Special Education and Teaching Commons^™

What Are Appropriate Interventions And Treatment Programs For Children With Severe Autism In An Educational Setting?, Michelle Leicht

Graduate Research Papers

This project describes professional development sessions to assist educators in implementing interventions and treatment programs for children with severe autism in an educational setting.

The questions this project will address include: (1) What interventions and treatment program for children with severe autism are available to use in an educational setting, (2) What research supports interventions and treatment programs for children with severe autism, (3) How can they be implemented into the classroom, and (4) How can professional development sessions be implemented to assist teachers?

The professional development sessions described in this project include four two-hour sessions. The purpose of these …

Iep Team Decision-Making Process In The Reintegration Of Special Education Students: A Qualitative Analysis Of Exiting Decisions, Kenneth G. Hayes

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to take an in-depth look at the decision-making process that an IEP team goes through regarding the reintegration of special education students. In particular, this study looked at the exiting criteria used by an IEP team in determining whether or not a student should be exited back into the general education classroom prior to graduation. Furthermore, using Raven's (1992) Power/Interaction Model as the theoretical framework, this study also looked at the beliefs, perceptions, and attitudes of an IEP team that were adopted through the processes involved in exiting students from special education programs.

The …

Iep Meetings: What Are The Strategies That Make An Iep Meeting Successful?, Maria T. Cashman

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

All students who receive special education services have one thing in common. They each have an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) designed specifically for him/her. The IEP is a valuable document that guides the special education services for a student. It is imperative that parents have a significant role in the development, implementation, and review of the IEP.

For this study, interviews were used to understand the strategies that assist parents in achieving active participation during their child's IEP conference. Six parents of sophomore, junior, and senior high students were interviewed. Three parents were identified as "involved", which means they were …

There Are No Winners Here: Teacher Thinking And Student Underachievement In The 6th Grade, Sue L. Pettit

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The following ethnographic study was conducted with 6^th grade teachers in a middle school that has been stigmatized by the public as a failing school and cited by the government as a School in Need of Assistance according to the No Child Left Behind Act. The purpose of the study was to examine what teachers believe about persistent underachievement in order to shed light on whether teacher beliefs inform teachers' efforts to ameliorate underachievement. As my study progressed, my research data suggested that teachers use a faulty testing curriculum that guarantees poor student performance and only serves to confirm …

Relationship Between Pre-Service Physical Education Teachers’ Value Orientation In Curriculum Decisions And Attitudes Towards Teaching Students With Disabilities, Wing Yin Tai

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between pre-service teachers' value orientation in making curriculum decisions and their attitudes toward teaching students with disabilities. Results of this study will provide suggestions for current teacher education curricula and help pre-service teachers meet the demands in inclusive settings. Participants in this study included 49 volunteer junior and senior students at the University of Northern Iowa majoring in Physical Education (Teaching). Data collection in this study was achieved through a questionnaire that included the Value Orientation Inventory (VOi-SF) and the Physical Educators' Attitudes toward Individuals with Disabilities III (PEATID-III). The …

Trends In Family-Centered Early Intervention, Jody Lee Albertson

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Family-centered early intervention services have been evolving for quite some time, and the role of the family in intervention for children with disabilities has changed drastically. Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) mandated the family-centeredness of early intervention services, which is evident in the services and supports a family receives, the Individualized Family Services Plan document, and service coordination activities. The Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) then conducts compliance monitoring to gauge whether states are in compliance with IDEA. State monitoring reports are available to the public online.

The purpose of this study was to …

Iowa’S Special Education Mediators: Potted Plants Negotiating For A Place In The Sunlight, A Qualitative Examination Of Personal Philosophy And Perceived Power, Amber Elizabeth Benedict

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

On November 19, 2004 the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was reauthorized by the American government. Within the reauthorization, IDEA now includes provisions [20 USC§ 1415 (d-e)] requiring mediation as an alternative to due process litigation. Prior to filing for a due process hearing, parents of children with specific disabilities must consider mediation as an option for resolving disputes concerning a child's special education program. Although mediation has been heralded as a successful dispute resolution tool, little is known about the process preferences or role of the mediator. An understanding of the philosophies and approaches of mediators may assist …

Building Relationships With Students At-Risk, Joanna L. Rahnavardi

Graduate Research Papers

The term at-risk refers to any set of circumstances that have a cause and effect relationship on the student's success. Students defined as at-risk can be a challenging group of students to work with in the classroom and in a counseling setting. This paper will define students at-risk, discuss factors related to students at-risk, and methods to better reach and work with the student at-risk. While building relationships with students at-risk, the counselor's goal is to improve school success, model positive adult relationships, decrease dropout rates of students at-risk, have a more positive school and classroom climate, and improve graduation …

The Role Of Today's High School Counselor In Working With Students With Special Needs, Josh T. Carnelley

Graduate Research Papers

This paper presents the rationale, history, and the legislation that has impacted school counselors' work with special needs students. This paper discusses the many roles a school counselor plays in working with this population. These roles include, but are not limited to, personal counseling, group counseling, classroom guidance, consulting with teachers, consulting with families, career and postsecondary plans, and the involvement of the counselor in the evaluation process. Concluding statements from the author will revisit the many roles of the counselor and implications for working with this population in the future.

Is Inclusion Working At One Middle School In Iowa?, Brett Alan Fischels

Graduate Research Papers

This study investigated how the inclusive special education program was operating at Thompson Middle School in Southeast Iowa. Three conclusions were found. First, a majority of the teachers interviewed felt inclusive education was having a positive impact on all students. Second, most of interviewees felt the administrators needed to provide more resources to insure success. Finally, the more years teaching experience an educator possessed, the less they viewed inclusive education as having a positive impact. Recommendations are made to address these conclusions.

Literature Response Journals And Students Entitled To Special Education Services, Andrea J. Safina

Graduate Research Papers

This article examined the types of responses students entitled to level 1 and level 2 special education services made in their journals when responding to books read aloud by a special education teacher. The books chosen to be read aloud were from different genres and about varying topics. The responses were also examined to see if the genre read had any impact on the students' responses.

The responses made by the students fell into eight categories and genre did not affect the response pattern when students were responding to books read aloud by the teacher. The students still made more …

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Students In The Classroom : An Overview Of Strategies And Implications For Educators, Emily Olson

Graduate Research Papers

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) is a very serious disease that is affecting more and more students in schools across America each year. Each of these students with FAS have different levels of severity of the disease and individual needs, but there are general and universal interventions and strategies that can be used by educators when working in the schools with these students. The following is an overview of some of these interventions and strategies that can be used with FAS students. Also included are implications for school psychologists and other educators for development and education in this area to better …

Family-Centered Early Intervention : Principles And Process, Jody Albertson

Graduate Research Papers

This literature review begins by discussing the background and history of family-centered early intervention. State monitoring reports from the Office of Special Education Programs are discussed as evidence that there is a need for education and clarification regarding family-centered early intervention. Various viewpoints are reviewed regarding the definition and principles of family-centered services. The process of family-centered services is then discussed with a focus on assessment service delivery, and evaluation of services. In the discussion of family-centered assessment, the concept of family-centered assessment is discussed and various tools used in completing family-centered assessment are described. In the discussion of service …

Universal Design For Learning, Cindy Mudroch

Graduate Research Papers

This literature review identifies the Universal Design for Learning or UDL method, which consists of educators representing information in multiple formats while providing numerous pathways for students' expression and several ways to engage students' interest and motivation. UDL is one way to address the NCLB (No Child Left Behind) act with a solution that will not only benefit the special needs children, but all children.

With UDL, student curriculum focuses on every child during the design phase. Graphic organizers are a part of every textbook and aide to understand the main topics. Assistive technology devices are available to all children, …

Reading Between The "Signs", Sarah Durchenwald/Williamson

Graduate Research Papers

Teaching reading to hearing students, with the supplemental support of American Sign • Language, is a relatively new concept. Many components associated with sign language reinforce basic concepts of English. It teaches individual letter sounds, and names, and many of the signs for words emphasize beginning sounds, as well as meaning. Another important component of sign language is its bodily kinesthetic form of learning. Many students in public schools today are not learning through traditional teaching strategies. Incorporating sign language provides a multi-sensory approach to literal hands-on learning.

The following research outlines the principles behind teaching effectively using sign language …

An Investigation Of The Types Of Support Identified As Necessary By Secondary Classroom Teachers In Iowa School Districts For The Inclusion Of Students Identified As Behaviorally Disabled, Rick Alan Ironside

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This study investigated the type of supports secondary general educators in Iowa school districts identified as minimal to include children with behavioral disabilities. It also analyzed the differences in the types of support secondary general educators identified to include children with behavioral disabilities into the general education classroom.

A total of 251 teachers from 147 school districts reacted to an assigned scenario that described a student with a behavioral disability by completing a self-reporting survey on the actual supports they received and minimal support needs preferred to include the student described in the assigned scenario into their classroom. General education …

Indivisible, With An Education For All : Differentiation Strategies Used In A Multi-Categorical Classroom, Stephanie Elizabeth Francis

Graduate Research Papers

This article focuses on a pilot study that examines the effectiveness of differentiation strategies when used in a multi-categorical classroom. The writer, a gifted and talented facilitator in a rural Iowa school district, team taught with two other teachers in a classroom where identified learning-disabled and gifted students were clustered together. The purpose of this clustering was to determine the impact of alternative strategies upon special needs students when implemented in a common learning environment. The writer concludes that with careful planning, differentiation can be a positive instructional strategy in a multi-categorical classroom. She also offers recommendations for educators and …

A Qualitative Inquiry Into Why And How Special Educators Leave The Field, Jane E. Caraway

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this inquiry was to take an in-depth look at special educators’ decisions to leave the field of special education through their personal reflective stories. The study examined factors that influenced why these teachers made their decision to leave their chosen field. It also ventured into how those decisions were made in terms of the complex and personal events preceding their final departures. Throughout the inquiry the phenomena of special education teacher attrition was held up to a work adjustment framework. The framework explored the job satisfaction of these teachers during their experiences in special education and documented …

Increasing Social Interactions With Peers In A Preschool Boy With Autism: The Effects Of A Package Intervention, Annette Marie Hyde

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The social and communication skills of children with autism have been a focus of considerable attention over the past 25 years. Research has produced a wealth of strategies to increase these social skills, including joint action routines, peer mediation and social skills training, affection activities, and incidental teaching. The purpose of the present investigation was to examine the effects of a package intervention on the social interactions of a five-year-old boy with autism. A multiple baseline design was used to examine this package intervention consisting of structured play activities, teacher involvement with the children, training in joint action routines and …

Two Instructional Approaches - The Electric Maze And The Direct Instructional Model-For Teaching At- Risk Kindergarten Students Alphabet Letter Names, Sherry Marie Jack

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This paper compares the effectiveness of two instructional approaches for teaching the names of alphabet letters to 5 and 6 year-old elementary students who were at risk for academic failure. The literature review examines investigations which had previously addressed the direct instructional model and parameters of active learning. In this context, a variety of perspectives regarding active learning are reviewed followed by a finer examination of self-corrective materials which was a unique component of the active learning paradigm used in this investigation. Nine (N = 9) elementary children were taught the names of five randomly chosen letters (upper and lower …

A Review Of Empirically Based Preference Assessments' Ability To Identify Reinforcers For Individuals With Disabilities, Jennifer A. Sellers

Graduate Research Papers

Research on empirically based preference assessments has been conducted to determine their effectiveness in identifying reinforcers. This paper reviews the effectiveness of five empirically based preference assessment procedures in identifying reinforcers for individuals with disabilities. The procedures are discussed in relationship to reinforcer-based treatments. The five preference assessment procedures reviewed are: 1) single stimulus, 2) paired choice, 3) multiple stimulus, 4) triad, and 5) verbal. The preference assessments differed in the number of highly reinforcing stimuli they identified, whether or not they provided rank orders of reinforcers, and the amount of time it took to conduct them. All of the …

Development Of Writing Through Journaling With Senior Educable Mentally Handicapped, Bonita M. Custer

Graduate Research Papers

Recognizing that many senior high school students who are labeled Educable Mentally Handicapped (the term used in Nebraska) have had few opportunities to have fulfilling experiences in school, a rich literature-based language arts program was developed for a class. This group had many opportunities to respond with their ideas and feelings, one of which was journaling.

As the school year progressed, I, as their teacher, found that I was modifying and changing my daily instructional plans because their reading and writing generated ideas and instructional needs. In their journals, they began to write more freely with more skill and creativity. …

Curricular And Instructional Adaptations For Special Needs Students In The General Education Setting, Kelly Bohning

Graduate Research Papers

The primary focus of this article is to address when regular education teachers should make adaptations for students in the general education setting and to determine the kinds of adaptations that general education teachers can make for their students. This article also links curricular and instructional adaptations to the research on effective schools. Steps for setting up an inclusive science classroom are presented. Various adaptations in the science classroom are discussed. The findings of this research report indicate that there are a variety of instances where it is appropriate for teachers to make adaptations for students in the general education …

The Impact Of Technology Integration On The Elementary Classroom With Reading Disabled Students, Donna Heying

Graduate Research Papers

The content of this paper will discuss and review the current literature in the area of technology integration in the elementary classroom, especially those classrooms with learning disabled students. The areas to be covered in this paper include technology's impact on student learning, legal reasons to use technology in the classroom, effective integration principles for technology integration, software and equipment for learning disabled students, Internet integration, and web-based instruction. All of these areas have an influence on how technology is integrated into the elementary classrooms and how effective that technology can be.

Collaborative Education : Working Together Toward Accommodating All Learners In The Regular Classroom, Anita A. Quirk

Graduate Research Papers

The purpose of this article is to inform readers about the efficacy of collaborative teaching. A review of pull-out resource room structure is presented, focusing on the amount of time students miss from the regular classroom. Scheduling is mentioned as a concern, as pull-out students are away from their regular classroom peers and environment for extended periods of time. Its effective and appropriate links to PL 94-142, PL 101-476, and the IDEA are presented.

Collaborative teaching is then defined as an alternative to students being pulled out to receive resource room services. The premises of collaborative teaching are shared. Included …

Home Visits : Building A Team Approach With Families With Children With Special Needs, Linda S. Jacoby

Graduate Research Papers

This paper is a review of the literature concerning home visits as a means of team building with families with children who have special needs. The primary focus is to consider the needs, problems, and guidelines for conducting home visits. Home visits have a lengthy history in early childhood education. They offer some unique insights and opportunities for educators and families. Careful planning and follow-up is necessary for a successful program.

Criticisms of home visits concern primarily the issues of limited financial resources and time constraints. Planning, scheduling, and conducting the visit are discussed in this paper; also, a discussion …

The Impact Of Idea 1997 On Teachers' Beliefs And Collaborative Practices As Participants On Iep Teams At One Middle School, Mary Ann Walsh Schroeder

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the impact of the IDEA Amendments of 1997 on teachers' beliefs and collaborative practices as participants on IEP Teams at one middle school. Regular educators are now required to serve as members of IEP Teams for students identified with special needs, the majority of whom will now be served in the regular classroom. Collaboration, the process of interactions between regular and special educators to provide instruction in inclusive settings, was the practice investigated. This study examines laws and policies, teachers' beliefs, supports and barriers, collaborative practices, and evidence of change over …

Nurturing At-Risk Students' Writing Abilities, Carol A. Schmidt

Graduate Research Papers

The purpose of this journal article was to review current professional literature on the writing process and the importance of voice in writing and then to design and implement a writing program for at-risk sixth grade students. The writing process is an effective means for children to create meaning, especially for at-risk students.

In the writing process, the writer's voice gives the best sense of a writer's potential. This driving force was the basis of the instructional project in writing developed for at-risk sixth grade students.

Helping Children With Difficulties Learn : An Overview, Sherry Marie Jack

Graduate Research Papers

The purpose of this paper is to integrate multiple variables related to learning for children with special needs. Regarding the first variable, intelligence, the paper considers its history, development, and biological foundations. Gardner's contemporary theory of Multiple Intelligence is also discussed. Then a discussion of learning styles, including the history, identification procedures and matching styles to instruction, is provided. Finally, the paper takes a historical journey through the learning process, to discuss the works of numerous authors in their related fields.

Dimensions Of Roles, Responsibilities, Training Background And Needs, Policies, And Procedures For Paraeducators Dealing With Students With Special Needs, Beverly Anne Plagge

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The problem of this research study was to delineate and synthesize the roles, responsibilities, skill level, and training background and needs of paraeducators working with students with special needs from a state that requires paraeducator certification and a state that does not require paraeducator certification. The five core areas of roles and responsibilities were: (a) instructional support, (b) behavior management, (c) diagnostic support, (d) classroom organization, and (e) personal care assistance from the special education paraeducator and the special education teacher who teams with the paraeducator. Very few differences existed between what paraeducators and their teachers felt were appropriate and …