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Full-Text Articles in Education

School Culture For Students With Significant Support Needs: Belonging Is Not Enough, Diane Carroll, Connie Fulmer, Donna Sobel, Dorothy Garrison-Wade, Lorenso Aragon, Lisa Coval Oct 2015

School Culture For Students With Significant Support Needs: Belonging Is Not Enough, Diane Carroll, Connie Fulmer, Donna Sobel, Dorothy Garrison-Wade, Lorenso Aragon, Lisa Coval

Connie L. Fulmer

This qualitative study examined the influence of school culture on services for students with significant support needs. Students with significant support needs are defined as those who typically have cognitive impairments, often paired with sensory and physical challenges, and who require substantial supports to receive benefit from education. Using Schein's (1988) definition of culture, ethnographic methods, including observations, interviews and artifacts, were used to collect data related to artifacts, values, and assumptions. Results of this study indicate a strong sense of family, community and belonging. However, belonging did not include critical components of instruction as described as best practice in …


Listening To Their Voices: Factors That Inhibit Or Enhance Postsecondary Outcomes For Students' With Disabilities, Dorothy Garrison-Wade Sep 2015

Listening To Their Voices: Factors That Inhibit Or Enhance Postsecondary Outcomes For Students' With Disabilities, Dorothy Garrison-Wade

Dorothy Garrison-Wade

Although an increasing number of students with disabilities are considering postsecondary educational opportunities, many of these students find the challenges daunting as compared to their secondary educational experiences. The purpose of the qualitative case study reported herein was to learn more about students' perceptions of services received in college in order to develop a clearer understand of how to better ensure positive outcomes. Fifty nine students with various disabilities and six disability resource coordinators from five two year community colleges and three four-year universities participated in the study. Three major themes emerged from the data, including: (a) capitalizing on student …


Inclusive Leadership: Preparing Principals For The Role That Awaits Them, Dorothy Garrison-Wade, Donna Sobel, Connie Fulmer Sep 2015

Inclusive Leadership: Preparing Principals For The Role That Awaits Them, Dorothy Garrison-Wade, Donna Sobel, Connie Fulmer

Dorothy Garrison-Wade

Preparing administrators with the capacity to improve instruction for all learners is critical for recruiting and retaining special education teachers. However, recent research points out the need to improve skills of current and future administrators for this role. To address these concerns the special education and administrator preparation programs at a western university designed and conducted research to determine how well preservice principals were being prepared to improve instruction for all learners. To determine program improvement and training needs, researchers collected focus group and survey data from current and alumni students from both programs. Findings of this research are organized …


A Conceptual Framework For Understanding Students' With Disabilities Transition To Community College, Dorothy Garrison-Wade, Jean Lehmann Sep 2015

A Conceptual Framework For Understanding Students' With Disabilities Transition To Community College, Dorothy Garrison-Wade, Jean Lehmann

Dorothy Garrison-Wade

Students with disabilities are significantly underrepresented in the nation's community college population for multiple reasons. These include low expectations, poor high school preparation and transition planning, lack of communication or support services, and ineffective or poor support from school services personnel and faculty. This paper presents a literature synthesis. Its purpose is to inform an initial framework for building towards a conceptual framework for understanding the transition to community college by students with disabilities. The framework was developed from an earlier mixed methods study involving 100 college students with disabilities and 10 disability resource counselors in eight universities and colleges, …


School Culture For Students With Significant Support Needs: Belonging Is Not Enough, Diane Carroll, Connie Fulmer, Donna Sobel, Dorothy Garrison-Wade, Lorenso Aragon, Lisa Coval Sep 2015

School Culture For Students With Significant Support Needs: Belonging Is Not Enough, Diane Carroll, Connie Fulmer, Donna Sobel, Dorothy Garrison-Wade, Lorenso Aragon, Lisa Coval

Dorothy Garrison-Wade

This qualitative study examined the influence of school culture on services for students with significant support needs. Students with significant support needs are defined as those who typically have cognitive impairments, often paired with sensory and physical challenges, and who require substantial supports to receive benefit from education. Using Schein's (1988) definition of culture, ethnographic methods, including observations, interviews and artifacts, were used to collect data related to artifacts, values, and assumptions. Results of this study indicate a strong sense of family, community and belonging. However, belonging did not include critical components of instruction as described as best practice in …


From Giving Service To Being Of Service, Philip Ferguson, Patricia O'Brien Jun 2015

From Giving Service To Being Of Service, Philip Ferguson, Patricia O'Brien

Philip M. Ferguson

This chapter focuses on the place of those with intellectual disabilities in the Western world.


Family Portraits: Past And Present Representations Of Parents In Special Education Text Books, Dianne L. Ferguson, Philip M. Ferguson, Joanne Kim, Corrine Li Jun 2015

Family Portraits: Past And Present Representations Of Parents In Special Education Text Books, Dianne L. Ferguson, Philip M. Ferguson, Joanne Kim, Corrine Li

Philip M. Ferguson

This paper analyses the descriptions of families of children with disabilities as contained in introductory special education texts over the last 50 years. These text books are typically used in pre-service teacher education courses as surveys of the education of ‘exceptional children’. The textbooks reflect the mainstream professional assumptions of the era about topics such as disability, special education, inclusion, and family/school linkages. However, they also shape the assumptions of the next generation of educators about these same topics. The paper summarises the results of a qualitative document analysis of a sample of these textbooks from two different eras. The …


Winks, Blinks, Squints And Twitches: Looking For Disability And Culture Through My Son’S Left Eye, Philip Ferguson Jun 2015

Winks, Blinks, Squints And Twitches: Looking For Disability And Culture Through My Son’S Left Eye, Philip Ferguson

Philip M. Ferguson

This chapter focuses on the culture and human experience of having an intellectual disability.


We Want To Play Too, Peter J. Titlebaum, Kate Brennan, Tracy Chynoweth Jan 2015

We Want To Play Too, Peter J. Titlebaum, Kate Brennan, Tracy Chynoweth

Peter J. Titlebaum

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires that persons with disabilities be integrated to the maximum extent possible, and that these persons cannot be excluded from participation. Intramural directors need to be proactive in this area. The benefits of intramural sports are vast, and they help many students become part of the college community. Forming an alliance with the Disability Services on campus, the first step, is the most vital aspect of making these programs successful. It is important to remember the difference between what can be done and what must be done. Even with the best of intentions, it …


Investigation Of Post-School Transition Programs Being Provided For Students With An Intellectual Disability In Special Schools In Victoria, Sharon Clerke Dec 2014

Investigation Of Post-School Transition Programs Being Provided For Students With An Intellectual Disability In Special Schools In Victoria, Sharon Clerke

Sharon Clerke

Special Schools and Special Development Schools in Victoria cater for students with a range of disabilities both physical and intellectual, and are required to provide post-school transition education and career pathways for their students. This study aims to examine how a number of Special and Special Development Schools, collectively referred to as special schools, prepare students with an intellectual disability for post-school transition, which programs are being implemented and developed to ensure that these students are given the same opportunities as their non-disabled peers and what is regarded as a successful post-school outcome.