Special Education and Teaching Commons^™

The Development And Evaluation Of A Planning Guide And Inservice To Assist Middle School Personnel In Serving Students With Disabilities Via 504 Plans, Aimee Miller

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

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 specifically prohibits the discrimination of individuals with disabilities who participate in federally funded programs, including public education. Public education is a major recipient of federal funds and has struggled to apply the law to their practice. As the Office of Civil Rights (the administrator of Section 504) became more rigorous in enforcing this legislation, schools became more frustrated with the vagueness of the requirements and the eligibility standards. To date, schools still lack explicit direction and instruction on how to help students that may qualify for added accommodations, but do not qualify …

Picture Books And Literacy Development For Children Who Are Deaf Or Hard Of Hearing, Lichelle Slater

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

In the past decade, research has focused on children’s literature and how it can facilitate literacy development (LaCour, McDonald, Tissington, Thomason, 2013; Lee, 2010). Although current research has identified the importance of age-appropriate literacy development for children who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH), few studies have explored the character representations depicted in current picture books, and their cultural and individual impact on children who are DHH. To gain a better understanding of the availability of books in which deafness or hearing loss is addressed, or books in which children who are DHH are featured characters, a search of …

The Mainstream Kindergarten Teacher's Perspective Of Pragmatic Skills Of Children Who Are Deaf Or Hard Of Hearing Aligned With Common Core Standards, Marianne Ingram Huish

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

Pragmatics, or social/emotional skills are learned early in life by most typically developing children (DeLuzio, Girolametto, 2011). According to the American SpeechLanguage-Hearing Association (ASHA), social/emotional skills involve three major communication strategies. These include 1) using language for different purposes such as greeting, informing, requesting, 2) changing language depending on the relationship with the listener, and 3) following conversational and storytelling rules such as taking turns in conversation, staying on topic, using non-verbal signals, and maintaining appropriate body position and eye contact (ASHA, 2013). Social/emotional skills among children entering into the mainstream kindergarten setting, according to early childhood core state standards, …

Increasing Teacher Instructional Behaviors While Engaged In Direct Instruction Through The Use Of Videotaping, Linda Olson

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

First year special education teachers enter an extremely complex and challenging profession. Even those who come from strong university preparation programs need substantial coaching to become effective in the many responsibilities of a special education teacher. Among the crucial targets of this kind of coaching program are basic, essential, effective teaching skills. This creative project took place within the context of a broad mentoring program developed by the author. It focused on evaluating one component of that program: video-supported coaching on essential effective teaching skills. The teaching skills here were: (a) providing frequent opportunities for student responses (OTRs), (b) error …

Dual Language Learners Home Literacy Environment: A Training Workshop For Head Start Professionals, Kerry A. Shea

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

Given that demographic statistics in early childhood settings show an increase in the number of children who are Dual Language Learners (DLLs), it is necessary to provide early childhood education professionals with information and skill-building opportunities regarding how to best serve DLL children. Head Start, a federally funded preschool for children and families living in poverty, provides services for an increasing number of DLLs. Head Start professionals are in need of effective professional development about DLLs and their families. This study examined the effects of a training on Head Start professionals' knowledge and skills for working with DLL families. Participants …

The Effects Of Mnemonics To Increase Accuracy Of Multiplication Facts In Upper-Elementary School Students With Mild To Moderate Disabilities, Logan James Eubanks

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

The intent of this project is to replicate a specific instructional method used in Wood et al.’s study focusing on the use of the pegword mnemonic strategy paired with stories and illustrations for 15 targeted multiplication facts remaining after mastering math facts in the zeros, ones, twos, fives, or nines groups. Three questions will be asked during this project on the effects of mnemonic instruction using pegword strategies on the percentage of multiplication facts answered correctly by third, fourth, and fifth grade students with learning disabilities? 1) Does pegword instruction paired with stories and illustrations result in immediate improvement for …

The Development And Evaluation Of An In-Service Training For Informing Elementary School Personnel About Culturally Responsive Assessment And Instruction For English Language Learning Students, Mallory Whitney Poole

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

The purpose of this project is to develop and present a training session for elementary school teachers and other Personnel who teach and work with English Language Learners (ELL). The training provides information on evidence based instructional strategies to help teachers improve their teaching methods with students who speak languages other than English. The lack of teacher knowledge in utilizing culturally and linguistically responsive teaching methods may be contributing to the over identification of ELLs in special education. This situation reinforces the need for additional teacher training for those who teach students from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. This creative …

Instructional Strategies For Implementing Utah's Early Childhood Core Standards, Mark R. Noyce

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

Children who are pre-lingually deaf or hard of hearing are often delayed in the acquisition and development of spoken language. Educators of the deaf and hard of hearing, of necessity, adapt and modify curriculum to ameliorate the delays inherent with hearing loss. Teachers utilize specialized strategies and techniques of presentation to adjust to the language and communication learning needs of children with hearing loss.
Curricula are written to identify the developmental sequence of concepts and skills expected of typically developing children. The Utah Early Childhood Core Standards (UECCS) was established to help prepare children to have the pre-requisite skills and …

Criteria For Transition For Self-Contained Classrooms, Christopher S. Marden

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

This project was an effort to ascertain what skills regular and/or resource teachers require of self-contained students with learning disabilities in order to transition successfully in their classrooms. A twenty-one-question survey was given to regular and resource teachers in four junior high schools. This survey questioned teachers with regards to what the minimal academic, behavioral and procedural criteria should be mastered before students transition into regular classrooms. Once this information is received, self-contained teachers may analyze their curriculum, behavioral and classroom procedures to better mirror the requirements and the realities of the regular and/or resource classrooms.

Technology And The Self-Directed Iep: Improving Meeting Participation For Students With Severe Disabilities, Crystal Ann Stringham

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

Students with a Specific Learning Disability (SLD) often experience challenges when transitioning to postsecondary education institutions after high school. A unique challenge involves filling out forms in order to registered for college. One of several components to a successful transition to postsecondary settings requires students to complete application forms. The purpose of this project is to examine the effects of direct instruction (DI) on increased performance of filling out college application forms of students with SLD in a special education classroom. Participants included eight high school students, ages 17 to 18, with a SLD. The intervention in this study involved …

The Effects Of Direct Instruction On Completing College Application Forms Of Students With Learning Disabilities, Allyson White

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

Students with a Specific Learning Disability (SLD) often experience challenges when transitioning to postsecondary education institutions after high school. A unique challenge involves filling out forms in order to registered for college. One of several components to a successful transition to postsecondary settings requires students to complete application forms. The purpose of this project is to examine the effects of direct instruction (DI) on increased performance of filling out college application forms of students with SLD in a special education classroom. Participants included eight high school students, ages 17 to 18, with a SLD. The intervention in this study involved …

Effects Of Choice Of Reinforcement On The On-­Task Behavior Of Kindergarten Students With Developmental Delays, Karen Binette

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

A high degree of external control is maintained in classrooms serving students with behavioral and developmental disabilities. However, decision making is an important developmental objective related to personal control and dignity. Choice making and discriminating preferred over less preferred outcomes is an important skill that is seldom taught to students with developmental disabilities. Previous research includes studies conducted in clinical settings or with populations with severe disabilities.

The Effects Of The High-Probability Procedure On Compliance When Paired With Precision Commands, Whitney Teter

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

Noncompliance to teacher directions is an issue in nearly every early childhood classroom. It is necessary for young children to comply with directions so that teachers may assess their knowledge and their progress in the curriculum. Three preschool aged children (N = 3) with developmental delays participated in this study. The high probability command procedure was used with two children and was shown to be successful at increasing compliance. The third child did not show an increase in compliance when the high probability command procedure was used, nor did compliance increase when precision commands (escape extinction) were paired with the …

Effects Of Training Peer Tutors To Deliver Praise Statements, Prompts, And Correction Procedures On Academic Skills Of Students Who Have Severe To Moderate Disabilities, Lyndi Brooks

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

Peer tutors have been utilized in many settings to work with various individuals, including those with disabilities. There has not been considerable research into the training of peer tutors for students who have severe disabilities in the junior high setting and the effect the training has on the performance of students with disabilities. The purpose of this project was to determine whether training junior high school-­‐aged peer tutors on the use of praise statements, a prompt hierarchy, correction procedures, and data collected to track tutee performance increased academic skills of students with disabilities. Seven peer tutors participated. Five students (i.e., …

Parent-To-Parent Interactive Transition Information Session: Sharing Information On Transition Services From High School To Post-Secondary Experiences, Timothy J. Pead

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

Parents of high school aged children with moderate to severe intellectual disabilities sometimes experience fear and anxiety associated with transition of children to post-­‐secondary programs. Most information is disseminated to these parents from local education agency staff, including: special education teachers, transition specialists and administrators. This project examined the effects of a parent-­‐to-­‐parent interactive session on knowledge and perspectives of parents in transition. Parents of youth (ages 14-­‐20) who are diagnosed as having moderate to severe intellectual disabilities who live in the school boundaries of the high school within which the researcher teaches were part of this study. A group …

The Effects Of Training On Teachers' Perceptions Of Inclusion Of Students With Intellectual Disabilities, Kerin M. Vernier

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

In today’s society, many general education and special education teachers struggle with the concept of inclusion of students with intellectual disabilities (ID) in the general education classroom setting and perceive that inclusion of ID students impedes the learning of others. The purpose of this project was to establish if a 60-min training session on the benefits of inclusion would alter teachers’ perceptions of inclusion of children with ID in the general education setting as measured by a pre- and post-training rating scale. Forty-eight general education and special education school teachers participated. Of the 48 participants, 47 had special education experience …

Increasing Parental Involvement Of Special Education Students: The Creation Of Smartphone-Friendly, Web-Based Legal And Procedural Resources, Steven Brown Thatcher

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

More than one out of every eight students in America is classified as having a disability under the provisions of IDEA (National Center for Education Statistics, 2010). Yet nearly every metric used to measure post-high school success (employment, independent living, post-high school education/training) shows the majority of students with disabilities do not succeed (NCES, 2010). The chief safeguard for special education students are their parents, who are explicitly written into nearly every aspect of the special education process. Research shows as parents become more involved and empowered in the special education process outcomes for students improve (Stoner et al., 2005), …

Parent Evaluation Of A Parent Training Program Of Positive Behavior Interventions, Jeana Washburn

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

Parent training programs have been shown to be helpful to parents in regards to implementing behavior intervention strategies with their children. Parent satisfaction with a parent-training program is an important variable in that, if parents like a program, it is more likely to be successful. The purpose of this project was to provide a brief parent training program using Dr. Glenn I. Latham’s website, Parenting Prescriptions, and examine parent evaluations of the program. The participants were four mothers of preschool age children. Each child had an educational classification of speech and language impairment. The project evaluated the parent training program …

Development, Implementation, And Evaluation Of A Social Skills Training Intervention In A Rural Special-School Setting For Students With Mild/Moderate Disabilities, Sheree Duncan

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

Given the critical degree to which a person’s level of social competence influences one’s academic, mental, social, and interpersonal success, it is imperative that schools facilitate the learning of social skills. The purpose of this study was to design, implement and evaluate a social skills training intervention for students with mild disabilities (and behaviors that adversely affect their participation in a general curriculum or resource settings) in a rural special school setting. A review of literature guided the design and evaluation of the intervention. According to analysis of data on student behavior, the social skills training intervention did not consistently …

Creating And Evaluating Teacher Training Modules In Applied Behavior Analysis, Summer Lynn Navarrete

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

The use of applied behavior analysis (ABA) in the treatment of young children with autism has been shown to be effective in increasing their developmental trajectory. Many teachers, however, are unfamiliar with these teaching techniques. In training individuals to implement ABA interventions, didactic training should be paired with activities such as supervised practice and immediate feedback. The purpose of this project was to evaluate the effectiveness in the use of computerized training modules to teach specific information related to implement ABA programming with children with disabilities.

Proposal Project To Improve Greeting Skills Of An Adult With Disabilities Using Social Stories, Jamie Dawn Palmer-Ormsby

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

Mike is a 22 year-old adult with CHARGE Syndrome and autism spectrum conditions. Mike often struggles to greet and interact appropriately when people come to visit him and his family at his house. The purpose of this project was to help Mike improve his greeting and overall social skills. One event that seems to provoke problem behavior in people with autism is sudden unannounced schedule changes. Advanced warning of schedule changes have been used to prepare people with disabilities similar to Mike’s to teach social and behavioral skills. Social stories have also been used as an intervention to give individuals …

The Measurement Of Teachers' Implementation And Acceptability Of A Cbm Focus, Aaron K. Peterson

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

Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM) is a method that teachers use to formatively assess progress in reading, math, writing, and spelling. In recent years, different data-management systems have been created to systematically organize, group, and monitor data on multiple students for teachers to make better instructional decisions. Most data-management-systems are fee-based and can be cost-prohibitive, but CBM Focus is a free program consisting of the same concepts, charting, and data-entry methods. This project measured the social validity and implementation fidelity of CBM Focus—a curriculum-based measurement data management system for recording student reading, writing, and math records. Eleven participating elementary teachers in this …

The Use Of A Signal Device Self-Monitoring Program To Improve On-Task Behavior Of Special And General Education Students, Casey L. Allie

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

Research has shown that self-monitoring can increase on- task behavior with students in the classroom setting. This project examined the use of a signal device to teach self monitoring to increase on-task behavior of special education students with behavioral problems. Participants were two elementary school para-educators and two K-4th grade students. During a two part process, baseline and intervention was conducted by the researcher with each student evaluating his/her on-task behavior. The researcher examined the reliability of the data on the student’s on-task behavior. The researcher found that the student’s on-task behavior increased with implementation of the signal device self-monitoring …

Special Education And Pupil Personnel Services Offered By The Utah State Board Of Education, Mark J. Bankhead

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

In the United States responsibility for education is a function of the state, local school districts derive their authority from the state legislature (Graham, 1962). For many years, especially during the 19th century, the only legislative provision for the education of handicapped children was the limited support of state institutions and residential schools. Recent federal court decisions have substantiated the right of handicapped children to equal protection under the law, including an education, and made state departments of education "solely responsible for providing handicapped children with a free and public education appropriate to their individual capacities." (Abeson, 1972, p. 11) …

Implementation Of Previous Research On Competency-Based Practicum In Special Education At Usu, Clifton W. Jenkins

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

There is a very real need for exploration and development of alternative approaches to special education (Lilly, 1971). Some have questioned the necessity of teachers receiving preservice training at teacher education institutions (Popham, 1971). Schwartz (1971) suggested that teachers need special training before being placed in a diagnostic-prescriptive teaching situation.

The recent trend is to integrate the special student into the regular classroom. This requires that special educators be trained to perform specialized assessment and provide remedial instruction for a variety of exceptional children in a way that is compatible with regular classroom routine and procedure (Burrello, Tracy, and Schultz, …

Educational Opportunities For Pregnant Students In Selected Utah Schools, Pearl Bergeson

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

Education of women has been neglected in many ways throughout history. In recent decades educational opportunities for women have been greatly expanded. Women have become leaders in education and compose the majority of public school teachers. In spite of these strides in women's education, and growing educational provisions for both men and women, some special groups remain neglected.

This investigator is particularly concerned with one special group: School-age girls who are pregnant. Special educational needs of most school-age pregnant girls are not being met. These young women often face insurmountable difficulties in the schools.

Procedure For Identifying Emotionally Disturbed Freshmen At Utah State University: A Study And Recommendation, Carl D. Allen

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

The encouragement of individual self-improvement and enlightenment through the process of a formal education is basic to the social system of our nation. College and university administrators are therefore faced with a practical exigency for understanding those factors that are associated with academic achievement. (During the past several years there has been increasing evidence that college achievement is dependent upon something more than intellectual ability. From experience, the average counselor in a college or university has become aware of this fact time and time again. Some studies have gone further and suggested specific personality characteristics of successful and unsuccessful students. …

A Comparison Of A Math-Center And A Traditional Program In Mathematics With First Grade Pupils In The Roosevelt Elementary School, Barbara Jean Knecht Eldredge

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

The phone rang at the home of the principal the evening of the first day of school. The voice on the telephone said, "I must talk with you-- tonight!" The principal arranged an appointment for 7:30 that evening in his office at the school.

An Assessment Of Three Programmed Reading Courses For Use By The Mentally Retarded, Ruth P. Palmer

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

Mentally retarded children have considerable difficulty acquiring comprehensive reading skills. Their problems in this area are directly related to their comparative difficulty in handling abstractions, developing generalizations, and in expanding concepts.(Goldstein, 1962). The ability to read is of vital importance to the educable mentally retarded child and is needed to help him move about in his environment safely and independently. In our culture the ability to read is a must for employment. Next to the acquisition of adequate language to satisfy social needs, reading should hold top priority in the list of tool subjects for the mentally retarded.

A Study Of Spelling Programs In The Intermediate Classes For The Educable Mentally Retarded In The Granite And Salt Lake City School Districts, Ladawn L. Keith

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

The curriculum for the educable mentally retarded is based on persisting life problems and one of these, as identified by the Cincinnati Public Schools (1964), is learning to communicate ideas. To be able to communicate effectively your ideas in written form, it is necessary to know how to spell.

In order to operate effectively within a school and community, the slow learner will need to complete his development of communicative skills by l earning to write and spell. While it is true that his needs for written expression are considerably less than they are for oral communication, he will, nevertheless, …