outcomes is to develop students’ self-determination abilities, and there is near unanimous agreement within the education community that doing so should be a primary objective during the transition process (Izzo & Lamb, …

Symmetry Identified In 2-Dimensional Artwork Compositions Using Visuospatial Ability, Theresa Ferg

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

At the John Langdon Down Foundation A.C. in the La Escuela Mexicana de Arte Down school in Mexico City D.F., Mexico, art students with Trisomy 21 display the use of a mathematical construct in the painting compositions of their artworks. The mathematical construct is a type of symmetry and it carries a positive affect. This is important because there have been no studies that have investigated the use of the symmetry in the artwork compositions of persons with Down syndrome. The geometric construction of the artwork compositions follows the artistic principle of the Rule of Three and the division of …

The Association Of Preschool Enrollment And The Predictive Traits Of Special Education Identification, Sarie Elizabeth Ates-Patterson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Early childhood education (ECE) consists of educational programs that serve children in the preschool years and are designed to improve elementary school performance. Colorado early childhood education programming has two preschool classifications that include Colorado Preschool Program (CPP) which is determined by a student's risk factors, and the State Preschool Special Education (Preschool SPED) program which is determined by the student's identified disability prior to attending elementary school. For the two cohorts who participated in Colorado preschool programming during 2009-2010 school year, special education and demographic extant data are compared in order to study the subsequent identification for special education …

Exploring Trends In Disproportionality Of Emotional Disturbance Classification After The Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act (Ideia), Ghirmay Alazar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The aim of this study was to systematically investigate the trends of disproportionate representation of African American students in special education when compared to Caucasian special education students in emotional disturbance category as well as the trends in disproportionality of emotional disturbance classification after the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA). African American students in special education are disproportionately represented when compared to Caucasian special education students but uncertainty persists regarding the nature and the extent of the problem (Aud et al., 2010; Countinho & Oswald, 2002; Skiba et al., 2006, 2008). This study employed a mixed methods multiple …

The Expressed Emotion Of Mothers Of Children With Fragile X Syndrome, Jeanine M. Coleman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A review of the literature revealed that mothers with children with fragile X syndrome (FXS) face many challenges, including managing their child's behavior which is a defining characteristic of children with FXS (Epstein, Riley, & Sobesky, 2002). Parents and professionals have become increasingly aware through research and everyday experiences that children with FXS are often overly sensitive to multiple stimuli (Hagerman, 1999; Hagerman & Hagerman, 2002; Miller et al., 1999). This overstimulation often leads to behavioral challenges that are characterized by tantrums, angry outbursts, and other forms of aggression. Additionally, mothers of children with FXS have their own personal challenges …

Parents As Change Agents In Their Schools And Communities: The Founding Of Families For Early Autism Treatment (Feat), Bethany Kristin Mickahail

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A qualitative research highlights how parent driven "communities of support" create lasting change in schools and communities, through the unique blend of the two methodologies, oral history and educational criticism and connoisseurship.

In recent years, schools and communities are unusually impacted by an escalating wave in the diagnosis and treatment of persons with Autism. In 2010, the Center for Disease Control's Report stated 1 in 110 U.S. children are diagnosed with Autism. Yet long before this official report, parents and professionals affected by Autism and other disabilities were busy during the last half of the 20th century, seeking out ways …