Education Commons^™

An Expert System To Train Secondary Special Education Teachers In Language Arts Instruction, Elizabeth Shafer Martindale

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Writing, a complex organizational process that makes excessive attentional demands, can be frustrating for handicapped students. These students seldom complete a finished written product because t he y are usually trying to master the mechanical aspects of writing . Teaching the secondary-aged student with learning problems to use and unify writing skills into a finished product may be an initial step in helping them acomplish more difficult writing tasks.

The purpose of this Research and Development (R & D) study was (a) to develop and validate an expert system which suggests teaching and management strategies for special education teachers and …

The Development And Validation Of A Social Skills Rating Scale For Early Adolescents, Alan Bain

Dissertations

This study responded to the need for a social skill assessment device specifically for use with early adolescents (i.e., ages 12-15 both regular education and mildly handicapped), that would assist teachers in addressing the social behavior problems experienced by this population.

The purpose of the study was to produce and validate a reliable teacher rating scale for use in: (a) screening adolescents for participation in social skill training programs, (b) measuring the efficacy of social skills training, and (c) measuring the generalization of social skills training to classroom social behavior. Aspects of both traditional and behavioral assessment theory were used …

A Comparative Study Of Three Alternative Procedures For Identifying Severe Discrepancy In Learning Disabled Students, Carol Tully Uhlman

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to compare Hessler's (1985) procedure for determining a severe discrepancy between ability and achievement with two alternate procedures: (a) the "expert opinion" of learning disability teachers, and (b) the results of the multidisciplinary evaluation team report (MET). An ex post facto design was used. Hessler's procedure was applied using WISC-R full scale scores as the ability measure and reading, mathematics, and written language scores from Part 2 of the Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery as measures of achievement.

Subjects were 27 fourth and fifth grade students legally identified as learning disabled and receiving special education services …

A Handbook Of Teaching Language Arts Using A Whole-Language Approach For Learning Handicapped Students, Carolyn R. Hodgson

Theses Digitization Project

No abstract provided.

Using Predictable Books As A Psycholinguistic Approach To Reading For The Primary Disabled Reader, Carole Keough

Theses Digitization Project

No abstract provided.

Library Media Services For Educable Mentally Handicapped Students, Lauri Netz

Graduate Research Papers

After the adoption of Public Law 94-142 the public schools are required to provide an education for handicapped students. These students should then be participating in the library media program in the public schools. The purpose of this study was to find out what library media programs are being provided at the elementary level for educable mentally handicapped (EMH) students.

Iowa elementary media specialists were surveyed to determine if elementary EMH students used the library media cente.r and how they spent their time when they were in the center~ In the schools surveyed EMH students participated in the library media …

A Parent Handbook For Primary Students With Learning Disabilities, Susan K. Busey

All Graduate Projects

Parents play an important role in the educational process, especially with Special Education students. When a child is identified as Learning Disabled, parents often ask, "What can we do at home to help?" When there is parent-school cooperation and coordination all will benefit, particularly the child. This project provides parents of the Selah School District in Washington State with information and activities in the academic areas of reading, mathematics, and written language, that will reinforce and strengthen those skills taught at school.

Attitudes Of Secondary Special Education Teachers Toward Using The Computer As An Instructional Aid, Mary Nell Nail

Theses and Dissertations

This descriptive study was conducted to determine the attitudes of special education teachers toward using the computer as an instructional aid. The subjects were 78 secondary special education teachers from a southern metropolitan school district of approxіmately 30,000 students. The data-gathering instrument used for the study was a 20-item questionnaire devised by the researcher which employed the Likert scale to register the extent of agreement or disagreement with particular opinion statements.

The results, subdivided according to secondary school areas in which the teachers worked, years of teaching experience, areas of exceptionality, and subject matter areas, indicated that teachers in all …

A Model Literature Curriculum Guide For The Secondary Learning Disabled Student, Peggy G. White

Theses and Dissertations

This Literature Curriculum Guide has been prepared for Learning Disabled Students enrolled in special English classes at Hardaway High School in Columbus, Georgia. It was motivated by the observation that curricular materials for secondary Learning Disabled pupils were limited to content in grammar and other aspects of written language. Literature as content for these pupils had been completely overlooked.

Secondary English instruction, when using grammar only as content, is restricted to productive aspects of English. This restriction would necessarily deprive the Learning Disabled pupil of experiences with the heritage of literature shared and enjoyed by their peers. And, Learning Disabled …

A Curriculum For The Moderately Mentally Handicapped For Recreational And Leisure Skills, Krista S. Lee

Theses and Dissertations

As a teacher of moderately mentally handicapped. students, I often ask myself, am I doing enough for my students? Am I giving them all I can? My answer at·3:45 p.m., as I walk out of my classroom on tired feet, is an emphatic yes. And I think, even in my rested moment, that I am giving much to my students. We all are. As we look back to where we've come from, we can see the great advances we have made in education for the handicapped. They are being given better education than ever in the ·history of education.

But …

Programs Offered In Illinois To Adolescents Labeled Ld And Perceived Roles Of Their Teachers, Anita C. Deters

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

The Effect Of Early Childhood Special Education Teaching Theories On Their Classroom Environments, Cheryl L. Mortimer

Masters Theses

With passage of P.L. 99-457 educators in the United States are going to need to take a very close look at early childhood special education. There will be many new programs beginning in areas where teachers and administrators may be poorly informed. Early childhood special education is effective,but an examination of what part of these programs make it effective needs to be addressed. This study examined how a teachers theoretical orientation toward teaching can affect their preschool special education classroom environment. The environment was evaluated by a section on a survey in which points were accumulated for different environmental factors …

The Effects Of Educational Environments Upon The Academic Achievement Of Students Identified As Exceptional, Janet Y. Koch

Masters Theses

The effect of classroom setting upon the academic achievement of students identified as exceptional is an issue worthy of exploration. A plethora of research data tends to show that segregated settings are more effective for individuals who are moderately to severely handicapped in intellectual or physical functioning, whereas integrated settings are more favorable toward those who are mildly handicapped (e.g., learning disabled or behavior disordered, for instance). Numerous variables in the different delivery systems make it rather difficult for the research to pinpoint which type of setting contributes best to a child's learning.

Research in the past has put considerable …

Services In The State Of Illinois For Students Identified As Behavior Disordered, Christi D. Hipple

Masters Theses

Problems exist which interfer with the ability to provide consistent and appropriate educational services to students identified as behavior disordered. These problems involve the inability to provide an educationally relevant label and definition on the federal level, the inability to define and describe the types of services or interventions beneficial to these students and the inability of some districts to comply with minimum federal regulations due to demographic variables. This study obtained special educators’ responses regarding service delivery characteristics and compared these responses by average daily attendance of all students in a district. Results indicated that services provided by districts …

The Neurological Impress Method & Its Effects On The Reading Attitude & Achievement Of Learning Disabled Students, Anthony Kunitsky

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The Neurological Impress Method is a system of unison reading in which the student and the instructor read orally together. The theory underlying the method is that the auditory feedback from the reader's own voice and from someone else's voice accurately reading the same material establishes a new learning process.

The effectiveness of the impress method with students identified as having a specific learning disability was examined. The subjects were 16 sixth through ninth graders, ranging in age from 13 to 16, and assigned to a special school setting. Each student had been receiving special education services for at least …

An Alternative View Of Education For Deaf Children: Part Ii, Lil Brannon, Sue Livingston

Publications and Research

How might deaf children acquire one of the primary goals of education literacy in English? This article suggests that literacy in English as well as knowledge of the English language can be acquired concomitantly through developmental reading and writing activities that reflect principles of first language acquisition if students bring to these activities relatable experiences which they have already linguistically represented. Such activities engage students in reading and writing where content and context support them in their attempts to actively understand and convey meaning in English. The end product of, rather than the prerequisite for, this meaningful reading and writing …

A Comparative Study Of Occupational Stress Experienced By Special Education Teachers, Charles E. Buscher

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

This study was conducted to determine whether or not special needs instructors in public schools and penal institutions had common stressors which contribute to job dissatisfaction and burn out.

Special needs educators in three public schools and three correctional facilities were administered a Likert-type Teacher Attitude Survey. Two hundred and three survey forms were sent out with one-hundred and thirty four being completed and returned.

The survey contained fifty questions dealing with five areas of concern which include; (1) Staff Relationships, (2) Discipline, Safety and Security, (3) Teacher work load, (4) Administration, and (5) Salaries, Contracts and Fringe Benefits.

Responses …

Teaching Minimum Based Competency Test Skills To Secondary-Aged Learning Disabled Students Through The Use Of Precision Teaching, Michael E. Byrnes

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This project investigated whether a precision teaching method used with learning disabled high school students (grades 9-12) could give them the skills needed to pass a minimum based competency test in the area of local, state and national government. The specific objective of this project was to determine if the use of precision teaching enabled the students to retain the facts needed to pass a competency test required for graduation. A multiple-baseline design across behaviors was used to show the effect of precision teaching in mastering the needed facts. The data from each baseline improved and surpassed the set criteria …

A Comparison Of Classroom Teacher Attitudes Toward Mainstreaming (North Carolina, Exceptional Children), Phyllis E. Tallent

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The problem of this study was to determine if a difference existed between selected classroom teachers' attitudes toward mainstreaming. The Attitudes Toward Mainstreaming Scale (ATMS) was the instrument selected as appropriate for the study. Permission was obtained from Joan Berryman at the University of Georgia, Athens, to reproduce and administer the ATMS. A stratified random sample was conducted as representative of the total population of classroom teachers in North Carolina. A demographic data sheet and the ATMS were mailed to 280 classroom teachers. A 75% return was obtained. The data sheet asked for the sex, present level of teaching position, …

An Alternative View Of Education For Deaf Children: Part I, Sue Livingston

Publications and Research

Quigley and Kretschmer (1982) asserted that the primary goal of education for deaf children should be literacy in English. This article presents an alternative view that there be two primary goals: (a) thinking and learning through the development of meaning-making and meaning-sharing capacities and (b) the acquisition of literacy in English. In this article, the first of these goals is viewed as the more fundamental since it facilitates the acquisition of knowledge while it simultaneously serves as the prerequisite for the acquisition of literacy in English. Because neither direct language instruction nor the exclusive use of English in sign will …

The Effect Of Vision Training On Academic Readiness In A Sample Of Severely Handicapped Students, Prindle A. Vaux

Theses Digitization Project

The specific purpose of this project is to determine if a relationship exists between certain vision training techniques and improved academic readiness skills in a group of severely handicapped students. These readiness skills will be assessed using two sets of materials which significantly correlate visual memory and visual association with measures of academic achievement.

The Importance Of Effective Inservice Training On The Attitudes Of The Elementary Teacher, Special Educator, Parents, Students, And The Success Of Mainstreaming, Thalia Ann Linsner

Theses Digitization Project

No abstract provided.

Teacher Attitudes Toward Mainstreaming And Resource Programs, Carol W. Geck

Theses Digitization Project

No abstract provided.

Unit On Integrated Sport/Recreation Activities For Physically Challenged Persons Entry Level Skin And Pre-Scuba Diving Training, Marceen A. Strauss

Theses Digitization Project

No abstract provided.

The Integration Of Constructive Visualization, Self-Talk, And Relaxation In The Acquisition Of Social Skills, Karen Sue Campbell

All Graduate Projects

The need for teaching social skills, imagery, relaxation, and self-talk was studied and confirmed. Review and use of many of these curriculums revealed overlap among some curriculums, but none fully integrated skills from each of the diverse approaches to teaching social competence. The purpose of this project was to integrate a select body of information addressing social skills, self-talk, relaxation, and imagery into a developmental curriculum for use with children and adolescents.

The Inter-Rater Reliability Of The American Association On Mental Deficiency Adaptive Behavior Scale (School Edition) Using Secondary Special Education Personnel As Raters, Jimmy L. Camp Jr.

Masters Theses

The concept of adaptive behavior has been present in the definition of adaptive behavior for many years. With the advent of intelligence testing, adaptive behavior was deemphasized, but later reemerged as widespread dissatisfaction with the testing movement grew among researchers in the area of mental retardation. The importance of the concept of adaptive behavior has been affirmed by the American Association on Mental Deficiency (A.A.M.D.), which developed a dual criteria system of defining mental retardation that included adaptive behavior as a major component. The Federal government later adopted this classification system for funding purposes in P.L. 94-142.

The valid and …

Recruitment And Retention Of Special Educators For Rural School Systems, Margie Oliver-Hay

Theses and Dissertations

There is nothing new about teachers leaving their profession. Teacher turnover has always occurred. But when education loses its most experienced and mature teachers, there is cause for concern. When smaller rural districts lose their best teachers both in regular and special education teacher turnover may be a crises!

Recruitment and retention of special and regular educators is becoming an extremely serious problem for rural areas. Enrollments in college and in education departments are decreasing. Women, who once were the dominant force in the teaching ranks, are being attracted to other fields such as medicine, engineering, computer science, and law. …

The Implementation Of Teacher Assistance Teams As A Prereferal, Cathy C. Webb

Theses and Dissertations

The increasing population of special education is a problem. The framework of PL 94-142 guarantees a free and appropriate education to all children in the least restrictive environment. The U.S. Department of Education figures show that from 1976-1977 the states provided special education and related services to 8.2 percent of children enrolled in public schools. The figure for 1970- 1980 grew to 9.5 percent (Algozzine, Ysseldyke, & Christenson, 1983) which was a three percent per year growth rate. Further analysis of Algozzine, Ysseldyke and Christenson's studies (1983) showed that approximately 92 percent of those students referred were tested and 73 …

Silent Reading Before Oral Reading On The Iri: Implication For Diagnosis And Instruction, Catherine P. Benedetti

All Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to test the effect of silent pre-reading on the number of oral reading errors a student makes on an IRI. Twenty children read passages silently and then orally read passages without pre-reading. The results supported the null hypothesis that there would be no statistically significant difference on oral reading performances for disabled second and fourth graders. Implications for diagnosis and instruction are discussed.

Social Interaction Patterns Among Employees In Sheltered And Nonprofit Business Settings, Benjamin Lignugaris / Kraft, Charles L. Salzberg, J. J. Stowitschek, E. K. Mcconaughy

Special Education and Rehabilitation Counseling Faculty Publications

Recently, researchers have identified a number of social behaviors considered important for job success. Important social skills for entry-level employees include following instructions, clarifying instructions, providing assistance, and providing job-related information to co-workers (Buehler, 1969; Johnson & Mithaug, 1978; Rusch, Schutz, & Agran, 1982; Salzberg, Agran, & Lignugaris/Kraft, in press). Researchers have also recognized that these behaviors must be examined in the context in which they occur in the workplace (Berkson & Romer, 1980; Brody & Stoneman, 1977).

The context of a social interaction might be described in terms of the job setting in which the interaction occurs (e.g., restaurant, …