Special Education and Teaching Commons^™

Common Characteristics Of School Administrators Who Are Perceived As Effective In Meeting The Needs Of Students With Disabilities., Carissa Gail Mitchell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study was conducted in 3 school systems in East Tennessee by interviewing special education directors, school principals, and teachers. The purpose of this study was to identify administrators who are successful in meeting the needs of special education students and determine characteristics they possess that facilitate success. The grounded theory study employed purposeful sampling and the snowball sampling method. It also included the use of a pilot study to refine the interview protocol. This study includes the characteristics of effective principals as perceived by the special education directors, principals, and teachers. Although some variety of conclusions existed within …

Perspectives Of Special Education Teachers On Implementation Of Inclusion In Four High Schools In East Tennessee., Lori Bellar Goodin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The terminology found in state educational policies coupled with congressional intent provides a supportive framework for integration of inclusion into public education (Duhaney, 1999; Heumann, 1994). The U.S. Department of Education declared that the required continuum of alternative placements reinforces the importance of the consideration of the individual versus programming for the masses in determining what placement is the LRE for each student with a disability (Heumann, 1994). This disagreement of what constitutes the best educational model affects political agendas and funding issues (Idol, 2006).

The purpose of this study was to examine special education teacher perceptions through a qualitative …

Accommodation And Curriculum Modification For Students With Special Needs: A Study Of Teachers' Attitudes, Ramona D. Williamson

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the attitudes of teachers towards providing accommodations and modifications required for students with special needs in general education classes. The study also examined the differences between these educators’ willingness, preparedness, and selected demographic and descriptive characteristics, which included teacher education, educational setting, and support provided for inclusion. As such, it contributed to both the theory and the practice of teaching students with disabilities in inclusive settings.

The sample included willing general and special education teachers in one suburban school district in the southeastern United States. The instrument was a modified version of …

Measuring Early Numeracy Of Kindergarten Students In A Group Setting, Stacy A. Winck

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Early identification practices in assessment are crucial to preventing academic failure as well as identifying students at-risk for later learning disabilities. The PAM Early Numeracy Screening is a set of subscales designed to measure early numeracy in kindergarten students in a group setting. Given that the existing early numeracy measures are individually administered, the purpose of the current study was to explore the psychometric properties of the PAM Early Numeracy Screening. Correlational analysis was the primary research design used to investigate the evidence of reliability, criterion-related validity, and construct validity of the PAM Early Numeracy Screening. Criterion measures …

Childhood Family Factors That Influenced The Enrollment Of College Students With Learning Disabilities, Abigail Kirk

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to use qualitative measures to investigate the childhood family factors that influenced the enrollment of college students with learning disabilities. Six participants were interviewed, all of whom were registered through the University Accessibility Center at a four-year university and were served at some point during their school years for a learning disability. Interviews were held in a confidential location and lasted approximately thirty minutes. The interview protocol was constructed in a way that allowed participants to reflect on their experiences and tell their story in their own manner. Planned prompts were included to solicit …

Twenty-First Century Learning: Is Project Based Learning The Learning Of The Future?, Rebecca Ringrose

Honors Theses

Project based learning (PBL) allows students preschool to grade twelve to get involved in research projects in a hands-on manner. Project based learning provides students with access to a wide variety of technology to use to collect information, analyze data, and present their research. Twenty-first century skills is a goal for PBL projects which include team work and critical thinking to encourage students to become more interested in what they are studying. PBL is being used at Myrtle Beach High School by seventy-five tenth grade students in the subjects of English, Math, and Social Studies. The projects the students are …

A Qualitative Analysis Of A Junior High School Eating Disorder Prevention Program, Janine Ruth Stickney

Theses and Dissertations

Past research conducted in the areas of diagnosis and treatment of eating disorders have provided information in regards to understanding the epidemiology, base rates, damages and longitudinal course of eating disorders. Few studies, however, have focused on prevention, especially in adolescents. In this particular study, students in a Utah junior high school health class received preventative curriculum called, Eating Disorders: Physical, Social, and Emotional Consequences. Ten, female participants were then interviewed to explore their thoughts and feelings about their experiences and to qualitatively ascertain the success of the prevention program.

A Mixed-Methods Study Assessing Special Education Preservice Candidates' Preparedness For Their First Year Of Teaching, Beverly Tillman, Stephen B. Richards, Catherine Lawless Frank

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

This study employed a Likert-type survey,

Praxis/Pathwise

written observations, as well as guided and open-ended reflections to assess the perceptions of preparedness for the first year of teaching for special education student teaching candidates. Cooperating teachers completed the survey and Praxis /Pathwise observations. University supervisors completed Praxis/Pathwise observations and responded to and analyzed guided and open-ended reflections. The survey instrument was based on the research literature and included responsibilities typically required of special educators (e.g., completing paperwork, planning, assessment, etc.). Results indicated general congruence among the three data sources, but also indicated that two cooperating …

Examining Implementation Processes Of Positive Behavior Support, Julia Helzer Rollins

Theses and Dissertations

This study is a summary of themes found in the meeting notes of school teams implementing school-wide Positive Behavior Support. Positive Behavior Support (PBS) is a systems change process of reorganizing a school's discipline structure to put in place a positive, teaching and reinforcing focus for the improvement of student behavior (Sugai & Horner, 2006). In recent years, education researchers have established that school-wide PBS is an effective way to deliver research- based interventions to improve student behavior (Colvin & Kameenui, 1993, Gottfredson, Gottfredson, & Hybl 1993; Taylor-Green & Kartub, 2000). This study focused on the implementation process in order …

Pushing Me Through: A Poetic Representation, Jessica Nina Lester, Rachael Gabriel

Catalyst: A Social Justice Forum

For many children and adults labeled learning disabled (LD), the very process of being identified and eventually labeled is oriented to as difficult to understand, disorienting, and just a taken-for-granted part of a system that names some ‘normal’, even gifted, while others are named abnormal. Minimal research exists that attends to the ways in which the official ways of talking about LDs are worked up in the everyday language of those most involved in the special education process, particularly the students themselves. Thus, in this article, we present, in an alternative form of writing (Richardson, 1997), a poetic representation of …

Catalyst: A Social Justice Forum, Volume One, Issue One, Shane Willson, Landon S. Bevier, Rachael E. Gabriel, Taylor Krcek, Alaina Elizabeth Smith

Catalyst: A Social Justice Forum

It is with great pride that we present to you the inaugural issue of Catalyst: A Social Justice Forum. Here we have attempted to create an innovative, peer-reviewed space in which people from numerous disciplines, or even those claiming no discipline, can present research, multimedia, and art aimed at furthering the ideals of social justice, broadly defined. Social justice is not a concept owned by the academy, for attempts to create a more just world can come from many professions, or even from no profession at all. By applying the traditionally academic peer-review process to work done by activists, artists, …

A Content Analysis Of Evaluation Instruments Used By Special Education Teacher Preparation Programs, Megan Sue Langford

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to conduct a content and component analysis of evaluation instruments used to evaluate preservice teacher performance by special education teacher preparation programs. Direct observation (DO) and summative evaluation (SE) forms were collected from a random sample of Special Education teacher preparation programs that are recognized by the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC). The forms were then coded for content and components based on predetermined categories to identify similarities and differences. Variances among the DO and SE forms indicated possible methods for evaluating preservice teacher knowledge, skills, and dispositions.

Movement Of The Organized Blind In India: From Passive Recipients Of Services To Active Advocates Of Their Rights, Jagdish Chander

Cultural Foundations of Education - Dissertations & Theses

In recent years, the subject of the newborn disability rights movement in India has been attracting the attention of researchers, but there has been very little effort to document the movement of blind people in India for their rights, which preceded the broader disability rights movement. I therefore conducted a qualitative study of this movement of blind people in India by using the methods of oral history and document analysis. For this purpose, I conducted 93 interviews (by interviewing 45 informants) and analyzed relevant documents. Borrowing terminology from the self-advocacy movement of the blind in the United States, I describe …

Identifying Struggling Readers In Middle School With Orf, Maze And Prior Year Assessment Data, Jennifer R. Allison, Evelyn S. Johnson

Early and Special Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

Response to Intervention (RTI) is a framework with the primary purpose of early identification and prevention of learning problems. Screening procedures identify students in need of targeted intervention, but current screening research is limited to the elementary grades. This study explored the use of screening measures: prior year assessment data, oral reading fluency (ORF), and maze, to predict performance on Georgia’s Criterion-Referenced Competency Test (CRCT-8) for 236 eighth grade students from one district in Georgia. Logistic regression analyses compared the accuracy of the predictor variables. Overall classification accuracy was 96.6% for ORF and maze and 97.1% for CRCT-7; however, this …

Instructional Accommodations For Students With Asperger Syndrome In The General High School Classroom, Myrna Baylis

Dissertations, Masters Theses, Capstones, and Culminating Projects

General education teachers in the secondary sector are held responsible for adapting their lessons and classroom environment for students with Asperger Syndrome. With the growing number of students within the autism spectrum disorder being placed in general education classrooms, teachers are faced with yet another challenge in making their curriculum inclusive. It has been my observation that teachers who have no prior training or knowledge of Asperger Syndrome struggle with making instructional accommodations to ensure these students reach their greatest potential. This study is intended to describe what secondary high school teachers are doing to differentiate instruction for their students …

Students With Reading Disabilities Participating In Literature Discussions: A Case Study, Elysha Patino O’Brien

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This qualitative case study addressed a lack of research concerning literature discussions for students with learning disabilities in reading. Fourth and fifth grade students with reading disabilities participated in twice-weekly literature discussions, 30- to-60 minutes each, for 12 weeks. The students attended a Title I school and most were Hispanic males. Together, they read and discussed five postmodern picturebooks. The purpose of the study was to understand (a) reader responses to the illustrations, text, and postmodern features of the books, and (b) the individual reader’s response habits. Situated within a sociocultural frame, the theories guiding this study pertained to language …

Impact Of Computerized “Sounding Out” On Spelling Performance Of A Child Who Uses Aac: A Preliminary Report, Jillian H Mccarthy, David R. Beukelman, Tiffany Hogan

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Spelling is a vital skill for people who rely on augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). The ability to spell words provides an opportunity to create novel and spontaneous communication and increases educational, social, and employment opportunities for children and adults. However, many children and youth who rely on AAC struggle to gain functional spelling skills and written language. The purpose of this preliminary investigation was to develop a strategy to provide auditory letter-sounds using commercially available computer equipment and to evaluate how such a computerized “sounding out” strategy influences spelling accuracy for one child who required AAC support. The spelling …

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 …

Effects Of High-Interest Writing Prompts On Performance Of Students With Learning Disabilities By, Kelsey J. Chlarson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The following study was done to examine the extent to which high-interest narrative writing prompts for 12- to 13-year old students in special education increase accuracy and total words written (TWW) in a 3-min timed writing sample compared to low-interest writing prompts.

Students who will participate will be individuals from a sixth- and seventh-grade special education language arts class who have been classified with LD. In this study, participants select high-interest writing prompts as story starter topics as preferred prompts for writing tasks. Initially, participants will select high- and low-interest writing topics using a prompt selection procedure. Given 40 potential …

Latency As A Dependent Variable In Trial-Based Functional Analysis, Elizabeth Dayton

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The following research project consisted of two parts. The first was a data analysis of previously collected data. The second was conducted in local public schools at no cost to the teachers, students, or schools. Many individuals with disabilities engage in aberrant behaviors that negatively affect their lives and the lives of those around them. The following research paper examined a tool currently being used in schools (trial-based functional analysis; FA) to determine its effectiveness at identifying the function of an individual’s behavior.

The trial-based FA is an assessment tool that is accessible to classroom teachers to help them identify …

The Pros And Cons Of Inclusion For Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders: What Constitutes The Least Restrictive Environment?, Lindsay J. Vander Wiele

Senior Honors Theses

In the contemporary educational system, the issue of full inclusion has brought about much discussion and debate. Because the principle of the least restrictive environment (LRE) mandates that students with special needs should have the opportunity to be educated with non-disabled peers to the greatest extent appropriate, the necessary components of inclusion impact all educational circles without exception. In fully inclusive settings, students with disabilities are provided with the services and supports appropriate to their individual needs within the general education classroom. Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are defined as neurodevelopmental disorders resulting in impairments in communication and social interaction. In …

The Decision-Making Process Of Finding Students With Significant Intellectual Disabilities Eligible For Participation In The Virginia Alternate Assessment Program, Karren Streagle

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to understand the decision-making process used by IEP teams and case managers for students with significant intellectual disabilities who participate in alternate assessments based on aligned academic achievement standards (AA-AAS). Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with case managers for students participating in the Virginia Alternate Assessment Program (VAAP) from school divisions in central Virginia. Traditional inductive data analysis techniques were used to analyze data collected from the in-depth interviews, the researcher’s reflexive field notes and observations, and a review of VAAP training and guidance documents provided by study participants. Findings illuminated the decision-making process …

Mobile Modeling: Using And Creating Ipad And Ipod Apps To Shape Students With Disabilities, Carolyn Wicks, Amanda J. Rockinson-Szapkiw, Justin M. Tucker

Faculty Publications and Presentations

Modeling is a technique that is often used to teach new skills to students with disabilities. Modeling is effective for teaching communication, social, and functional living skills to students with emotional, behavioral, and cognitive disorders (Werts, Caldwell, & Wolery, 1996). Video modeling and audio prompts can be as effective as live modeling (Murzynski & Bourret, 2007; Rehfeldt, Dahman, Young, Cherry, & Davis, 2003). In fact, some researchers have suggested that video modeling results in more rapid acquisition of skills than live modeling and may even be more generalizable across environments (Charlop & Milstein ,1989). With the introduction of mobile devises, …

High Stakes Play: Early Childhood Special Educators' Perspectives Of Play In Pre-Kindergarten Classrooms, Joanne Scandling Manwaring

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examined Early Childhood Special Educators' perceptions of play as a developmentally appropriate practice in special education prekindergarten classrooms in one southeastern school district. Through purposeful sampling, eight prekindergarten special educators were identified because they held multiple teaching certifications and some held National Board certification. The participants had many years of experience in pre-kindergarten special education, and were professional development trainers, teacher mentors and or leaders in the prekindergarten special education community. These eight accomplished pre-kindergarten special education teachers were interviewed using an informal, semi-structured format about their beliefs concerning play, how they implement it in their classrooms as …

Can Prevention Programs Work Together? An Example Of School-Based Mental Health With Prevention Initiatives, Hank Bohanon, Meng-Jia Wu

Education: School of Education Faculty Publications and Other Works

Personnel addressing mental health in schools are required to provide supports in settings that have decreasing resources and multiple initiatives. While competing initiatives in schools can pose problems, integration of prevention systems and data may lead to more efficient supports and effective outcomes. Mental health service providers must consider how the integration of schoolwide initiatives such as positive behavior interventions and supports (PBIS), response to intervention (RtI), and social and emotional learning (SEL) can improve their work. This article will provide an example showing varying levels of integration of schoolwide models in one state. This example will include (a) the …

Racial/Ethnic Matching Of Clients And Therapists In Mental Health Services: A Meta-Analytic Review Of Preferences, Perceptions, And Outcomes, Timothy B. Smith, Raquel R. Cabral

Faculty Publications

The effects of matching clients with therapists of the same race/ethnicity have been explored using a variety of approaches across several decades. We conducted a meta-analysis of three variables frequently used in research on racial/ethnic matching: Clients' preferences for a therapist of their own race/ethnicity, clients' perceptions of therapists, and therapeutic outcomes. Across 52 studies of preferences, the average effect size was d = .63, indicating a moderately strong preference for a therapist of one's own race/ethnicity. Across 81 studies of individuals' perceptions of therapists, the average effect size was d = .32, indicating a tendency to perceive therapists of …

Effects Of Tiered Training On General Education Teachers' Use Of Specific Praise, Michele T. Thompson

Theses and Dissertations

Research suggests a compelling correlation between teacher behavior and effective learning environments (Sutherland & Morgan, 2003; Brophy & Good, 1986). Focusing on the evidence-based teaching skill of offering behavior-specific praise (BSP), the researcher worked with 3 elementary-level general educators in a tiered model of instruction, commonly known as response to intervention (RtI). Although RtI commonly provides targeted instructional support to students, this study, a systematic replication of Myers, Simonsen and Sugai (2011), used the RtI framework to provide professional development to teachers. The researcher also tracked the behavior of 3 students, identified by the teachers as having behavioral difficulties, who …

The Effects Of Wilson Reading System And Guided Reading On The Reading Achievement Of Students With Learning Disabilities, Rachel Ricci

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose for this study was based on Millville Public School's need for students to meet annual yearly progress in language arts literacy according to state standards. This study evaluated the results of the use of the Wilson Reading System compared to a Guided Reading program on the reading achievement of students with learning and reading disabilities using the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) first grade assessment data. DIBELS was used to assess the students on nonsense word fluency, whole words read and oral reading fluency. Combining all of the DIBELS skill areas assessed, the students in …

A Comparison Of Video Modeling And Social Stories To Decrease Inappropriate Behaviors, Caitlin Peluszak

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to determine which type of social intervention is more efficient when comparing Video Modeling and Social Stories when attempting to decrease inappropriate social behaviors. Two children were chosen because they both displayed inappropriate mouth noises at various points throughout their time in the self contained classroom. Three baseline data collection periods were held and alternated with two intervention periods. A personalized peer modeling video and a personalized Social Story with photographs of the child was made for each child. These interventions were shown the children across separate five-day periods at a decreasing frequency, and …

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.