Special Education and Teaching Commons^™

International Baccalaureate Primary Years Teachers´ Perceptions On Educating Students With Dyslexia, Jennifer Preschern

Theses and Dissertations

Global organizations, such as the United Nations, have increasingly focused on ensuring that students with special needs are receiving high quality education. With schools in over 158 countries worldwide, the International Baccalaureate (IB) system provides an ideal forum to investigate if students with dyslexia globally are receiving adequate instruction. Yet, there is a general lack of research investigating IB schools, specifically for students with learning differences such as dyslexia. Providing a curriculum framework for students ages three to 12, the Primary Years Program (PYP) forms the foundation of the IB system. This quantitative research study used online survey methods to …

Investigating Special Education Services For Elementary English Language Learners Within The South-Central U.S.: A Survey Of General Education, Special Education, And Esl Teachers, Kylie Bray

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

This paper explores solutions to the issue of overrepresentation in special education among the English Language Learner (ELL) population. Reasons for overrepresentation of this population can be summarized into three main categories: diagnostic problems, TESOL shortages, and improper assessment tools. By educating future and current teachers on proper ways and techniques to teach, academic failure among ELL students is prevented. Assessment forms need to be revised and accountability needs to exist to ensure that poor teaching and learning environments are not being diagnosed as a disability. An attempt to find how effectively these solutions have been implemented into schools, overrepresentation …

The Perceptions Of Scaffolding On Literacy Instruction For Middle School Students With Learning Disabilities During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Elizabeth Defantis

Theses and Dissertations

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused uncertainty in major aspects of national and global society. This pandemic has had an extreme impact on education. Since March, 2020, the education system has changed drastically. Schools, educators, families, and students are experiencing unprecedented times and are finding a way to navigate and determine the best way to educate students. Even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, middle school students, particularly middle school students with learning disabilities have had a difficult time obtaining support for reading/literacy instruction. According to Allington (2011), much of the literacy instruction support is given to elementary school students and middle …

Using Eye Tracking To Explore Visual Attention In Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Anne M.P. Michalek, Jonna Bobzien, Victor A. Lugo, Chung Hao Chen, Ann Bruhn, Michail Giannakos

Communication Disorders & Special Education Faculty Publications

Video social stories are used to facilitate understanding of social situations for adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study explored the use of eye tracking technology to understand how adolescents with and without ASD visually attend to video social story content and whether visual attention is related to content comprehension. Six adolescents, with and without ASD, viewed a video social story of visiting a dental office. Eye gaze metrics, including fixation duration and count, and visit duration were collected to measure visual attention, and a knowledge assessment was administered for comprehension. Results indicated adolescents with ASD fixated and maintained …

Understanding Parent Beliefs And Attitudes Regarding Healthy Relationships And Sexuality Education: Bridging The Inclusivity Gap, Marie C. Zarrilli

Occupational Therapy Doctorate Capstone Projects

Children, adolescents, and young adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) are often excluded from receiving Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE), even though they are at increased vulnerability for sexual abuse and exploitation. Although some curricula are emerging that are adapted for individuals with IDD, rigorous effectiveness studies are sparse. The purpose of this capstone project was to empirically explore the beliefs, attitudes, and comfort level of parents with sexuality education program types and content regarding their own parent/child communication and the need for training and resources. This capstone project used a quantitative, cross-sectional, descriptive survey design. The survey consisted of …

Get The Wiggles Out: Sensory Paths A Motor-Based Intervention To Decrease Out-Of-Seat Events In Preschool Children With Special Needs., Teresa Ludwig

Occupational Therapy Doctorate Capstone Projects

Sensory Paths are sensory motor-based interventions that will provide opportunities for teachers to incorporate structured movement into the natural classroom routine, such as before circle time, to help the children in their classes be ready for learning by increasing attention and decreasing out of seat events.

This single subject A-B-A design project, rooted in the Ecology of Human Performance framework, explored providing structured sensory motor-based opportunities prior to circle time throughout the classroom day to decrease interfering behaviors in the classroom, such as out of seat behaviors and improve attention during circle time.

The results indicate that the Sensory Paths …

Cultural Competency In Classroom Libraries

The Graduate Review

No abstract provided.

The Strengths And Challenges Perceived By Special Education Teachers Of Students With Emotional Disturbance: A Mixed Methods Study, Brittany Severino

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

High school-aged students who qualify for special education services with the disability of Emotional Disturbance (ED) are at elevated risk of experiencing negative school and life consequences (Balagna et al., 2013; Billingsley & Bettini, 2019; Maag, 2006). Likewise, special education teachers who instruct this population of students are at greater risk of leaving the occupation within the first couple of years (Billingsley & Bettini, 2019; Cancio et al., 2018). These two alarming trends create the need for research to provide insight into how retention can be increased and attrition can be reduced for Emotional Support Teachers (ESTs). This study utilized …

Literature Review: Progressive Time Delay As An Instructional Method For Students With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Mindy Medrana, Natalia Allen

OUR Journal: ODU Undergraduate Research Journal

We conducted a review of the literature on articles published between 1990 and 2020 that measured the effects of progressive time delay (PTD) on skill acquisition in students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In all, 11 experimental research articles, each of which employed a single-case methodology, were deemed appropriate for our review according to inclusionary criteria. We analyzed studies according to methodological details, including participant information, dependent variables, skill acquisition, generalization, and follow-up measures. Findings from our review support the efficacy of PTD as an instructional procedure used to teach students with ASD. That is, all of the reviewed empirical …

The Relationship Between Inclusive Classroom Practice And Student Self-Perception Outcomes, Jenifer York

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The majority of students with special education needs spend of 80% their time in general education classrooms (National Center for Education Statistics, 2019c). While participation in general education classes is linked to positive outcomes for students with special education needs, little has been researched regarding actual practices occurring in inclusive classrooms and the impact of such practices. Academic and social gains for students in general education classrooms are unlikely without effective instruction and intervention. This quantitative study investigated whether there was a relationship between the degree of implementation of inclusive practices in classrooms and student self-perception of academic self-concept and …

The Dyslexic Diaries, Skye Malik

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This thesis consists of three components: a critique of existing children’s literature about dyslexia, an original piece detailing personal events with dyslexia, and a lesson plan to support teachers using the new book with groups of students.

Covid And The Classroom: The Impact Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On Special Education And Policy Implementation, Danielle Lange

Honors Theses

This research examines how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the learning of special education students and the implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in the United States. The importance of this research is reflected in the unprecedented and novel context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Never at any point in IDEA history have all special education students been simultaneously denied the services that are considered essential for their development and advancement. While some previous research has looked into how constraints such as natural disasters have impacted students, never has anything this drastic been studied. In this study, I found …

Collaborative And Culturally Responsive Practices Of Transition Professionals To Support Black Students With High Incidence Disabilities, Amber Ruiz

Theses and Dissertations

Black students with high incidence disabilities have some of the most concerning postsecondary transition outcomes compared to their White and nondisabled peers (Awsumb et al., 2020; Hussar et al., 2020; Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission [JLARC], 2020). Different government reports cited the lack of collaborative practices and various transition researchers imply the need for culturally responsive practices when supporting Black students (Federal Partners in Transition [FPT], 2015; Government Accountability Office [GAO], 2012; Thoma et al., 2016). To address these gaps in the literature, this study explored the collaborative and culturally responsive practices of transition professionals to support Black students …

A Quantitative Study Of Factors Influencing Special Education Teachers’ Attrition: The Relationships Between Burnout, Personality, And Organizational Factors, Erin Lavery Wanat

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine if there is a relationship between independent variables—special education teachers’ emotional/interpersonal stressors, personality type, and worklife variables—and special education teachers’ burnout. Burnout is as complex as it is destructive for the special education teachers, who are likely to cite burnout as a major factor contributing to their pre-retirement departure from education. Burnout consists of three factors: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization/cynicism, and decreased estimation of personal contribution to the work. Six-hundred and ninety-two (n = 692) of Minnesota’s Tier Four licensed special education teachers participated in the study by completing a survey related to …

A Study Of Factors That Influence Symbol Selection On Augmentative And Alternative Communication Devices For Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorder, William Todd Dauterman

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), 1 in 59 children are diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) each year. Given the complexity of ASD and how it is manifested in individuals, the execution of proper interventions is difficult. One major area of concern is how individuals with ASD who have limited communication skills are taught to communicate using Augmentative and Alternative Communication devices (AAC). AACs are portable electronic devices that facilitate communication by using audibles, signs, gestures, and picture symbols. Traditionally, Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs) are the primary facilitators of AAC devices and help establish the language individuals with …

Does The Atar Predict Pre-Service Teacher Capacity For Inclusive Classroom Practice?, Greg Auhl, Alan Bain

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

In this study, we examined whether the Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank (ATAR) predicted pre-service teachers' schema development for inclusive classroom teaching. Where previous studies have employed grade point average (GPA) as a criterion measure, this study employed a validated measure linked to standards-based classroom practice. The study was conducted in the final semester of the teacher education programs at three Australian universities. The results showed the explanatory power of the ATAR was close to zero for the students studied. The implications of the findings for teacher education and for using the ATAR as an indicator of teacher quality are discussed.

Changes In Sensorimotor Cortical Activation In Children Using Prostheses And Prosthetic Simulators, Christopher Copeland, Mukul Mukherjee, Yingying Wang, Kaitlin Fraser, Jorge M. Zuniga

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

This study aimed to examine the neural responses of children using prostheses and prosthetic simulators to better elucidate the emulation abilities of the simulators. We utilized functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to evaluate the neural response in five children with a congenital upper limb reduction (ULR) using a body-powered prosthesis to complete a 60 s gross motor dexterity task. The ULR group was matched with five typically developing children (TD) using their non-preferred hand and a prosthetic simulator on the same hand. The ULR group had lower activation within the primary motor cortex (M1) and supplementary motor area (SMA) compared to …

Highlights Of Annual Report Of The Cohort 2 Tpsid Model Demonstration Projects (Year 5, 2019–2020), Meg Grigal, Think College National Coordinating Center Staff

All Institute for Community Inclusion Publications

This Highlights document was created with data from the Annual Report of the Cohort 2 TPSID Model Demonstration Projects (Year 5, 2019–2020) for those who are interested in the most critical statistics from the report, or are sharing with a broad audience. It features bold graphics and brief summaries of program and student data, including exit and post-exit outcomes. The full Annual Report provides program- and student-level data reported by TPSIDs (Transition and Postsecondary Programs for Students with Intellectual Disabilities) during the 2019-20 academic year. Program data reflect program characteristics, academic access, supports for students, and integration of the program …

Highlights Of Annual Report Of The Cohort 2 Tpsid Model Demonstration Projects (Year 5, 2019–2020), Meg Grigal, Think College National Coordinating Center Staff

All Institute for Community Inclusion Publications

This Highlights document was created with data from the Annual Report of the Cohort 2 TPSID Model Demonstration Projects (Year 5, 2019–2020) for those who are interested in the most critical statistics from the report, or are sharing with a broad audience. It features bold graphics and brief summaries of program and student data, including exit and post-exit outcomes. The full Annual Report provides program- and student-level data reported by TPSIDs (Transition and Postsecondary Programs for Students with Intellectual Disabilities) during the 2019-20 academic year. Program data reflect program characteristics, academic access, supports for students, and integration of the program …

Culturally And Linguistically Relevant Content Area Instruction For Diverse Students With Learning Disabilities, Shaqwana Freeman-Green, Melissa Driver, Peishi Wang, Jessica Kamuru, Dia Jackson

Faculty Articles

Culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students comprise a substantial population of students with learning disabilities, and are historically disproportionately represented in spe- cial education. To effectively teach CLD students with learning disabilities, teachers should integrate evidence-based practices and culturally sustaining pedagogy in their practice. This article highlights several practical examples of culturally sustaining evidence-based practices across the content areas of mathematics, reading, and writing. Suggestions for practice and future research are presented in the article.