Special Education and Teaching Commons^™

The Relationship Between Instructional Delivery And Academic Motivation Of Included Elementary School Students With Special Needs, Daniele L. Kass

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Federal and local school system reports demonstrate an academic achievement gap in inclusive classrooms between students with and without disabilities, prompting attention to alternative instructional practices that support motivation and performance of included students. The purpose of this concurrent nested mixed method study was to fill a void in the literature and explore the impact of interdisciplinary thematic instruction on the motivation levels and performance outcomes of 6 included 5th-grade elementary students with special needs. A multiple case study design guided observations and interviews of 3 participants receiving interdisciplinary, theme-based instruction and 3 participants who continued to receive the traditional, …

Effectiveness Of Inclusion In An Indiana Middle School, Clinton Todd Bowers

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Repeated poor performance by students with special needs on the Indiana Statewide Test of Educational Progress (ISTEP) in an Indiana middle school supported the need for instructional changes. Following the implementation of a full inclusion program, a problem arose in that the program had not been evaluated and effectiveness was in question. This study, grounded in the constructivist and social reproduction theoretical frameworks, is important in explaining the effectiveness of a fully inclusive school. Whether placing middle school aged children with special needs in inclusive classrooms in the middle school setting is an effective practice is the research question guiding …

Intrinsic Motivation Of Students With Disabilities In The General Education Setting: What Teachers Should Know And Be Able To Do, Beverly Stinson Faircloth

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) requires that students with disabilities (SWD) be educated in the least restrictive environment, while the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) requires that these students meet minimum criteria on statewide testing by 2014. This sequential explanatory mixed methods action research study, situated in Bandura's self-efficacy and Atkinson's drive theories, examined the effects of teacher training and subsequent implementation of strategies on the intrinsic motivation of SWD. Intrinsic motivation was measured using the Children's Academic Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (CAIMI) before and after the training. A repeated measures t-test analyzed the mean difference in the students' …

The Effect Of Intensive Individual Short-Term Supportive Counseling On Mentally Retarded Students, Patricia Griffin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This research examined two hypotheses involving mentally retarded students. The first hypothesis posited that an Experimental Group of subjects receiving intensive, individua~. short-term supportive counseling will display a higher rating score improvement on the five personality dimensions of confidence, maturity, self-discipline, assertiveness and independence following this counseling than will a Control Group of subjects receiving no such counseling. The second hypothesis posited that this same Experimental Group of subjects, aft~r receiving this counseling, will be distinguished by significantly higher job stability, defined as continuous and successful employment for six months following the end of counseling, than will the Control Group …

The Relationship Between Education Adn Socialization Input And Social And Behavior Outcomes, In A Controlled Group Of Educable Mentally Handicapped, Joanne Marie Higgins

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The purpose of this research project was to study the socio-economics of a controlled group of educable retardates who had completed their formal education.

In 1965 the researcher investigated the mentally retarded students enrolled in the davenport, Iowa, Taylor and Marquette Schools and compared them to their parents and siblings. The pupil’s studies comprised three groups: (1_ a trainable group represented by pupils from 25 families; (2) a group of educable mentally handicapped students with known organic involvement represented by pupils from 165 families; and (3) a group of educable mentally handicapped pupils with no known organic involvement sufficient to …