Education Commons^™

Ipads And Autism: Developing Sound Approaches, Randall S. Dunn, Amanda Szapkiw

Dr. Randall S. Dunn

This presentation looks at the use of iPads with children and young people on the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Practical uses and general approaches will be discussed.

On Death And Disability: Reframing Educators' Perceptions Of Parental Response To Disability, Keith Allred, Christine Hancock

Keith W. Allred

This expository article critically reviews the literature from 1950-2010 regarding educators' perceptions of parental response to disability. Pre-service, practitioner, and professional literature are examined to explore the views presented to teacher candidates during the process of professional induction. As this literature relies upon the stage model of grief associated with Kübler-Ross' (1969) description of the acceptance of death, the effects on parent-professional relations and cultural understandings of disability are critiqued. The paper presents an alternative framing of parental response to disability emerging through positive psychology. Recommendations, based upon a disability studies in education perspective, are made regarding changes in the …

Online Learning And Mentors: Addressing The Shortage Of Rural Special Educators Through Technology And Collaboration, Evelyn S. Johnson, Michael J. Humphrey, Keith W. Allred

Keith W. Allred

This article describes a promising model in comprehensive special education personnel preparation to support the recruitment and retention of special education teachers in rural areas. The approach draws on several bodies of research to include best practices for teacher education, online service delivery, collaboration among key stakeholders, and the development of strong mentoring and induction programs. The implementation plan, based on evidence-based practice in special education and online learning, is presented. A key element of this plan is developing and maintaining strong relationships among rural districts, the state department of education, and higher education.

Mentors Increasing Special Education Retention, Michael J. Humphrey, Evelyn S. Johnson, Keith W. Allred, Jack J. Hourcade

Keith W. Allred

Lack of effective professional mentoring and minimal ongoing support programs have been suggested as two primary contributors to the chronic shortages of special education teachers. Few programs have been designed to address these specific causes. In this article we describe TATERS, a partnership between a university special educator preparation program, a state Department of Education, and district level administrations designed to (a) develop effective mentoring systems, and (b) strengthen training and recruitment of preservice and new special education teachers, especially in rural areas.

Women, Education & The Diaspora, Dr Williams Emeka Obiozor

Dr Williams Emeka Obiozor

Educating the woman is a challenge to many governments in sub-Saharan Africa, including Nigeria where successive governments have made efforts to promote and support women education and bridging the gender gap in the education, labor and economic sector. This position paper examined issues and challenges of women regarding education and the Diaspora: An experience coming from a Nigerian-American who spent more than a decade living and working in the United States of America. Motivations for leaving an individuals’ homeland are as varied as the immigrants themselves, especially women who leave for opportunity, some for adventure, education, marriage and some to …

Appropriate Social Behavior: Teaching Expectations To Young Children, Deborah Russell Carter, Juli Lull Pool

Juli Lull Pool

Young children's challenging behavior can impact all aspects of the classroom environment, including relationships (peer–peer, student–teacher), learning, and safety. Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is a program that focuses on supporting pro-social behaviors and preventing challenging behavior. PBIS begins with building a foundation of universal practices and creating a common language that teachers, children, and families can use to talk about behavior. The identification and defining of appropriate behavioral expectations and the systematic teaching of those behavioral expectations is paramount to preventing challenging behavior. This article describes the steps involved in identifying classroom behavioral expectations and the development of …

Jaya Kannan, Ph.D., Appointed Director Of Jandrisevits Learning Center, Jaya Kannan

Jaya Kannan

No abstract provided.

The Role Of Universities In Achieving National And International Priorities: A Closer Look At Education, Research And Innovation, Hadi Salehi, Melor Md Yunus, Zeinab Salehi

Hadi Salehi

Universities are regarded as fundamental factors to the achievement of many national and international priorities. Universities are the only places where the ideas and rationales are brought together, and which make them the strongest providers of the rational explanation and meaning that societies need. Investments in the universities are increasingly based upon the belief that the science labs in research-intensive universities can be the source of a continuous stream of people and ideas that will spawn innovative and fast growing companies to form a knowledge-based economy. In teaching, universities shape new people, and in research, they create new possibilities. The …

Ict Project For Children With Autism In Ghana, Emmanuel Dzadeyson Mr

Emmanuel Dzadeyson

Mental illness is the leading cause of disability in the world, according to the World Health Organization. Even more troubling: Four out of five people with psychiatric disorders live in developing countries, where they have few opportunities for treatment. That's certainly the case for autism in Africa, though, like in other resource-poor areas of the world, awareness is beginning to improve. In the past few years, a handful of researchers in various African countries have investigated children with autism. . A new review of these reports finds that these children tend to be diagnosed much later than their counterparts in …

Overcoming Co-Teaching Challenges, Sharon Gerst, Lucinda Spaulding

Lucinda S. Spaulding

This presentation provides research results from a systematic grounded theory study conducted in an urban school district in Eastern Iowa. The study sought to explain the process by which general education and special education teachers overcome challenges inherent in co-teaching. The theory developed by the study explains how teachers can overcome problems frequently encountered in co-teaching. Recommendations for how administrators and teachers can apply this theory to improving and facilitating co-teaching partnerships are provided.

Emotional/Behavioral Disorders: A Retrospective Examination Of Social Skills, Linguistics, And Student Outcomes, John W. Hill, Kathy L. Coufal

John W. Hill

A language-based social skills instruction intervention used to prepare middle and high school students with emotional/behavioral disorders for return to less restrictive public school placements was evaluated. The daily 50-minute intervention focused on repetitive readings, recitations, and role-playing of skill step procedures until students achieved mastery on each required task in five broad dimensions: peer relations, self-management, academic, compliance, and assertion. The students were divided into three groups according to the length of intervention (under 2 years, 2 to 3 years, and more than 3 years). Dependent t tests were used to test the effects of prolonged intervention on past …

Tools And Community : How Women Become Researchers In Communication Sciences And Disorders, Karen L. Mccomas

Karen L. McComas

Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) is a female-dominated discipline in danger of losing its professional autonomy. In 2002, the American Speech-Language- Hearing Association (ASHA) reported that 6-7% of all faculty positions in CSD were vacant, predicted a substantial increase in vacancies through 2012, and declared the issue of faculty preparation as the "most significant threat to our [CSD] future" (p. 5). In 2008, ASHA reported that, although more people were receiving Ph.D. degrees, only half accepted positions in higher education. The purpose of this study was to extend understanding of the problem of too few researchers in CSD by increasing …

Meaningful Inclusion And Involvement Of Men In The Elimination And Prevention Of Violence Against Mothers, Dr Williams Emeka Obiozor

Dr Williams Emeka Obiozor

Keynote Presentation at the 2013 International Women’s Day- Paper on- Meaningful Inclusion and Involvement of Men in the Elimination and Prevention of Violence against Mothers By Dr. Williams E. Obiozor

Academic Lecture Series Continues With Talk On Educating Educators On Youth With Autism, Jacqueline Kelleher

Jacqueline Kelleher

On Tuesday, February 28 2012, Dr. Jacqueline Kelleher, representing the Isabelle Farrington College of Education, gave the third in a series of four lectures that make up Sacred Heart University’s Academic Research Showcase. The Showcase is part of this year’s Presidential Inaugural Lecture Series.

Her topic was Film and Perspective-Taking: Educating Educators on Youth with Autism, and she discussed the implications of using film to prepare teachers to teach students with disabilities. The goal, she said, is to provide inclusive education so that all students are treated equally and their learning styles are respected.

Disabled Students' Rights Of Access To Charter Schools Under The Idea, Section 504 And The Ada, Robert A. Garda Jr.

Robert A. Garda

Charter schools are under increasing attack for denying admission to disabled students. But traditional schools also turn away disabled students, often preventing them from attending schools in their neighborhood or within their district. This Article discusses when a school is permitted under federal disability law to deny admission to a disabled student. After nearly four decades of special education jurisprudence and regulatory guidance, the circumstances under which a student with a disability may be denied admission to a particular school are still remarkably unclear. This Article first discusses the "zero-reject" principle underlying the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and concludes …

Forming Strong Attitudes: Teachers’ Attitudes Toward Children With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Donnah Anderson

Donnah Anderson

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a childhood condition whose characteristic behaviours of hyperactivity, inattention and impulsivity are salient in school settings. Teachers’ actions and decisions when working with children who demonstrate behaviours consistent with ADHD can be expected to be impacted by their knowledge of ADHD, and their attitude toward teaching such children. Teachers are exposed to numerous sources of inconsistent information about ADHD during their training and classroom experience. The formation of attitudes in response to such complexity is poorly understood. The present research used models of attitude content, structure and strength to investigate the formation of teachers’ knowledge of …

Pepsa 11th Annual Autism Summer Institute, Lee A. Wilkinson

Lee A Wilkinson, PhD

Schools today face the challenge of providing appropriate services to a diverse and increasingly numerous student population diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Epidemiological research indicates a progressively rising prevalence trend for ASD over the past decade. Recent studies indicate that the prevalence rate for autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is 78% higher than just 10 years ago. The most recent report from U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 1 in 88 school-age children have an autism spectrum disorder. In fact, prevalence and incidence figures suggest that over 1.5 million Americans are affected by autism.

School professionals …

Do Declining Neighborhood Economic Conditions Trump Hoped For School Renovation Renewal Benefit?, John W. Hill

John W. Hill

The purpose of this study was to determine (a) individual student achievement, (b) teacher mobility rates, (c) perceptions of safety at school, and (d) student enrollment patterns, over time, in two recently renovated, same city, urban, No Child Left Behind compliant, Title I elementary school buildings located in close proximity neighborhoods one with improving the other with declining economic conditions. Achievement results indicated that fifth-grade students (n = 18) who attended a renovated school second-grade through fifth-grade in a neighborhood with improving economic conditions compared to fifth-grade students (n = 15) who attended a renovated school second-grade through fifth-grade in …

Have Institutional Review Board Regulations Affected Research Approval Patterns?, John W. Hill

John W. Hill

No abstract provided.

Culture Clash: Special Education In Charter Schools, Robert A. Garda Jr.

Robert A. Garda

Charter schools and special education for disabled students are based on conflicting education reforms and agency oversight principles. Charter schools operate in a culture of regulatory freedom and flexibility. They arose out of the modern era of accountability reform, in which student outcomes are the primary measure of school success and the driving engine of agency oversight. In stark contrast, special education laws were conceived in the civil rights era of education reform, which emphasized process and paid little attention to outcomes. The education of disabled students is steeped in a culture of regulatory oversight focused on rigid compliance with …