Education Commons^™

Teachers' Attitudes And Their Effect On Placement Recommendations For Students With Cognitive Disabilities, Kathleen M. Everett

Doctor of Education in Special Education Dissertations

The implementation of Public Law 94-142 in 1974 guaranteed that students with disabilities had the right to be educated alongside their peers in the least restrictive environment. However, decades later, administrators, teachers, and parents continue to struggle to resolve the issue on how to include students with disabilities in general education classrooms, as well as how to recognize why students with cognitive disabilities were embodied more in self-contained classrooms than in comprehensive environments. In this study, I aimed to understand how special education teachers’ attitudes about inclusion, LRE, and students with cognitive disabilities influence placement recommendations. Through the qualitative thematic …

How To Implement Visual Activity Schedules For Students With Disabilities, Amy D. Spriggs, Wilhelmina Van Dijk, Pamela J. Mims

ETSU Faculty Works

Based on recent literature reviews on the use of Visual Activity Schedules (VAS) for students with intellectual disability and autism, the strategy has been deemed an evidence based practice. Using the literature highlighted in the recent reviews, this article provides an overview of VAS and common skills VAS has been used to teach. Additionally, the authors provide guidelines on schedules variations, creating schedules, and implementing the schedules. Finally, several examples of VAS are included.

Special Education Leadership Practices That Support Postsecondary Transition Service Delivery For Students With Severe Disabilities, Laurel A. Peltier

Doctoral Dissertations

ABSTRACT SPECIAL EDUCATION LEADERSHIP PRACTICES THAT SUPPORT POSTSECONDARY AND TRANSITION SERVICE DELIVERY FOR STUDENTS WITH SEVERE DISABILITIES SEPTEMBER 2015 LAUREL A. PELTIER, B.A., GORDON COLLEGE, WENHAM M.A., UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND, KINGSTON C.A.G.S., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Ed.D. UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Directed by Dr. Mary Lynn Boscardin In the past decade, researchers have made new forays into understanding educational leadership and the connections between leadership practices and outcomes for students. While evidence-based leadership practices at the building and district level are critical to the success of students in general and special education settings as a whole, the need for …

Male Gender Disparity Gap: Does Gender Impact Education, Laura D. Smith

EDL Sixth Year Theses

This case study focuses on male gender disparity in education and the large numbers of males referred and receiving special education services. The data indicates that females outperform males academically, and that the males behaviors impacts their academic success. The connection to males at a young age being placed in low ability reading groups based upon behaviors, and their motivation and academic achievement is affected negatively. The eighth grade students at a PK - 8th grade rural Connecticut school participated in this researcher’s case study. The case study looked at, how students perceived their education, and what role their education …

Toward A Deeper Understanding Of Disability: Physical Therapy Educators’ Reflections, Clarence Chan, Debra Engel, Jacqueline Ross

Publications and Research

This article describes the unique journey both of a blind student in our Physical Therapist Assistant (PTA) Program and of the faculty who taught him as they all navigated through uncharted territories. Despite the fact that the physical therapy profession trains practitioners to help clients with disabilities to maximize their physical function and teaches them how to adapt to the challenges of daily activity, we initially assumed that a blind student would not be able to complete the program or be able to become a self-sufficient practitioner. We were very wrong. This article describes our learning process over the course …

Creating The Continuum: J. E. Wallace Wallin And The Role Of Clinical Psychology In The Emergence Of Public School Special Education In America, Philip M. Ferguson

Philip M. Ferguson

This paper reviews the history of the continuum of services in intellectual disability programs. The emergence of public school special education in the United States in the first two decades of the 20th century is used as a case study of this history by focusing on events and personalities connected to the St. Louis Public Schools. Using Annual Reports from the era along with the abundant publications and personal papers of J.E. Wallace Wallin, the author explores how the growing class of specialists in clinical psychology and psychometrics gained a foothold in the schools as educational gatekeepers for student placements …

The Impact Of Co-Teaching On General Education Students In Seventh Grade Math, Kenneth Lamar James

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Federal legislation has mandated that all students, including students with disabilities, perform at or above a certain level on standardized tests. Students with disabilities consistently have scored below the required minimum score. Educators have begun implementing co-teaching strategies in the general education classroom in order to better serve the students with disabilities. This has caused concern among some parents and other educators as to how the inclusion of special education students in the general classroom will affect the achievement of general education students. This quantitative study is designed to gather data from the math section of the Criterion Referenced Competency …

Parents Of Students With Disabilities Views Of Schools’ Efforts To Facilitate Their Involvement In Their Child’S Educational Progress, Stephanie A. Lessard

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

The objective of this Senior Honors Project was to investigate schools’ efforts to collaborate with parents of children receiving special education services within Harrisonburg City Public Schools in the State of Virginia. The study had two primary purposes.

The first was to empower parents by educating them about special education laws and their rights concerning how to obtain services for their child. The workshops, presented by the Parent Educational Advocacy Training Center (PEATC), addressed areas such as communication skills and interpersonal skills for the purposes of bolstering relationships between schools and parents.

Second, since schools sometimes fail to effectively involve …

Preschool Experience Vs. No Preschool Experience: Long Term Effects On Academic And Social Readiness Of Children, Dionne C. Estes

Dissertations, Masters Theses, Capstones, and Culminating Projects

Despite federal and state investments in early education intervention programs,achievement gaps continue to afflict the education system with children from low-income families having an increased need for high quality preschool education. When children from underprivileged families move through the education system, the chances of academic success becomes difficult as the education gap increases year after year, and they fall farther behind. By the time these students enter high school, they are behind academically and unable to meet grade level requirements. Many of them to give up and quit attending school, leading to an increase in the dropout rate.

Research indicates …

Knowledge Of Special Education Law Among Administrators In A Southern California Special Education Local Plan Area, Suruchi Singh

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was (a) to identify the knowledge of special education law among administrators within a SELPA in California and (b) to identify the training needs of administrators; 65 administrators participated in this quantitative study, yielding a response rate of 84%. A survey created on the six principles of IDEA was used with administrators (principals and assistant principals) who serve approximately 42,000 students at 50 public schools. Analysis of data revealed that Hypothesis 1, which projected that 51% or more administrators would perceive their knowledge of special education law as average or better, was supported. Hypothesis 2, …

Constructing And Resisting Disability In Mathematics Classrooms: A Case Study Exploring The Impact Of Different Pedagogies, Rachel Lambert

Education Faculty Articles and Research

This study demonstrates the importance of a critical lens on disability in mathematics educational research. This ethnographic and interview study investigated how ability and disability were constructed over 1 year in a middle school mathematics classroom. Children participated in two kinds of mathematical pedagogy that positioned children differently: procedural and discussion-based. These practices shifted over time, as the teacher increasingly focused on memorization of procedures to prepare for state testing. Two Latino/a children with learning disabilities, Ana and Luis, used multiple cultural practices as resources, mixing and remixing their engagement in and identifications with mathematics. Ana, though mastering the procedural …

A Factor Analytic Validation Study Of The Scale Of Teachers' Attitudes Towards Inclusive Classrooms (Static)), Trisha Sugita Nishimura, Randy T. Busse

Education Faculty Articles and Research

General and special education teachers (N = 125) completed the Scale of Teachers’ Attitudes towards Inclusive Classrooms (STATIC). The internal consistency of the instrument was strong with an alpha of .89. The measure demonstrated excellent test-retest reliability (r = .99) and a dependent t-test was non-significant, indicating mean group temporal stability. An exploratory factor analysis resulted in a five-factor scale accounting for 61.6% of the variance versus the original four factors identified by the author of the instrument. Future research and potential use of the instrument are discussed.

Labeling: Student Self-Esteem And The Stigma Of A Label, Amanda Kay Sowards

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Labels help to provide educational support to students who struggle academically, physically, emotionally and socially. The decision to use a label should be carefully considered due to the possibility of negative connotations regarding social relationships, personal preferences and the effects on self-esteem. The author discusses a study that examines the effects of labeling in regard to the impact on the self-esteem of students with disabilities and will scrutinizes if students with disabilities are negatively perceived by their peers. Current research of labeling, self-esteem and social disadvantage is discussed. Due to the overwhelming number of students being labeled and a lack …

A Study Of The Social And Emotional Growth And Development Of Students With Disabilities In An Inclusive Setting In An Inner-City Middle School, Heather Rachelle Lemmons

Education Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this retrospective, explanatory sequential mixed-methods study was to determine the impact of an inclusive educational setting on the behavioral, social, and emotional growth and development of students with various disabilities. Many aspects of a student’s educational experiences can be affected by a proper placement in an inclusive setting with non-disabled peers including discipline rates and referrals, need for behavioral goals and plans, and perceptions concerning personal social growth and development.

The setting for this research study was an inner-city middle school serving Grades 7 and 8 in western North Carolina. Eighth-grade middle school students identified as students …