Education Commons^™

Using Reciprocal Teaching Strategies To Improve Reading Comprehension For English As A Second Language Students With Learning Disabilities, Hana M. Almohamadi

Theses and Dissertations in Early Childhood Education

Students who have problems comprehending textual material tend to experience failing grades, peer rejection, and even social isolation. Furthermore, students with poor reading comprehension demonstrate poor academic performance in all subjects, not due to difficulty in learning specific subject content (i.e., math, history, etc.), but rather their inability to comprehend reading passages related to that subject knowledge. Reciprocal teaching (RT) is an effective tool for teaching children with Learning Disabilities (LD) to improve their reading comprehension abilities. These multiple cognitive strategies can meet the needs of many students in terms of more deliberate, directed, and self-regulated learning through students’ interaction …

Special Education Fiscal Effort And Juvenile Adjudication: A Financial Relationship Exploration, Sarah E. Finley

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

Educational leaders stretch pennies, often in futile attempts, to provide equitable educational opportunities for all students. An educated populous, or lack thereof, heavily impacts not only students, but also local, state, and national economies, job markets, and public safety. Knowing where to exert public school fiscal effort to reduce juvenile crime is an issue with implications that reach far beyond the field of education. By employing a quantitative approach and analyses examining slopes of fiscal effort for special education and juvenile adjudications, this study explores the relationship between the two factors. The research points out several connections between special education …

Teacher's Self-Efficacy For Data Driven Decision Making, Bettie Fisher Perry

Teaching & Learning Theses & Dissertations

The present study used a sequential mixed method design to compare special education and general education elementary teachers’ self-efficacy for data-driven decision making. Participants were 127 teachers from several school divisions in a mid-Atlantic state in the United States. Dunn et al.’s (2013a) The Data-Driven Decision Making Efficacy and Anxiety Inventory (3D-MEA) was used for this study along with Tschannen-Moran and Hoy’s (2001) The Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES), specifically the subscale on the efficacy of instructional strategies. According to the quantitative findings, there was a statistically significant difference between special education and general education teachers’ efficacy for …

Using Repeated Reading And Previewing Vocabulary Interventions With Elementary-Aged Struggling Readers To Improve Fluency And Comprehension, Khaled S. Alotaibi

Communication Disorders & Special Education Theses & Dissertations

Students with Learning disabilities and at risk for reading difficulties often face challenges in reading fluency and comprehension that impact negatively on academic success. Repeated reading (RR) is an intervention designed to increase reading fluency and comprehension skills among students at risk and diagnosed with disabilities. The purpose of this review was to investigate the effectiveness of the repeated reading (RR) and vocabulary previewing (VP) interventions on the fluency and comprehension skills of elementary school students. The review yielded a modest number of research articles published between 2008 and 2019. The results of these studies suggested that RR can have …

Students With Orthopedic Impairments' Perspectives Toward Integrated Physical Education, Katherine E. Holland

Human Movement Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Students with disabilities are educated in general physical education classes with their same aged peers more now than ever before (Governmental Accountability Office [GAO], 2010), yet little is known about how those with orthopedic impairments experience these integrated classes. Additionally, while a plethora of strategies are described as promoting ‘inclusion’, very few ‘inclusive’ strategies have been problematized. This dissertation followed a two-study format. The first study explored the lived experiences of students with orthopedic impairments in integrated physical education classes, and the second study examined how students with orthopedic impairments experienced strategies identified in the literature to support ‘inclusion’. An …

Physical Education And Extracurricular Activity Participation Of Autistic, Neurodivergent, Disabled Trans Adults, Steven Kelly Holland

Human Movement Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Disabled trans students may be multiply marginalized and/or have reduced access to otherwise affirming gender identity- or disability-related spaces in educational contexts because of their intersectional identities. At present, a limited understanding of disabled trans students school experiences are known. This dissertation was constructed using a two-manuscript format. The purpose of the first study was to investigate the physical education experiences of disabled trans adults. The study was conducted from an interpretivist paradigm and used interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) to explore the lived experiences of disabled trans adults. Six adults (aged 18-30), who identified as: autistic, neurodivergent, disabled, trans, non-binary, …

Check-In/Check-Out To Increase Academic Engagement And Classroom Behavior Among Adolescent Students In Juvenile Detention Centers, Rakan M. Alshammari

Communication Disorders & Special Education Theses & Dissertations

The use of multi-tiered techniques can address many students’ needs (e.g., problem behaviors, academic disengagement) in schools and juvenile detention centers. Some students have serious problems that may lead to poor academic performance and prevent them from being successful in school and in life. Check-in, check-out (CICO) is an effective second-tier intervention to address problem behaviors evidenced by these students. The purpose of this experimental study was to examine the effectiveness of using the CICO intervention on the four dependent variables (i.e., problem behaviors, appropriate behaviors, academic engagement, academic disengagement) among four incarcerated students. An A-B-A-B reversal design was used …

A Case Study On The Application And Implementation Of Positive Behavioral Interventions And Supports For Students With Emotional Disabilities In Alternative Education, Kira Candelieri Marcari

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

Alternative educational settings are serving students with emotional disabilities (ED) at an increasing rate; however, there a paucity of research examining the effectiveness of these programs. A review of the existing literature targeting students with problematic behaviors, supports the use of a positive, preventative, proactive, and systematic approaches such as the three-tiered, Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support (PBIS) framework. Although findings suggest that the PBIS framework is associated with favorable outcomes for students with ED in both traditional and nontraditional settings, few studies have explicitly examined whether PBIS can be effectively modified to fit the needs of students with ED …

A Survey Of Registered Behavior Technicians: Initial And Ongoing Training And Support, Gabriela Mcwhorter Zapatero

Communication Disorders & Special Education Theses & Dissertations

Children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) benefit from early intervention, specifically applied behavior analysis (ABA). ABA is often implemented by paraprofessionals who are known as registered behavior technicians (RBTs). For many years, educators have known the value of corrective feedback in relation to skill acquisition. In this case, emphasis was placed on the proclivities of the staff in regard to feedback. This mixed methodology study examined the various strategies currently utilized to instruct RBTs, as well as their preferences for initial and continued training. Results indicated the majority of RBTs who responded to the online survey were being trained …

District Promotion Policies For Students With Disabilities: Examining Principal Interpretation And Implementation, Latoya Exum Floyd

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

The number of students receiving special education services have steadily increased in the United States over the past decade. Students with disabilities (SWD) historically score lower on high stakes tests, and they require considerations beyond academic achievement for promotion. The growing number of SWD and accountability measures included in district promotion policies has resulted in a wide range of principal interpretation of district promotion policies. A principal’s interpretation of district promotion policies affects the district’s high school graduation and dropout rates. Therefore, unclear promotion policies can lead to inconsistent interpretation; which can lead to greater retentions and dropouts for SWD …

Retaining Special Education Teachers: The Relationship Between School Leadership And Special Education Teacher Retention In A Low-Income School, Amanda Elizabeth Jones

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

School districts across America are struggling to recruit, hire, and retain qualified teachers in the classroom (Wushishi, Fooi, Basri & Baki, 2014; Simpson, Whelan & Zabel, 1993). In 2006 the national teacher replacement cost in America averaged approximately $2.2 billion per year (Borman & Dowling, 2008). A once highly esteemed profession is now one faced with many positions left unfilled and students without instructors. The influence of teacher shortages across content areas can be felt by students and teachers alike (Carver-Thomas & Darling-Hammond, 2019). Although general education teachers leaving their classrooms can negatively impact students in various situations, those students …

Comparison Of Motor-Enhanced And Visual-Enhanced Interventions For Grammar In Young Children With Developmental Language Disorder, Alisha P. Springle

Communication Disorders & Special Education Theses & Dissertations

Up to 7.6% of children demonstrate a developmental language disorder (DLD), which can persist through adulthood, causing difficulty with academic achievement, social relationships, and financial stability. Grammar development, as a hallmark of DLD, is an important area of need for these children. Existing grammar interventions do not clearly distinguish the sensory input techniques that meet these children’s neurobiological instructional needs. This adapted alternating treatment design study implemented intervention using systematic paired visual and verbal and systematic paired motor, i.e. standardized gestures, and verbal sensory input techniques. A moderate-strong functional relation between intervention techniques using motor supports on grammatical outcomes in …

Autism Spectrum Disorder Students: A Survey Of Rural Community College Educators, Pamela Love Hanks

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

The number of students diagnosed with autism in public schools is increasing and this special population is now enrolling in colleges and universities. At the K-12 level, numerous supports are provided consistent with federal law; equivalent supports are not required in the postsecondary classroom. Student success often depends on the relationships built in the academic setting. From an instructional perspective, faculty members may have little or no training, limiting their understanding and support of this growing population of students, complicating relationship building. There is a dearth of literature available on the effective training of community college faculty who work with …

Physical Education Teachers' Attitudes Towards Teaching Zumba To Children With Disabilities, Evelina C. Brandon

Human Movement Sciences Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the attitudes of physical education teachers toward teaching Zumba to children with disabilities during physical education classes. Sixty-two physical education (PE) teachers (Mean Age = 42.13, 15 males, 47 females) participated in this cross-sectional survey design study. The survey data was analyzed using Pearson correlation methods, independent t tests, and the Cronbach’s coefficient technique to measure correlation, variance between participants, and the reliability and validity of the survey. Findings indicated that physical education teachers believed that teaching students Zumba in PE class would be beneficial and effective for students with disabilities. This …

Using The Question-Answer Relationship Strategy To Improve Listening Comprehension In Young Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Lisa A. Phalen

Communication Disorders & Special Education Theses & Dissertations

A well-established research base indicates that many children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience deficits in reading comprehension skills. There is currently limited research which examines the relation between the communication and language impairments in ASD and emergent literacy skills in early childhood. Listening comprehension has been identified as one emergent literacy skill closely linked to reading comprehension development. The purpose of the study is to examine the effects of the question-answer relationship strategy (QAR) and QAR cue cards as a shared book reading intervention package on the listening comprehension skills of children with ASD. A single-subject concurrent multiple-baseline …

Development And Validation Of The Students With Learning Disabilities School Counselor Self- Efficacy Scale: A Psychometric Study, Rawn Alfredo Boulden, Jr.

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

School Counselors play an important role in the success of all students. The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) and the Council for The Accreditation of Counseling And Related Educational Programs (CACREP) emphasizing the importance of school counselors in supporting the diverse needs of all students. Despite the efforts of the aforementioned association and accrediting body, the verdict is mixed regarding school counselors’ self-efficacy to counsel and support students with learning disabilities. This quantitative study aimed to develop and validate the Students with Learning Disabilities School Counselor Self-Efficacy Scale, an instrument that assesses school counselors’ belief in their ability to counsel …

An Examination Of Oral Argumentation Using Socioscientific Issues Among Secondary Students With Disabilities, Mindy A. Gumpert

Communication Disorders & Special Education Theses & Dissertations

The recent science education reforms mandate that all students must receive adequate opportunities to access the science curriculum in order to gain a better understanding of how science and the world works (National Research Council, 2012). According to these reforms, engagement in argumentation is one science practice essential to today’s K-12 science education (Sampson & Clark, 2011). Engagement in argumentation promotes critical thinking, problem solving and communication skills, and has the potential to promote growth of cognitive and metacognitive reasoning (Venville & Dawson, 2010). Additionally, engagement in argumentation using socioscientific issues provides students with authentic links to contemporary real-world social …

Examining Self-Contained And Integrated Physical Education Experiences Among Individuals With Visual Impairments, Rebecca Coffey

Human Movement Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Introduction. While research to date has examined the views of individuals with visual impairments toward integrated public-school physical education, little attention has been given to examining perspectives toward experiences at residential schools for those with visual impairments. By understanding the perspectives of those who attended physical education in both contexts, researchers can gain valuable information about particularities that can make experiences meaningful or challenging. The purpose of this study was to examine how individuals who experienced physical education in both integrated and residential school settings viewed their physical education class experiences. Methods. This study utilized a retrospective interpretative phenomenological approach …

The Effects Of Teacher Coaching In The Lincing Routine On The Vocabulary Knowledge Of Secondary Students With Disabilities, Dana W. Cho

Communication Disorders & Special Education Theses & Dissertations

A pretest-posttest time series design controlling for teacher coaching was used to evaluate the effects of the LINCing Routine to support secondary students with disabilities while increasing students’ vocabulary knowledge. Two special education teachers and 26 secondary students with disabilities participated in this study. Student performance was investigated in terms of increased accurate use of the LINCing Routine and overall improvement of vocabulary knowledge while controlling for teacher coaching. The dependent variable increased and remained stable throughout intervention. Pretest and posttest results were also favorable. Students reported average social validity while teachers reported high social validity for the intervention. The …

The Effect Of Choice Of Ipad-Delivered Math Independent Practice Of Elementary Grade Students With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Characteristics, Nora A. Altaweel

Communication Disorders & Special Education Theses & Dissertations

A choice-making strategy is an antecedent control that has proven to be effective for students with problem behaviors. Because students with Attention-deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) may display disruptive behaviors and show poor academic performance, it has been suggested that incorporating choice-making strategies into academic instruction could serve to increase academic engagement and task accuracy. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of iPad-based choice-making opportunities during math independent practice on each participant's task engagement, time required to complete task, task accuracy, and task completion, as well as the teacher and participants perceptions of social validity of the intervention. …

Predicting Speech-Language Pathology Graduate Student Success: Executive Functions And Standardized Admission Tests, Jane E. Roitsch

Communication Disorders & Special Education Theses & Dissertations

Within the next three years, the number of available speech-language pathology (SLP) jobs is projected to increase by 18% (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2018). The most logical response to the escalating market demand would be to increase the number of students admitted into SLP graduate programs. However, this may not be as simple as it sounds.

Successful training of graduate SLP clinicians requires the professional, emotional, financial, and time commitments of the program’s clinical and academic faculty. The accreditation status of graduate SLP programs is based in part on graduation completion rates and students passing the national examination in SLP, …

Using Constant Time Delay And Ecoaching To Teach Employment Skills To Young Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorder And Intellectual Disability In A Community Work Environment, Annemarie L. Horn

Communication Disorders & Special Education Theses & Dissertations

The goal of secondary education is to prepare students for greater levels of independence, especially in the areas of continued education and community employment. However, despite underlying potential, young adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and comorbid intellectual disability (ID) are vastly underrepresented in the area of post secondary employment. This could be attributed to the unique characteristics and learning needs of these students, or it may be a function of the lack of effective, evidence-based teaching practices, implemented with fidelity.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness and participant perceptions of implementing the constant time delay …

Enhancing Early Interventionists' Abilities To Support Caregiver Learning Through Multi-Component, Technology-Mediated Inservice Professional Development, Dana C. Childress

Communication Disorders & Special Education Theses & Dissertations

In order to have qualified service providers from a variety of disciplines (e.g., early childhood special education, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech-language pathology) who are well-prepared to provide effective early intervention (EI), high quality professional development is needed that is easily accessed by service providers and enhances their abilities to implement specific, evidence-based intervention practices with children and families. Because of the family-centered nature of EI, service providers must be knowledgeable about how to support caregiver learning during EI visits, using practices that are grounded in adult learning theory. The case study research project described in this dissertation addresses those …

The Role Of The School Leader In Collaboration Between Regular And Special Education Teachers, Jospeh Raymond Sciullo

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

In 2004, the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) aligned to language found in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA 2004). This reauthorization required students with disabilities to have access to the same curriculum as their non-disabled peers. This languages means that practices in instruction and assessment for students with disabilities must be aligned to the academic content standards established in each state (Parrish & Stodden, 2009). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the role of school leadership within the context of teacher collaboration and the factors that contribute to their level of …

Does Teacher Behavior Change In Middle School Math Classes When Teachers Receive Instructional Coaching Using Bug-In-Ear Technology?, Ellen L. Browning

Communication Disorders & Special Education Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate if there is a relationship between the use of immediate feedback provided through instructional coaching and teacher behaviors shown to improve student achievement. Specifically this study used a time-series nonequivalent control group design to explore the relationship between instructional coaching using Bug-In-Ear (BIE) technology and teacher frequency of the following behaviors: (a) teacher use of technology-enhanced choral response as part of completed three-term contingency trials, (b) the high-access strategy of choral response versus the low-access strategy of call-outs and blurt-outs, (c) re-directs, reprimands, and behavior-specific praise statements. Measures of student engagement and …

The Effects Of Transition Planning And Postsecondary Outcomes For Students With Disabilities In An Urban School Division, Janice James-Mitchell

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

According to The National Center on Secondary Education and Transition (2004), young adults with disabilities continue to face significant difficulties in securing jobs, accessing postsecondary education, living independently, fully participating in their communities, and accessing necessary community services. Furthermore, studies have indicated that IEPs generally do not always contain transition related information. In this dissertation study, the postsecondary outcome data from Indicator 13 and Indicator 14 and student attendance at IEP meetings for students with disabilities were examined.

There were two levels of research to this study. In level one, there was an overall picture of the data by completing …

The Effects Of Function-Based Thinking On Teacher Selection Of Interventions For Disruptive Student Behavior, Kimberly Yanek

Communication Disorders & Special Education Theses & Dissertations

Traditional approaches to addressing student misbehavior often involve the imposition of reactive and punitive consequences. Certain groups of students who engage in disruptive behavior experience a disproportionate amount of these punitive disciplinary responses. African American males are one such group. A growing body of research suggests that a need exists for more proactive and positive approaches to addressing student classroom misbehavior. One promising option is function-based thinking—a critical component of functional behavioral assessment. The present study examined both the accuracy of and change in teacher selected antecedent and/or consequence interventions aligned with the function of student behavior. Additionally, changes in …

Using Schematic-Based And Cognitive Strategy Instruction To Improve Math Word Problem Solving For Students With Math Difficulties, Lisa L. Morin

Communication Disorders & Special Education Theses & Dissertations

For students with math difficulties (MD), math word problem solving is especially challenging. The purpose of this study was to examine a math word problem solving strategy, bar model drawing, to support students with MD. The study extended previous research that suggested that schematic-based instruction (SBI) training delivered within an explicit instruction framework can be effective in teaching various math skills related to word problem solving. As a more generic schema approach, bar model drawing may serve as an effective form of SBI that can be developed across word problems. Moreover, the bar model approach has the potential to enhance …

The Effects Of A Tiered-Training Intervention On Teachers' Use Of Behavior Specific Praise During The Reading Instruction Of Elementary Students With Emotional Disabilities, Lauren Collins Reed

Communication Disorders & Special Education Theses & Dissertations

Despite longstanding acknowledgement regarding the effectiveness of behavior specific praise for students with emotional disabilities, there continues to be an underuse of this strategy with this population. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of a tiered training intervention on teachers' use of behavior specific praise during the small group reading instruction of elementary students with emotional disabilities. A multiple baseline design was used across two groups of teacher and student participants as the means of investigating the effectiveness of the training model on teachers' use of behavior specific praise and the associated student outcomes. Similar to …

Autism Assessment Scale For Children (Aasc): The Development Of A Dsm-V Aiigned Questionnaire To Screen School-Aged Children For High Functioning Autism, Christine Hebert

Teaching & Learning Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation is to analyze the latent factor structure underlying the Ellis Functional Assessment (EFA) for children with high-functioning autism (HFA), to compare the latent factor structures for under-identified subgroups of children (older children, gifted children, female children), and to design a pre-screening assessment for HFA based on those results. The scope of the study is limited to children who have been identified as having HFA and whose parents completed the EFA while patients of a mid-Atlantic clinical practice specializing in autism spectrum disorders. The methodology uses preliminary factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis to both analyze …