Disability and Equity in Education Commons^™

Social Media Literacy As An Iep Intervention For Social And Emotional Learning, Donnell Probst

Journal of Media Literacy Education

Media literacy and special education communities have largely ignored the impact of digital media useonspecial education students with Autism spectrum disorder and Emotional and Behavioral Disorder. This paper investigates the possibility of using social media literacy education as part of an individualized education plan (IEP) intervention for improving the social and emotional learning outcomes of students with disabilities. Using the example of a “provocative selfie” as a form of media production and consumption, this paper provides a framework for using the NAMLE key questions to teach specific CASEL Social and Emotional (SEL) competencies and address IEP goals and objectives of …

Parent Perceptions Of The Transition Programs Completed By Their Adult Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Judithanne Arcaro

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

The lifelong effects of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) impact the living, employment, and social aspects for individuals with the diagnosis and their families. In this study, I sought to determine parent perspectives of school transition programs completed by their adult children with ASD. Guided by the theoretical framework from Bronfenbrenner, Freire, and Mezirow, my purpose was to identify transition practices with which parents were satisfied and dissatisfied, as well as to seek their input about improving transition programming. With the unemployment rate for individuals with ASD reported by the Department of Labor as 80%, improvement of outcomes would reduce the …

Pursuing A Common Goal: Measuring The Comfort Level Of Educational Diagnosticians To Manage A Caseload Of Students With Visual Impairments, Jerry Mullins M.Ed., Michael P. Munro M.Ed.

Journal of Human Services: Training, Research, and Practice

This study was conducted to measure the level of comfort and knowledge that educational diagnosticians possess regarding the unique learning needs, assistive technology, special accommodations, agencies, required visual impairment related Individual Educational Plan documents, and special evaluation considerations appropriate for students with a vision loss. Teachers of students with visual impairments were surveyed to gauge their perception of educational diagnosticians’ knowledge of the field of visual impairment and diagnosticians were also surveyed to determine their comfort level in the management of a caseload of students with visual impairments. Research question were based on how TVIs rated the comfort level and …

School Choice Vouchers And Special Education In Indiana Catholic Diocesan Schools, William H. Blackwell, June M. Robinson

Journal of Catholic Education

Catholic schools are now located at a crossroads of school choice voucher programs and special education services. With enrollment in Catholic schools declining over the past several decades, voucher programs that allow parents to use public funds for tuition at private schools – including tuition for students with disabilities – could possibly help to steady or even reverse this decline. This study examined the impact of Indiana’s statewide voucher program on Catholic schools, student enrollment, and special education services in three large diocesan school systems. The findings address issues related to enrollment growth, changing student population characteristics, special education services, …

The Disproportionate Representation Of Minorities In Special Education, Rasuwl Medina

Theses and Dissertations

Students throughout the United States are promised that individuals who enter the U.S. educational system are placed on an even playing field and that each student will be given equitable treatment within the school they attend. Furthermore, students are assured that studying and learning class material will determine not only their placement within school but the success they will have in life. Despite this long held belief, research and demographic breakdowns of special education placement within the U.S. suggests minorities are disproportionately placed into special education (de Valenzuela, Copeland, & Qi, 2006). This finding is in concert with the already …

“It Helps If You Are A Loud Person”: Listening To The Voice Of A School Student With A Vision Impairment, Jill Opie, Jane Southcott, Joanne Deppeler

The Qualitative Report

Students with vision impairment who attend mainstream secondary schools in Australia may not experience education as an inclusive and positive experience. This study of one senior secondary student with vision impairment provides a rare opportunity to give voice and provide understandings of the experience from the perspective of the student. The research question that drove this study was: What is the experience of mainstream schooling for a student with a vision impairment? The participant in this Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis study was Edward (pseudonym), a student in his final year of secondary schooling. Edward encountered significant barriers to inclusion, specifically teaching, …

A Direct Tex-To-Braille Transcribing Method, Andreas Papasalouros, Antonis Tsolomitis

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

The TeX/LaTeX typesetting system is the most wide-spread system for creating documents in Mathematics and Science. However, no reliable tool exists to this day for automatically transcribing documents from the above formats into Braille/Nemeth code. Thus, visually impaired students of related fields do not have access to the bulk of study material available in LaTeX format. We have developed a tool, named latex2nemeth, for directly transcribing LaTeX documents to Nemeth Braille, thus facilitating the access of blind students to Science. In order to support the extensive set of Mathematics symbols covered by TeX, we propose some new symbols based on …

Attitudes Toward And Images Of Children With Special Needs, Halah Elhoweris, Mahmoud F. Gharaibeh, Olla Abdulrahman, Wasmeya Al Ahbabi, Marwa Alkaabi, Maryam Saif Alshamsi

International Journal for Research in Education

The media and literature play significant roles in shaping children’s attitudes toward children with special needs. Indeed, several research studies indicate that people with special needs were often portrayed negatively and inaccurately in children’s literature books. To date, no study has been found that investigated the available Arabic and/or English children’s literature books in the UAE to see how people with special needs are portrayed. The aim of this study, therefore, was twofold: a) to analyse children’s literature which feature books with special needs characters, and b) to examine the differences between Arabic and English children’s literature portrayal of people …

"I Met My Goal!": The Use Of Self-Regulated Learning With Students Receiving Tier 3 Instruction In Reading, Ashley Pennypacker Hill

Journal of Practitioner Research

In this article, I share two lessons learned through engagement in practitioner inquiry. The purpose of my inquiry was to understand self-regulated learning as it developed in students receiving intensive instructional supports within a newly designed 21^st century learning space. I illustrate each lesson with salient excerpts from three types of data: field notes, student artifacts, and my own daily journal entries. Prior to my discussion of these lessons learned, I define self-regulated learning and describe how I applied it to my Tier-3 instructional practice. This study affirms the importance of structure when first introducing self-regulation to students, and …

The Plight Of The Gifted Student: A Call To Action, Krista M. Shilvock

Empowering Research for Educators

With so many needs in today’s public education classroom, we cannot forget the needs of those who excel in the classroom, too. Gifted students face severe neglect in class due to the appearance of their competence and maturity. However, we quickly face losing the contributions of a major group of students as this neglect causes them to lose interest in their own education. As teachers, we must challenge ourselves to help gifted students reach their potential just as we attempt to do for all subgroups of students. A poll of 22 gifted students confirms these frustrations and needs of students. …

Immigrant Parental Involvement In Student Academics, Charles Tebben

Empowering Research for Educators

Abstract

This study is meant to focus discussions about the importance of the involvement of immigrant parents in respect to student academics. In this study I intend to make evident a relationship between parental involvement and student academics, after which I will draw in a conclusion of the resources utilized by my community at the elementary and middle schools. I’m conducting my research study starting at elementary school and running through middle school. I’m eliminating the high school period because of their unique parental involvement complexities which share little constraints and outcomes with the lower levels. To build my study, …

Growth Mindset In The Classroom, Luther L. Kiger

Empowering Research for Educators

This article discusses how Mindset can effect a students educational and social life.

The Language Of Learning In Family And Consumer Sciences: English Language Learners In Career Technical Education, Kali S. Lenhoff

Empowering Research for Educators

Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) content and English as a Second Language (ESL) strategies can be organically incorporated to create a successful education for an English Language Learner (ELL). The first objective of this research project is to discover how prepared Family and Consumer Sciences teachers feel to work with English Language Learners in the classroom. The second objective is to identify practical and effective methods and strategies that are useful for Family and Consumer Sciences teachers instructing English Language Learners. The rationale for this project is that by identifying the challenges faced by English Language Learners in education, teachers …

Emphasis On Test Scores In Education, Lindsay Olson

Empowering Research for Educators

This article discusses how too much emphasis on standardized testing can affect student learning as well as teaching in the classroom. It includes a personal interview with a high school teacher as well as an article from the Washington Post regarding a study that was completed involving testing students.

Narrating School, Narrative Self: Identity, Agency And The Hidden Curriculum Of (Hetero)Normativity, Mikela Bjork

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation analyzes sober women’s narratives of their schooling experiences to reflect on how educators and policy makers can improve the schooling experiences for othered students.. Inspired by the self-reflective and agentic pedagogy found within the figured world of Alcoholics Anonymous, I focused on the narratives of women in Alcoholics Anonymous, ages 18-85, as they narrated their schooling stories from pre-Kindergarten up to the last grade they completed. What the data of this qualitative research project reveals is that, despite the detrimental culture of denial at home and school, the participants, through the radical act of self-reflexivity and personal narrative, …

Social Work Students Ability To Identify Signs Of Autism In Children, Heather Nicole Hopkins

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the ability of students in the Master of Social Work (MSW) program to correctly identify signs of autism in children by completing a survey. This research project was conducted in collaboration with California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB) and the MSW program by using MSW students as participants. The study used a survey designed with items that measured the knowledge of participants. The results of this study may be beneficial to the Director of Social Work, future MSW students, and professors to examine how well the current MSW program is preparing students …

Identity-Oriented Program, Isaac Jorgensen

Capstone Collection

This paper demonstrates why identity-oriented community college study abroad programs are more accessible for the diverse student populations that attend these institutions. It does this with a case study, a demographic analysis, and the theoretical support of The Experiential Learning Cycle (ELC) and Universal Design for Learning (UDL). First it proves the lack of diversity within United States study abroad participants. Following this, the paper shows that community colleges house more underserved populations than four-year universities. Additionally, it illustrates the benefits of studying abroad and demographics specific to The Washington State Community College Consortium for Study Abroad (WCCCSA), …

Investigation Of Early Intervention Teachers' Perspective About Services In The Mecca Region Of The Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia, Sultan Alzahrani

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This survey-based, quantitative research investigated Early Intervention teachers' perception about Early Intervention services in Mecca Region in The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This research focused on three dimensions of Early Intervention including attitude toward Early Intervention services, the cultural influences in the provision of services, and the recommended practices that were used by professionals. Two options were offered to subjects to complete the survey: 1) an online survey and 2) a hard copy of the survey which was distributed to teachers in Early Intervention Centers. The majority of the participants completed the online survey. Data was collected and analyzed. The …

Increasing Access To Aba Intervention For Children With Developmental Disabilities In Taiwan, Noel Hsu

Master's Projects and Capstones

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) uses a behavioral approach to help clients and their behavioral challenges. This treatment has been proven to be a highly effective intervention for children with developmental disabilities, such as autism spectrum disorders. It is widely practiced in the United States and many other developed countries; however, this intervention is not widely available in Taiwan. This phenomenon requires our investigation because it raises questions about the available supports and interventions for children with special needs in Taiwan. This project is to explore factors that influence the development of ABA intervention in Taiwan. The goal of this project …

Reimagining Ability, Reimagining America: Teaching Disability In United States History Classes, Maya L. Steinborn

Master's Projects and Capstones

In service to the FAIR Education Act (2012) and the awareness-raising mission of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2008), this project reviews historical and educational literature about disability in the United States and provides a curriculum guide for teaching Human Rights Education (HRE) and disability studies (DS) at the high school level in California. This project traces the historical development of deficit attitudes toward disability back to the colonial era, uncovering the dichotomy between the vast resources in DS and the ableist omission of disability from K-12 curricula. Survey data and interviews further show how teachers …

"Brace Yourself": Motor Disabilities In Children's Literature, Jillian Bober

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This thesis presents the writing and sharing of an original work “Brace Yourself” with a group of second grade children including clinical and legal background as well as review of selected children’s literature with similar themes. The study incorporates samples of student responses to the story and discussion of curricular themes related to inclusion and school values.

Principles Of The Hidden Heritage Of Correctional Education And Prison Reform, Thom Gehring

Journal of Critical Issues in Educational Practice

Abstract

In all fields of education, theory is in advance of practice (MacCormick, 1931, p. xii).

This essay provides a summary of the historical research themes of the Center for the Study of Correctional Education (CSCE) in the field of prison reform and its leading edge, correctional education. Those themes have been applied at CSCE’s system of parolee schools, the California State University, San Bernardino Reentry Initiative (CSRI). The essay addresses the professional contributions of four contributors or heroes of the correctional education: Alexander Maconochie at a penal colony in the South Pacific, William George among juveniles in New York …

Adopting Children With Down Syndrome: A Qualitative Study Of Family Experiences, Emily L. Richter

Rehabilitation, Human Resources and Communication Disorders Undergraduate Honors Theses

The purpose of this study is to qualitatively investigate and compare the family beliefs, values, and perceptions of parenting of families who have adopted children with Down syndrome (DS) to parents who have biological children with DS. Participants in the study included 27 parents of biological children with DS and six parents of adopted children with DS. Participants were interviewed through a digital survey that was distributed through Qualtrics Online Survey Software. Quantitative analysis placed the participants into groups and qualitative analysis was used to identify beliefs, values, and perceptions. Results showed that while both adoptive and biological parents indicated …

Parent Perspectives On Transition Services And Expectations For Transition-Age Students With Disabilities In A Virtual School Setting, Heather Raithel

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Students with disabilities often experience difficulties as they transition from school to adult life. This project examined the perspectives of parents of transition-age students with disabilities enrolled in a full-time virtual school setting. The first dependent variable was parent satisfaction with transition services for students in the virtual school including relevancy and quality of student and parent trainings and information on transition, inter-agency collaboration, community-based learning experiences, staff knowledge and communication, transition specific courses, and appropriateness of the IEP transition plan. The second dependent variable was parent expectations for students as they exit school in regards to independent living, post-secondary …

The Benefits Of Music Education On Academic, Behavioral, And Communicative Skills With Middle School Students With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Sarah V. Foley

Dissertations, Masters Theses, Capstones, and Culminating Projects

Music education has an important place for students with special needs. Through community based arts education programs, student benefits range from social to academic. The problem is that too often music education, among arts programs, is not taught in special education classrooms. The purpose of this study was to identify benefits that music education has on students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), focusing specifically on academic, behavioral, and communicative skills.

A review of the literature revealed that music is beneficial to students in a variety of ways, when they are provided the opportunity to engage in music education. Through this …

Entering The Inclusive Space: An Autoethnography Of A Future Educator, Lindsey Reuter

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Inclusive Education is the practice of educating all students in one classroom. Students with disabilities or who qualify for special education are members of regular education classrooms, and remain in the classroom for as much of the day as possible. The Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) legalized that schools provide free and appropriate education, as well as educate students in the least restrictive environment. The least restrictive environment is in the general education classroom. This legislation helped to increase the prevalence of inclusion in schools.

This research represents my development as a future educator. I entered Syracuse University as in …

The Quiet Discrimination Of Lowered Expectations: A Study On The Independent Living Needs Of Severely Disabled Individuals In Kansas, Joe Dalgarn

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Increasing the independence of individuals with severe disabilities is of increasing concern to schools and federal agencies. Improving quality of life for high needs individuals with disabilities is an objective of transition programs, which allow consumers to adapt from one aspect of life to the next. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships between variables (a) vocational assessment and exploration; (b) workplace readiness training; (c) independent living skills; and (d) self-advocacy and self-care and the independence level of individuals with severe disabilities residing and receiving their education within an institutionalized setting. Finally, this study will examine the …

Expert Consensus On Barriers To College And University Online Education For Students With Blindness And Low Vision, Sachin D. Pavithran

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The availability of online college and university courses have continued to grow, offering opportunities for education to students that may find attending in a regular classroom difficult, if not impossible. The number of students with disabilities enrolling in online courses is also growing. However, because of the mode of delivery (via computer/internet), blind and low vision college and university students can find it difficult to participate fully in an online course if it is not designed with accessibility in mind. Education is directly related to blind and low vision individuals becoming fully employed and independent. Blind and low vision college …

The Use Of The Performance Diagnostic Checklist For Human Services To Increase Paraeducators’ Effective Implementation Of Error-Correction Procedures During Discrete Trial Training, Melissa Bowe

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Employees in the field of human services can influence the health and rate of progress of the clients they serve. A human service supervisor’s responsibilities include identifying why an employee may be performing poorly and provide an effective intervention to ensure improved performance. The Performance Diagnostic Checklist for Human Services (PDC-HS) has been used in treatment clinics to identify the variables that can contribute to poor employee performance, and subsequently recommend an intervention to improve performance.

The special education classroom is a human service setting in which special education teachers supervise paraeducator’s skills and performance. A paraeducator’s role includes providing …

Culturally And Linguistically Diverse Student And Family Perspectives On Using Augmentative And Alternative Communication Devices, Saili S. Kulkarni, Jessica Parmar

Faculty Publications

Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices are essential to children with disabilities that result in complex communication needs (CCN) to fully participate in social and academic realms of life. As the numbers of culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) learners in schools increase, so does the imperative to better inform instruction for CLD students who use AAC devices. This paper reviewed N=14 articles that emphasized CLD students who use AAC devices and their families. Implications highlighted that Euro-American culture dominates many aspects of AAC use, assessment, and professional recommendations. Additionally, there are limited perspectives of AAC users and families from CLD, …