Education Commons^™

Differentiating Instruction Through Math Stations And Literacy Centers, Olivia Bates

Faculty Curated Undergraduate Works

Differentiating instruction based on students’ readiness, interests, and learning profiles is essential for creating effective and meaningful learning activities. Identifying these characteristics allows teachers to meet students’ needs and engage them in learning. By differentiating instruction, educators target specific students’ strengths and challenges in developing lessons to support their understanding of content. Two useful strategies for differentiating math and literacy instruction include stations and centers. In stations and centers, students work on specific skills catered to their educational needs while rotating activities in flexible groups. This guide supports teachers in identifying strategies and understanding the benefits of differentiating math and …

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 …

Benefits Of Therapeutic Recreation For Young Adults With Special Needs, Summer L. Esseff

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

There are many benefits of therapeutic recreations; however, due to the lack of knowledge about the organizations and services available, many young adults with special needs are not able to fully participate within the community. The purpose of this project is to discover those benefits specifically for people who have special needs. Through a vast literature review and several interviews among local therapeutic recreation organizations, the findings indicate that therapeutic recreation provide many benefits that contribute to a person's physical, social, and all around quality of life and well-being.

A Qualitative Study Analysis On How Utilizing A Token Economy Impacts Behavior And Academic Success, Solomon Defrancis Dr.

Dissertations

Utilizing a qualitative study analysis, this study examines how behavior impacts academic success utilizing a token economy with students who suffer from emotional disturbance disorder. Through focus groups of para educators, therapists and teachers on special education settings, there will be a comparative analysis of behavior and academic success. The study will consist of six education sites throughout the Antelope Valley: A kindergarten through eighth grade (Yellen Learning Center), a kindergarten through sixth grade elementary (Valley View Elementary), a seventh through eighth grade intermediate school (Joe Walker) and three high schools that are ninth through twelfth grade (Desert Pathways, Palmdale …

The 'Rules Of Engagement': The Ethical Dimension Of Doctoral Research, Christopher Berg

Journal of Research Initiatives

The pursuit of a doctorate is a rite of passage that requires a student to successfully navigate the transition from “student” to “scholar.” One area of practice, however, that is often marginalized is the role of ethics. Though there is no formal coursework in ethics, its importance cannot be understated. This essay examines the conceptual role of ethics in doctoral research as both an individual reflective essay as well as a broader discussion of ethics in general. The ethical dimension considered is broken down into eight principles or ethical research and practice in doctoral research. The “Eight Ethical Principles” will …

University Rankings: Evidence And A Conceptual Framework, Jonathan G.S. Koppell, Jacob Fowles, H. George Frederickson

Publications from President Jonathan G.S. Koppell

University ranking has high public visibility, the ranking business has flourished, and institutions of higher education have not been able to ignore it. This study of university ranking presents general considerations of ranking and institutional responses to it, particularly considering reactions to ranking, ranking as a self-fulfilling prophecy, and ranking as a means of transforming qualities into quantities. The authors present a conceptual framework of university ranking based on three propositions and carry out a descriptive statistical analysis of U.S. and international ranking data to evaluate those propositions. The first proposition of university ranking is that ranking systems are demarcated …

Culturally And Linguistically Diverse Special Education: Teacher And Outcome Proficiency Self-Rating Form Ensuring Assessment Competency, Tyler Edward Herman

Graduate Education Student Scholarship

This Master’s project investigated current research literature for prevailing prereferral and referral processes of culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students to special education evaluation. To that end, this Master’s project sought to strengthen the validity of the referral process for CLD students by creating a self-rating form to guide teachers in accurately differentiating CLD students who are in need of receiving special education services from those who do not need such services. The self-rating form is founded on three competencies of multicultural teacher efficacy and requires teachers to reflect on classroom-level, team collaboration, prereferral, and referral practices. Limitations and suggestions …

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.

Stemming On Stem: A Stem Education Framework For Students With Disabilities, Jiwon Hwang, Jonte C. Taylor

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

There has been increased attention paid to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics also known as STEM. The focus on STEM has been both educational and occupational. Unfortunately, students with disabilities perform below their peers without disabilities in math and science. The authors discuss issues related to STEM and students with disabilities. These issues include (1) traditional views of STEM education, (2) the importance of STEM education, and (3) students with disabilities performance in STEM. The authors posit a framework for STEM education for students with disabilities and promote the incorporation of the arts to increase students’ STEM knowledge and achievement.

A Descriptive Case Study Examining The Perceptions Of Haitian American Parents And The Perceptions Of Their Children’S Teachers On The Parents’ Involvement In A Structured Parent Intervention Program, Kristina M. Taylor

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Parental involvement is legally mandated requirement in schools across the United States, and prevalent in special education legislation. However, methods for increasing and promoting parent involvement of minority subgroups in low socioeconomic areas are scarce. The purpose of this study was to develop, implement, and describe Haitian parents’ perceptions of their involvement in a structured parent intervention program and to describe the perceptions of their children’s teachers concerning the parents’ involvement in the program.

In this study, the researcher used a descriptive qualitative case study methodology. All participants in the 5-month program implementation were interviewed at three points throughout the …

Out Of "Dark Backrooms And Sheds", Marguerite Maher M.Ed

Marguerite Maher

Commitment to a single, inclusive education system has been the aspiration of reform in education in a democratic South Africa as articulated in White Paper 6: Special needs education: Building an inclusive education and training system (Department of Education, 2001, referred to hereafter as White Paper 6). Within a ‘barriers to learning’ approach to inclusive education, progress is being made with improved facilities and the implementation of AIDS awareness programmes. Managing the transition towards an inclusive education system has proved challenging in some areas, however, and the specific provision in policy documents directed towards children with disabilities is behind schedule. …

Analysis Of African American And White American Cognitive Profiles For Language And Cultural Influences, Nicole Jones

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

Abstract

One of the most concerning aspects of special education is the overrepresentation of African American minority youth receiving special education services. Samuel Ortiz and colleagues considered the issue of the representation of the Latino, English Language Learner (ELL) population in special education services based on cognitive performance in relation to the mainstream population. To target this concern they determined an estimated level of expected cognitive performance of ELL’s and impact of language and cultural differences to help eligibility teams more appropriately interpret and place students with the aid of the Culture-Language Interpretive Matrix (C-LIM) model they developed. The current …

Inclusive Settings: Rti In The General Education Classroom, Brittany Graves

Honors Projects

The premise of this study was derived upon seeing a severe need for professional development in my current field work experience. I set out to determine a possible solution to the lack of cohesion among general and special educators evident in my local school district. This small town rural school is looking to expand RTI, and intervention technique, to decrease gaps in education for at risk students. With issues of cohesion and professional development evident, I collected and analyzed data in order to determine a way the school district can still incorporate and expand their Response to Intervention (RTI) practices. …

Perceived Relevance Of Special Education Performance Indicators: Teacher Excellence And Support System, Tiffany Kristin Mrla

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A study was conducted to investigate the perceived relevance of using a teacher evaluation rubric with performance indicators specific to special education services in place of the standard rubric for teachers used in the State of Arkansas Teacher Excellence Support System (TESS). Through a multi-method approach, the perceptions of special education teachers and administrators regarding implementation of the current model, the significance of perceived differences in pedagogical factors, and potential barriers to effective implementation were identified. This was achieved through survey, interviews, and observations.

Special education teachers and administrators in a given school district were sent a brief survey to …

Swimming For Inclusion, Alexa Draman

The Review: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Research

This paper attempts to demonstrate how disabilities are portrayed to children through Walt Disney's popular film Finding Nemo. Through this film, children are exposed to inclusiveness which can then transfer to their overall impressions of disability in society. This film ultimately spins the negative connotation associated with disability and portrays it positively as an exceptionality.

Inclusive Early Childhood Classroom Management Plan, Megan Janosky

Honors Projects

Effective classroom management is essential in order for any classroom to run smoothly. However, this topic is largely overlooked by many current classroom teachers and those who are training emerging teachers in university programs. Therefore, the purpose of this plan is to provide research-based procedures, routines, and systems that will set a positive foundation for learning and keep my classroom, and those of others, running smoothly all year long. In order for effective learning to take place, the classroom environment must be set-up and managed in such a way that enables students to focus on learning. Having a pre-developed plan …

Self-Regulation To Practice: Incorporating The Strategy To An Early Childhood Special Education Setting, Kathryn L. Szwed

Open Access Dissertations

Preschool students who display social emotional deficits pose challenging issues for families, caregivers and teachers who educate them. In this study, the effectiveness of an assistive technology based treatment package consisting of video self-modeling and behavior management software was investigated to determine if its combined use would result in increased student self-regulation skills. Using a multiple baseline design, three students used the treatment package to increase self-regulation skills. During the investigation, the accuracy to self-identify behaviors, the documentation of desired and undesired behaviors and the overall impact of the treatment package was studied. Interobserver agreement (IOA) was used to determine …

Implementing The Unified English Braille Code: Perspectives Of Teachers Of Students With Visual Impairments, Laura Leigh Bostick

Doctoral Dissertations

With change process theory as a framework, the researcher used the diagnostic tools of the Concerns-Based Adoption Model to investigate both the concerns and behaviors of teachers of students with visual impairments (TVIs) during the transition to Unified English Braille (UEB). Quantitative data from the Stages of Concern Questionnaire and qualitative data from Open-Ended Concerns Statements and Levels of Use interview transcripts were consolidated to address the research questions: (1) What are TVIs' attitudes and beliefs toward the transition to UEB? and (2) To what extent are TVIs currently using UEB?

Participants were limited to TVIs in one southern state. …

Peer Victimization In Students Who Are Deaf And Hard Of Hearing: Exploring Educational Placement, Emily M. Lund, Scott W. Ross

JADARA

Forty-five American students who are Deaf/hard of hearing (SWD/HOH) in grades 5-12 completed a survey assessing their experiences with peer victimization. Almost four-fifths reported victimizing peers over the past two months, and almost 90% reported being the victim of peer victimization during that same timeframe. The most commonly reported types of peer victimization were verbal and relational aggression. Students who attended a Deaf-only campus reported greater mean victimization than those attending magnet programs located in general education schools. The results highlight the need for evidence-based programs that address peer victimization among SWD/HOH.

Experiences Of Neurotypical Siblings Of Children With An Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Qualitative Exploration, Stacie R. Keirsey

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

In recent years, the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been on the rise, prompting a simultaneous increase in scientific study regarding cause, impact, and intervention (Hughes, 2009; Ravindran & Myers, 2012). Research has proposed advances in the treatment of the individuals diagnosed and focused efforts on scholastic, parental, and professional intervention and supports. However, the siblings of ASD children have largely been neglected in this scientific investigation. The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to explore neurotypical siblings’ experiences in living with a child diagnosed with ASD. Seven adolescents were selected using criterion, convenience, and snowball sampling. …