Disability and Equity in Education Commons^™

Documenting The Journey Towards Becoming An Anti-Racist White Educator, Heather Mccord

Dissertations

As a White teacher in public education, I have had the great pleasure of educating students from all over the globe. My career began in a district that served predominantly White students from middle class families. The only Black students I interacted with were those bused in from the city while participating in the desegregation program. There were noticeable biases and beliefs teachers held toward those students. However, since I was early on in my career with little experience, I was unaware of damage being done to these students. Once I began working for an extremely diverse district, in a …

Forty Years After The Larry P. Decision: School Psychologists’ Perceptions Of The Assessment Of African American Students With Specific Learning Disabilities, Shara Cabreros

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify and describe the assessment models school psychologists use to identify African American students with SLDs in three of the K-12 school districts in Riverside County. A second purpose of this study was to determine how school psychologists within three districts of Riverside County perceive the assessment model used in their school district affects the identification of SLDs in African American students. A third purpose of this study was to determine the assessment model school psychologists in three districts in Riverside County believe most accurately identifies SLDs in African American students. …

From Barriers To Success: How Elementary School Principals Strategically Lead Schools To Become 21st Century Learning Exemplar Schools, Heather Gold

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative study was to examine the barriers and support systems elementary principals describe, through the lens of Activity Theory, they experienced while leading their schools to achieve 21st century learning exemplar status.

Methodology: This phenomenological study examined the perceptions of 15 elementary and K-8 principals and their respective assistant principals regarding the barriers and support systems they experienced while leading their schools to achieve 21st century learning exemplar status. Participants were selected based on the criteria that they had been identified as exemplary by the Partnership for 21st Century Learning (P21); were public, non-private, …

An Education System Built On The Pillars Of White Supremacy And Anti-Blackness: A Collection Of Autoethnographic Studies Depicting How Black Kids Never Had A Chance, Abena B. Boateng, Ida B. Casey, Jamie C. Klupe, Julie C. Moorman, Angeline Williams-Jackson

Dissertations

In this collection of autoethnographic studies, a group of five women with differing racial identities takes us through each of their deeply personal journeys of social justice awareness and transformation. Using the theoretical frameworks of Critical Race Theory and Critical Whiteness Studies, these women share personal narratives of their lived experiences depicting how the education system in the United States is built on the pillars of White supremacy and anti-Blackness. Through their stories, we learn that schools are not meant for all students to succeed, and in actuality, Black students never had a chance. This collection of autoethnographic studies exposes …

Educating Individuals With Intellectual Disabilities: The Us Constitution, Citizenship And Disability, Julie Ramirez

Dissertations

This qualitative, design-based research study focuses on teaching citizenship to individuals with intellectual disabilities. The participants were middle school students who communicate in a variety of ways, many of whom don’t use speech. In the State of Illinois, the general education population is required to pass the U.S. Constitution test. However, in spite of a mandate that students with disabilities should have access to the general education curriculum, students with significant intellectual disabilities are not required to learn about the constitution or their rights as citizens. The goal of the research was to meet the needs of all students through …

An Evaluation Of The Trauma-Informed Approach Implemented At A Title I Elementary School, Aleli Vazquez

Dissertations

An Evaluation of the Trauma-Informed Approach Implemented at a Title I Elementary School assesses the merits of the implementation of an intervention to support the social emotional ability and stability of students within elementary schools; called the Trauma Informed Approach. Many children attending elementary schools bring diverse and complex experiences to the classroom setting. Students with multiple adverse childhood experiences attend the educational system. Many students have a more difficult time concentrating and succeeding due to anxiety and lack of physiological needs being met. These needs must be met to secure positive learning gains for these students.

For data gathering …

Impact Of Tier 2 Intervention Program On Student Achievement And Self-Efficacy, Barbara L. Georges

Dissertations

To address the challenges of drop-out rate and achievement gap, high schools have begun to implement intervention programs. Schools bear responsibility in addressing factors such as poor academic performance, lack of course credit, and low motivation to encourage post-secondary success. Intervention programs show promise in mitigating these factors despite variation due to lack of state or federal requirements. The most common frameworks used to address the skill gaps and deficiencies that prevent graduation are Response to Intervention (RtI) or Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS). The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of academic interventions on student achievement …

Female Graduate Students’ Experiences And Career Orientations In Stem: A Comparative Case Study, Jasvir K. Pannu

Dissertations

Regardless of implementation of government policies to promote STEM education and eradicate the underrepresentation of women and minorities, the number of women choosing STEM throughout their educational career remains low. In 2018 65% doctorate degrees were awarded to men and only 35% to women. Moreover, 40% of all students enrolled in doctorate programs drop out before completion. The process of socialization in graduate school and students’ non academic responsibilities play critical roles in graduate students’ success and future career orientations. Processes of socialization involve interactions with faculty, peers, and administration while taking courses and conducting dissertation research. Non academic engagements …

Noncognitive Factors: Deaf And Hard Of Hearing Graduates’ Perceived Influence On College Readiness, Cindi Swenson

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore and describe how deaf and hard of hearing college graduates perceive the extent to which Farrington’s (2012) five noncognitive factors influenced their ability to successfully complete a four-year college degree.

Methodology: This phenomenological study identified and described the extent to which noncognitive factors influenced deaf and hard of hearing college graduates’ ability to successfully attain their college degree. Eight participants were selected through purposeful sampling based on criteria including being a resident in California and graduating with a four-year college degree between 2017 and 2020. The researcher conducted semi-structured interviews …

Culturally Responsive Teaching And Learning For Success, Fred A. Hunter

Dissertations

The enduring gap between White and Black student achievement has challenged our educational systems for decades. This study evaluates an instructional pedagogy that values and embraces students’ culture and experiences. Participants in this study include one teacher trained to implement culturally relevant instruction, her middle school students, and teacher leaders at the school where I served as principal during the time of the study.

The results of this study reveal the positive impact that a culturally relevant teacher yields for students and teacher. Students receiving an affirming instructional pedagogy benefit from improved academic outcomes. Teachers embracing this method of teaching …

The Relationship Among Children Born With A Congenital Heart Defect, Effects Of General Anesthesia, And Special Academic Needs, Lorilynn Bowie

Dissertations

Abstract

I initiated this study due to experience in the public education system in one state in the United States. I noted a lack of understanding among educators on how to meet the educational needs of children born with a congenital heart defect (CHD) who had undergone general anesthesia related to their CHD. A lack of communication between the medical sector and the educational world led to extensive delays in children receiving the educational support they needed to be successful academically. There were two primary exploratory questions that drove my study: 1.) Is there a relationship between children born with …

A Comparison Of The Effectiveness, Efficiency, And Post-Training Outcomes Of Traditional Behavioral Skills Training And Asynchronous Remote Training, Dani Pizzella

Dissertations

While applied behavior analysis (ABA) is the most commonly recommended therapy for individuals with Autism spectrum disorders (New York State Department of Health, 1999; Surgeon General, 1999), there is a significant lack of board certified behavior analysts (BCBAs; Bethune & Kiser, 2017; Maglione, Kadiyala, Kress, Hastings, & OʹHanlon, 2016). Telehealth may help to increase the availability of training in behavior analytic procedures, however, BCBAs have been slow to adopt remote training measures (Tomlinson, Gore, & McGill, 2018). This may be due to the in-vivo training requirements of common behavior analytic training procedures. This research compares traditional, face-to-face behavioral skills training …

Black Girls Matter: The Impact Of Historical Representation On Contemporary Education, Carolyn Strong

Dissertations

A long history of misogynoir and negative stereotypes about Black
girls and women can be found throughout the literature and popular
culture of the United States. These stereotypes inform the lived
experience of Black girls and women, and in particular interfere with
African American girls’ ability to thrive in a school environment. An
autoethnographic research approach shows that various strategies, in
particular, Black girl-centric spaces, have proven to be helpful in
supporting Black girls who have to negotiate varying degrees of
hostility in general environments. These could be applied more broadly
to improve Black girls’ mental, psychological, physical, and
educational …

Gaps In The Mental Health System,Justice System And The Transition To Adulthood: An Analysis Of Unmet Needs, Maria Gremli Sanders

Dissertations

ABSTRACT More than two million adolescents and young adults are interconnected with the justice system every year. An alarming number of transitional age young adults (ages 17-25 years) in the United States justice system suffer with serious emotional problems that have at least one diagnosable mental health illness. The multiple needs for rehabilitation among these young adults have often gone unmet, and thus, they have become an extremely vulnerable subgroup in the justice system. The purpose of this study was to explore issues of disparity within mental health services, the justice system, and the unmet needs of transitional age young …

An Examination Of African American Male Educators' Perceptions Of Relationships And Discrimination, Akiva S. Carson

Dissertations

In the field of education, African-American men are greatly underrepresented across all school settings. In the state of Illinois of nearly 130,000 certified educators, there are less than two thousand (2,000) African American males across the state. Through a critical race theory lens, the focus of this narrative study was to explore what can be learned by researching/re-framing how African-American educators perceive their experience of developing relationships across educational domains and how they make sense of the ways in which they experience discrimination and construct relationships with others. Through the use of interview, observation and journal responses, insight into their …

Interdisciplinary Collaboration In Exemplary Counseling-Enriched High School Programs: Integrating College & Career Readiness And Mental Health Wellness For Students With Emotional Disturbance, Amira S. Mostafa

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this mixed methods multiple-case study was to describe how interdisciplinary collaborative teams support the college and career readiness and the mental health wellness of adolescents with emotional disturbance. A secondary purpose was to explore how team members describe and rate the importance of their interdisciplinary collaboration using the four essential elements (reflection, flexibility, newly created roles, and interdependence) based on the model established by Mellin (Mellin et al., 2010). Lastly, this study sought recommendations from team members on improved practices supporting adolescents with emotional disturbance.

Methodology: An explanatory sequential mixed methods multiple-case study design explored the …

The Value Of Interactive Multimodal Online Higher Education Classrooms: Examining The Impact Of Interactive Multimedia-Based Instructional Design (Imbid), Andrea Munro

Dissertations

Purpose: Despite their affordability and convenience, online courses have higher student failure and dropout rates than ground based-courses. The purpose of this quantitative causal-comparative single-case study was to determine if there is a difference between interactive, multimedia-based online instruction and traditional text-based online instruction as it relates to the level of student performance, engagement, and satisfaction in higher education.

Methodology: This quantitative research design used inferential statistics to analyze the research questions. The researcher selected 13 text-based courses that were redesigned to become interactive, multimedia-based courses. Archival student performance, engagement, and satisfaction data was abstracted from both the text-based and …

Superintendent Recruitment: Effects Of Superintendent Job Status, School Councils (Principal Selection Models), District Wealth, And Signing Bonus On Applicant Rating Of The Job, Mark Jeffery Martin

Dissertations

This nearly perfect replicated study (Millay, 2003) was a superintendent recruitment simulation with the purpose of investigating factors that influence recruiting qualified individuals to serve as district superintendents of public schools. The study was a factorial experiment involving a four-way 2 x 2 x 2 x (3 x S) fixed-factor betweenwithin analysis of variance (ANOVA) which yielded 24 cells. The participants in the study were Kentucky Superintendents (N = 72) and individuals in Kentucky certified to be a school superintendent (N = 72) but employed in another position.

The between-groups variables were superintendent job status (superintendent, certified), district wealth (high, …

Barriers To Student Connectedness And Engagement: How Socioeconomic Status Affects Student Involvement, Dominic M. Manola

Dissertations

Today, as students prepare for post-secondary opportunities, a greater and greater emphasis is placed on the importance of engaging learners both in and out of the classroom. While many students are inclined to get involved, there is a growing number of young people who face barriers that prevent them from connecting and engaging in the high school experience. Importantly, socioeconomic status plays a key role in determining how engaged a student may be, as well as serving as a key identifier in what must be addressed to ensure more young people get involved in their academic and co-curricular learning. This …

Exemplary Leadership: A Mixed-Methods Case Study Discovering How Special Education Administrators Create Meaning, Julia Vandervennet

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this mixed-methods case study was to identify and describe the

behaviors that exemplary Special Education administrators use to create personal and organizational meaning for themselves and their followers through character, vision, relationships, wisdom, and inspiration. In addition, it is the purpose of this study to determine the degree of importance to which special education teachers perceive the behaviors related to character, vision, relationships, wisdom, and inspiration help to create personal and organizational meaning.

Methodology: The current mixed-methods study obtained in depth qualitative data through interviews from 3 exemplary special education administrators. Following the qualitative interview …

Using Technology As An Independent Learning Strategy To Support Vocabulary Acquisition For Secondary Students With Learning Disabilities, Donna M. Egan

Dissertations

Students at the secondary level encounter a plethora of content-rich, content-area texts. To achieve comprehension of these content-area texts, students are required to know the meanings, relationships, and contextual interpretations of each new vocabulary word. Students, especially exceptional students (those who have an Individualized Education Plan), struggle with academic demands, challenges of tiered vocabulary, and the lack of comprehensive vocabulary instruction. Researchers have examined the outcomes of computer-assisted instruction on exceptional students’ vocabulary development using various technology. To meet the critical academic vocabulary acquisition needs of secondary students with exceptionalities, research encourages using technological applications as independent word-learning strategies. This …

Factors Considered By Special Education Case Managers When Making A Decision To Mainstream Emotionally Disturbed Students From A Self-Contained Classroom To General Education Classes, Pamela Butler-Harris

Dissertations

Purpose: This qualitative comparative case study analyzes the perspectives, feelings, and beliefs of eight special education case managers who work with students who have been diagnosed as emotionally disturbed (ED), or exhibit ED type behaviors in Contra Costa County, California. It is the hope that through the identification of criteria leading to successful integration, policy makers and educators will be able to develop and implement effective strategies to successfully mainstream ED students, or students who exhibit ED type behaviors into general education classes.

Methodology: This qualitative comparative case study is designed around the following research question: What factors do special …

Equitable Access In Education: Access To Joy, Choice Options, And Strong Neighborhood Schools, Noah Hollenkamp, Albert J. Sanders Jr., Lindsay Schuessler

Dissertations

The purpose of this co-authored dissertation was to understand equitable access of quality educational opportunities in St. Louis, Missouri. Through the following research, we present a better understanding of equity and access in education from a classroom level, on a school level, and finally, on a regional level. This collection of research is the effort of a group of committed and concerned educators seeking to understand the ways of making quality education accessible for all families, specifically in the areas of school choice, quality neighborhood schools, and play in the classroom. By equitable access, we mean all families being able …

Co-Teaching As A Vehicle To Inclusion In A Diverse Suburban Middle School: A Case Study, Luis Correa

Dissertations

Many school districts across the United States have adopted, or are considering adopting, full inclusion to meet academic and social-emotional needs of increasingly diverse student populations. Co-teaching has become a popular approach for districts committed to inclusion. This study is about a Midwestern school district which more than 10 years ago committed itself to inclusion and co-teaching. The primary research question was: How do we make co-teaching more effective in the Fairview School District? A survey was sent to 120 co-teachers from three middle schools about their experiences with co-teaching in the areas of sharing responsibilities, co-teaching relationships, planning time, …

The Two Faces Of Education: Educators' And Administrators' Perspectives On Collaboration And Co-Teaching, Lisa Penny

Dissertations

This phenomenological study investigated the experiences and perceptions of special education teachers, general education teachers, and administrators on inclusion, collaboration, and co- teaching in supporting the academic and behavioral growth of all students. The following themes were identified: (a) individual definition of collaboration, (b) school leader training, (c) support and feedback from administration, (d) teachers’ and principals’ perceptions, (e) student achievement, and (f) participants’ knowledge base of co-teaching models. The findings indicate that although co-teaching and inclusion has become common practice and educators generally believe in its virtues, there are some persistent difficulties based on limiting beliefs about students with …

Educators’ Perceptions Of Restorative Justice, Care, Inclusion, And Disability: A Phen[Women]Ological Study, Jennifer Hull

Dissertations

In the State of Illinois, changes are taking effect related to classroom culture and educational policy is moving from “safe schools/zero tolerance” policies to restorative justice practices. Through a feminist disability studies lens, the focus of this a phen[women]ological study of the lived experiences of six educators from two different schools in Illinois and their perceptions of restorative justice, care, inclusion, and disability was to ask: How are educators making sense of restorative justice practices? What are the implications for students with disabilities? Five topics of significance surfaced, including (a) caring; (b) restorative justice and inclusion; (c) impact of technology; …

The Lived Experiences Of Parenting Children With Food Allergies: A Phenomenological Study, Anne Zavell

Dissertations

This phenomenological study focuses on five mothers' experiences of the phenomenon of living with a diagnosed food allergy in the family. Attention is given to the contexts or situations that have typically influenced or affected their experiences, including the impact of the diagnoses, travel and restaurants, friendships, sibling relationships, and anxiety. There is a major emphasis on these mothers' experiences advocating for the needs of their children in schools, including their strategies, concerns, and frustrations. Policies related to food allergies are reviewed from the contemporary and historical perspectives, with recommendations for policy change. The lived experiences of food allergy mothers …

Teacher Perceptions Of Ability In Implementing A Culturally Responsive Educational Practice For Culturally Linguistically Diverse Students With Dis/Abilities, Melanie Ziebatree

Dissertations

All children in the United States have the right to an equitable education, regardless of gender, religion, class, race, culture, language, or dis/ability. The literature demonstrates that financial, educational, and legal outcomes are disproportionately negative for those students falling outside of white able-bodied norms and that educational institutions often perpetuate exclusive policies and practices that disproportionately impact culturally linguistically diverse students with dis/abilities. A critical examination of the sociopolitical and contextual factors that fortify the barriers faced by marginalized groups highlights the need for a culturally responsive approach to educating students with multidimensional identities.

To serve the needs resulting from …

What About Us? For Girls Between Worlds: How Black Girls Navigate White High Schools, Cryslynn C. Billingsley

Dissertations

This qualitative study is about the experiences and challenges Black girls have while attending predominantly White high schools and what they are doing to navigate that particular space. The purpose of this study was to explore and understand more about how Black girls navigate White space as minority members of a system that was not originally intended for them. Through semi-structured interviews, Black girls were asked directly to share their lived experiences. This study hopes to illuminate and amplify the voices of Black girls and help others see them by giving them a platform to discuss and tell their stories. …

Challenges And Opportunities Of Chinese Immigrant Students With Intellectual Disabilities In Transition Services, Xin Qing

Dissertations

The purpose of this ethnographic study is to understand the experiences of newly immigrated Chinese students with intellectual disabilities who are in transition programs. In depth interviews were conducted with four students and their families. Quality of life, sense of self, nature of relationships, beliefs about disability, and challenges and opportunities are examined. The study surfaces complex social, cultural, and economic factors that impact students’ experiences. Data indicates that participants’ sense of self are informed largely by negative experiences with others based on perceptions of disability combined with negative experiences of being a new immigrant. They expressed feeling lonely and …