Special Education and Teaching Commons^™

Behavioral Contracting For K-12 Students, Emily Blythe, Amanda Dennison

Applied Behavior Analysis (SPED 432) and Intervention Strategies for Literacy (SPED 431)

This poster provides examples to implement behavior contracting strategies in K-12 classrooms. These behavior contracting strategies will facilitate improved student behavior. Behavioral contracting refers to a written contract that describes a child’s behavioral obligations. In addition, reinforcers (teachers’ or parents’ obligations) are outlined for when the child has met the contract’s conditions. In research conducted by Cutrell (2010) middle-school students with emotional behavior disorders (EBD) were examined. The research demonstrated that behavioral contracts decreased the participants’ targeted, inappropriate behavior. The following details are outlined: For whom and why behavioral contracts are used; how to implement behavioral contracting in the classroom; …

Checklist For Assessing Graduate Student Competencies In Voice Disorders, Amy F. Teten, Shari L. Deveney, Mary J. Friehe

Special Education and Communication Disorders Faculty Publications

Low-incidence clinical disorders such as voice, nasal resonance, and fluency present challenging areas for graduate-level speech-language pathology training programs to help students acquire necessary knowledge and skills. A checklist of competencies for fluency disorders exists in the literature. The authors are presently collecting pretest/posttest data on the fluency disorders checklist over several cohorts of graduate students to determine student level of proficiency and confidence regarding these competencies. Preliminary data analysis suggests significant student perception of growth as a result of completing course requirements. These data have been useful to the second author, who teaches a course in fluency disorders and …

Comparing Types Of Student Placement And The Effect On Achievement For Students With Disabilities, Patricia Mason

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Since implementing No Child Left Behind, schools have improved student achievement while also preparing students for the 21st century. Schools continue to strive for 100% proficiency in all subgroups by 2014, but achievement gap exists for students with disabilities. This study used a causal comparative research design to test the concept of co-teaching by comparing types of placement for students with disabilities and the effect on student achievement. For this study, placement was considered where the student received instruction in either a general education class or a co-taught class during 9th through 11th grade. Student achievement was based on the …

Examining The Relationships Between Secondary General Education Teachers' Attitudes Toward Inclusion, Professional Development, And Support From Special Education Personnel, Lynn Wogamon

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This correlational research study examined the relationships between secondary general education teachers' attitudes toward inclusion, hours of professional development in topics related to special education and hours of support from special education personnel addressing the needs of students with disabilities received weekly. The research also investigated whether this information could be used to predict secondary general education teachers' attitudes towards inclusion. General education teachers in six South Carolina high schools completed the Scale of Teacher Attitudes Toward Inclusive Classrooms (STATIC) and a demographic survey that asked about hours of professional development in special education topics and hours of support received …

The Use Of Video Prompting Via An Ipad® And A System Of Least-To-Most Prompting To Teach Individuals With Moderate Intellectual Disabilities The Vocational Task Of Rolling Silverware, Kelly Williams

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This quantitative study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of video prompting delivered via an iPad® in combination with a system of least-to-most prompting to teach individuals with intellectual disabilities the vocational task of rolling silverware. A single subject, multiple probe research design was used to determine whether there was a functional relationship between the use of video prompting and a system of least-to-most prompting and video prompting alone and the percentage of steps completed correctly in the task of rolling silverware. The findings from this study support the use of video prompting delivered via an iPad® to increase the …

Language Therapy And Academic Achievement In Mathematics: Speech-Language Pathologists' Roles And Perspectives, Rachel Richter

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) play an important role in language intervention among school-age children and have the potential to target academic achievement through language therapy. This study explored whether and how SLPs capitalize on language therapy to promote students’ math achievement and discussed SLPs’ practice addressing academic problems that co-occur with language disorders. Ten elementary school SLPs were interviewed to gather their perspectives on the relationship between language disorders and academic achievement. Results indicated that the SLPs acknowledged their responsibility to address academic difficulties and reported addressing academic difficulties presented by students in their caseload. Reading and writing were identified by …

Teaching Expressive Writing To High School Students With Learning Disabilities Using Direct Instruction, Self-Regulation, And Computer-Assisted Instruction, William Lindsey

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects on a combination of Direct Instruction (DI), self-regulation strategies, and computer-assisted writing instruction for high school students with learning disabilities (LD). Five students with LD participated in the study. A multiple baseline research design across students with ABC phases was used. During the baseline, the participants were required to free write 3 to 4 stories based on a topic. During the intervention, the combined strategies were taught, and students were guided to practice in developing their own stories. After two weeks, they were required to complete 2 stories to evaluate …

Response To Intervention For English Learners: Big Ideas And Myth Busters, Julie Esparza Brown

Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

This presentation focuses on the key features of response to intervention (RTI)

Social Compass Curriculum: Three Descriptive Case Studies Of Social Skills Outcomes For Students With Autism, Louanne E. Boyd, Deborah M. Ward

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

The Social Compass Curriculum (SCC) was investigated for its effectiveness in improving core social skills in three descriptive case studies of students with autism. Treatment fidelity of the SCC was also measured in the school setting. The Social Responsiveness Scale and the Autism Social Skills Profile were completed by parents to measure pre- and postintervention social skills for three students aged 8 to 11 years who participated in the present multisite pilot study. Fidelity of implementation data were collected via a checklist during observations for three educators who implemented the intervention. Results indicate that the SCC improved core social deficits …

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 …

Stabilizing Developmental Language Trajectories In Infants/Toddlers: A Preliminary Study, Christine Marvin, Miriam E. Kuhn, Lisa L. Knoche

Special Education and Communication Disorders Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

Parents’ interactions with their children can have influential effects on children’s language outcomes. Special supports may be needed however, when young children live in poverty and show developmental delays early in life. This study analyzed data for a subset of children enrolled in Early Head Start programs and participating in a randomized trial of the Getting Ready intervention (Sheridan, Marvin, Knoche, & Edwards, 2008). These 41 children had standard scores below 85 on the Bayley Scales of Infant Development-II when the EHS and intervention services began. Statistically significant benefits were observed for the 28 children in the treatment group compared …

Special Educator Evaluation: Cautions, Concerns And Considerations, Carrie Semmelroth, Evelyn Johnson, Keith Allred

Early and Special Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

There is currently little consensus on how special education teachers should be evaluated in a way that is effective, fair and responsive to their unique teaching responsibilities. In this paper, we explain several of the current approaches to teacher evaluation under consideration, and then provide an overview of the challenges associated with the use of these models for special education teachers. We describe a model currently under development that is designed to better meet the unique characteristics of special education teacher evaluation. Our alternative approach proposes to evaluate special education teacher effectiveness through two primary components: observations of the special …

The World Needs All Kinds Of Minds: Ted Talk Annotated Resource List, Brooke Cooper

Undergraduate Research Award

Undergraduate research award given by WKU Libraries and University Experience, Library Skills, for best annotated resource, December 3, 2013

Exploring The Effects Of Conversational Repair As A Scaffolding Strategy To Promote Mathematics Explanations Of Students With Learning Disabilities, Jia Liu

Open Access Dissertations

Conversational repair often occurs in conversations when people attempt to address communicative breakdowns or inaccuracy by way of repeating what have been said or putting them in another way. The review of literature on conversational repair revealed that as an important concept in pragmatic aspect of language, it is an effective strategy to improve communication of different populations with disabilities. However, it is rarely studied in the domain of mathematics and with the population with learning disabilities/difficulties (LD). In current reform-based, discourse-oriented mathematics classrooms, students with LD encounter difficulties articulating or explaining well their reasoning processes due to the mathematical …

Charter Schools As Leverage For Special Education Reform, Tommy Chang

LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations

Few studies have examined the intersection of charter school and special education policies. The concerns around the serving of special education students in charter schools must be carefully studied, especially as charter schools continue to grow in numbers and continue to serve a greater percentage of public school students. New policies must not only address equity in access for special education students in charter schools but must also study how charter schools can be leveraged to generate innovative and promising practices in the area of special education.

This study examines a recent policy change in the Los Angeles Unified School …

Enhancing Emergent Literacy Opportunities For Preschool Students With Disabilities: A Teacher’S Guide To Reading Aloud, Katherine Zimmer

Katherine Zimmer

No abstract is currently available.

From The Inside Looking Out: Andragogically Buidling A Doctor Of Andragogy Program, John A. Henschke Edd, Susan K. Isenberg Phd, Kathy Petroff

IACE Hall of Fame Repository

Developing and Implementing a Doctor of Andragogy Program andragogically provides an opportunity to 'think outside the box.' It requires congruency between talking and action, and active involvement of the learners. With many successes in the first two years, a concern emerged over the lack of interest and attendance in the initiative. Using andragogy to investigate the concern, opportunities emerged for improvement.

Building Blocks For The Adult Learning Experience, John A. Henschke Edd

IACE Hall of Fame Repository

The author is seeking to improve the process of building and conducting active adult learning experiences by considering and implementing the various elements that need to be included. After reflecting on his 22 years of experience in the adult education field and immersing himself in the literature of adult education, he concluded that there were five major elements (which he called building blocks) for conducting and engaging participants in an Adult Learning Experience, which are: beliefs and notions about adult learners; perceptions concerning qualities of effective teachers; phases and sequences of the learning process; teaching tips and learning techniques; and, …

From History To Practice: How Trust, Empathy, Reciprocity And Sensitivity In Relationships Create The Foundation Of Learning, John A. Henschke Edd

IACE Hall of Fame Repository

Focus of this study is on the extent of trust, empathy, and reciprocity in relationships combine to create a solid foundation of adult learning. Sensitivity may enhance learning, but insensitivity may destroy it.

The Four Forces Behind Knowles' Andragogy, John A. Henschke Edd

IACE Hall of Fame Repository

The career of "the father of adult education" in the U.S., Malcolm S. Knowles, was a phenomenon in itself. Although Knowles is the most referenced adult educator of his time (Sopher, 2003a), he has, at times, also been the most misunderstood adult educator in the U.S. Knowles' (1989b) autobiography provided some in sights into his writing styles, his highly successful career, and his theory of adult education -- the introduction of "andragogy" in the U.S. -- nor did it provide context for a deeper understanding of the times, what influenced his thinking and his contribution major forces that influenced Knowles, …