Special Education and Teaching Commons^™

Interns Matter: Maximizing Integration Of Interns Into Community Agencies, Valerie Garcia

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Hope Services is a non-profit agency serving individuals with developmental disabilities in six counties. Over the years, there have been many agencies that have formed connections with Hope Services. One of these collaborative partnerships has been with CSU Monterey Bay’s (CSUMB) integration of interns through their field placement program. However, recently former Hope Services South District Manager, Greg Dinsmore, witnessed a lack of utilization and integration of interns across all Hope Services agencies. Through firsthand experience as a mentor, he witnessed the benefits of utilizing interns and saw the need for further advocacy and support for the integration of interns …

The Book Trailer Project: Media Production Within An Integrated Classroom, Karen Festa

Journal of Media Literacy Education

A special education co-teacher in an integrated elementary classroom describes key aspects of media literacy pedagogy for all students, including opportunities for critical analysis and creative media production. After elementary school students learned about author’s craft, purpose, theme/message, three types of writing, and target audience, they began looking at these elements using Super Bowl ads and participated in rich discussions which demonstrated their analysis and reflection on advertising. Students created a book trailer project, working in small groups to create videos to promote a book written by a local author and illustrator. Such work bridges gaps in social-emotional development, communication …

Intrusiveness Of Behavioral Treatments For Children With Autism And Developmental Disabilities: An Initial Investigation, Michael R. Mayton, Stacy L. Carter, Jie Zhang, John J. Wheeler

John J. Wheeler

The behaviors frequently displayed by students with autism can place them at risk for overly reactive behavior interventions with unwanted side effects. The current study examined the level of intrusiveness of behavioral treatments developed for 198 students with disabilities from 13 different states. Results demonstrated that students diagnosed with autism had proportionally more intrusive behavior interventions when compared to students in five other disability categories and indicated that many students with autism were unnecessarily subjected to highly intrusive behavior interventions. The implications of these findings are discussed, and recommendations for future research are provided.

Teachers As Facilitators Or Barriers Of Parent Involvement: Experiences Of African American Mothers Of Children In Special Education Programs, Princess Briggs

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Parents in disenfranchised groups, namely African American parents of children with special needs, are less likely to be involved in their child’s education, although involvement is associated with positive educational outcomes. The purpose of this study was to investigate African American parents’ perceptions of special education programs, of teacher actions, and of school policies that influence parent involvement of African American parents of children with special needs.

A phenomenological study was conducted with 15 African American mothers of children with special needs. These parents participated in individual face-to-face interviews, which included a discussion of the child’s Individualized Education Plan. Audio …

Evaluating The Effects Of Wearable Technologies To Improve Physical Activity Levels For College Students With Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities, Kelly Nicole Kraiss

Doctoral Dissertations

Regular physical activity can decrease the likelihood of being overweight or obese as well as other negative health outcomes. Adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) are more likely to be obese, less likely to be physically active, and at greater risk for health conditions and disease. Thus, there is a need for interventions that aim to increase the physical activity levels of adults with I/DD. However, interventions and related research in this field are limited. The purpose of this dissertation was to examine two independent single-subject design interventions that incorporated the use of wearable technology, a Fitbit, in order …

Analysis Of Graduation, Dropout Rates And Trends For Students With Disabilities In Full-Time Online Schools, John Gutman

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

Graduation rates of students with disabilities (SWD) have significantly lagged behind those of students without disabilities in public schools. Dropout rates of SWD are higher than those of students who do not have disabilities. Rates of both graduation and dropouts in full-time k-12 online schools are significantly lower and higher, respectively, than those of traditional schools, and even lower and higher for SWD in those programs. The purpose of this study was to review data of three full-time k-12 online schools in Utah, compare graduation and dropout rates of SWD with those of SWD in all Utah public schools, and …

A Systematic Replication Of A Survey Of School Administrators’ And Teachers’ Views Of Discipline Referrals For Students With And Without Disabilities, Amanda Burton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated time lost to office discipline referrals (ODRs), systematically replicating a prior study (Church, 2015) in rural school districts. An on-line survey asked administrators, general education, and special education teachers in four county districts for: a) demographic information; 2) estimated minutes lost to ODRs generally, specific ODR types, and for students with (SWD) or without disabilities (not SWD); and, 3) whether the respondent’s school implemented School-wide Positive Behavior Supports (SWPBS). ODRs generally took 16.9 minutes. Special Education teachers’ time (mean 23.6 min.), was Lost time was affected by ODR type (aggression, noncompliance, disruption mean 23 min.; not finishing …

Proloquo2go Or Swiftkey Symbols: Which Leads To Better Acquisition Of Targeted Phrases For A Student With Intellectual Disability And Articulation Concerns?, Dana M. Guinn

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Having a meaningful system for expressing common needs and thoughts is important for overall quality of life for students with intellectual disability and limited expressive language. The current study was conducted to evaluate whether one communication system, Proloquo2Go ($249.99) or SwiftKey Symbols (FREE), is more effective in the acquisition of targeted expressive phrases in one student with intellectual disability who exhibited expressive communication difficulties. The student was provided with instruction in both systems using task analytic instruction and system of least prompting and encouraged to use each system at different times in a single case, alternating treatment design. Results indicated …

Examining High School Students On Their Ideas About The Social Exclusion Of Peers With Learning Difficulties, Melanie E. King

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis investigated the reasons high school students believed their peers with learning difficulties were excluded, and compared male and female responses. Participants included twenty grade twelve students who were interviewed on why they believed students with learning difficulties were excluded. Responses were analyzed (a) qualitatively to identify response themes, and (b) quantitatively to examine gender differences. Five response categories were identified including (a) thoughts and behaviours of students without learning difficulties, (b) classroom-related activities, (c) differences between students with and without learning difficulties, (d) thoughts and behaviours of students with learning difficulties, and (e) exclusion is not a problem. …

Including Students With Disabilities In Education For All: Lessons From Ethiopia, Franck Brittanny, Devin K. Joshi

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This article addresses the inclusion of students with disabilities into the Education for All and Sustainable Development Goals agenda through a case study of Ethiopia, a country aiming to promote inclusive education amidst rapidly rising school enrolments. The article begins with a review of debates concerning inclusive education in the Global South and the strategy taken by Ethiopia. It then examines how inclusive education is currently being implemented drawing on recent fieldwork at rural and urban schools in Tigray province. Through interviews, participant observation, and focus groups, we found that teachers and school administrators are generally in favour of mainstreaming …

Caregivers' And Professionals' Perceptions On Collaboration In Early Intervention, Sara J. Edwards

Theses and Dissertations

The current study explored the perceptions of collaborative practices and possible methods to overcome the challenges identified by caregivers and professionals in Early Intervention by documenting the perspectives of four multidisciplinary team members. This qualitative study included in-depth interviews with a caregiver, service coordinator, occupational therapist, and developmental therapist/hearing specialist whom all shared an Individual Family Service Plan within the past year. Data analysis revealed five major themes that included: 1) communication, 2) best practices, 3) co-treating, 4) knowledge, and 5) respect. Future research ideas and implications for caregivers, early intervention professionals, early intervention program managers, and agencies employing early …

A Panoramic View Of How Physical Activity Impacts Students With Disabilities, With An Emphasis Focused On Students On The Autism Spectrum, Alyssa K. Lane

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Today a majority of adolescents do not participate in the recommended daily level of physical activity. Students with disabilities, including students on the Autism Spectrum scale, especially lack participation in physical activity. The benefits of regular physical activity include better physical health, improved cognition, and increased social skills. However, a significant number of barriers prevent students from participating in physical activity. Lack of physical activity has severe consequences for adolescents. Students may be more susceptible to illness, develop poorer motor skills, have reduced focus ability, focus resulting in emotional hardships and fewer opportunities to socialize with peers. Educators, family, friends, …

The Effectiveness Of Interventions To Increase Parent Involvement In Special Education: A Systematic Literature Review And Meta-Analysis, Samantha E. Goldman, Meghan M. Burke

Education Department Faculty Works

Although parent involvement is required by special education law and is important for all students, the literature synthesizing studies on parent involvement has focused on the general education parent population, often without addressing students with disabilities. The purpose of this review was to descriptively synthesize the literature on parent training interventions to increase parent involvement for parents of school-age students with disabilities and to evaluate the effects of this intervention using meta-analysis. The literature on parent involvement interventions was minimal, with few recent peer-reviewed studies; all included studies focused on parent involvement in the context of Individualized Education Program (IEP) …

Universal Design Across The Curriculum: Training For Students And Teachers, Trish Mackeogh, James Hubbard, Kieran O'Callaghan

Articles

Providing an inclusive educational setting for children with disabilities is essential if they are to truly benefit from mainstream education. Universal design (UD) provides a framework to develop our classrooms, materials and methods to accommodate diverse learners and students with special educational needs without the need to retrofit or remove the student from the classroom. This paper outlines the theory and the approach of two training courses on Universal Design developed for teachers and students.

Examining Adolescent Student Photography And Related Processes To Inform Day Treatment School Curricula And Behavioral Interventions, Jason Edward Gorbel

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Adolescent students with psychiatric disorders who are educated in day treatment school classrooms manifest cognitive limitations, maladaptive behaviors, and social functioning deficits that often lead to academic failure, impeding their productivity when they become adults and causing them to run afoul of the criminal justice system. Informed by their students' interests and perspectives, day treatment schoolteachers can individualize existing curricular and behavioral interventions, or develop alternatives so that unwanted classroom behaviors decrease and academic performance improves. This qualitative case study used Roland Barthes' (1981, 1985) theory of semiotics as a conceptual framework for answering how an analysis of photographs taken …

Using Classroom Social Dynamics To Understand Classroom Adjustment By Students With Disabilities, Meera Mehtaji

Theses and Dissertations

This study aimed to understand constructs related to classroom social dynamics in a sample (n = 1863) of rural middle school students. First, it used latent profile analysis to classify classrooms based on classroom norm salience. Next, the study used the Hierarchical Linear Model to study the influence of classroom norm salience on the social roles and reputations, social network centrality, bullying involvement, and school belonging of students with disabilities. There were four major findings. First, classrooms were classified into two distinct categories based on students’ social reputations, which were positively associated with peer-nominated popularity: High Aggression Norm Salience …