Education Commons^™

West Side Story: Success Within Special Education Through Arts Integration, Kelly Richardson

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Arts education programs can provide the necessary skills students need for future success, including communication skills and confidence. The Turnaround Arts program at Rosa Parks Elementary School has advanced overall student success, particularly benefiting students in Special Education. Both Special Education teachers and the Arts Specialist at Rosa Parks Elementary were interviewed and the Turnaround Arts Program was observed. Each teacher described their experiences within this program to be noteworthy and recognized the importance it has had on their students’ success in the classroom. Based on an analysis of the data and the relevant research literature, we used what we …

Teachers’ Perceptions Of Effective Student Support Systems By Availability Of Student Support Facilitators, Marsha Joyce-Tatum

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Student support systems are designed to improve struggling students’ performance and should be used by general and special education teachers. The purpose of this study was to examine teachers’ perceptions of student support system frameworks in a rural school district in a Mid-Atlantic state with a full-time or part-time student support facilitator. This study will provide educational leaders with information on teachers’ perceptions concerning student support systems, in order to support creation of improved staff development efforts that will influence effective teacher use of student support systems. Teachers’ perceptions of their training, special education eligibility, and framework weaknesses in student …

A Multilevel Model Of Poverty, Community Factors, And Learning For Students With Disabilities., Randal Barnes

Dissertations

Students with disabilities face challenges to academic success that can be exacerbated by the effects of poverty. In this study, Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) was used to analyze the effects of socio-economic status, social capital, and threats to safety on literacy test scores for students with disabilities. Results of the analysis indicate that discipline rate had a significant effect on mean district scores on statewide standardized tests, but not on the impact of socio-economic status on test scores. Conversely, the percent of college graduates in a school district did not have a significant effect on district scores, but moderated the …

Characteristics Necessary For Teacher Success In A Classroom For Students With Emotional Disabilities, Cheryl Bowers

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this collective case study was to describe the characteristics necessary for teacher success in a classroom for students with emotional disabilities (ED) through the perceptions of teachers of students with ED, administrators, and behavior specialists in South District. Albert Bandura’s social cognitive theory guided this study as it explains the mutual influence among cognitive, environment, and behavior factors for teachers. A rich description of the perceived characteristics necessary for teacher success in an ED classroom was created thereby answering the central question of the study: What characteristics does a person need to be a successful teacher in …

Special And General Education Teachers’ Assessment Of Their Participation In A Peer Assistance And Review (Par) Program, Alexandre Lopes

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Traditional teacher evaluation systems have failed to (a) show variations in teacher effectiveness, (b) determine teachers’ professional development needs, and (c) align evaluation of teacher effectiveness with compensation, retention, and dismissal. Furthermore, traditional teacher evaluation systems have failed to establish teaching practices that positively affect student learning - an issue of critical importance for students with disabilities.

The literature indicates that Peer Assistance and Review (PAR), grounded in social network theory, is regarded by many as a viable option to compensate for the disadvantages of traditional teacher evaluation systems. PAR has the potential to provide (a) frequent and meaningful observations, …

General Education Science And Special Education Teachers’ Experiences With Inclusive Middle School Science Classrooms, Michelle P. Phelan

Dissertations

While inclusion of students with disabilities has been a topic of debate for decades, uncertainty still exists concerning best practices for their participation in general education contexts (Carter et al., 2016). This study was designed to investigate teachers’ experiences and perceptions with inclusion in general education science classrooms. While students with disabilities are generally included in general education science classrooms today, statistics show students with disabilities are graduating from high school unprepared to major in science-related fields or to enter the workforce in sciencerelated careers (Brusca-Vega, Alexander, & Kamin, 2014). Therefore, the content area of science was targeted for the …