Special Education and Teaching Commons^™

Reading On The Ropes: A Pilot Study Of An Accelerated Remediation Program With Alternative High School Students, Joanne V. Coggins, Laura C. Briggs

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

High school students must read to learn curriculum, yet few interventions are proven to substantially help close literacy gaps for older students with reading deficits. Students with large literacy deficits particularly benefit from explicit, systematic instruction of interventions emphasizing the structure of language (i.e., phonology, orthography, syntax, morphology, semantics, pragmatics), aspects of cognition (i.e., problem solving, attention, reasoning, and inferencing), and organization of spoken and written language.

A 14-week pilot study of Readable English, a reading intervention using these structured literacy elements, provided embedded interactive orthography to scaffold online grade level content for students at two alternative high schools ( …

Teachers’ Perceptions Of Inclusive Classrooms, Tamara Ann Lipson

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examined teachers’ perceptions of inclusive classrooms. The specific areas of focus were analyzed by comparing demographic characteristics of the responding teachers to survey questions from the adapted Teachers Attitude towards Inclusive Education (TAIS) in order to determine how teachers perceive inclusive classrooms, how prepared they feel to teach in inclusive classrooms, and if there is any correlation between the workload of the teachers and their perception of inclusive classrooms. Data was collected through a survey completed by 480 teachers from a large, diverse, public school district in Northeast Florida. The findings of this study indicate that these teachers …

Editor's Note

The Journal of Special Education Apprenticeship

No abstract provided.

Parent Satisfaction Of Daily Organized Physical Education For Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Cody Mills

Master's Theses

Daily structured physical education programming should be protected to support the achievement of goals set within an individual education plan (IEP) for students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). To ensure this is a priority, parent satisfaction is necessary to prioritize a healthy partnership between home and school. The objective of this research study is to identify the level of parent/guardian satisfaction in school-based and community-based daily organized physical education provided for children with autism. The research will determine if parents/guardians are wholly satisfied with the programming provided by their child’s school, or if greater satisfaction is attained when parents outsource …

Student With Twice-Exceptionalities Iep Meeting Assignment Description, David Wolff

Open Educational Resources - Teaching and Learning

General education teachers should remember that all students are general education students, first. We need to be prepared to work with students of all abilities in our classrooms. As general education teachers, we have an active role on a child’s IEP team and an active role during the IEP meeting. This assignment asked preservice teachers to develop a script of what they would say at an IEP meeting of one character from four different novels that would be considered a child with twice-exceptionalities.

Creating A Gifted-Friendly Classroom, David Wolff

Open Educational Resources - Teaching and Learning

The goal of undergraduate teacher preparation programs is to equip future teachers to work with all learners. Gifted and talented learners are likely found in every classroom regardless of where they reside. According to Rinn et al. (2022), Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Colorado, and Nebraska do not require undergraduate teacher candidates to take university coursework on gifted education. The goal of this presentation is to provide a general overview of gifted education specific to Kansas. This presentation aims to address myths and misconceptions about gifted education and gifted learners, characteristics of gifted learners, a basic overview of a general identification process, …

How Do Early Interventionists Adapt Instruction When Delivering Services In Natural Environments?, Brian C. Wysong

Theses and Dissertations

Early Interventionists (EIs) play a pivotal role in supporting development for young children with disabilities. It is vital that they are able to support child and family outcomes through building strong partnerships with families, utilizing best practices, and individualizing services to children and families. The purpose of this study was to explore early interventionists’ perceptions regarding how they adapted instruction when delivering services in natural environments. Specifically, this study aimed to understand how changes in the child’s skill level, interests, and level of engagement affected early interventionists’ decision-making process during service delivery. A qualitative research design was employed, utilizing semi-structured …

Supporting Students Who Are Deafblind To Increase Their Access To The General Education Curriculum Through Trained Interveners: A Mixed Methods Study, Ira Padhye

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this mixed-methods research study was to identify the educational trends of children and young adults who are deafblind and identify strategies to improve the outcomes through interviews of nationally qualified interveners who have received training in deafblind specific strategies. Secondary data from the 2017-2021 National Center on Deafblindness and interview transcripts were used for data analysis and then integrated to identify the supports students who are deafblind should access. Trends in age of identification, primary eligibility category, school settings and access to state standardized assessments showed a plateau and displayed no significant improvement in educational outcomes. Nationally …

The Relationship Of Mentorship And Professional Development On Special Educators’ Intent, Christine S. Powell

Theses and Dissertations

Current literature in special education has examined professional development (PD) and mentorship separately; however, no studies have investigated the relationship between PD and mentorship on special education teachers’ intent. The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which participating in PD and mentorship opportunities predicted the likelihood of Early Career Special Education Teachers' (ECSETs) intent to leave the teacher workforce while examining factors related to duration and quality. Based on two conceptual models, Desimone’s (2009) best practices for professional development and Nick et al. (2012) best practices for academic mentoring, this study identified key features and characteristics …

Examining Early Word Recognition Instruction: Synthetic Phonics Vs. Analytic Phonics, Jenelle Gallagher-Mance

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This single subject experimental design study used an adapted alternating treatment design to examine the effects of a synthetic phonics intervention and an analytic phonics intervention on oral reading accuracy, oral reading rate, and letter-sound correspondences among first grade students. Students who were reading at least two levels below guided reading level expectations and scored below the 25th percentile on the AIMSweb R-CBM (2017) fluency probe and the Words Their Way Primary Spelling Inventory (Baer et al., 2007) were selected to participate in the study. Five participants received daily instruction based on a synthetic phonics intervention (systematic directed phonics) or …

The Transition Into Higher Education For Students With Autism Spectrum Disorders, Tj Estabrook

Masters Theses

There are more students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in higher education now than ever before and these students need to be supported in ways that will guarantee their success. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the experiences of six students with ASD as they transition into higher education through the use of semi-structured interviews. What was discovered is that students with ASD typically overestimate the difficulty of academics and underestimate the amount of social interaction they will encounter at the college level. These students are able to identify aspects of themselves that help them to succeed …

Schumaker Acres Equine Assisted Learning Curriculum: Building Social Emotional Learning Skills For Autistic Individuals, Sara M. Trent

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Autistic students often receive educational services supporting the development of Social Emotional Learning (SEL) skills. SEL can also be taught effectively outside of the classroom through the use of animal assisted interventions. The purpose of this project was to develop an eight week SEL program utilizing Equine Assisted Learning (EAL) for Autistic individuals five to 21 years old. This curriculum offers a unique programming plan as it provides an SEL curriculum that is specifically designed for Autistic individuals.

Increasing The Duration Of Treadmill Walking To Reach Moderate Intensity Levels For 2 Students With Autism Spectrum Disorder (Asd), Nicholas Velazquez

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

This study aims to increase the duration of treadmill walking to reach moderate intensity levels for 2 students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The researcher incorporated a token-economy board that was used to indicate total time walking and walking goals. A single case changing-criterion design was used in this study and consisted of a baseline, multiple sub-criteria intervention phase, and a follow-up phase. Results showed that there was a positive relationship between the intervention and the total walking time for each participant. Each participant met the criterion for each phase, eventually leading to meeting their overall goal for the study. …

Rural Inclusive Education For Students With Disabilities In The United States: A Narrative Review Of Research, Katie Mae Mccabe, Andrea L. Ruppar

The Rural Educator

Despite a long history of overrepresentation in segregated settings (Brock, 2018), students with disabilities who require extensive supports are more likely to receive inclusive placements in rural schools. In this paper, we present findings from a narrative literature analysis of inclusive education for students with disabilities in rural schools located in the United States. Our search yielded 24 articles, published between 2002 and 2019, which reveal three storylines: (a) perceptions about inclusive education in rural schools and communities, (b) inclusive placements are common for students with disabilities, and (c) access to resources is a factor for rural schools to provide …

Revisiting The Rainbow: Culturally Responsive Updates To A Standard Clinical Resource, Angela M. Dietsch, Richard Mocarski, Debra A. Hope, Nathan Woodruff, Miechelle Mckelvey

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Purpose

Cultural responsivity is essential for efficacious and affirming clinical relationships. This may be especially important with historically marginalized clients, such as transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) people seeking behaviorally based affirming communication services. We recommend modifications to standard tools for diagnostics and training that otherwise might undermine our efforts to create an inclusive and affirming environment.

Method

Modifications to the Rainbow Passage, a standardized paragraph utilized for eliciting speech samples in clinical settings, focused on nongendered terminology and the elimination of content with religious connotations.

Results

The recommended edits to the Rainbow Passage maintain similar length, cadence, and phonetic balance …

Brain Activity Associated With Taste Stimulation: A Mechanism For Neuroplastic Change?, Angela M. Dietsch, Ross M. Westemeyer, Douglas H. Schultz

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Purpose: Neuroplasticity may be enhanced by increasing brain activation and bloodflow in neural regions relevant to the target behavior.We administered precisely formulated and dosed taste stimuli to determine whether the associated brain activity patterns included areas that underlie swallowing control.

Methods: Five taste stimuli (unflavored, sour, sweet-sour, lemon, and orange suspensions) were administered in timing-regulated and temperature-controlled 3 mL doses via a customized pump/tubing system to 21 healthy adults during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Whole-brain analyses of fMRI data assessed main effects of taste stimulation as well as differential effects of taste profile.

Results: Differences in …

An Analysis On The Effects Of Melodic Based Communication Therapy On Verbal Behavior In Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Meghan Kathleen Casperson

Theses and Dissertations

This applied dissertation was designed to analyze the effect Melodic Based Communication Therapy has on minimally verbal children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, particularly tact responses and their generalization in the natural environment. MBCT is a replicable protocol for pairing melodies with target words to elicit speech in children with neurodevelopmental and language impairment. There is a call for the MBCT’s replication to widen the research on this approach in natural settings and across children with ASD and other developmental disabilities.

A multiple baseline design across participants was used to determine the impact MBCT has on the tact responding in …

Comparing 1:1 And Small-Group Instruction With Preschool Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Danyel Hen

Theses and Dissertations

This applied dissertation was designed to evaluate alternative and effective forms of instruction for young students with autism spectrum disorder. The researcher examined and compared the difference in the instructional formats of 1:1 discrete trial teaching and small-group discrete trial teaching. Targets were chosen in receptive language and preacademic concepts, and differences were compared based on skill acquisition, speed of acquisition, generalization, and maintenance of skills. The participants engaged in the 8-week intervention phase of the study by following an alternating treatments design schedule during their designated center time rotations in the classroom. All participants engaged in 1:1 discrete trial …

Behavioral Skills Training For Reducing Challenging Behaviors In Students With Down Syndrome With Or Without Co-Occurring Autism Spectrum Disorder, Jacqueline Tudor

Theses and Dissertations

This applied dissertation was designed to improve the effectiveness of professional educators in using the methodology of functional behavior assessment (FBA) and function assessment-based intervention (FABI) to reduce challenging behaviors exhibited by students with Down syndrome (DS), or a dual diagnosis of Down syndrome and autism spectrum disorder (DS-ASD). Educators often rely on traditional classroom management methods which curtail disruptive behaviors without determining the reason why the behavior is occurring. The study examined the effects of utilizing a behavioral skills training program of instruction, modeling, rehearsal, and feedback in the methodology of FBA and FABI.

The research was conducted using …

Efficacy, Attitudes, And Collaboration Of Co-Teaching For Middle School General And Special Educators, Ellenita Blanton

Doctor of Education Dissertations

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to investigate how general and special educators’ attitudes, efficacy, and collaboration promote co-teaching relationships that benefit exceptional students in urban middle schools. The impacts of co-teaching on the attitudes, efficacy, and collaboration of secondary teachers were explored. A questionnaire was distributed to general and special education teachers, and focus groups were held. The methodology included using a quantitative phase and a qualitative phase research design to collect the data. The quantitative measure used was surveys. Participants, who were qualified, were chosen for the interview and focus group portions of the study. In …