Special Education and Teaching Commons^™

Technology-Mediated Instruction In Distance Education And Teacher Preparation In Special Education, Lyndal M. Bullock, Robert A. Gable, J. Darrell Mohr

Communication Disorders & Special Education Faculty Publications

In this article, the authors examine the literature on distance education and offer a brief chronology of its past-to-present development, with special attention to the evolution of technology-mediated instruction. They document some of the major trends related to both theoretical and practical aspects of distance education. In particular, they look at the significance of the design of instruction and the importance of preserving faculty-student communication. Next, they look at the challenges as well as opportunities that distance education affords students, faculty, and institutions of higher education. Finally, the authors summarize what they believe to be major issues to be resolved …

The Emergence Of Inclusion For Students With Disabilities In Ukraine, Sharon A. Raver

Communication Disorders & Special Education Faculty Publications

Since independence in 1991, Ukraine has struggled with restructuring its Soviet style educational system. The process has been sluggish and fraught with tension, resistance, and set backs, mirroring Ukraine's efforts to revamp its economy and regain productivity levels that characterized it prior to independence (Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, 2003). One of the initiatives currently being discussed is integration of students with disabilities with their nondisabled peers in educational and social settings. The debate has prompted heated discussions and caused some to recommend a reexamination of the special education system (Zasenko, 2004). This article discusses some of the initial …

Comparison Of Perceptions Of Inclusion Between University Instructors And Students With Disabilities In Ukraine, Sharon A. Raver, Kateryna Kolchenko

Communication Disorders & Special Education Faculty Publications

Ukraine is currently involved in a heated debate about inclusion at all levels of education. This debate has become part of the country's efforts to improve human rights. Prior to independence in 1991, students with disabilities in Ukraine who desired higher education were not permitted to attend universities. How instructors and students with disabilities perceive the process of integration is important for Ukraine's continued movement toward becoming an egalitarian society. This study examined the differences in attitude regarding inclusion and university life between university instructors and students with special needs attending Open International University of Human Development “UKRAINE,” the only …

Characteristics Of Human Figure Drawings Created By Students With Learning Disabilities, Monika L. Isip

EVMS School of Health Professions Theses & Dissertations

Previous research concerning the artistic indicators of learning disabilities has yielded inconsistent results. Children with learning disabilities comprise a heterogeneous population, with diverse strengths and challenges. There has been a lack of research on the graphic indicators of learning disabilities, which takes this diversity into account. This study aimed at exploring the characteristics of Human Figure Drawings (HFDs) created by students with learning disabilities.

The study examined the HFDs of 2 Virginia Beach Public School 2nd graders who were identified by their parents as having learning disabilities; one child’s disability was described as being a decoding deficit and the other …

Sometimes, Practice Makes Imperfect: Overcoming The Automaticity Of Challenging Behavior By Linking Intervention To Thoughts, Feelings, And Action, Robert A. Gable, Richard Van Acker

Communication Disorders & Special Education Faculty Publications

In schools throughout the country, education personnel express concern over the aggressive and antisocial behavior of children and youth. The frequency and severity of these acts compel us to find more effective strategies for decreasing and eliminating these behaviors. In this article, we argue for a broader explanation of the nature and treatment of aggressive behavior, especially when it rises to what is essentially an automotive response level. We contend that both assessment and intervention must account for internal and external influences on behavior and that treatment should encompass cognitive, affective, and behavioral dimensions of the problem. Finally, we discuss …

Perspectives On Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Executive Functions, Working Memory, And Language Disabilities, Carol Westby, Silvana Watson

Communication Disorders & Special Education Faculty Publications

The conceptualization of the nature of attention deficit hyper-activity disorder (ADHD) has changed in the last decade. ADHD is now viewed as a neurologically based condition with primary deficits in executive functions and working memory (WM). Students with ADHD have deficits in discourse organization, inferring, and monitoring that are related to their executive function and WM deficits. A large number of students with ADHD also have comorbid reading and language disabilities that exist in addition to the deficits directly associated with the ADHD. Comprehensive evaluation of students with ADHD is essential to address their specific learning needs

Hard Times And An Uncertain Future: Issues That Confront The Field Of Emotional/Behavioral Disorders, Robert A. Gable

Communication Disorders & Special Education Faculty Publications

In this article, I examine challenges to better preparing teachers of students with emotional/behavioral disorders (E/BD). Foremost among these challenges is the lack of agreement regarding a conceptual framework upon which to build quality prevention/intervention practices; instead, various authorities advocate disparate approaches, not all of which have empirical support. I assert that unresolved issues surrounding translating scientific research into classroom practice further hinder efforts to apply the most efficacious intervention options, as does our failure to exert control over the infrastructure of public education and the context in which we serve students with E/BD. Finally, I offer some modest proposals …

Integrating Academic And Non-Academic Instruction For Students With Emotional/Behavioral Disorders, Robert A. Gable, Jo M. Hendrickson, Stephen W. Tonelson, Richard Van Acker

Communication Disorders & Special Education Faculty Publications

Students with emotional/behavioral disorders exhibit a wide range of academic and behavioral problems. Not surprisingly, there is growing support for integrating instruction to address overlapping students' needs in both areas. In this article, we discuss instructional variables that contribute to a positive classroom climate and that serve as setting events for more focused group-individual instructional programs. We draw on the accumulated research to identify common non-academic challenges that should be incorporated into those programs. We examine issues that relate to the efficacy of instruction and also the cultural and chronological age differences among students and how they relate to planning …

India: Training Teachers For Children With Mental Retardation, Sharon A. Raver

Communication Disorders & Special Education Faculty Publications

India is a country of contradictions. On one hand, India is a modern country moving toward becoming a world leader in computer technology and boasts the second most computer literate population in the world (Babington, 2000; Kumar, 1999). On the other hand, India is a developing nation with 14 constitutionally recognized languages, 25% of the world's malnourished (Babington, 2000), and a majority that practices customs in everyday life that are 5,000 year old (Kumar, 1999). India is rich in natural resources and yet, because its population grows as quickly as its economy, it has one of the world's lowest per-capita …

Putting Quality Functional Assessment Into Practice In Schools: A Research Agenda On Behalf Of E/Bd Students, Mary M. Quinn, Robert A. Gable, Jim Fox, Robert B. Rutheford Jr., Richard Van Acker, Maureen Conroy

Communication Disorders & Special Education Faculty Publications

The discipline provisions of the IDEA place emphasis on gaining an understanding of why the student is motivated to engage in problem behavior and to consider, when appropriate, positive behavioral interventions, strategies, and supports to address the behavior. These legislative mandates bring center stage a range of new duties and responsibilities for the IEP team. This article discusses the problems that school divisions across the country are encountering when implementing these requirements and recommends a course of research to address these issues.

Evaluation Of A Distance Learning Program For The Preparation Of Special Education Teachers, Tami Seifert

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

The primary purpose of this research was to evaluate the efficacy of the distance learning Commonwealth Special Education Endorsement Program (CSEEP) delivered by Old Dominion University. The CSEEP program was designed to address economic and geographic barriers confronting teachers seeking to complete requirements for endorsement in special education, improve the quality of education teachers, help reduce the shortage of fully licensed special education teachers, and increase teacher retention in special education.

This evaluation was designed to assess program results, examine the effectiveness of the program, and determine the impact on both the participants and the schools, and identify ways to …

Strategies For Maintaining Positive Behavior Change Stemming From Functional Behavioral Assessment In Schools, Robert A. Gable, Jo M. Hendrickson

Communication Disorders & Special Education Faculty Publications

Nationwide, schools are struggling to prepare IEP teams and other school personnel to conduct functional behavioral assessment and develop positive behavioral intervention plans and supports. While there is a growing evidence that functional behavioral assessment is effective in identifying the reason(s) behind student misbehavior, less is known about producing positive, long-term changes that are both functionally and socially relevant. Drawing upon the available research, we explore an emerging technology for promoting maintenance and generalization of behavior change. We discuss various strategies and procedures and offer recommendations to IEP teams regarding maintaining positive changes in student behavior that stem from functional …

The Effects Of Inclusion Of Students With Learning Disabilities On Urban Fourth-Grade General Education Students, Brenda E. Cox

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

This study examined the impact of fully included students with learning disabilities on the academic achievement and classroom behavior of urban elementary fourth grade students. To achieve these purposes, data were collected by using the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills Multilevel Battery (ITBS) of general education students and students with at-risk profiles, Kaufman Tests of Educational Achievement (KTEA) of students with disabilities, completed Individualized Education Program (IEP) objectives of students with disabilities, report card grades of all students, and referrals to principal for inappropriate behavior of all students. Staff and parent surveys and student interviews were another source of data. …

Can Everyone Make The Grade? Some Thoughts On Student Grading And Contemporary Classrooms, Jo M. Hendrickson, Robert A. Gable, M. Lee Manning

Communication Disorders & Special Education Faculty Publications

High school officials should consider alternative perspectives on grading in light of increasing student heterogeneity. Their challenge is to consider grading policies and practices that apply equally to students with and without diverse needs or disabilities. Schools should think about incorporating various combinations of percent, criterion-referenced, and norm-referenced grading into a more flexible policy on grading; ensure that student expectations are unambiguously described in writing and in sufficient detail; and subject their policies on grading to periodic review and be prepared to make any necessary modifications. Moreover, schools should collaborate with various stakeholders to develop policies on grading that guarantee …

Program Practices In An Urban School District For Serving Students Identified As Emotionally Disturbed In The Least Restrictive Environment, Leigh L. Butler

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

This research examined current educational practices utilized by administrators and teachers to provide services to students with emotional disturbances in an urban school district in the least restrictive environment. In addition, training needs to improve the delivery of education services to students identified as emotionally disturbed also were identified. Data was gathered through the use of a survey and was expanded through focus group interviews. All schools in the urban school district which provide services to students identified as emotionally disturbed were requested to participate in this research. Surveys were distributed to special education and regular education teachers who provided …

A Secondary Student Instructional Support Team (Assist): Teachers Face The Challenge Of Student Diversity, Robert A. Gable, M. Lee Manning, Jo M. Hendrickson, Joseph P. Rogan

Communication Disorders & Special Education Faculty Publications

The writers discuss the challenges related to instructing a diverse secondary-level student population. Many elementary and middle school teachers are benefiting from working collaboratively toward common instructional goals. Through collaboration, general and special education teachers can better address the content area needs of the individual students, foster a greater sense of shared responsibility for educating a heterogeneous population of students, increase communication across professional disciplines, enlarge the knowledge base and teaching repertoire of participants, and establish rewarding and long-lasting professional relationships. The concept of A Secondary Student Instructional Support Team (ASSIST) provides a realistic means for implementing the “class within …

Functional Assessment As Strategy Assessment For Teaching Academics, Jo Mary Hendrickson, Robert A. Gable, Christy Novak, Stephanie Peck

Communication Disorders & Special Education Faculty Publications

Functional assessment of aggressive, aberrant, and challenging behavior has dominated the literature with relatively little attention given to the potential utility of functional assessment in academics. The purpose of this article is to advocate functional strategy assessment as a procedure for acquiring data to support the formulation of intervention hypotheses by school-based personnel with the aim of improving the academic performance of students with emotional and behavioral disorders. A functional strategy assessment model is presented, and two case illustrations are employed to demonstrate the feasibility of this assessment model for use by practitioners. Examples of both an individual and small …

A Formative Analysis Of The Full Integration Of Students With Severe And Profound Disabilities In Age-Appropriate Elementary School Classrooms, Nancy Cheshire Rosenblatt

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

This research was conducted in a large urban elementary school where six students with severe and profound disabilities (SPD) were integrated fully in age-appropriate classrooms. The purpose of the research was to collect evidence regarding the effectiveness of this full-integration program. The results were as follows: (1) Reading and math achievement scores were not affected by the presence of an SPD student in the classroom except for in grade 4 where apparently math achievement was affected adversely. (2) Fourth graders in classes with a fully-integrated SPD student had more positive attitudes about persons with disabilities than students in the control …

Neural Network Based Vowel Articulation Training Aid For The Deaf, Andrew E. Beck

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Teaching the hearing-impaired to speak is both a challenging and rewarding task. Computer-based training aids are valuable teaching tools and complement the speech therapist in the speech training process. We have developed a computer based vowel articulation training aid designed to provide visual feedback for vowel production to the hearing-impaired user. This system transforms speech spectra from a multi-dimensional acoustic space to a two-dimensional phonetic space which is displayed on a computer monitor. The system signal processing includes feature extraction designed to mimic the properties of the human ear, and a transformation to a two-dimensional display space. The dimensionality transformation …

Psychosocial Developmental Levels Of Freshman Urban University Students With Learning Disabilities, Nancy Ann Wolthuis Olthoff

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

This research study addressed the question, "Is there a difference in psychosocial developmental levels, as defined by Arthur Chickering, between male and female traditional-aged urban university freshmen with and without learning disabilities?" Twenty students with learning disabilities, as diagnosed by independent practitioners who exhibited spelling disabilities on a writing sample placement test, were compared to two comparable groups of twenty students. One comparison group did not exhibit spelling disability. The second group while demonstrating spelling problems, did not have documentation of learning disabilities. The Student Developmental Task and Lifestyle Inventory, a measure of Arthur Chickering's theory of psychosocial development, was …

A Comparative Study Of Teacher Burnout In Regular And Special Elementary And Secondary Teachers, Carolyn Yvonne Wells Simmons

Communication Disorders & Special Education Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine to what extent, if any, does stress resulting in burnout differ among regular and special educators. Three hundred regular and special education teachers in the public school systems of Chesapeake and Portsmouth, Virginia participated in the study, The regular teachers represented a range of educational levels from kindergarten to twelfth grade, The special education teachers represented a range of educational levels from pre-school to the senior high level and from self-contained classes to resource rooms. A 2x2 analysis of variance was used to analyze the data. Rank ordering of the mean scores …

Burnout Among Elementary And Secondary Special Education Teachers In Self-Contained And Resource Classrooms, Pamela Knox Jones

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The goals of the present study were threefold: (1) to determine if there is a difference in the degree of reported burnout between elementary and secondary special education teachers, (2) to determine if there is a difference in the degree of reported burnout between self-contained and resource special education teachers, and (3) to identify the characteristics inherent in the role of special education teachers that best predict the presence of burnout. Ninety-three subjects from three school systems responded to a 16-item Likert scale describing potential correlates of

burnout, the Maslach Burnout Inventory, and a demographic data sheet. Type of class, …

The Effects Of Modeling And Direct Instruction On Learning Disabled Children's Atypical Numerical Cognition, Mary Crossland Phelps

Communication Disorders & Special Education Theses & Dissertations

Despite the widespread nature of mathematical learning disabilities, research within this area has been minimal. This study investigated the basis of atypical numerical concept development. Seriation, one of the most important components of concrete logical reasoning, was studied to determine the existence of a developmental delay or horizontal decalage in the Piagetian stage transition from preoperational to concrete operational thought. The influence of modeling and modeling plus direct instruction on the induction of seriation behavior was examined, using 60 learning disabled children and 40 remedial math students in a 4 x 2 analysis of covariance. Students were selected on the …

A Comparison Of Emotionally Disturbed Adolescents' Math Achievement On The Wrat Piat And Key Math, Bridget Dalton Gorman

Communication Disorders & Special Education Theses & Dissertations

This study investigated performance on the Key Math, WRAT Arithmetic and FIAT Math subtests. One hundred thirty emotionally disturbed adolescents undergoing inpatient treatment at a psychiatric hospital were administered the FIAT and WRAT. Sixty low math achievers were also administered the Key Math. Sixty-five subjects each were assigned to the Average Achievement and Below Average Achievement groups based on FIAT total test scores, FIAT math and WRAT arithmetic grade equivalent scores (GE) and standard scores (SS) correlated significantly for all groups. Key Math GE scores correlated significantly with FIAT math and WRAT arithmetic GE scores. Analyses of variance were computed …

The Effect Of Syntactic Structure And Semantics Of The Comprehension Of Content Area Prose By Mainstreamed Learning Disabled Adolescents, Kathleen Charlotte Shelton

Communication Disorders & Special Education Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of syntactic structure and/or semantics on the comprehensibility of content area prose. The population consisted of learning disabled junior high school students who were mainstreamed into a minimum of four out of six regular classes. Drawn from subjects obtaining parental permission, 92 students were selected utilizing a table of random numbers to constitute the sample. The subjects were randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups or a control group and were administered a history textbook passage that contained syntactic and/or semantic changes or one that contained no changes. The …

A Study Of The Predictive Utility Of Search As A Means Of Early Identification Of Potential Learning Problems, Sheila Ann Miller

Communication Disorders & Special Education Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this research study was to assess the predictive utility of SEARCH, a screening instrument for the identification of potential learning problems. The 46 subjects of this study were drawn from the kindergarten and first grade population of Norfolk Christian School, a private independent school in Norfolk, Virginia.

Both concurrent and predictive criterion validity were assessed using the statistical analyses of Pearson Product-Moment Correlation and stepwise multiple regression.

The results of this study revealed a significant positive correlation between the number of SEARCH subtests passed and the Metropolitan Readiness Test composite raw score. Correlational analysis also yielded slight …

Intervention Effects Of A Crisis-Resource Program In A Public School, Marcella A. Kerlin

Communication Disorders & Special Education Theses & Dissertations

No abstract.

The Social Status Of Special Class Emr Adolescents Assigned Part-Time To Public School Regular Classes, Margaret E. Carter

Communication Disorders & Special Education Theses & Dissertations

No abstract.

An Interdisciplinary Semantic Analysis Of Labels For "Emotional Disturbance", Mary Lou Green

Communication Disorders & Special Education Theses & Dissertations

A systematic pilot investigation of connotative differences in the meaning of commonly used labels for "emotional disturbance" was undertaken with psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, elementary-education teachers, special-education teachers, and counselors in the Tidewater area of Virginia. The Semantic Differential technique de eloped by Osgood (1952) was selected as the method of investigation, and an instrument was prepared from a sample of the professional and nonprofessional populations through the use of a modified paper-and-pencil free association. A 35-scale instrument was developed from this procedure and administered to a sample of 100 graduate and undergraduate students at Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia. …

A Comparison Of The Perceptual And Motor Abilities Of Learning Disabled And Normal Students At Ages Eleven And Twelve, Rachel Adams Thompson

Human Movement Studies & Special Education Theses & Dissertations

No abstract.