Special Education Administration Commons^™

Male Gender Disparity Gap: Does Gender Impact Education, Laura D. Smith

EDL Sixth Year Theses

This case study focuses on male gender disparity in education and the large numbers of males referred and receiving special education services. The data indicates that females outperform males academically, and that the males behaviors impacts their academic success. The connection to males at a young age being placed in low ability reading groups based upon behaviors, and their motivation and academic achievement is affected negatively. The eighth grade students at a PK - 8th grade rural Connecticut school participated in this researcher’s case study. The case study looked at, how students perceived their education, and what role their education …

Sbos As Leaders Of Change, David Alan Dolph

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Federal and state education mandates have prompted more changes in PreK–12 education in the past several years than during any other time in American education history. The sheer volume of changes and their complexity have put school business officials to the test as never before.

Among the more challenging issues for school business officials are the budgetary implications of the Affordable Care Act, special-education regulations, new food-service mandates, and safety and environmental regulations.

School business officials and other education leaders must lead the district and the community through the changes brought on by those mandates. How do they do that …

Arkansas Science Benchmark, Eoc Biology And Itbs Test Results 2014-15, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

The Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) has released the 2014-15 Benchmark Science and ITBS (Iowa Test of Basic Skills) results. PARCC results of Literacy and Math will be released later this fall. The following brief highlights the results of these tests, compares achievement scores over time, and provides a glimpse of regional achievement results for the following exams:  Benchmark Science Exam (Grades 5 and 7)  End-of-Course Biology Exam  Iowa Test of Basic Skills (Grades 1 and 2)

Tennessee Per-Pupil Expenditures In Special Education And Academic Achievement, Melanie C. Davidson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Federal legislation known as the No Child Left Behind act has required states to close achievement gaps. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between special education spending by districts in the state of Tennessee and standardized achievement for students with disabilities.

Secondary data were obtained from the Tennessee Department of Education’s website (www.tn.gov/education). Data from each local education association were collected for the years of 2010-2014 in the areas of special education spending, special education population, and TCAP proficiency percentages in reading and math grades 3-8. Data from each local education association were collected …

Autism Spectrum Disorders: Available Public Education Programming And The Influence Of Professional Perceptions, Heather Wilmot

All Theses And Dissertations

A mixed-methods research study was conducted in a small, rural western Maine school department. The intent of this research was to reveal what kind of programming is available to students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and how the availability of programming is influenced by the perceptions of educators and leaders in a public school department. In addition, the research addressed how the background and professional development of the employees impacted the availability of programming for students with ASD. Forced survey questions included quality indicators for programming for students with ASD and pre-selected follow-up focus groups questions were used.

Data analysis …

Aspire In Arkansas?, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

On June 22, 2015, Governor Hutchinson communicated with Johnny Key, State Commissioner of Education, his request for the state’s removal from PARCC by June 30th. This back and forth over student assessment has raised many questions for educators, students, and parents. This brief will review the history behind annual assessments, address the differences between PARCC and ACT/ACT Aspire, and suggest the scores Arkansas’ students would receive if ACT Aspire is administered next school year

Individualized Education Program: Members Attitudes On Collaboration And Communication, Maura Gallagher

All Capstone Projects

The purpose of this study was to explore professional's attitudes towards collaboration and communication in relation to the Individualized Education Program development and implementation. The one question that guided the focus of this study was: "How do IEP team members rate the skills needed for collaboration and communication in order to successfully implement an individualized education program?" The study was conducted as a quantitative study using a cross-sectional survey with a simple random sampling in conjunction with a snowball sampling in order to distribute the survey to possible participants. Certified staff members and parents that participate on an Individualized Education …

Rural High School Special Education Teachers' Perceptions Related To Structured Work Experiences, Abigail Meghan Christina Lies

Theses and Dissertations

This exploratory study examined the perspectives of rural secondary special education teachers and related service professionals on structured work experiences for youth with disabilities. An online survey was developed for this study and distributed to teachers and related service professionals through school principals. Rural schools were identified using the National Center for Educational Statistics. The survey included sections on respondent and school demographics, perceptions on the value of, frequency of participation in, and quality of implementation of structured work experiences. Additional sections included perceptions on the level of influence specific barriers have on the implementation of structured work experiences. A …

“Meeting Proficiency – Can Elementary Schools, With Subgroup Of Students With Disabilities, Exit Program Improvement After 2014?” “A Study To Determine If Instructional Strategies And/Or Inclusionary Practices, And Principal Support Of These Practices, Contributed To Schools Reaching Safe Harbor, Meeting Ayp Benchmarks Or Exiting Program Improvement In The 2012-2013 School Year.", Carolyn Lindstrom

Dissertations

In 2002, President Bush signed into law the No Child Left Behind Act, which required all students to be proficient in English and Math by 2014. (Congress, 2002), including all subgroups. Students with disabilities were expected to meet the proficiency criteria along with all other subgroups. NCLB also required schools to report assessment scores to reflect the achievement of students as well as demonstrate all students were meeting, or at least making gains to achieve, proficiency. If students did not reach the expected benchmark the school was identified as failing and placed in Program Improvement. (CDE, 2011) Each school year, …

From The Co-Editors, Todd Pagano

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

We continue to work diligently to improve JSESD. One of the largest challenges to the journal remains the solicitation of manuscript submissions. As such, we are asking the journal’s readership to assist us in advertising the journal. If you are familiar with individuals who might be interested in submitting a manuscript, please pass along the JSESD author link provided above. We are especially interested in articles on science education for students with varying types of disabilities and at a full range of grade levels (K-12 and postsecondary).

Effects Of Explicit Reading Comprehension Strategy Instruction For English Learners With Specific Learning Disabilities, Sara Lynn Jozwik

Theses and Dissertations

In this intervention study, I engaged principles of culturally responsive research to examine the effectiveness of explicit reading comprehension strategy instruction for English Learners (ELs) with specific learning disabilities (SLD). This study replicated and extended previous research (Jitendra, Hoppes, & Xin, 2000) by modifying instruction found to be effective for native English speakers (i.e., explicit reading comprehension strategy instruction with a self-monitoring procedure). Modifications included: (a) integrating culturally relevant text, (b) providing native language support, and (c) melding strategies from the fields of teaching English as a second language and special education. Through a co-teaching model, I provided instruction to …

A Historical Perspective On The Revolution Of Science Education For Students Who Are Blind Or Visually Impaired In The United States, Cary A. Supalo Dr.

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

The following was an invited presentation given by Dr. Cary A. Supalo to the National Federation of the Blind of Illinois annual state convention that was held in Chicago, Illinois on Saturday, October 28, 2011. These remarks were slightly modified for the Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities.

Cary A. Supalo

What does the term Revolution mean? To some it can simply mean change. To others, it can mean drastic change, and still to others, revolution is no more than a descriptor for something else. In this context, I believe revolution refers to a time of significant change.1 …

How Foucault’S Panopticon Governs Special Education In California, Gail Angus, John M. Winslade

Journal of Critical Issues in Educational Practice

Special education laws in California function to create compliance by creating an environment of constant surveillance and monitoring from a range of perspectives. Even those who do the monitoring are themselves subject to this surveillance. This process is explained with reference to Bentham’s design of the panopticon and analyzed in relation to Foucault’s concept of governmentality. The intent here is to show how professionals’ and laypersons’ actions are governed by seeking to avoid being seen to behave incorrectly or getting caught behaving inappropriately. The governing of people’s lives is thus dispersed through professional decision-making and reporting. The intent of this …

Teacher Survey: Common Core Standards, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for K-12 English language arts (ELA) and mathematics were adopted by the Arkansas State Board of Education in July 2010. Teachers have been implementing CCSS in their classrooms for several years, and this spring students across the state are being assessed on CCSS through the PARCC assessments. In February 2015, Governor Hutchinson announced the formation of a Council on Common Core Review, and the Office for Education Policy began a survey of Arkansas public school teachers to gather their opinions on this important topic. In this brief, we will share the preliminary findings from …

The Limits Of Federal Disability Law: State Educational Voucher Programs, Wendy Hensel

Faculty Publications By Year

The U.S. Department of Justice is currently investigating the state of Wisconsin with respect to its administration of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP), which provides low-income students with public money to attend private schools. Faced with complaints of disability discrimination by private schools accepting voucher students, DOJ has ordered Wisconsin to oversee and police these schools to ensure compliance with Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which applies to states and their agencies, and § 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, which applies to recipients of federal funding. Although conditioning its directive on the state's coverage under these …

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 …

Ceo Impact On Superintendents, Theodore J. Kowalski

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Noting that collaboration between business executives and superintendents was wide but not deep, a Harvard Business School monograph, "Partial Credit: How America's School Superintendents See Business as a Partner," identified positive findings regarding access. Nearly two-thirds of 1,117 responding superintendents said they had access to business leaders to whom they could turn for advice and support. In urban districts, the figure was 84 percent. However, responses to a question on the AASA's decennial survey suggested otherwise.

Special-Education Law In Mexico And The United States, Charles J. Russo, Ricardo Lozano

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

The challenges of meeting the requirements of students with special needs under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and other laws are a particularly timely topic, as large numbers of native Spanish-speaking students move into the United States.

Against that backdrop, this article reviews the laws for special education in Mexico and the United States. The focus on the laws in Mexico stems from the fact that many students cross the border daily to attend public schools in the United States, and because Mexico has many laws in place dealing with special education. We offer school district leaders a comparative …

Courage To Speak, Fortitude To Listen: A Model For The Study Of First-Person Ld Narratives, Charles Christian Haitz

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Learning disabled (LD) is both a politically and socially contentious term. In the eyes of the public, the label is synonymous with special education (SE). SE's vision of LD remains the dominant discourse of deficit-based understanding of human differences. This has resulted in its adherence to segregated services for many students that often result in additional behavior problems exacerbating their struggles to learn in school. A lack of student representation in school affairs is exemplified in the absence of LD pupils' voices in the decision-making that frames how they are viewed by others. This absence of voice also influences how …

Delivering The Parent-Implemented Communication Strategies ( Pics ) Intervention Using Distance Training And Coaching With A Father And His Child Who Is Hard Of Hearing, Marc Daczewitz

Theses and Dissertations

Many children with disabilities (i.e., deaf/hard of hearing; DHH) experience language delays (Sarant, Holt, Dowell, Rickards, & Blamey, 2009). Parents of children who are DHH can mediate their children's language delays with responsive communication (Guralnick, 2011; Pressman, Pipp-Siegel, & Yoshinaga-Itano, 1999; Warren & Brady, 2007). This study is a partial replication of the Parent-Implemented Communication Strategies (PiCS) Project (Meadan, Angell, Stoner, & Daczewitz, 2014). The PiCS project was implemented with 11 parents and their children with various disabilities (e.g., Down syndrome, Autism Spectrum Disorder). These parents were trained and coached to use naturalistic teaching strategies (i.e., environmental arrangement, modeling, mand-model, …