Education Commons^™

Secondary School Administrators' Preparation As An Lea Representative In South Carolina, Chastity B. Evans

Theses and Dissertations

Prior research has suggested that many principals are underprepared and that some lack any background from coursework and field experience which may be required to exert strong leadership in special education (DiPaola & Tschannen-Moran, 2003; DiPaola, Tschannen-Moran, & Walther-Thomas, 2004), but the number of students receiving special services is on the rise. The purpose of this research study is to determine how secondary school administrators are prepared to make legally and ethically defensible decisions as the authorized LEA representative.

If school administrators are expected to be effective in their role as the authorized LEA representative, it is vital that they …

The Person Dimension Of Alternate Assessment Examined Using Achievement Results And Student Characteristics, Nicole Adams

Theses and Dissertations

This study explored the Person Dimension of validity by expanding on previous work (Kearns, Kleinert, Kleinert, & Towles-Reeves, 2006, Kopriva, Thurlow, Perie, & Lazarus, 2016; Thurlow, Wu, Quenemon, Towels, 2016; and Towles-Reeves, Kearns, Kleinert, & Kleinert, 2009) using data from the Learning Characteristics Inventory, which includes data on different aspects of students’ disabilities, and comparing those characteristics to level scores on state standardized assessments. There are aspects of students’ disabilities that have the potential to impact the validity of an assessment. The sample under analysis includes students in grades 4-8 (ages 9-13), eligible to take alternate assessment. Students with three …

The Impact Of Individualized Structured Reading Intervention On High School Students In Special Education: An Action Research Study, Nikki Clark

Theses and Dissertations

Reading skills comprise the following three categories: decoding, fluency, and comprehension. All three of these skills are necessary for students to become successful readers in and out of academic settings. Many students in special education read far below their grade level; difficulty reading is particularly challenging for such students because, in addition to limiting academic success, under-developed reading skills compromise students’ academic and functional independence. This study aimed to examine how a structured, individualized reading intervention may help high school students in special education – students who have been diagnosed with one specific disability or a combination of approved disabilities …