Special Education Administration Commons^™

Transition Competencies: Secondary Special Education Teachers' Perceptions Of Their Frequency Of Performance, Tonisha L. Johnson Ed. D.

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Millions of high school students are receiving special education services from teachers who may be inconsistently performing competencies during transition planning that leads to sustainable, postsecondary success. Secondary special education teachers’ frequency of performance of transition competencies during transition service delivery are essential to fulfilling their duties and responsibilities towards effectively implementing the Individualized Education Program of students with disabilities. The purpose of this descriptive study is to examine the correlation among secondary special education teachers’ perceptions of their transition competencies’ frequency of performance, during annual transition services. This study employed a quantitative methods approach involving an adapted version of …

Has Time Expired For Time-Out Rooms?, Charles J. Russo

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

An issue that continues to raise serious concerns for education leaders surrounds the treatment of students with disabilities who behave unacceptably. In Honig v. Doe (1988), the Supreme Court acknowledged that in such cases, among the procedures available to educators is “the use of study carrels, timeouts, detention, or the restriction of privileges” (p. 325). Time-out rooms—typically small rooms where students who misbehave are sent until they can safely regain their composure—continue to be used in most jurisdictions, subject to state oversight via statutes and regulations (U.S. Department of Education 2010).

In Defense Of Idea Due Process, Mark Weber

College of Law Faculty

Due Process hearing rights under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act are under attack. A major professional group and several academic commentators charge that the hearings system advantages middle class parents, that it is expensive, that it is futile, and that it is unmanageable. Some critics would abandon individual rights to a hearing and review in favor of bureaucratic enforcement or administrative mechanisms that do not include the right to an individual hearing before a neutral decision maker. This Article defends the right to a due process hearing. It contends that some criticisms of hearing rights are simply erroneous, and …

Changes In School Connectedness And Deviant Peer Affiliation Among Sixth-Grade Students From High-Poverty Neighborhoods, Kathleen Moritz Rudasill, Kate Niehaus, Lisa J. Crockett, Christopher R. Rakes

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

This longitudinal study examined associations between changes in School Connectedness and changes in Affiliation With Deviant Peers among students from high-poverty backgrounds during the year immediately following the transition to middle school. Sixth-graders (N = 328) attending two middle schools in a large school district completed measures of School Connectedness and Affiliation With Deviant Peers at three points across the year. Results from parallel process modeling showed that students’ reports of School Support significantly declined across the school year, School Support and Affiliation With Deviant Peers were negatively associated at the beginning of the school year, and students who reported …

Educators' Perceptions About African American Student Referrals To Special Education, Ydeaira Erica Ely

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The overrepresentation of African American (AA) students in special education is a problem in the United States, with concerns about the lack of uniformity in AA students' referrals to special education, and whether the referral process is applied consistently for all students. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine the perceptions of teachers, school counselors, and school administrators concerning the special education referral process, and whether the process was applied consistently for all students. The 2 theories providing the theoretical foundation were critical race theory and zone of proximal development. Criterion sampling was used to select 6 …

The Importance Of Collaboration Between Parents And School In Special Education: Perceptions From The Field, Heather Renee Griffin

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Each student receiving special education services in the public school system, roughly 6.4 million students, has an Individualized Education Program (IEP) that is mandated by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA). IDEA dictates that a team of people familiar with the student, including the parents, should create the IEP. Unfortunately, research indicates that many parents believe their participation is not welcome. While only a small percentage of parents may actually be dissatisfied with the IEP process, the cost of dissatisfaction is high, further stretching already limited resources that could be better used in the classroom.

The …

Preferred Professional Development, Theodore J. Kowalski

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

As younger superintendents replace retirees, professional development needs have increased to meet new forms of accountability, teacher/ principal evaluation and rigorous curriculum reform. In a survey of New York state superintendents, more than half expressed a preference for local, high-quality professional development workshops so they did not have to travel from their districts. The superintendents also preferred professional development involving systemic change and best practices.

Teacher Evaluations And Merit Pay: An Uneasy Mix, David Alan Dolph

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Teacher evaluations are undergoing significant changes in response to demands for school reform and higher accountability. States are now including value-added data in teacher evaluations, experimenting with merit pay based on evaluations, or both. Colorado, Florida, New Jersey, New York, and Texas are but a few states that have altered the way teachers are evaluated or that are incorporating value-added data.

Changes in evaluation practice will likely mean significant modifications in how building-level administrators evaluate teachers. Moreover, approaches to teacher salary systems are just as likely to be altered if merit pay is introduced. School business officials (SBOs) are typically …

The Challenges Of Inclusion: Perceptions Of Superintendents, Principals, And Teachers In Mississippi Alternative Schools, Gary Lynn Tune

Dissertations

Alternative schools serve a population of students who have come in conflict with the codes of conduct of their home school district. Students with disabilities are subject to the same codes of conduct and occasionally are referred to alternative schools. These referrals constitute a change in placement mandating alternative schools to provide academic and educational services and supports commensurate to the home school. This includes educating students with disabilities in regular classes. This research sought to ascertain perceptions of superintendents, alternative school principals, and regular and special education teachers regarding how well alternative schools in Mississippi meet the challenges of …

A Comparative Study Of Administrator And Special Education Teacher Perceptions Of Special Education Teacher Attrition And Retention, Danielle Angelina Sheldrake

Dissertations and Theses

This mixed methods study identifies perceived causes of and solutions to the attrition of special education teachers. Researchers have documented that special education teaching positions encounter higher attrition rates than their general education peers (Katsiyannis, Zhang, & Conroy in Olivarez & Arnold, 2006; Mitchell & Arnold, 2004; Otto & Arnold, 2005; Stempien & Loeb, 2002). More than 66 administrators and 200 special education teachers/Teachers on Special Assignment (TOSAs) employed in the Portland, Oregon metro area (Washington, Clackamas, and Multnomah counties) completed a survey on special education teacher attrition and retention and identified what they believed are the causes of high …

Rehired After Retired, Theodore J. Kowalski

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Slightly more than one in 10 superintendents participating in the "2012 AASA Superintendents Salary and Benefits Study" indicated they have been rehired as a superintendent after retiring from one state or another. This contrasts with a finding in AASP

An Examination Of Student Perceptions Of Regional Safe School And Public School Services, Elizabeth Degruy

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of students with Individualized Education Programs who attend regional safe schools of their educational experiences. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act mandates that students with disabilities be provided a free, appropriate, public education in the least restrictive environment; however, the students who participated in this study had been removed from their home public schools. This study employed a qualitative research methodology to investigate the students' perspectives on their experiences at public schools and a regional safe school.

Participants in this study were 8 high school students with disabilities who attended …

Publicizing Job Evaluations, Theodore J. Kowalski

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

More than 50 percent of superintendents in a nationwide survey indicate their performance evaluations are not made public, while slightly more than a third say their evaluation results are released publicly. The findings were contained in AASA’s 2012 salary and benefits study. State-specific public records laws govern the release of such information. These laws are evolving as state legislatures and courts decide if superintendents are public officials. AASA’s decennial study of the superintendency in 2010 pointed to increased frequency of formal evaluations along with expanded use of performance measures leading to merit awards. Link this with the call for greater …

Hesitancy About The Job, Theodore J. Kowalski

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Potential candidates hesitate to apply for their first superintendency for several, reasons. Foremost among them are the job's broad scope and their own school-age children.

Understanding The Support Needs Of People With Intellectual And Related Developmental Disabilities Through Cluster Analysis And Factor Analysis Of Statewide Data, Yuwadee Viriyangkura

Theses and Dissertations

Through a secondary analysis of statewide data from Colorado, people with intellectual and related developmental disabilities (ID/DD) were classified into five clusters based on their support needs characteristics using cluster analysis techniques. Prior latent factor models of support needs in the field of ID/DD were examined to investigate the factor structure of the support needs construct using confirmatory factor analytic procedures.

Pay By Gender And District Size, Theodore J. Kowalski

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Superintendents nationwide experienced small growth in median salaries from 2011-12 to 2012-13, according to a new study by AASA. As expected, salaries for the top district leaders generally increased with district enrollment. In four of the five categories across the size of school districts, the median salaries paid to female superintendents slightly exceeded those paid to their male colleagues. In drawing conclusions from these data, one must consider the relatively small number of respondents in the smallest and largest groupings of student enrollment in the school districts.

Examining Variability In Superintendent Community Involvement, Theodore J. Kowalski, Ila Phillip Young, George J. Petersen

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

This study examined the extent to which four independent variables (age, gender, education level, and district type) accounted for variability in superintendent community involvement. Two covariates associated with levels of community involvement (disposition toward community involvement and district enrollment) were infused to assess the impact of the independent variables. Analysis revealed that the model accounted for 8% of the variance as indicated both by R2 and by adjusted R2. Given the number of respondents (1,867), this is considered a medium effect having practical implications in the applied setting. Among the four independent variables, only a single main effect (district type) …

District Diversity And Superintendents Of Color, Theodore J. Kowalski

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

While the number of superintendents of color increased from 5 percent to 6 percent during the past decade, their representation remains well below their numbers in the general population. Data from the most recent AASA superintendency study show that the greater the levels of minority students and minority residents, the greater the likelihood the district has a superintendent of color. However, an inverse association existed between the percentage of the district's minority employees and a superintendent of color.

Interagency Barriers And Facilitators In Transition Planning For Students With Disabilities, Deanna Lynn Taylor

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This study examined the barriers and facilitators identified by both vocational rehabilitation counselors and special educators in four states (Florida, Maryland, Oregon and Utah) regarding collaboration in transition planning. Two survey questionnaires were disseminated: one to vocational rehabilitation counselors and one to special educators in that requested information on perceptions of the level of knowledge on transition planning and activities, level of satisfaction, and open-ended questions for suggestions on how to improve collaboration between the two groups. The surveys were nearly identical and were designed to explore barriers that the two disciplines experience working with each other as well as …

Superintendent Ratings Of Academic Preparation, Theodore J. Kowalski

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Groups seeking to rescind or weaken state licensing requirements to be a superintendent have disparaged academic studies in administration as an inconsequential requirement. Their claim has rarely been supported by empirical evidence. Findings from the last three AASA-sponsored decennial studies (1992, 2000, and 2011) of the superintendency suggest policymakers and members of the profession should be cautious about radically altering licensing requirements. A high percentage (ranging from 74 percent in 1992 to 79 percent in 2011) rated their universitybased academic preparation as being excellent or good.