Education Commons^™

Analysis Of Needs For Web-Based Mobile Learning Development Based On Universal Design For Learning For Students With Special Needs, Murni Winarsih, Mayasari Manar, Rohmah Ageng Mursita, Mita Septiani

Jurnal Pendidikan: Teori, Penelitian, dan Pengembangan

Higher education institutions still have substantial challenges when it comes to accommodating students with special needs, especially those who are visually or aurally impaired. Access to learning resources is still an issue, as are the limitations of adaptive learning media and the dominance of more conventional verbal and visual methods of information transmission. Hence, not all pupils are given the same chances throughout the learning process. With its emphasis on providing a variety of representational, interactive, and expressive tools, Universal Design for Learning (UDL) aims to meet the requirements of students with a wide range of learning styles. In order …

Sensory Profile: Understanding Soothers And Stressors, Niki Elliott Ph.D.

Neuroinclusion

Sensory experiences shape how we move through the world: how we learn, focus, connect with others, and sustain energy across the day. For neurodiverse individuals in particular, sensory input is often central to how environments are experienced. Stress, fatigue, withdrawal, or overwhelm often emerge from a mismatch between a person’s sensory needs and the environments they are navigating, rather than from individual deficits or lack of effort. Lighting, noise, movement demands, unpredictability, clutter, and even well-intentioned routines can either support ease and participation or place additional strain on the nervous system. This Sensory Profile is designed to help individuals and …

Equitable Access To Literacy Assessment And Instruction For Students With Cerebral/Cortical Visual Impairment, Tammy Reisman

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Students with Cerebral/Cortical Visual Impairment (CVI) represent a growing population of learners whose visual difficulties originate in the brain rather than the eyes. As understanding of CVI has evolved, questions have emerged regarding the most appropriate approaches to literacy assessment and instruction. While some educational approaches emphasize maximizing visual functioning, increasing evidence supports the integration of compensatory skills and multiple sensory channels to improve literacy access. Understanding current literacy assessment and instructional practices is essential to ensuring equitable educational opportunities for students with CVI.

The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to examine current literacy assessment and instructional practices for …

Between Care And Competence: Rethinking Alternative Provision., Helen V. Mulligan

Plymouth Interdisciplinary Education Open Journal

This opinion piece argues that Alternative Provision (AP) in England is failing to meet the needs of vulnerable young people due to inconsistent staffing, inadequate specialist training, and the normalisation of low educational expectations. Although some AP settings demonstrate high aspirations and committed practice, the sector as a whole remains marked by variability and a lack of coherent pedagogical structure. Drawing on research into educational inequality, emotional labour, ethics of care, and professional identity, the paper contends that systemic reform is urgently required. Recommended actions include mandatory specialist training for AP staff, national standards for curriculum and pedagogy, stronger accountability …

Paragliding The Cliff Edge: Introducing Open Mic Studies. A Creative Response To Navigating The Post-18 Landscape For Young Adults With Send., James Tarling, Charlie Robinson, Nick Hall, Sammy Shepherd

Plymouth Interdisciplinary Education Open Journal

This conceptual article investigates novel ways of thinking about Open Mic Nights (OMN) – performance spaces understood as free, community arts and performance opportunities where the members of the public are welcome to perform music, poetry and comedy in front of an audience. For the purposes of this article, music-related OMN that take place in pubs or community centres are discussed.

The article is intended to be a primer for OMN studies that offers new and emerging trailheads for future research and discussion. Its central focus is how OMN may benefit the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) community with …

Remixing Dialogue: A Case Study On Perceptions Of Hip Hop Pedagogy In A Professional Learning Course, Kelly J. Thelen

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

This qualitative case study examines how teachers’ decision-making and professional autonomy shift while participating in a Hip Hop Pedagogy Professional Learning course supported by structured FIXIT (Lo & Wachter, 2023a, 2023b, 2023c, 2023d; Wachter & Lo, 2024) game-facilitated dialogue in a rural, culturally and linguistically diverse Midwest community. Grounded in Freire’s (1970) Critical Pedagogy, Ladson-Billings’ (1995) Culturally Relevant Pedagogy, Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy (Paris and Alim, 2017), and Adult Learning Theory (Knowles et al., 2005), the study explores the reclamation of agency by teachers in a time of constrained creativity and educator autonomy shaped by strict policy environments, an emphasis on …

Exploring The Interventions Middle School Teachers Implement To Decrease Student Behaviors In Students With Disabilities: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study, Jessica Collins

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study is to understand the lived experiences and perceptions of middle school teachers whose students exhibit negative behaviors in the classroom at an urban middle school in a MidAmerican state. At this stage in the research, negative student behaviors in the classroom were defined as disruptions in the classroom impeding the students’ social, emotional, behavioral, and academic performance. The theory guiding this study is B. F. Skinner’s behavioral learning theory because it focuses on reinforcing positive behavior and minimizing negative student behavior. Next came the Central Research Question: What are the experiences of urban …

A Qualitative Phenomenological Study Exploring Middle School Special Education Teachers’ Experiences In Their Undergraduate Preparation Programs, Alfredia D. Simmons

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the perceived effectiveness of undergraduate educator preparation programs for special education teachers in middle schools in central Georgia. The theory guiding this study was transformative learning, as proposed by, which explored adult learning and the ways individuals reflected on experiences to shift their perspectives and develop new understandings. The central research question asked: How did middle school special education teachers perceive the effectiveness of their undergraduate preparation programs in relation to their current teaching responsibilities? This transcendental phenomenological study included 10 middle school special education teachers in central Georgia. Data were …

Examining High School Special Education Teachers’ Experience Implementing Social-Emotional Curriculum In Public Schools: A Transcendental Phenomenological Study, Trisha Rae Dorsey

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This transcendental phenomenological study examined the experiences of high school special education teachers implementing social-emotional learning in Capitol County Public Schools, guided by Bandura’s social cognitive theory. The study explored how professional development, teacher self-efficacy, institutional support, and perceived student outcomes influenced social-emotional learning implementation. A transcendental phenomenological design examined the shared experiences of 11 teachers using interviews, follow-up surveys, and document analysis. Three themes emerged: (a) instructional practices and social-emotional learning integration, (b) implementation experiences and challenges, and (c) perceived student outcomes. Participants identified positive teacher–student relationships, behavioral modeling, and embedded SEL instruction as essential to implementation, while professional …

Exploring Missouri Teachers’ Experiences Regarding Rti Support Teams Before A Special Education Referral: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study, Malinka L. Buchanan

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study is to interpret the lived experiences of elementary classroom teachers on Response to Intervention (RTI) support teams as part of a special education pre-referral process within a public school in Missouri. I used purposeful and snowball sampling to select elementary teachers who have participated on an RTI support team. The theory guiding this study is Bruner’s constructivist theory, as it relates to both pre-referral interventions and support teams, with the idea that the learning process happens as people construct their knowledge through creating relationships to prior knowledge, practicing trial and error, and growing …

Predicting Fourth-Grade Mathematics Performance: Disability Status And Udl-Aligned Pedagogy In Inclusive Elementary Classrooms, Shannon W. Davis

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This quantitative, non-experimental, predictive correlational study examined the extent to which student disability status and mathematics instructional pedagogy predicted fourth-grade mathematics performance in inclusive elementary classrooms. Persistent mathematics achievement gaps between students with disabilities and their nondisabled peers highlight the need to identify instructional and student-level predictors of academic outcomes. The sample consisted of 109 fourth-grade students from inclusive elementary classrooms in a large southeastern public school district. Mathematics performance was measured using the Winter i-Ready Diagnostic Assessment for Mathematics scores. In contrast, instructional pedagogy was measured using a validated teacher self-report survey assessing alignment with Universal Design for Learning …

Exploring Phonics Instruction For Students With Dyslexia: A Phenomenological Study Of Special Education Teachers’ Insights And Approaches, Jennifer Nicole Tuthill

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand the lived experiences of elementary special education teachers who implemented multi-sensory, evidence-based phonics interventions for their students with dyslexia at public elementary schools in suburban Northern Virginia. The theoretical framework for this study was Bottom-Up Processing Theory. It was important to note that foundational reading skills such as phonemic awareness, phonics, decoding, and fluency are necessary building blocks for comprehensive understanding, especially for students with dyslexia. These students were identified as having a Specific Learning Disability (SLD) in reading with characteristics of dyslexia, based on federal and local evaluation criteria. The …

Recommendations To Solve The Problem Of High Levels Of Burnout Among Special Education Teachers At Waite High School In Ohio, Byron Scott Swartz

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this study was to provide recommendations to solve the problem of high levels of burnout among special education teachers at Waite High School in Ohio. The problem was that 45% of special education teachers at Waite High School reported feeling burned by their current jobs. The rationale for this study was that it was critical to reduce feelings of burnout among special education teachers since improving feelings of burnout may lead to better performance in the classroom teachers and fewer staffing shortages. The central research question was as follows: How can the problem of high levels of …

An Analysis Of The Influence Of Physical Environment In The Classroom Setting On Student Behavior: A Case Study, Lora Jane Moliterni

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

In this study, the relationship between the physical learning environment and student behavior in 6:1:1 and 12:1:1 special education programs in public schools in a northeastern state is analyzed. The research question addresses how the physical special education learning environment that teachers create influences student behavior outcomes. The design relates to how a flexible learning environment appears to influence the behaviors of special education students, teachers’ standards for organizing the physical learning environment based on students' needs, and students' ownership of that environment. Social learning theory correlates with the study by analyzing how the physical environment contributes to on-task focus …

Exploring Special Education Teacher Perceptions Regarding Their Role In Promoting Self-Regulation Among K-8th Grade Students, Emily Keyes

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Existing research explores self-regulation in the field of special education, however there has yet to be a body of research that relates specifically to special education teachers’ perceptions of their role in fostering self-regulating students in grades K-8. This narrative qualitative study utilized interviews and observations to extract data from each of the 15 total participants across 9 suburban New Jersey public school districts. Common perceptions of participants included a lack of, or unclear, district vision regarding self-regulation, as well as an absence of explicit professional development. The key findings in this study revealed that self-regulation skills are fostered by …

Vocabulary Knowledge Within Young Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Hannah A. Lord

Masters Projects

Young children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are consistently experiencing a “definitional gap”, where they are able to process vocabulary breadth within labeling but are unable to comprehend text due to the lack of vocabulary depth. The four week vocabulary unit titled “Our World in Words” is created to bridge the gap between vocabulary breadth and depth for first graders. Research in Dual Coding Theory and Cognitive Load Theory provides insight into the use of stable visual anchors with orthographic facilitation, which allows for the disregard of auditory processing, along with an overloaded cognitive load. This framework includes four important …

The Role Of Trauma-Informed Care In Supporting At-Risk Students In Alternative Education, Jar'mel D. Taylor Dr.

Transformations

Students with traumatic experiences commonly fail to meet educational goals and control their emotions while also losing their involvement in classes. Standard trauma-informed care practices remain absent from numerous alternative educational institutions, which leaves their teaching community without adequate support to help traumatized students effectively. The application of Trauma-Informed Care (TIC) strategies toward student outcomes requires investigation to develop effective educational approaches that enhance school success. The researcher used qualitative exploratory case study methodology to study TIC practices in alternative education for Black and Brown adolescent students (aged 12–18) in Washington, D.C. Semi-structured interviews and a focus group with 16 …

Preparing Inclusive Educators: The Impact Of Fieldwork Experience On Preservice Teachers’ Knowledge, Skills, And Confidence In Working With Students With Disabilities, Adrian Jung

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

This study examined preservice teachers’ confidence in working with students with disabilities across Elementary (n = 44), Secondary (n = 43), and Special Education (n = 52) programs. Using a quantitative pretest–posttest survey design, participants completed an adapted version of the Special Needs Confidence Scale before and after student teaching. Descriptive statistics and Tukey post hoc analyses were conducted. Results indicated overall increases in confidence following fieldwork, with Special Education preservice teachers reporting consistently higher confidence than Elementary and Secondary peers. Findings highlight the role of targeted preparation and field-based experiences in supporting inclusive teaching readiness.

Using Hip Hop Pedagogy To Bridge The Culture Of Black Children Identified With Behavioral Disorders In The Curriculum, Monique Matute-Chavarria, Pricella Morris, Monica R. Brown

Journal of the Arts and Special Education

Black and other minoritized children have listened to hip hop in the streets, in clubs, in basements, and anywhere else that they could create a space to enjoy this art form. However, hip hop has not always been welcomed in school spaces because of the lyrical content. Despite the objections to hip hop (specifically rap), minoritized children often look to it as representative of who they are and the communities they come from. Therefore, in this paper, we propose the use of hip hop strategies in the schools, utilizing its pillars (i.e., rap, DJing, breakdancing, graffiti art, and knowledge of …

Flows That Teach: Multimodal Hip-Hop Pedagogy For Equity In Special Education, Camille O'Quin, Sara Jozwik

Journal of the Arts and Special Education

Hip-Hop can be more than a soundtrack played at home, it can be a bridge between culture, language, and learning at school. This article shows how Hip-Hop pedagogy, translanguaging, and code-meshing can support students with disabilities, especially those who speak African American Vernacular English (AAVE), in the classroom setting. Grounded in culturally relevant pedagogy and translanguaging theory, the approach uses rhythm, storytelling, and performance to build narrative fluency, language awareness, and confidence. Examples include students drafting rap verses about personal experiences, holding structured cypher circles to practice turn-taking and self-expression, and blending AAVE with Mainstream American English in writing for …

Focus Daily: Jase Special Issue On Hip-Hop, Disability, And The Continuing Evolution Of Arts-Based Pedagogy In Special Education (Side B), Jonte C. Taylor

Journal of the Arts and Special Education

Hip-hop has long served as an educational tradition, emerging from the Bronx as a cultural response to systemic inequities that fostered identity, critical consciousness, creativity, and community through its core elements of emceeing, DJing, breaking, graffiti, and knowledge of self. In this second special hip-hop issue of the Journal of the Arts in Special Education (JASE) and building on the initial 2025 JASE special issue, this collection advances hip-hop pedagogy beyond an engagement strategy by positioning it as a culturally inclusive framework that supports academic achievement, identity affirmation, and meaningful participation for students with disabilities. The contributing scholars explore how …

We Are All In This Together Now: Exploring Community Based Partnerships Focusing On Hip-Hop Based Education, William C. Hunter, Tarol Page Clements, Gregory Washington

Journal of the Arts and Special Education

This article explores a community-based collaborative partnership between three Hip-Hop educational nonprofits, Upward Light Community Cyphers, Project STAND (Social-Emotional, Transition, Academic and Network Developing), and the Center for the Advancement of Youth Development (CAYD), all focused on mental health support for youth, and a public-school program that has serves students with and without exceptionalities. The goal shared by all organizations involved is enhanced educational access and engagement for students with and without exceptionalities. Rooted in the core elements of Hip-Hop — emceeing, DJing/music production, breakdancing, and graffiti art, the collaborative partnership has offered culturally sustaining, arts-integrated instruction that supports both …

Developing Flow Theory For Black Girl Genius: A Conceptual Framework Grounded In Discrit, Endarkened Feminist Epistemology, And Hip-Hop Pedagogy, Keishana L. Barnes, William C. Hunter

Journal of the Arts and Special Education

Twice exceptional Black girls, those who are both intellectually gifted and identified with a disability, navigate classrooms shaped by racism, ableism, and sexism. These overlapping systems often render their brilliance illegible, leading to misidentification, exclusion, and under-support in both gifted and special education. This conceptual essay introduces Flow Theory for Black Girl Genius, a liberatory framework that considers Disability Critical Race Theory (DisCrit), Endarkened Feminist Epistemology, and Hip-Hop Pedagogy. DisCrit helps uncover the structural barriers that marginalize students at the intersection of race and disability. Endarkened Feminist Epistemology centers ancestral, embodied, and spiritual ways of knowing rooted in Black …

The Effects Of Using Hip-Hop Song Lyrics During Instruction For Students With Emotional And Behavioral Disorders, Jonte C. Taylor, Millie Rodriguez

Journal of the Arts and Special Education

Hip-hop pedagogy has emerged as a culturally responsive instructional framework designed to increase student engagement, identity affirmation, and academic achievement by incorporating elements of hip-hop culture into classroom instruction. Despite growing interest in hip-hop-based education, limited empirical research has examined its effectiveness for students with disabilities, particularly students identified with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). This study investigated the effects of using hip-hop song lyrics during English language arts instruction to teach literary devices to three secondary students with EBD using a single-case multiple-baseline-across-participants probe design. Three comparison students receiving traditional textbook-based instruction were also included. Dependent variables included instructional …

Student Study Teams For Child Find: Identifying Barriers In A Rural School District, Malynda Ivory

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

This project explores the challenges associated with the teacher referral process for students at risk of academic and behavior difficulties in a rural school. The Student Study Team (SST) plays an important role in identifying and supporting students; yet, teacher engagement with the referral process is inconsistent in my K-4 school. Teacher participation in our school is low.  Referrals mostly occur after parent-teacher conferences, and teacher participation in the lower grades (K-2) is noticeably lower than referrals from our 3^rd and 4^th grade teachers. Many factors, including limited understanding of the SST’s purpose, time constraints, and perceived effectiveness …

Parental Engagement For Students With Disabilities In Online Learning, Misty A. Benson

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

Parental engagement for online students with disabilities is critical for their learning success (Tundle et al., 2016). When parents are actively engaged in online learning, their children experience positive learner outcomes (Smith et. al., 2016). Research indicates that students with disabilities are rapidly transitioning to fully online learning, with parents playing an active role as their learning instructors.The implication for parents who choose to enroll their children with disabilities in online learning is greater parental engagement in their child's learning.

Effective Science Instruction For Elementary Aged Students With Significant Cognitive And Adaptive Delays, Rabecca L. Juarez

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

In Utah, students begin participating in statewide end-of-year assessments in third grade, with science added in fourth grade. Students with the most significant cognitive and adaptive disabilities participate in the Dynamic Learning Maps® (DLM®) alternate assessment, which measures student performance in English language arts, mathematics, and science aligned to Essential Elements (EE). Despite participation in statewide accountability systems, students with significant cognitive disabilities in a Southwest Utah School District have consistently demonstrated low science performance on the DLM assessment.

The aim of this project was to collaboratively create science lessons for students who participate in the alternate assessment. This project …

Implementing Functional Communication Training Through Paraprofessional Preparation In A Self-Contained Elementary Special Education Classroom, Cece Afatasi

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

Students with significant cognitive disabilities often experience difficulty communicating their wants, needs, and emotions. When students are unable to communicate effectively, they may rely on challenging behaviors such as aggression or self-injurious behavior to meet their needs. Because paraprofessionals provide much of the daily instructional and behavioral support in self-contained special education classrooms, they play a critical role in implementing evidence-based communication interventions.

The purpose of this professional portfolio was to explore the implementation of Functional Communication Training (FCT) through two related projects. The first focused on preparing paraprofessionals to implement FCT using Behavioral Skills Training (BST), while the second …

Music And Middle School Mathematics, Cheryl L. Hawkins

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

The purpose of this project was to see if music playing in the background while learning essential mathematics skills would make a difference in the learning process of middle school students. For nine weeks I collected data on the scores of the special education students relearning skills they had been previously taught in a general education mathematics class. The students took a baseline assessment, then had 30-40 minutes of instruction spread across two days. They then took another assessment to see what the change was. During the lessons and assessments there was one of three conditions happening, one was silence, …

Tier 2 Literacy Interventions In Low-Income Schools: Implications For Breaking The Cycle Of Poverty, Morgan Koch

Dissertations

This study examined the development of a mastery-based Tier 2 reading and writing curriculum prototype designed to improve the coherence and consistency of literacy intervention in high-poverty educational settings. Using the Design Thinking process, stakeholder feedback from educators, administrators, instructional staff, and parents informed the development of the prototype through the Empathy, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test phases. The curriculum was evaluated by 15 education professionals through a mock implementation, usability survey, and focus group discussion. Findings suggested that participants perceived the prototype as practical, well organized, and supportive of more efficient and consistent Tier 2 literacy instruction, while also …