Special Education and Teaching Commons^™

Empowering Teacher Teams To Expand Student Ownership, Paul Martuccio, Paul J. Bloomberg Dr.

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

The notion of empowerment is at the core of The Public School 13 learning culture. Empowerment is about creating conditions for strengthening efficacy school wide – for students, for teachers, for teams – for the COLLECTIVE! Learn how The Public School 13 cultivates teacher leadership through collaborative inquiry with a laser-like focus on expanding student ownership and agency.

“Re/Imagining Culturally Responsive Educational Practices (Crep) And Effectively Implementing Crep To Meet The Needs Of A Diverse Student Population”, Rena' Glass-Dixon, Shelbie Dixon-Brown

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

The aim of this interactive workshop for educators and administrators is to promote cultural awareness and reflect on the impact that our own cultural influences have on the teaching and learning process. This interactive session will also allow professional educators and leaders to apply culturally informed practices to foster positive school climate, learning and academic achievement relevant to a widely diverse student population. The workshop strives to encourage dialogue between educators, administrators and interdisciplinary/inter-agency team members through the application of evidence-based practices for the development of a deeper understanding of ourselves and how our views as educators, schools and districts …

The Devil Is In Your Closet: 48 Square Feet Can Change Everything, Tracey G. Keim

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

Using a "real" grocery list, cash money, and an unexpected situation, attendees put themselves in the shoes (or socks) of the children-at-risk and families who need support in a hands on, solution centered workshop. Workshop participants walk away with culturally relevant materials that will allow them to find funding for a 6'x8' corner of hope--at little or no cash cost. But that makes all the difference in the world.

Bully, Bullies And Bullying: Pejorative Terminology, Alternative Descriptors, And Ethics-Based Interventions, Tom Clees, Todd J. Stephens

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

This presentation will present historical perspectives on the use of person-first terminology as related to the impact of contemporary pejorative terminology, including the terms associated with "bullying." Functional alternatives in assessing problematic behaviors will follow. Finally, ethics-based (least intrusive) social skills and behavioral interventions will be exemplified.

Rockets: Reaching Our Community Through Kindness, Education, Togetherness And Stem – A Sustainable Communities Project In Sumter County, Georgia, Crystal Perry

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

This poster session highlights the ROCKETS program implemented in Sumter County Schools through UGA Extension. Through the ROCKETS Project in-school sessions, youth with disabilities are provided additional opportunities to belong to a larger group of youth through the Georgia 4-H Program. The ROCKETS Project focuses on Agricultural literacy and STEM education as content areas to cultivate, recruit and graduate the next generation of a highly-skilled diverse workforce.

Differentiated Instruction That Works For “At Risk” Students: Reaching And Meeting The Need, Henry Tellis

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

Are you looking for differentiated instructional strategies that reach every student? Come hear how I have learned to meet the learning styles of students in my classroom. This session will provide research-based strategies on how to effectively implement center-based instruction and practical strategies to use in a risk school classroom. Learn how to reach and meet the needs of learners.

Practical Strategies For Regulating Students’ Brains, Kathy Van Horn, Joshua Macneill

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

Knowing your students are impacted by trauma is only step one. It is more important to know what to do. This session will cover interventions such as brain breaks, fidgets, student curriculum and service dogs. We will share how we transformed four schools to meet the needs of struggling students. Whether you are an academic, clinical, or administrative staff, you will leave with tangible interventions you can implement immediately.

Effective Instructional Practices For Students With Mild Disabilities: Cognitive And Meta-Cognitive Strategies, Crystal Roberts, Andrea Scandrett, Jessika Washington

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

General Education Teachers, Special Education Teachers, and School Administrators will be able to gain information needed to support students suspected of or identified as experiencing learning disabilities. The presenters will discuss cognitive and meta-cognitive high leverage instructional practices that can be used to improve student engagement and academic achievement by strengthening executive functioning skills to enhance memory, attention and self-regulation.

Is The Setting Important?: A Systematic Review Of Academic Achievement In A Variety Of Educational Settings, Shannon Jeralds

Educational Specialist Scholarly Papers

Since the inception of Public Law 94-142, which we now know today as the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA), in 1975, the question of how and where to educate students with disabilities has been constantly examined and re-examined. Students with disabilities have gone from being placed in an isolated area of the school (out of sight, out of mind) to being included in regular education classrooms and being expected to perform at the same level as students without disabilities. This has caused educators and researchers to wonder what is the best educational setting for students with disabilities to be educated, …

Functional Connectivity Evoked By Orofacial Tactile Perception Of Velocity, Yingying Wang Dr., Fatima Sibaii, Rebecca Custead, Hyuntaek Oh, Steven M. Barlow

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

The cortical representations of orofacial pneumotactile stimulation involve complex neuronal networks, which are still unknown. This study aims to identify the characteristics of functional connectivity (FC) evoked by three different saltatory velocities over the perioral and buccal surface of the lower face using functional magnetic resonance imaging in twenty neurotypical adults. Our results showed a velocity of 25 cm/s evoked stronger connection strength between the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the right thalamus than a velocity of 5 cm/s. The decreased FC between the right secondary somatosensory cortex and right posterior parietal cortex for 5-cm/s velocity versus all three velocities …

Functional Behavioral Assessment: Putting The Function Into Functional Behavioral Assessments, Mildred Albert

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

As more students are moved from self-contained to inclusive classroom environments general educators will need the capacity to meet all students’ needs. The purpose of this qualitative case study explored how school personnel (school psychologists, intervention specialists, and general educators) perceived the influence of Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA) on classroom behavior. This exploration was guided by the behaviorism theoretical framework. Behaviorism as a theoretic framework for FBA considers what is directly happening in the environment from an antecedent or external stimulus-response perspective. The snowball sampling technique was used and resulted in 20 participants. The demographic questionnaire, individual interviews, and focus …

Examining Rater Accuracy And Consistency With A Special Education Observation Protocol, Evelyn S. Johnson, Yuzhu Zheng, Angela R. Crawford, Laura A. Moylan

Early and Special Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

Research indicates that instructional aspects of teacher performance are the most difficult to reach consensus on, significantly limiting teacher observation as a way to systematically improve instructional practice. Understanding the rationales that raters provide as they evaluate teacher performance with an observation protocol offers one way to better understand the training efforts required to improve rater accuracy. The purpose of this study was to examine the accuracy of raters evaluating special education teachers’ implementation of evidence-based math instruction. A mixed-methods approach was used to investigate: 1) the consistency of the raters’ application of the scoring criteria to evaluate teachers’ lessons, …

Developing An Understanding Procedures Observation Rubric For Mathematics Intervention Teachers, Angela R. Crawford, Evelyn S. Johnson, Yuzhu Z. Zheng, Laura A. Moylan

Early and Special Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study describes the initial psychometric evaluation of an Understanding Procedures observation rubric. The instrument is intended to provide feedback to teachers working in mathematics intervention settings. The rubric translates the research base from mathematics education and special education into practice in the form of specific items and descriptors of performance levels. A sample of 16 intervention teachers across three states provided three videos each of their instruction of students in mathematics intervention classes. Ten external raters evaluated the videos. We analyze the ratings using many-facet Rasch measurement. Analyses of the teacher, item, rater, and lesson facets show good psychometric …

A Description Of The Lived Experiences Of Administrators Supervising Special Education Programs: A Phenomenological Study, Kristen Marie Richtberg Wilkins

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to describe how novice, public school administrators experience and learn to supervise special education programs. This study was founded in epistemological assumptions that specific knowledge is required to provide supervision for special education programs. This study was additionally framed using Knowles’ adult learning theory, which theorizes that adults bring their personal experiences to bear and are intrinsically motivated to learn information that they need (Knowles, 1970, 1973). For the purposes of this study, adult learning theory related to the lived experiences of administrators as they learn to supervise special education programs. The …

Assessment Of Inclusive Practices In Head Start Preschool Classrooms: Access, Participation, And Supports, Ifthika "Shine" Nissar

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to assess inclusive practices in Head Start preschool classrooms. In 1972, Public Law PL 94-242 mandated Head Start enrollment to include 10% of students with disabilities (Allen & Cowdery, 2009). Research on assessment of inclusive practices within Head Start preschool classrooms is limited (Gallagher & Lambert, 2006; Muccio, 2012).

This study implemented a quantitative, descriptive design approach. Correlational analysis was conducted to explore answers to the research questions according to access, participation, and supports constructs (DEC/NAEYC, 2009). An Inclusion Crosswalk model was introduced. Data revealed that the underlying factor structure of the …

Conducting Classroom Preference Assessments To Determine Effective Reinforcers For Students With Disabilities, Jessica Mitchell

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Reinforcement is a way to help students acquire and maintain skills and appropriate behaviors. This review of literature focuses on a variety of educational studies on students who have special needs. A majority of these studies discussed the types of reinforcers and assessments utilized in either these students’ classrooms or in the researchers’ offices.

All educators should find a variety of reinforcers for their students; in order to avoid a student’s satiation (when they are bored of a specific reinforcer) for a specific item. The most productive way educators can avoid a student becoming satiated with a specific reinforcer is …

Using Data To Inform An Educational Staff Training Manual: Pilot Study, Jillian Dawes, John Lum, Jennifer Silber Carr, Nathan Lambright, Stephanie Child

Journal of Human Services: Training, Research, and Practice

Evidence-based staff training in education is limited in the research literature. While several targeted components of staff training exist, no prior research has combined evidence-based procedures into a multi-component staff training manual. The purpose of the current pilot study was to improve training for new staff in a special education setting. A needs assessment indicated social validity in developing and implementing programs for behavior support plan training and phasing-in staff during training. Based on this data, a manual was developed to include comprehensive training procedures. While the amount of data was limited, results indicate some initial support for the manualized …

Autism: A Function Of Neurodiversity?, Jan Murdock

Journal of Human Services: Training, Research, and Practice

In a culture filled with changes and challenges, there is a need to support groups of people with differences. Neurodiversity is a concept where neurological differences are to be recognized and respected as any other human variation. It is truly a “brain thang”. This “brain thang” means that there are differences in the brain that cause a student to behave, respond, or react differently than a student who appears to function normally. Education should not be compartments in which one has only a mindset of “these are special education students” and “these are not special education students”. The mindset must …

Self-Regulation And The Maturing Mind, Laura Ackerwold, Lauren Adrian, Katey Krager

Empowering Research for Educators

No abstract provided.

Identity Development Within Adolescents And How Educators And Parents Can Positively Affect This Development, Charlotte Heim, Ryan Brudelie, Paige Block

Empowering Research for Educators

No abstract provided.