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A Transcendental Phenomenological Study Of What Schools Can Do To Retain Lumbee Indian Students With Disabilities Through High School To Graduation, Telisha Daniell Locklear

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to explore what schools can do to retain Lumbee Indian students with disabilities through high school to graduation. The theory guiding this phenomenological study was Maslow’s theory of human motivation. It relates to the motivation to satisfy a series of basic needs before individuals can meet their full potential. There were 12 special education teacher participants in this study who serve Lumbee Indian students. Data were collected through participant interviews, open letters, and focus groups. Data were analyzed thematically using the Van Kaam methodology. Five major themes emerged from the analyzed data. …

Describing The Lived Experiences Of K-12 Teachers Addressing The Unique Needs Of Black And Marginalized Twice-Exceptional Students: A Transcendental Phenomenological Study, Toyka-Eve Whitley

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe the lived experiences of K-12 teachers addressing the unique needs of Black and marginalized twice-exceptional students in the United States. At this stage in the research, Black and marginalized twice-exceptional (2e) students are minority students that are gifted students that have a disability. The theory guiding this study was the teacher expectancy theory. This study was a transcendental phenomenological study. The study took place in the United States. Pseudonyms were used to protect the identities of the participants. The central research question asked, what are the lived experiences of teachers addressing …

Improving Outcomes For Older Struggling Readers In Special Education Resource, Kathryn Stone

Education Theses and Dissertations

This research aimed to increase the reading achievement of sixth-grade special education students receiving interventions in a resource setting. This problem of practice was created in response to the theory of change made by a Network Improvement Community (NIC) rooted in the lack of professional development offered by the school district for special education teachers in teaching students foundational reading skills. The research questions used for this study this evaluation were 1) What percent of students made progress in each reporting category (word study, grammar, and comprehension) in the Lexia PowerUp literacy program? 2) To what extent did the teachers …

Inclusionary Practices For Elementary Students With Disabilities, Caroline Brandau

M.Ed. Literature Reviews

This research explores inclusionary practices for elementary-aged students with individualized education plans (IEP) for special education. Three themes were identified: academic achievement through push-in services, secondary benefits of special education services in the general education setting, and power dynamics of stakeholders of inclusion. The paper goes on to examine how practices at Western Washington School District could be aligned with research and then explores implications for future research and transform practice. The paper concludes with a call to action and a positive outlook for the future of special education.

Intersection Between Special Education And The Juvenile Justice System: An Exploration Of Legal Compliance, Transition Services, And Recidivism, Katherine Kolody

M.Ed. Literature Reviews

This paper explores the intersection between special education and juvenile justice. Specifically, it looks at the legal authority compliance in juvenile justice facilities, the transition services for juveniles once they return to school, and the recidivism rates of juveniles who have been in the system. It seeks to answer whether the current approaches to these legal issues are valid, or whether there are better or different approaches that might yield preferable results.

Creativity In The Virtual Classroom: Engaging Online Special Education Teacher Candidates In Their Own Learning, Rob Shauger, Kathleen A. Boothe, Marla J. Lohmann

The Journal of Special Education Apprenticeship

According to the National Center for Education Statistics (2022), the number of college students enrolled in at least one online course was approximately 11 million during the 2021-2022 school year. Knowing that institutes of higher education (IHEs) are responsible for teaching students who are primarily online learners, special education teacher preparation programs at IHEs need to change their focus on how to meet these online learners' needs. There is plentiful research on what faculty should include in their online classes, but finding specific strategies and activities that engage students in their own learning can be challenging. This article provides teacher …

Ready Or Not, Here We Go! Preparing For The Education Specialist Teaching Performance Assessment, Rosalinda J. Larios, Calli Lewis Chiu, Rohanna Ylagan-Nicanor

The Journal of Special Education Apprenticeship

In the state of California, the Education Specialist Teaching Performance Assessment (EdSp TPAs) is the latest accountability measure to be required of aspiring education specialists. Existing literature has been overwhelmingly critical of the TPAs (Dover, 2022; Valdez et al., 2020). And now, in the dawn of the EdSp TPAs, there must be a candid conversation about preparing candidates sufficiently for the TPAs in order to avoid exacerbating the field that is struggling to recruit teachers. This article discusses three significant obstacles in preparing candidates for the assessment: challenges associated with identifying focus students, insufficient preparation among mentor teachers, and program …

Interprofessional Practice Aligns With New California Teacher Performance Expectations For Students With Complex Communication Needs, Kai J. Greene, M.C. Kate Esposito

The Journal of Special Education Apprenticeship

Educators are bound to encounter students with a broad range of speech-language and communication needs in their respective classrooms. According to federal mandates, current and future teachers are required to implement inclusive practices, which involves providing access to communication for all students. This practitioner-focused article shares an interprofessional practice collaborative project developed between a university teacher preparation program and the speech-language pathology division of a large urban school district. As part of a requisite credential course on language development and early literacy skills, pre-candidate students in the education specialist credential program complete a course assignment led by a school-based speech-language …

Improving Collaboration With Culturally And Linguistically Diverse Parents Of Students With Extensive Support Needs, Isabel Yates

Master of Science in Education | Master's Theses

The purpose of this research is to understand how to improve collaboration between schools and culturally and linguistically diverse parents of students with extensive support needs who receive special education services. Previous research defined collaboration as a conceptual construct in which principles of shared respect and responsibility are applied to practice (Emmons & Zager, 2018). The collaboration between families and schools is legally mandated but not explicitly explained to teachers or parents how to succeed in engaging respectfully with all families (Cheatham & Lim-Mullins, 2018). The increased complication of supporting nondominant, culturally and linguistically diverse families in addition to the …

Multilingualism And Augmentative Alternative Communication: A Review Of The Literature, Hannah N. Lamarca, Natalie R. Andzik

Honors Capstones

Purpose: Individuals from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds who use Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC) are often offered English-only AAC systems that do not meet their language needs. Devices that host multiple languages often only offer one at a time.

Method: The authors reviewed the literature by searching relevant databases using a variety of search strings. Following our inclusionary and exclusionary criteria, 15 articles were yielded for analysis.

Results: Authors found that more than half of the included articles were discussion-based papers on AAC delivery, barriers to AAC and multilingualism, and codeswitching using AAC. The included interview studies aimed to …

A Discourse Analysis Of Parents' And Teachers' Social Constructions Of School Readiness And Transition To Kindergarten For Children With Disabilities, Ronica Senores Toyota

Education (PhD) Dissertations

This study examined parents’ and teachers’ social constructions of disability, school readiness, and the transition to kindergarten process for children with disabilities who participated in a self-contained preschool special education (SPED) class, called a special day class (SDC). The 12 participants included parents of children with disabilities (i.e., three with autism and one with Down syndrome), four preschool SDC teachers, two kindergarten SDC teachers, and two general education kindergarten teachers. They were recruited from a large urban school district in Southern California. Semistructured interviews were conducted to invite participants to share their experiences working with students with disabilities and their …

Special Education Teacher Attrition: K-12 Administrator Perspectives, Tia Alove Stevens-Hicks

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

Teacher attrition is a significant contributor to the teacher shortages, with preretirement attrition accounting for two thirds of all attrition. Special education teachers leave teaching at significantly higher rates than their general education peers. In addition, there is a greater demand for special education teachers due to the increase in public school students requiring special education services. As a result, many K–12 administrators and other educational leaders often fill vacant positions with unqualified or new teachers with less experience than their predecessors. Special education teachers have reported that teachers who remained in their positions reported high levels of administrative …

Public Vocational School Teachers' Experiences And Perceived Self-Efficacy In Working With Students With Disabilities In An Inclusive Environment: A Phenomenological Inquiry Study, Amber Jean Caproni

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Full inclusion of students with disabilities within the general education classroom has been a longstanding goal of many school districts within the United States. Many studies have been conducted to understand what attributes are needed for successful inclusion with the evidence pointing to the need for teachers to have a strong sense of instructional self-efficacy when working with students with disabilities. Copious research concerning teachers’ experiences with inclusive education has been conducted across typical public-school settings; however, scant information is known about inclusive education experiences of general education teachers employed in vocational high schools. The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological …

The Special Education Administrative Structure In Private School Systems: A Multiple Case Study, Kelli L. Green

Education Doctoral Dissertations in Leadership

This multiple case study examined the administrative structures private schools have built, compared them with each other, and contributed to the field of research for private schools to learn from each other for continuous improvement efforts in how they serve students with disabilities. I selected three private school systems and interviewed participants (four women, and two men) who were the system directors and administrators of special education for the largest number of schools within the systems at the time of this study, the 2022-2023 school year. Data collection was comprised of semi-structured interviews, supportive documentation, and metamemos. Three major themes …

Parents’ Expectations Of Developmentally Delayed Children With Special Education Needs (Sen) When Transitioning Out Of Non-Classroom Based Independent Studies Charter High Schools, Yolanda Vazquez

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this phenomenological study was to identify and describe the expectations of parents of developmentally delayed special education needs (SEN) high school children regarding their children’s transition out of independent studies charter high schools. In addition, it was the purpose of this study to identify how parents perceived independent studies charter high school schools addressed the needs of their SEN children during the transition process.

Methodology: This study used qualitative methodology to gain insight into the lived experiences and perceptions of parents with SEN high school students in a NCB ISP high school transition program. Data was …

An Examination Of The Relationships Between Campus Administrators And Special Education Teachers And Its Influence On Teacher Retention, Tai Lea Peacock

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Teacher shortages have plagued U.S. school districts for many years now as special education and other high-need fields struggle to retain highly qualified teachers. School leaders must gain a better understanding of why special education teachers are leaving at such alarming rates in order to formulate a plan for improving retention. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to examine how campus administrators’ relationships influence the retention of special education teachers. Leader-member exchange theory, which contends that the relationships between leaders and followers impact our work environment and job satisfaction, served as the theoretical framework of this study. A …

Investigating Evidence-Based Practices And Interventions Using Multifaceted Learning Theory For Students In A Special Education Self-Contained Classroom, Adam Maitland

Ed.D. Dissertations

Teachers working in a special education self-contained classroom were required to implement evidence-based practices and interventions, rarely researched in a school setting, with fidelity to meet the needs of students with intellectual disabilities. Evidence-based practices and interventions for students with intellectual disabilities were researched in clinical settings with one to three student participants and without a common evaluation tool. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to use the Tennessee Educator Acceleration Model General Educator Rubric to investigate how experienced teachers used multifaceted learning theory when implementing evidence-based practices and interventions in a diverse special education self-contained classroom to …

Role Play: Actualizing The Iep Meeting For Pre-Service Teachers, Courtney A. Toledo

The Qualitative Report

Teacher preparation programs provide numerous teaching and learning opportunities for pre-service teachers; however, participating in an Individualized Education Program (IEP) meeting is not an experience that can be guaranteed. Leading and participating in IEP meetings are a responsibility that all special education teachers will be held accountable for, but many pre-service teachers will never be able to observe a real IEP meeting before entering the field. In this qualitative case study, the researcher utilizes a simulated IEP meeting to provide pre-service teachers with experience in participating in an IEP meeting prior to entering the profession. The case study method is …

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.

Understanding Novice Special Education Teachers’ And Paraeducators’ Mentorship Relationships: A Comparative Case Study, Maya Evashkovsky, Anna V. Osipova

The Journal of Special Education Apprenticeship

Novice special education teachers (SETs) often report on stress and burnout in their jobs, identifying collaboration with colleagues as a factor that supports them during the first years (Belknap & Taymans, 2015). While previous research focused on teachers' support from their mentor teachers, administrators, and colleagues, in this study we examined the mentorship relationship between SETs and their classroom paraeducators. We analyzed interviews of three novice SETs who taught in a large urban school district. All participants taught in Special Day Classrooms (SDC) and worked closely with paraeducators. The findings of this comparative case study suggest that these relationships are …

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 …

The Effect Of Language Used In The Home On Academic Achievement In English Language Learners With Special Needs, Rebecca Dawn Bramblett

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The number of students classified as English language learners enrolled in schools in the United States continues to multiply yearly. An increasing number of these students also qualify for special education services. Students in either group have underperformed compared with their general education peers for years, and the basic academic proficiency levels of these students are concerning when either language proficiency or disability is considered separately. However, when a lack of language of proficiency is compounded with a disability, academic proficiency levels become even more concerning. While student language proficiency and disability are well-researched in terms of academic performance, the …

Special Education Teachers’ Perceptions Of Self-Determination Supports In Inclusion Classrooms, Suzanne Tiffany-Salogub

Theses and Dissertations

The outcomes presented in this dissertation were motivated by a scarcity of research that explores self-determination practices explicitly within inclusive classrooms. Three overarching goals motivated my research. The first was to understand what inclusion teachers know and do in relation to self-determination (Chapter 2). The second was to understand how their practices align with existing knowledge about self-determination in the field (Chapter 3). Finally, I sought to create an accessible, research-based tool tailored to inclusion teachers who seek to support their students in developing self-determination skills (Chapter 4). To achieve these goals, I designed an investigation using a case-study design …

Teaching Students With Maladaptive Behaviors In Special Education, Giselle Valdez Tejeda

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Thousands of students engage in maladaptive behaviors in Special Education classrooms throughout the world every single day. It is very important for parents and others related to the field to know and get an understanding of how teachers teach students effectively according to their functional skills and understanding. This senior capstone examines how teachers teach students with maladaptive behaviors in Special Education. Through the use of literature review and interviews with three specialists in Special Education, the findings reveal that by finding ways to keep their maladaptive behaviors to interfere with their learning is by providing one-to-one support in classroom …

The Involvement Of Parents Of Students With Disabilities In Rural Early Head Start Programs: A Case Study, Cassandra Annette Justice

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative collective case study was to describe parent participation for home-based educators and parents at an Early Head Start home-based program in rural Appalachia. Parental participation in the Early Head Start home-based program was generally defined as the active participation of children with disabilities’ parents in a home-based program guided by home-based educators through the implementation of early intervention services. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs guided this study, as it relates to both identifying barriers that may prevent parents from being involved and illuminates how Early Head Start educators help families meet growth and developmental needs. The …

The Lived Experiences Of General Education Teachers' Consultative Interactions With Special Education Team Members: A Transcendental Phenomenological Study, Meredith Kearney Auscavitch

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to describe general education teachers’ lived experiences of consultative interactions with special education team members in an urban school in New England. Information regarding desired outcomes of consultation as well as general education teacher-identified outcomes was explored. The theory that guided this study was the collaboration theory identified by Lee Vygotsky, which details the benefit of collaboration with others to gain knowledge of a task or process using a partnership to support a deeper understanding. A sample of 10 general education teachers provided their perspectives on consultation with special education team members. …

What Keeps Teachers Of Students With Autism Spectrum Disorder Teaching?, Kimberley Rodriguez

All NMU Master's Theses

Currently, staff shortages exist in all areas of education. In the field of special education, there are sub-groups of teachers and classrooms, each with unique challenges. This study explores the experiences of teachers of students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) disability in order to identify important retention factors specific to them. In this qualitative, phenomenological study, the researcher conducted four, one-on-one interviews to discover the district-related factors shared by teachers of students with ASD when considering staying or leaving their current position. Interview responses were categorized into the four themes critical to teacher retention according to the four capital theory …

Disrupting Inequitable Practices In Special Education: Privileging Student And Family Voices, Armineh E. Hallaran

Theses and Dissertations

Black, Latinx, and other minoritized students have long been overrepresented in the high-incidence, subjective, disability classifications including Learning Disability, Speech and Language Impairment, Emotional Disturbance, and Intellectual Impairment. Special education places these students on trajectories that deny them access to quality education and the same postschool outcomes and opportunities as their nondisabled peers. Using Disability Critical Race Theory (DisCrit), and grounded theory analysis this study foregrounds the voices of minoritized middle school students receiving special education under high-incidence classifications. DisCrit allowed for an investigation of how student’s intersecting marginalized identities impacted their experiences as special education students. Further, Education Journey …

Leaders And Restraints: Investigating How Attitudes Of School Leaders Predict The Number Of Physical Restraints, Sarah S. Ulmer

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study investigates how attitudes of school leaders predict the number of physical restraints that occur in schools that serve students under IDEA. This study focuses on the attitudes of school leaders from the geographical regions of Virginia in public and private schools. The “Educational Leadership and Behavioral Interventions” survey was used to gather research from 33 schools within Virginia. After collecting the data through the survey, the data was analyzed using a predictive correlation research design. The bivariate linear regression was used to analyze the predictor and criterion variables using SPSS. Based on the results of the data analysis, …

Perspectives Of Students With Asd And Their Parents: What Does It Truly Mean To Be Included?, Keara M. Browne

Theses and Dissertations

Though there are a number of practices identified by researchers and other professionals as inclusive, the question remains about whether the students themselves truly feel included. There has been limited research surrounding specific experiences in inclusive classrooms that students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) perceive to be facilitators and barriers to being included in general education and co-teaching settings. The purpose of this study was to inform educational policies and school practices surrounding the inclusion of students with ASD in general education and co-teaching settings by analyzing the perceptions of students with ASD and their parents to determine what it …