Education Commons^™

Slipping Through The Cracks: A Look Into Special Education Referrals, Courtney Musselman

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Special Education is offered in many schools today and more and more students are being referred to this type of education. For this capstone project three local special education teachers were interviewed about the referral process and what could be done to improve it. This is an important issue because many students are slipping through the cracks when it comes to be identified and others are being overly identified. The referral process is important because it provides students with an equal opportunity for education. Findings from the interviews and information from a relevant literature review were used to develop an …

Let My People In: A Comparative Study Of Diversity Rhetoric To Reality In Institutions Of Higher Education, Darvelle Hutchins

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Due to longstanding structures that have failed to provide an academic climate that is inclusive of the many dimensions of difference that exist among all people, institutions of higher education are under increased pressure to not only communicate but to live out a commitment to diversity as a means for business survival. By conducting this two-step research study at one private, Midwestern university, I examined the extent to which Black faculty members identified with their institutional rhetoric on diversity. In the first step, I completed a rhetorical analysis on four official texts to fully understand the extent to which Saint …

Education Policy Factors Contributing To Special Education Identification, Sivan Tuchman

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Vital to the discussion around special education is the topic of identification and de-identification as having a disability that impacts one’s education. Variation in special education enrollment across geographic locations, racial groups, and schooling sectors causes researchers to question the process and incentives involved in identification and de-identification. The studies that comprise this dissertation aim to analyze the effects that educational policies have on special education identification and subsequent enrollment. Specifically, the studies cover the special education finance, school accountability, and school choice policies.

The special education finance reform effort of switching from a prospective to a capitation funding system …

A Study Of Parent Perceptions Of Advanced Academic Potential In The Early Grades, Jennifer L. O'Brien

Honors Scholar Theses

Parents are key stakeholders in children’s education; this project, which is part of a larger study about early identification of high potential, focused on parent awareness of the behaviors that indicate high potential and the kinds of resources that would support developing academic potential in the early grades (grades K-2). This project consisted of an online parent survey and a parent workshop with a card sort component in which parents indicated what kinds of resources would be priorities. The study took place in three school districts with large populations of families from low-income backgrounds. A total of 38 parents completed …

Identification Of Gifted Students With Learning Disabilities: Case Study Of A New Jersey Urban/Suburban School District, Ngozi D. Martin-Oguike

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this case study is to explore the extent to which gifted students with learning disabilities are being identified and supported by examining educators’ experience and practice. A district categorized as urban/suburban in a multi-cultural context was chosen for this single case study. Purposive sampling was used which yielded data related to the identification process and how it is implemented by administrators, teachers, and other service providers in the sample district. The results of this study reveal that the sample district has a program that follows state regulations for gifted and talented (GT) identification in elementary grades. However, …

What Factors Contribute To The Continued Low Rates Of Indigenous Status Identification In Urban General Practice? - A Mixed-Methods Multiple Site Case Study, Heike Schutze, Lisa Jackson Pulver, Mark Fort Harris

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Background Indigenous peoples experience worse health and die at younger ages than their non-indigenous counterparts. Ethnicity data enables health services to identify inequalities experienced by minority populations and to implement and monitor services specifically targeting them. Despite significant Government intervention, Australia's Indigenous peoples, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, continue to be under identified in data sets. We explored the barriers to Indigenous status identification in urban general practice in two areas in Sydney. Methods A mixed-methods multiple-site case study was used, set in urban general practice. Data collection included semi-structured interviews and self-complete questionnaires with 31 general practice …

Equitable Identification Of Frl-Eligible Gifted And Talented Students, Leann Pickerill

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

The focus of this research study was the equitable identification of Kentucky students in the general intellectual gifted and talented category. A quantitative study was used to identify relationships between a student’s socioeconomic status and identification. Statistical methods were used to examine statistical relationships between identification methods and socioeconomic status. A policy review was completed to determine if policies of highly equitable districts were comparable to low-equity districts.

A Description Of Early Access In Colorado, Ruthi Manning-Freeman

Teaching and Learning Sciences: Doctoral Research Projects

Early access, as defined in Colorado statute, remains optional. There is a shortage of administrative units engaged in an early access process to admit gifted young learners ahead of neurotypical age peers. Only 21 school districts currently use their addendum as evidenced by the receipt of Colorado state funding. Indeed, “there exists a basic lack of awareness of the effectiveness of the intervention, the impact on the student’s social-emotional development, as well as concern for the lack of consistent procedures for making this decision” (Assouline, Colangelo, Van Tassel-Baska, & Lupinski-Shoplik, 2015, p. 54). In this retrospective mixed-methods study, the researcher …

Uncovering The Gifts In English Language Learners, Sheri J. Collier

Teaching and Learning Sciences: Doctoral Research Projects

This research study addresses the problem of practice of the underrepresentation of English language learners (ELL) in gifted and talented (GT) services. The literature provided several reasons for the underrepresentation of ELL students being identified as gifted. One reason cited in the literature was teachers’ lack of referrals or understanding the characteristics of ELL students who may be gifted (Barkan & Bernal, 1991; de Wet & Gubbins, 2011; Esquierdo & Arreguín-Anderson, 2012; Ford & Grantham, 2003; Harris, Rapp, Martínez, & Plucker, 2007). The literature also stated assessment play a major role in identification practices (Anguiano, 2003; Barkan & Bernal, 1991; …