Special Education and Teaching Commons^™

Correlation Between Basc And Iep Daily Point Sheets, Ruth E. Rautio

Theses and Graduate Projects

This study investigated the correlation between the classroom based IEP driven daily behavioral point sheets and BASC (Behavioral Assessment System for Children) subset scores using linear regression analysis. Students receive behavioral point sheets as a tracking device to monitor behavior for class by class and day by day basis as well as their promotion to mainstream classrooms. The BASC is a comprehensive behavioral analysis tool used for diagnostic services (primarily Emotional Behavioral diagnosis) in schools. The purpose of this study was to determine the correlation between the daily behavioral point sheets and BASC scores (if any). Results indicated weak correlations …

Factors That Influence Classroom Engagement, Tracy Lynn Wilk

Theses and Graduate Projects

In schools throughout the country, students are not engaged in classroom learning. When students not engaged in the classroom, they become disenchanted with the entire school experience, which may eventually lead them to drop out of school before their high school graduation. There are groups of students who are at higher risk for dropping out of school early. Students who receive special education services are among some of those who are at risk for dropping out of school. I had often encountered students who were not engaged in the classroom and I did not want my students to become dropout …

Youth With Disabilities: A Maine Workforce Development Review, Ahmen Cabral, Margaret Vishneau, Marty Zanghi Msw

Children, Youth, & Families

Legislation that has occurred over many years, including the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the Workforce Investment Act, has come together with advances in educational strategies to create a climate in which young job seekers with disabilities are able to develop their skills and advocate for necessary accommodations in the workplace. It is well known in the workforce development community that early exposure to the workplace itself and to workforce development programs can improve the employment outcomes for persons with disabilities by enabling youth to develop workforce skills and areas of career interest. However, even though knowledge and interest …

Project Study: An Action Plan For Implementing Response To Intervention, Leah W. Hamilton

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 allows schools to utilize response to intervention (RtI) as early intervention to prevent at-risk students from becoming labeled as learning disabled. Using action research methodology and school change theory, the purpose of this project study was to determine the RtI implementation needs of a rural elementary school (LE). The guiding research question was to identify the components of an RtI framework currently being utilized during the pre-referral process at LE. This study employed a qualitative method triangulation design to analyze data from key stakeholders including questionnaires; individual interviews from six reading …

The Perceptions Of African American Middle School Students About Participation In Gifted Programs: A Qualitative Study To Promote Social Justice In Gifted Education, Jenelle Susan Nisly

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

African American students have been historically underrepresented in gifted programs throughout the United States. Research about retaining identified African American students in gifted programs is limited. This qualitative phenomenological study examined the perceptions of a purposeful sample of seven identified talented and potentially talented African American middle school students about participation in gifted programs. The purpose of the study was to understand the meaning of participants' expectations, attitudes, and experiences with regard to participating and remaining in a gifted program or participating and then dropping out. Data were collected through individual interviews. Interpretative phenomenological analysis revealed that participants expected talented …

Attitudes Towards Inclusion Of General Education Teachers Who Have And Have Not Taught In An Inclusive Classroom, Nicole P. Maccarthy

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Through the lens of Bandura's social-cognitive theory, which proposes that one's sense of self-efficacy can foster positive beliefs, the purpose of this descriptive, quantitative study was to determine whether the attitudes held by general education teachers have an influence on their perceptions of inclusion. General education teachers' beliefs in their abilities regarding teaching in inclusive classrooms may have an influence on the success of inclusion. This study examined the difference in attitudes toward inclusion between elementary school general education teachers whose previous teaching experience was with solely general education students but who now teach in an inclusive classroom, and those …

Revelations Of Adaptive Technology Hiding In Your Operating System, Kathleen P. King

Department of Leadership, Policy, and Lifelong Learning

Pre-publication version of a chapter about the assistive technology tools and resources available for free in Windows OS and Mac OS. Introducing higher education faculty to free resources, features and programs which they can recommend to their students or perhaps use for themselves (for instance for fading eyesight or hearing). In addition, the chapter briefly shares strategies and examples of how they might be used.

The book will have an entire chapter dedicated to assistive technology as well. This is a popularized assistive technology chapter for generalist, NON special education, faculty to become acquainted with readily available and free resources. …

Motivation And Its Impact On The Academic Achievement Of At-Risk Students, Emily Ann Bishop

Graduate Research Papers

Theories demonstrating the relationship between motivational variables and school achievement have substantially increased over the past three decades. This can be of great potential to educators because if students' motivation is more acquiescent to change than their ability, then achievement can be enhanced through practices that positively affect motivational development. Unfortunately, information on how such theories can be applied or utilized is often overlooked. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effectiveness and practical applicability of concepts from motivational theories on the academic achievement of at-risk students.

Graduate Speech-Language Pathology Students' Reactions To The Transition From Academic To Clinical Coursework, Amanda Schramski

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This qualitative research study investigated the transition between academic and clinical coursework during the graduate education of speech-language pathologists (SLPs). During this transition period, graduate students experience stress and anxiety (Chan, et al., 1994; Lincoln, et al., 2004). This study examined what aspects of the transition are responsible for these feelings. Through interviews with graduate students who recently experienced this transition, data was collected to make sense of the feelings and experiences that the graduate students endured and what aspects of the transition were responsible for their cause. The results of this study revealed multiple factors that increased anxiety before …

Articulatory-To-Acoustic Relations In Response To Speaking Rate And Loudness Manipulations, Antje Mefferd, Jordan R. Green

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Purpose: This investigation determined the strength of association between tongue kinematic and speech acoustic changes in response to speaking rate and loudness manipulations. Performance changes in the kinematic and acoustic domains were measured using two aspects of speech production presumably affecting speech clarity: phonetic specification and variability.
Method: Tongue movements for the vowels /ia/ were recorded in ten healthy adults during habitual, fast, slow and loud speech using three dimensional electromagnetic articulography. To determine articulatory-to-acoustic relations for phonetic specification, we correlated changes in lingual displacement with changes in acoustic vowel distance. To determine articulatory-toacoustic relations for phonetic variability, we correlated …

Laryngeal Somatosensory Deficits In Parkinson’S Disease: Implications For Speech Respiratory And Phonatory Control, Michael J. Hammer, Steven M. Barlow

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is often associated with substantial impairment of speech respiratory and phonatory control. However, the degree to which these impairments are related to abnormal laryngeal sensory function is unknown. This study examined whether individuals with PD exhibited abnormal and more asymmetric laryngeal somatosensory function compared with healthy controls, and whether these deficits were associated with disease and voice severity. Nineteen PD participants were tested and compared with 18 healthy controls. Testing included endoscopic assessment of laryngeal somatosensory function, with aerodynamic and acoustic assessment of respiratory and phonatory control, and clinical ratings of voice and disease severity. PD participants …

Using Visual Scene Displays To Create A Shared Communication Space For A Person With Aphasia, Karen Hux, Megan Buechter, Sarah Wallace, Kristy S.E. Weissling

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Background: Low-tech visual scene displays (VSDs) combine contextually rich pictures and written text to support the communication of people with aphasia. VSDs create a shared communication space in which a person with aphasia and a communication partner co-construct messages.

Aims: The researchers examined the effect of low-tech VSDs on the content and quality of communicative interactions between a person with aphasia and unfamiliar communication partners.

Methods & Procedures: One person with aphasia and nine unfamiliar communication partners engaged in short, one-on-one conversations about a specified topic in one of three conditions: shared-VSDs, non-shared-VSDs, and no-VSDs. Data included discourse analysis scores …

Examining The Relationship Between Early College Credit And Higher Education Achievement Of First-Time Undergraduate Students In South Texas, Carl A. Saltarelli Ph.D.

Electronic Journal for Inclusive Education

The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between early college credit and the success of first-time undergraduate students in South Texas. Many high school graduates are entering college with credits earned while they were enrolled in high school. Researchers have examined the value of early college credit in easing students’ transition from high school to college. Additionally, researchers have investigated the value of early college credit in enhancing students’ early college persistence rates. This researcher focused on the relationships between early college credit and college student achievement of first-time undergraduate students. In the study, student achievement was …

Co-Teaching Beliefs To Support Inclusive Education: Survey Of Relationships Between General And Special Educators In Inclusive Classes, Ida Malian Ph.D., Erin Mcrae

Electronic Journal for Inclusive Education

Co-teaching is a prevalent approach to providing effective instruction in inclusive classes. The purpose of this study was to determine teachers’ perceptions of compatibility and discrepancy between their approaches to teaching, personal characteristics and efficacy of co-teaching. Noonan’s Co-teacher Relationship Scale was adapted to survey the co-teachers statewide. Results of the statewide survey of Arizona general and special educators teaching in inclusive classes are presented as they relate to their responses. Various aspects of co-teaching relationships and teacher implementation of co-teaching models are discussed. The authors derive attributes of co-teachers in Arizona that indicate compatibility and sustainability of co-teaching arrangements. …

What Teachers Wish Administrators Knew About Co-Teaching In High Schools, Geraldine M. Nierengarten Ph.D., Trudie Hughes

Electronic Journal for Inclusive Education

This article presents the results of individual and focus group interviews with the co-teaching partner teachers comprised of general and special educators. In particular, the analysis reveals the teachers’ perceptions regarding what principals need to know and understand to support co-teaching in their schools. The co-teaching teams identified the following factors as important for the success of co-teaching in a high school classroom: teacher training, administrator training, compatibility, planning time, student schedules, natural proportions, respect and value for the teaching assignment, administrative support, and professional development. The teams also identified student and teacher benefits from participating in a co-taught classroom.

Imagination And Representation In Graphic Novels, Louann Reid

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Graphic narratives are garnering both scholarly and pedagogical attention. These visual texts move readers imaginatively into what Maxine Greene calls “illusioned worlds,” and simultaneously make them conscious of the constructed nature of those worlds through the visual and verbal conventions of comics.

Transforming Text: Finding The Poem Within, Deborah F. Carrington, Chapman Hood Frazier

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

This essay illustrates creative ways for students to re-envision a page of text in order to discover multiple meanings through the integration of visual art and poetry.

Wise Teaching To Students’ Kinesthetic Intelligence: The Teacher As Surrogate, Guru, Foreshadower, Choreographer, Or Expeditionist, Sara K. Schneider

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Based on the degree of the teacher’s perceived skill, engagement, and role play with her students, this model posits six distinct styles of teaching to students’ kinesthetic intelligence and differentiates their effects on learning.

Writing As An Altered State Of Consciousness: Process, Pedagogy, And Spirituality, Julie Kearney

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Defining writing as an altered state of consciousness (ASC), this essay examines parallels between expressivist writing pedagogy and theories of psychologists Csikszentmihalyi and Tart. It further describes the benefits for writers who achieve ASC in terms of their learning potential and creative power.

Jaepl, Vol. 16, Winter 2010-2011, Joonna Smitherman Trapp (Editor), Brad Peters (Editor)

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Essays

Louann Reid - Imagination and Representation in Graphic Narratives

Deborah F. Carrington & Chapman Hood Frazier - Transforming Tests: Finding the Poem Within

Sara K. Schneider - Teaching to Students’ Kinesthetic Intelligence: The Teacher as Surrogate, Guru, Foreshadower, Choreographer, or Expeditionist

Andrea Greenbaum - Nurturing Difference: The Autistic Student in Professional Writing Programs

Ruth Henderson - The Forgiveness Classroom: Bringing Together Students from Both Sides of the Wall

Julie Kearney - Writing as an Altered State of Consciousness: Process, Pedagogy, and Spirituality

Anthony T. Atkins - It’s Complicated: Using Facebook to Create Emotional Connections in Student-Professor Relationships

JoAnne Katzmarek …

Weaving A Song Of Self, Joanne Katzmarek

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Exploring the effectiveness of narrative as a mode for relationship building as well as a means to sustain and deliver content knowledge, this article explores the instructional settings of an undergraduate English class and an online environment for a teacher preparation course.

Taking The Great Leap Of Being: Finding Happiness And Hope In A Life Of Thought, Bruce Novak

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

No abstract provided.

Nurturing Difference: The Autistic Student In Professional Writing Programs, Andrea Greenbaum

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

can assist autistic students by providing them with writing opportunities through the classroom, internships, and university publications. Aiding their personal and professional development also serves the university and the community-at-large.

It’S Complicated: Using Facebook To Create Emotional Connections In Student-Professor Relationships, Anthony Atkins

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

How can we use Facebook and other technologies to create emotional and professional connections with students?

Front Matter

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Editor's Message.

Book Reviews, Judy Halden-Sullivan, Ken Delucca, Brad Lucas, Timothy Shea, William Archibald

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Book Reviews

Judy Halden-Sullivan - Practices in Mindfulness

Ken DeLucca - Schoeberlein, Deborah and Suki Sheth. Mindful Teaching and Teaching Mindfulness: A Guide for Anyone Who Teaches Anything. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2009.

Brad Lucas - MacDonald, Elizabeth, and Dennis Shirley. The Mindful Teacher. New York: Teachers College Press, 2009.

Timothy Shea - VanDeWeghe, Richard. Engaged Learning. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, 2009.

William Archibald - Cummings, Robert E. Lazy Virtues: Teaching Writing in the Age of Wikipedia. Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt UP, 2009

Connecting, Helen Walker, Grace Feuerverger, Gesa E. Kirsch, Betsy Newmeyer, Anita Voelker, Allison Brimmer, Debbie Axelrod, Margo Wilson, Catherine M. Nelson, Liang Zhao

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Connecting

Helen Walker - Growing Up

Grace Feuerverger - Mandy

Gesa E. Kirsch - A Teaching Success or Failure?

Betsy Newmeyer - My RIF’d Life

Anita Voelker - Will’s Story

Allison Brimmer - Elitist White Lady Who Tries Too Hard

Debbie Axelrod - Dear Professor

Walker Margo Wilson - Burnishing the Bruises

Catherine M. Nelson - Jimmy

Liang Zhao - Lead by Example

Decision-Making In Secondary And Tertiary Interventions Of School-Wide Systems Of Positive Behavior Support, Terrance M. Scott, Peter J. Alter, Michael Rosenberg, Christopher Borgmeier

Special Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

Although the conceptual foundations of PBS at the universal level have been widely described and presented in the literature, secondary and tertiary interventions have been presented through very limited examples. This paper defines the key features of secondary and tertiary interventions and presents a decision-making process to guide schools through a continuum of strategies at these levels. The continuum is described in terms of a recursive loop, repetitively asking four questions: what is predictable about student failure, what is the simplest effective intervention, how can consistent implementation be achieved, and is it working? With each pass through this set of …

Deaf-Blind Young Adults In Action: Legislative Advocacy And Leadership, Amy T. Parker, Susan M. Bruce, Elizabeth Spiers, Suzanne V. Ressa, Roseanna C. Davidson

Special Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

In June 2009, six young adults who are deaf-blind traveled to Washington, D.C. for a one-week course on leadership and advocacy. The young adults were briefed on four legislative topics in deaf-blindness: the need for Support Service Providers (SSPs); increased support for the state technical assistance projects; inclusion in the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2009; and increased support for the Helen Keller National Center for Deaf-Blind Youths and Adults (HKNC). Each young adult selected one or two of the legislative topics as the focus of advocacy during Congressional visits. The participants further refined their communication, self-determination, …

Traditional, Online, And Blended Instruction : An Investigation Of Outcomes In A Graduate Special Education Course Taught In Three Different Learning Environments, Mary C. Gozza-Cohen

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Nationally and regionally there are insufficient numbers of qualified special education teachers to meet current demand. Online course delivery has been proposed as one way to reach more students and increase the number of special education teachers. A recent meta-analysis conducted by the U.S. Department of Education (2009) reviewed the research on online learning and reported that on average, students in online learning conditions performed better than those in traditional classes. However, among other issues noted in the meta-analysis, it was specified that many of the included studies did not control for curriculum materials and various aspects of pedagogy. This …