Special Education and Teaching Commons^™

The Effects Of A Video Self-Analysis Package On Pre-Service Teachers’ Use Of Behavior-Specific Praise, Janet Vanlone Ph.D., Jennifer Freeman Ph.D., Brandi Simonsen Ph.D., Susannah Everett Ph.D., George Sugai Ph.D., Sara Whitcomb Ph.D.

The Journal of Special Education Apprenticeship

This study used a single-subject, multiple baseline across participants research design to explore the effects of a multi-component intervention on pre-service teachers’ use of behavior-specific praise (BSP). The intervention consisted of explicit instruction and modeling of the skill, followed by on- going video self-analysis, self-monitoring, and performance feedback. Participants (n=4) were undergraduate senior teacher education students who were completing their student teaching semester. Results indicate improvements in BSP rates across all four student teachers, and participants found the intervention to be socially valid. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

Exploration Of Training Needs Of Paraprofessionals To Support Students With Disabilities, Amy Lichte M.Ed, Andrew R. Scheef Ph.D.

The Journal of Special Education Apprenticeship

Paraprofessionals are often hired to conduct one-on-one or small group support to students with disabilities within the K-12 school system. Existing literature illustrates a limited expectation that paraprofessionals in school districts receive training surrounding their job requirements. With the rise of students being identified for special education services and the lack of training often received by paraprofessionals, questions arise related to the training backgrounds and needs necessary for professionals to support students with disabilities in the classroom. This study sought to better understand the extent to which paraprofessionals believe they are trained to performed requisite job duties. In addition, participants …

Udl: Practicing What We Preach, Peter E.L. Temple

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the use of UDL in a special education program’s coursework and analyze how it affects college students outcomes beyond their classrooms. Past research has suggested that UDL has been increasingly used in college-level coursework design, and courses designed with UDL have higher reports of college student achievement. Based on the principles of UDL and andragogy, this study identified four central research questions. Specifically, a small qual/large quant mixed-method research design was used to investigate instructor utilization of the UDL principles, teacher candidate corroboration of UDL elements in their coursework, and an exploration …

Exploring The Special Education Classroom Context And Experiences Before And During Covid-19, Claire E. Smith

Masters Theses

During the last two and half years, school districts and special education programs have experienced a situation that turned the world of education upside down: the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the pandemic, teachers, administration, families, and students had to maneuver a new way of education and achieving student success with different learning modalities, such as remote learning. This thesis focuses on a functional life skills classroom and how the context of the classroom changed after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic using autoethnographic methods. This paper was written to display how students in special education and their teachers adapted to …

Mentoring Novice Special Education Teachers: A Case Study Of Educative Mentors’ Perceptions, Sherry L. Bochenek

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Special education continues to be plagued with a shortage of qualified special education teachers (SETs). Novice SETs in their beginning years often do not have individualized mentoring support to grow as educators. However, educative mentors can provide scaffolded support and learning opportunities for novice SETs to develop their teaching practice. This case study examined perceptions of two educative mentors on what knowledge and skills are required to support novice SETs when solving problems of practice. Three main findings emerged: a) mentors should foster the development of novice SETs’ self-reflection skills, b) mentors should have content knowledge which includes instructional strategies …

Transportation: The Obstacle That Impacts Employment, Postsecondary Education, And Independent Living For People With Disabilities, Danielle Carter

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The journey to support people with disabilities began nearly 70 years ago when federal laws began to inform educational practices and ensured accountability that people with disabilities should be able to live a full life. Transportation is one skill that people with disabilities need in order to reach their goals. Transportation impacts nearly every aspect of daily life for people with disabilities and continues to be an obstacle to the attainment of employment, postsecondary education, and independent living unless changes are made. This study addressed the fears and the barriers of using transportation and then identified changes that could be …

Good Trouble: Disrupting The Disproportionality Of Black Boys In Special Education Due To Misdiagnosed And Unaddressed Trauma, Montrell Pryor

DSW Capstone Projects

Black boys experience a myriad of trauma as they navigate through society under the gaze of white patriarchy and archetypes. Whether engaging in trauma or witnessing it, it impacts Black boys tremendously, particularly in the educational setting. What typically looks like misbehavior in the classroom can be symptoms of unaddressed and untreated trauma that have been triggered and exacerbated in the school setting. As a result, this phenomenon contributes to the disproportionality of Black boys in special education and adds to the expansion of the school-to-prison pipeline.

This capstone provides a thorough examination of the literature in the form of …

The Lived Experiences Of Black Male High School Students Diagnosed With Emotional Or Behavioral Disorders: A Qualitative Study On Self-Concept, James Menke

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of how the lived experiences of four Black male high school students in a setting-four program diagnosed with emotional or behavioral disorders (EBD) impact their self-concept. Through a multi-case study method, participants engaged in two interviews responding to questions in reference to lived experiences and self-concept. Critical Race Theory tenets counter-storytelling and intersectionality were applied to further and more deeply analyze the content from the interviews. A cross-case analysis of four cases produced overarching themes: I was treated inhumanely; I benefit from invested staff who build individualized connections with me; …

Systemic Challenges During Assessment Of Emerging Bilingual Students: Perspectives Of Speech Language Pathologists And School Psychologists, Courtney Smith

LMU Theses and Dissertations

This study explored the perspectives of speech language pathologists and school psychologists, to identify the systemic challenges they identified that negatively impact how emerging bilingual students are referred, assessed, and identified for special education. This qualitative study used semi-structured interviews with 6 speech language pathologists and 6 school psychologists (n=12) to explore these challenges and barriers, as well as to look at the systems of belief present on campuses, that impact this process. Using a systems thinking framework and detailed inductive analysis of the data many themes emerged related to barriers such as difficulty finding an interpreter and ensuring that …

Does Most-To-Least Prompt Fading Lead To Independence In Tooth Brushing In Children With Intellectual Disability?, John W. Byrd

Theses and Dissertations

The problem identified in this research was that the most-to-least (MTL) prompting strategies used for individuals with intellectual disability (ID) had not been consistently demonstrated in research for personal hygiene, specifically tooth brushing. It has been well known that people with ID acquire skills differently than typically developing individuals (Cengher et al., 2018). Difficulty with developing hygiene skills such as brushing teeth is not limited only to those with physical disabilities because individuals with ID can struggle with hygiene skills as well. MTL prompt fading procedures have been used to teach many skills to individuals with ID (Drummond, 2018).

The …

A Comparative Evaluation Of The Effects Of Social Skills Group Training And Computer- Based Social Skills Training, Indira Hightower

Theses and Dissertations

This applied dissertation was designed to evaluate the effects of social skills training programs as a method to improve social skills in children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. The study sought to advance the social skills training options for children with autism spectrum disorder by comparing various evidence-based social skills training programs in hope to provide meaningful, significant, and sustainable social-emotional changes that are explicitly taught and later generalized across individuals, settings, and environments. The researcher specifically evaluated the effects of social skills group training and computer-based social skills training among the three study participants with autism spectrum disorder.

The …

Educational Experiences Of First Generation Black African Students With And Without Dis/Abilities, Shehreen Iqtadar

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Several studies have focused on the disproportionate representation of students from historically multiply marginalized communities in special education (Artiles, 2011, 2013; Artiles et al., 2005; Brayboy et al., 2007; Cavendish et al., 2018; Cooc & Kiru, 2018; Dunn, 1968; Hosp & Reschly, 2004; O’Connor & Fernandez, 2006; Voulgarides et al., 2017). Only recently, researchers have begun to explore the connections between immigrant and refugee students and special education (Migliarini, 2017; Song, 2018; Qing, 2018). Missing in this literature are the critical accounts of students and (a) their perspectives about the nature of dis/ability and their placement within special education and …

Training For Challenging Behaviors In The School Setting, Kenzie Heusinkvelt

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

School personnel are asked to plan for, implement, and evaluate Behavior Intervention Plans (BIPs) in the school setting; however, not all school personnel have been properly trained to do so. There is limited research to date that demonstrates how different school personnel are trained in planning, implementing, and evaluating BIPs. The current study involves school personnel which include school psychologists, school social workers, special education consultants, and special education teachers. These school personnel were asked to indicate how adequate they believed their educational training was in providing a good understanding of various behavior topics and how well their educational training …

The Perspectives Of Augmentative And Alternative Communication Experts On The Clinical Integration Of Non-Invasive Brain-Computer Interfaces, Kevin Pitt, Miechelle L. Mckelvey, Kristy Weissling

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

As brain-computer interface for augmentative and alternative communication access (BCI-AAC) development continues to consider avenues for translation into the clinical setting, the perspectives of clinician experts in AAC should be considered. Therefore, 11 USA-based speech-language pathologists who are experts in AAC completed a semistructured interview along with Likert scale measures to assess their perspectives on BCI-AAC. The interviews and scales explored the potential impact of BCI-AAC, along with barriers and solutions to BCI-AAC implementation. Speech-language pathologists estimated that 1.5% to 50% of their caseload may benefit from BCI-AAC across various settings. Further, identified barriers and solutions included (a) BCI-AAC implementation …

Dynamic Causal Modeling Of Neural Responses To An Orofacial Pneumotactile Velocity Array, Yingying Wang, Rebecca Custead, Hyuntaek Oh, Steven M. Barlow

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

The effective connectivity of neuronal networks during orofacial pneumotactile stimulation with different velocities is still unknown. The present study aims to characterize the effectivity connectivity elicited by three different saltatory velocities (5, 25, and 65 cm/s) over the lower face using dynamic causal modeling on functional magnetic resonance imaging data of twenty neurotypical adults. Our results revealed the contralateral SI and SII as the most likely sources of the driving inputs within the sensorimotor network for the pneumotactile stimuli, suggesting parallel processing of the orofacial pneumotactile stimuli. The 25 cm/s pneumotactile stimuli modulated forward interhemispheric connection from the contralateral SII …

Ankrd24 Organizes Triobp To Reinforce Stereocilia Insertion Points, Jocelyn F. Krey, Chang Liu, Inna A. Belyantseva, Michael Bateschell, Rachel A. Dumont, Jennifer Goldsmith, Paroma Chatterjee, Rachel S. Morrill, Lev M. Fedorov, Sarah Foster, Jinkyung Kim, Alfred L. Nuttal, Sherri M. Jones, Dongseok Choi, Thomas B. Friedman, Anthony J. Ricci, Bo Zhao, Peter G. Barr-Gillespie

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

The stereocilia rootlet is a key structure in vertebrate hair cells, anchoring stereocilia firmly into the cell’s cuticular plate and protecting them from overstimulation. Using superresolution microscopy, we show that the ankyrin-repeat protein ANKRD24 concentrates at the stereocilia insertion point, forming a ring at the junction between the lower and upper rootlets. Annular ANKRD24 continues into the lower rootlet, where it surrounds and binds TRIOBP-5, which itself bundles rootlet F-actin. TRIOBP-5 is mislocalized in Ankrd24^KO/KO hair cells, and ANKRD24 no longer localizes with rootlets in mice lacking TRIOBP-5; exogenous DsRed–TRIOBP-5 restores endogenous ANKRD24 to rootlets in these mice. Ankrd24 …

Autoeficacia Del Docente De Educación Física General Y La Inclusión De Estudiantes Con Necesidades Especiales [Self-Efficacy Of The General Physical Education Teacher And The Inclusion Of Students With Special Needs], Raul Berrios

Theses and Dissertations

El propósito de este estudio fue determinar el nivel de autoeficacia de los docentes de educación física general, sobre la inclusión de estudiantes con necesidades especiales en las áreas de estrategias de instrucción, manejo de la sala de clases y cómo lograr la participación de los estudiantes.

El diseño utilizado fue uno no experimental con un enfoque transeccional o transversal descriptivo. El marco teórico seleccionado fue la teoría social cognitiva de Bandura, de la cual se desprende el componente de la teoría de autoeficacia.

La muestra estuvo conformada por los 37 docentes de educación física general de un municipio del …

Understanding Hispanic Parent Experiences Of Participation In Children’S Special Education Programming, Ana Katrina Ramirez

Theses and Dissertations

The problem of the applied dissertation was parents who have children with disabilities at the target middle school are not fully involved in their child’s IEP educational planning. The purpose of the qualitative study was to understand Hispanic parents’ experiences with participating and contributing to the education of their children who are in the special education program. The study explored parent involvement in the process of their children’s Individualized Education Plan. It explored the issues Hispanic parents face when becoming involved with their child’s education and working with the school.

Parent participation in Individualized Education Plan (IEP) meetings with schools …

A Phenomenological Study Of The Lived Experiences Of Siblings Of Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Adrielle Benini

Theses and Dissertations

This applied dissertation was designed to better understand the experience of having a sibling with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Research has historically focused primarily on parents of individuals with ASD and their perceptions of how siblings were impacted; however, there was a lack of adequate research where information was obtained from conducting interviews with the siblings themselves.

The researcher conducted a qualitative study with 10 neurotypical siblings, ages 10 to 17, of individuals with ASD. These siblings were interviewed to explore their individual experiences and perceptions about areas in which they found and needed support. The researcher also utilized demographic …

The State Of Speech-Language Pathology In Guatemala: A Case For Creating A New Post-Graduate University Program, Amanda Blackwell

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

Speech-language pathology is part of a broader discipline of allied-health professions including occupational therapy and physical therapy. The professionals in these disciplines work alongside doctors and nurses to provide rehabilitative care for people with congenital or acquired disabilities across the lifespan. The organization and application of the field of speech language pathology is in various stages of development in countries around the world. The current dissertation seeks to understand the state of speech-language pathology in the Low- and Middle-Income Country (LMIC) of Guatemala and suggest a specific plan for the creation of a new graduate program for this discipline.