Special Education and Teaching Commons^™

From The Editor, Laureen Fregeau

ECTESOL Review

No abstract provided.

English Language Competence: Why English Matters In Higher Education In Kenya, Ukaiko A. Bitrus-Ojiambo, Iddah Wayumba Mwaura, Annette Lutivini Majanja

ECTESOL Review

English is an international language, used in many countries for business, tourism, and education (Roy-Campbell, 2014; Crystal, 2003). In Kenya, it is the official language and language of instruction. The country boasts high youth literacy rates 93% (UNESCO, 2012). As university instructors, we have observed that although students have been in the formal educational system for a minimum of 9 years, their output does not match university expectations (KICD, 2016, p. 44; Jayasundara & Premarathna, 2011; Njoroge, 2008). This study assesses English language use in a Kenyan institution of higher education, identifies emergent linguistic patterns, and suggests some solutions to …

Unprepared: Are Educator Preparation Programs Effectively Training Pre-Service Teachers To Teach English Learners?, Lorie Johnson

ECTESOL Review

All students deserve high-quality, strategic instruction, yet pre-service teachers are not always taught best practices for instructing English Learners (ELs), students for whom English is not their native language. Almost 10 percent of the students in American public schools are classified as ELs, yet research indicates most educator preparation programs across the country have not yet integrated best practices for teaching ELs into their pre-service programs in meaningful ways. It is important for educator preparation programs to provide pre-service teachers with opportunities to understand the unique needs of ELs and to learn effective teaching strategies to meet those needs. This …

A Study Of Teacher Talking Time And Student Talking Time Practices Among Esl Instructors At An Intensive English Program, Cesar R. Bazo Quintana

ECTESOL Review

This study focuses on Teacher Talking Time (TTT) and Student Talking Time (STT) practices among ESL instructors at an Intensive English Program in a southeastern public research university. Based on a qualitative case study approach, the study demonstrates that participating ESL instructors were oriented more towards TTT practices while teaching their regular lessons. The study found disproportionate use of TTT. The study has helped participant ESL instructors become more aware of the behaviors that are conducive to both increased TTT and increased STT practices in their classes. This, in turn, can lead to improved teaching practices, which will benefit ESL …

The Effects Of Visual Cues, Prompting, And Feedback Within Activity Schedules On Increasing Cooperation Between Pairs Of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Karrie Lindeman, Mary E. Mcdonald, Ronald Lee, Shauna Gehshan, Hannah Hoch

Department of Behavioral Science Publications and Research

Activity schedules are visual support strategies that use visual cues, such as photographs and/or written words, to teach a learner to engage in a sequence of tasks or activities independently. Until recently, research on activity schedules has involved one schedule being followed by one individual. In order to facilitate cooperation between two individuals to complete one task, and to increase engagement between peers, cooperative activity schedules are being introduced as interventions in educating students with autism. A multiple baseline design across three activities was used to assess the effects of including an instructional package consisting of visual cues, prompting, and …

Classroom Readiness For Successful Inclusion: Teacher Factors And Preschool Children’S Experience With And Attitudes Toward Peers With Disabilities, Kyong-Ah Kwon, Soo-Young Hong, Hyun-Joo Jeon

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

The current study examined (1) associations among teachers’ experiences regarding children with disabilities (i.e., education, specialized training, years of work experience), their attitudes toward disabilities, and their classroom practices in relation to inclusion and (2) associations among children’s attitudes toward peers with disabilities and child and teacher factors. Ninety-one 4- and 5-year-old children participated in an interview, and their teachers completed a survey. Teachers’ specialized training and bachelor’s degree in early childhood education (ECE) were positively associated with their inclusive practices in the classroom; teachers’ bachelor’s degree in ECE and experiences working with children with disabilities were positively associated with …

Gfi1Cre Mice Have Early Onset Progressive Hearing Loss And Induce Recombination In Numerous Inner Ear Non-Hair Cells, Maggie Matern, Sarath Vijayakumar, Zachary Margulies, Beatrice Milon, Yang Song, Ran Elkon, Xiaoyu Zhang, Sherri M. Jones, Ronna Hertzano

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Studies of developmental and functional biology largely rely on conditional expression of genes in a cell type-specific manner. Therefore, the importance of specificity and lack of inherent phenotypes for Cre-driver animals cannot be overemphasized. The Gfi1^Cre mouse is commonly used for conditional hair cell-specific gene deletion/reporter gene activation in the inner ear. Here, using immunofluorescence and flow cytometry, we show that the Gfi1^Cre mice produce a pattern of recombination that is not strictly limited to hair cells within the inner ear. We observe a broad expression of Cre recombinase in the Gfi1^Cre mouse neonatal inner ear, primarily …

The Board Certified Behavior Analyst (Bcba) Credential: What Is It, How To Get It, Steven A. Crites Dr.

Kentucky Teacher Education Journal: The Journal of the Teacher Education Division of the Kentucky Council for Exceptional Children

Applied behavior analysis (ABA) is a research-based and effective procedure used to change the behavior of individuals, groups, and organizations. While some may think of ABA to decrease maladaptive behavior, it can also be used to improve adaptive behavior, academic, social, and employment skills. There is a growing need for experts in behavior analysis to provide services in early intervention programs, schools, day treatment centers, institutions and in the work place. A board certified behavior analyst (BCBA) is credentialed to provide these behavior analytic services. This paper will provide a brief overview of applied behavior analysis, define the BCBA credential, …

The Evolution Of Autism, Shuli Finkelman

The Touro Teacher

The author discusses the evolution of the education of people with autism.

Special Education, Chana Winner

The Touro Teacher

The author discusses the history of the education of children with special needs.

Exploring Parents' Experiences Of Postsecondary Education For Their Children With Disabilities, Cara G. Streit

Staff Scholarship

This study explored the expectations and experiences of parents whose adult children graduated from a comprehensive college-based postsecondary education program for students with intellectual or developmental disabilities. Seventeen parents of graduates from the Lesley University Threshold Program in Cambridge, MA were interviewed in the style of narrative inquiry. Subjects were asked to describe their expectations for their sons’ and daughters’ futures as they grew up, the role of a college program in their children’s development and in the evolution of their own expectations, their hopes and concerns for the future, and their opinions of college inclusion and how greater inclusion …

Teachers’ Pedagogical Resistance To Prescribed Curriculum, Darya Owens

Wayne State University Dissertations

Research indicates that teachers feel intimidated into fully implementing prescribed literacy curriculum at the expense of their own praxis which may indeed be effective in boosting student literacy achievement. This perceived intimidation may serve to compromise students’ literacy outcomes. The objective of the study was to recognize the different forms of resistance teachers demonstrate in order to take responsibility of their own pedagogical practices as it helps develop students’ literacy skills. This paper analyzes teachers’ praxis and use of integrated methods of prescribed literacy curriculum in relation to teacher resistance. It answers four key questions: 1) What forms of resistance …

The Effectiveness Of Occupational Therapist Guided Remediation Through Handwriting Home Programs, Cindy W. Poole Mrs.

Occupational Therapy Doctorate Capstone Projects

Objective: The purpose of the study was to examine the effectiveness of an occupational therapist guided, parent-taught home handwriting instruction program for alphabet letter mastery and as a potential school system service delivery model.

Methods: Sixteen teacher referred students participated in this two-group pre-test posttest design using the Test of Handwriting Skills-R and parent survey data to determine summer remediation program effectiveness.

Results: Parent survey support correlated to statistically significant intervention group THS-R mean change standard scores in alphabet letter formation from pre-test (M = 89.57, SD = 12.12) to posttest (M =101.4, SD = 10.39), t …

Effects Of A Technology-Assisted Reading Comprehension Intervention For English Learners With Learning Disabilities, Sara L. Jozwik, Karen H. Douglas

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

This study integrated technology tools into a reading comprehension intervention that used explicit instruction to teach strategies (i.e., asking questions, making connections, and coding the text to monitor for meaning) to mixed-ability small groups, which included four English Learners with learning disabilities in a fourth-grade general education classroom. We used a multiple baseline design across participants to evaluate the effects of instruction on strategy application as measured through comprehension rubrics (Keene, 2006) and on comprehension-question answering as measured through researcher-developed literal and inferential comprehension questions. Results showed that participants applied comprehension strategies and improved their percentage accuracy with answering comprehension …

Assessment With Children Who Need Augmentative And Alternative Communication (Aac): Clinical Decisions Of Aac Specialists, Shelley Lund, Wendy Quach, Kristy S. E. Weissling, Miechelle L. Mckelvey, Aimee R. Dietz

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to explore how speech-language pathologists (SLPs) who are augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) specialists approach the assessment process for 2 case studies, 1 child with cerebral palsy and 1 with autism spectrum disorder. The aim of the study was to answer the following questions: (a) How do clinicians with expertise approach the AAC assessment process for children with developmental disabilities? (b) Can any initial hypothesis be drawn about how SLPs approach the assessment of children with motor versus social interactive deficits?

Method

This study used a phenomenological qualitative design. The researchers conducted 2 …

Development Of Tract-Specific White Matter Pathways During Early Reading Development In At-Risk Children And Typical Controls, Yingying Wang, Meaghan V. Mauer, Talia Raney, Barbara Peysakhovich, Bryce L. C. Becker, Danielle D. Silva, Nadine Gaab

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Developmental dyslexia is a neurodevelopmental disorder with a strong genetic basis. Previous studies observed white matter alterations in the left posterior brain regions in adults and school-age children with dyslexia. However, no study yet has examined the development of tract-specific white matter pathways from the pre-reading to the fluent reading stage in children at familial risk for dyslexia (FHD+) versus controls (FHD−). This study examined whitematter integrity at pre-reading, beginning, and fluent reading stages cross-sectionally (n = 78) and longitudinally (n = 45) using an automated fiber-tract quantification method. Our findings depict white matter alterations and atypical lateralization …

Autism Throughout The Years, Aliza Bell

The Touro Teacher

The author provides an overview of the history of the education and diagnosis of people with autism.

An Examination Of Concepts Of School Readiness Among Parents And Educators In Ireland, Maire Mhic Mhathuna, Emer Ring, Noirin Hayes, Patsy Stafford, Siobhan Keegan, Cathy Kelleher, Martina Ozonyia, Mary Moloney, Deirdre Breathnach, Des Carswell, Des Mccafferty, Anne O'Keefe, Aisling Leavy, Ruth Madden

Reports

The Department of Children and Youth Affairs commissioned research through the Irish Research Council (IRC) to examine concepts of school readiness as they are understood by early years educators and managers, primary school principals, junior infant teachers and parents of children participating in the first Free Preschool Year in Ireland. A mixed-methods approach was adopted, involving interviews, an online survey and “draw and tell” sessions with children. Representative samples of FPSY settings and primary schools were selected and an online survey based on the findings of the qualitative phase was sent to 500 pre-primary settings and 500 primary schools. In …

Comparison Of General And High Probability Motor Sequence Attentional Cues For Increasing Vocabulary Identification In Students With Autism, Ashleigh G. Obst

Theses and Dissertations--Early Childhood, Special Education, and Counselor Education

The present study assessed if embedding high probability responding (high-p) into an attentional cue, versus a general attentional cue (GA), would result in students with moderate and severe disabilities displaying differential responding for grade level science vocabulary word identification. Using an adapted alternating treatments design, three students with autism spectrum disorder received an intervention involving a GA cue and one with a high-p to determine which is more efficient. Hypothesized results are that the attentional cue with a high-probability motor sequence would be more effective for teaching vocabulary word identification.

Impact Of A Tier 2 Intervention On Freshman Students With Math Disabilities, Rena Johnette Whitten

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Math achievement for U.S. high school students identified with math disabilities continues to fall below expected norms. Longitudinal national and state-level assessment data showed a flat or negative trend in math performance of students with disabilities, which may negatively affect their postsecondary outcomes. The purpose of this embedded mixed-methods study was to determine the impact of an extended time algebra course on increasing the math performance of freshman students with math disabilities. The conceptual framework included Vygotsky's sociocultural theory and zone of proximal development, Bloom's theory of master learning, and Carroll's theory of degree of learning. Data collection included archived …