Special Education and Teaching Commons^™

Self-Determination Skills: Building A Foundation For Student Success, Mariya T. Davis, Ingrid K. Cumming, Julie D. Southward

Special Education Faculty Publications (Archived)

Among different transitions that happen in a young person’s life, transition to adulthood can be one of the most challenging. The new post-school environment requires increased self-determination, including self-awareness, self-advocacy, self-management, and other important skills that help one function as an independent adult. Because it takes time to develop and nurture self-determination skills, it is important to begin early and continue infusing self-determination into various aspects of instruction. Discussed in this article are SCORE strategies for embedding self-determination skills into classroom settings. Multiple tools and resources are provided to aid with the selection and application processes. A vignette is offered …

Video Modeling Vs. Video Prompting With Task Analysis: Which One Do Students With Id Respond Better To?, Patricia Still

Honors Theses

Video modeling and video prompting have been used throughout the history of education. Video modeling is used to demonstrate the target skill to the student and have the student model the skill. Video prompting is used to show the student a certain portion of the target skill and have them perform the target skill after all video prompts are viewed. Students with an intellectual disability have shown progress when educators have used either method. Within the current research for the comparison for video modeling and video prompting, there has been only one study utilizing a task analysis. This research study …

Supporting Exceptional Learners Through Evidence-Based Practices In Social Emotional Learning And Academic Settings, Lexia Werner

Honors Projects

My honors project will be purposeful in researching the learning strategies that help all students and comparing and contrasting them to strategies that specifically help learners with learning differences and/or have special education plans. These exceptional learners have specialized accommodations or educational plans tailored towards their learning needs. In other words, I will research the teaching strategies that are used in the classroom environment from a standard general education standpoint and strategies that are used, specifically, with students that obtain learning differences. In addition, I will analyze this information by comparing and contrasting the groups of strategies with one another. …

The Parent Perspective On Augmentative And Alternative Communication: A Qualitative Study, Alicia Larouech

Honors Capstones

Parents are known to be effective communication partners in their child’s augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) intervention. The aim of this interview study was to better understand the parent perspective in the AAC acquisition, implementation, and handing processes across a range of primary disability labels and ages. Participants engaged in phone interviews to discuss their family’s experiences with AAC obtainment and intervention. Qualitative review of their responses developed the following five themes: assessment procedures, external variables that influence device use, barriers of AAC navigation, supports parents have indicated have helped them, and major takeaways as identified by parents. Further subthemes …

Teacher Work Sample: Telling Time, Courtney R. Hallam

Honors Theses

Three local elementary students were identified as performing below grade-level and receiving special education services, using direct instruction with a scripted program. The students cannot tell time using classroom clocks. The teacher created a five-day unit to teach telling time to the nearest hour and half-hour. Lesson plans were created and implemented using evidence-based practices (EBPs), including explicit instruction, modeling, and response cards. Students were able to successfully complete formative and summative assessments with scores indicating mastery. Implications and suggestions for future teaching are presented.

“I Can’T Calm Myself”: Mindfulness In A Special Education Resource Setting, Paige Schmidt

Masters of Education in Teaching and Learning

The purpose of this study was to examine how brief mindfulness practices influence students receiving special education in a resource setting that provides one-on-one support outside of the general education classroom. The researcher utilized three to five minutes of breathing exercises, stretches, and discussion every day before beginning instruction. Data was collected through observations, pre- and post-surveys, and post-activity interviews. The constant comparative method was used for analyzing data to find emerging or recurring themes in the data collected. Three major themes emerged from the collected data: social-emotional regulation, making a choice, and the flexibility of mindfulness. Through observations, four …

Collaborative Teaching And Data Collection In The Inclusive Classroom: Utilizing The Activity Matrix, Jamie L. Cota

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

Educators first began to focus on the impact of inclusive teaching practices with the passing of the Education for All Handicap Children Act 1975 law (Public Law 94-142), now known as the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA). Inclusive practices have come a long way, but can still vary from district to district. It is easy to claim to have an inclusive classroom, but it takes collaboration, communication, shared responsibility and shared data collection to truly include students of all learning abilities in the classroom. The focus of this project is to show how teams can work together to support an …

Registered Apprenticeship Programs And Teacher Residencies: Building Shared Understandings Between Workforce Development And Education, Prepared To Teach, Bank Street College

Prepared to Teach

This brief is the first in a series exploring principles that Prepared To Teach has surfaced as helpful for designing Registered Apprenticeship Programs for teacher residencies to promote and support high-quality teacher preparation systems. Sign up for our monthly newsletter for future releases.

The Effects Of A Mindfulness Curriculum On Sixth Grade Students In A Title I School, Jason A. Tackett

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

Mindfulness is being integrated and studied across school settings as studies continue to reveal its beneficial effects. One of the largest mindfulness-in-schools organizations is Mindful Schools, which published a revised version of The Mindful Schools Curriculum for Adolescents (MSC-A) in 2019. While the effects of previous versions of the MSC-A have been evaluated in past studies and shown to be beneficial for students, the effects of the 2019 MSC-A have not been explored. This project sought to identify the effects of a condensed schedule of select lessons from the 2019 MSC-A on student and teacher perceptions of student mindfulness as …

The Effects Of Explicit Instruction Targeting Social-Emotional Learning Competencies On The Improvement Of Expressive And Receptive Vocabulary Development For First-Grade Students Identified With Speech-Language Deficits, Anna Perry

Rehabilitation, Human Resources and Communication Disorders Undergraduate Honors Theses

Background/Introduction: Studies have shown that both social-emotional and behavioral aspects are deeply intertwined with academic success (McClelland et al., 2007). This study was designed to examine the effects explicit instruction targeting social-emotional learning may have on the vocabulary skills of first-grade students identified with language deficits, behavioral disorders, and developmental disabilities. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of explicit instruction targeting social-emotional learning competencies on the improvement of expressive and receptive vocabulary development in children identified with language deficits, as well as behavioral disorders and developmental disabilities. By implementing and teaching social-emotional competencies through explicit …

An Exploratory Analysis Of Primary School Suspension And Expulsion, Leen Abochale

Curriculum and Instruction Undergraduate Honors Theses

This study investigated the variables that might impact primary school in-school suspension (ISS) and out-of-school suspension (OSS) in a rural state in the southern region of the United States. Data for the present study were collected from the state’s Department of Education’s discipline database. Data was analyzed across three school years using separate multilevel growth modeling approaches: one with ISS rate as the dependent variable and another with OSS rate as the dependent variable. (Raudenbush and Bryk, 2002). Predictors in both models include the percentage of English-language learner students, percentage of low-income students, percentage of students eligible for SPED, the …

Assessing Perceptions Of Disability Knowledge Of Campus Police At Inclusive Universities, Hannah Shultz

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The purpose of this study is to analyze the perception of knowledge of campus police on intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD), including autism, in inclusive college programs. A survey was sent to both campus police and representatives of 50 inclusive higher education programs across the United States. These questions involved perceptions of campus police knowledge, training, and the safety of students with I/DD.

A Critical Discourse Analysis Of Teacher Preparation Standards Within Inclusion-Intensive States, Kay Lynn Ceja

Education (PhD) Dissertations

Federal law calls for students with disabilities to be educated in the least restrictive environment possible. However, this still allows for students with disabilities to be placed in a range of educational settings, from the general education classroom to a separate school. The number of students with disabilities that are included to the maximum extent possible in the general education classroom varies by state. This study focused on the role of teacher training as defined by state drive teacher education standards. The purposeful outlier sample was selected by identifying the 12 states with the highest levels of inclusion of students …

Collaborative Teaching And Inclusion In Northeast, Tn, Sherianne Pigeon

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Abstract

Collaborative teaching is a commonly used, research-based method to support inclusion of students with disabilities in the general education classroom. However, there is a lack of research describing current teachers’ experiences with and perceptions of collaborative teaching and inclusion. Results from a survey disseminated to teachers in Northeast TN school systems revealed that 64.3% of respondents have either never co-taught a class or have co-taught only one or two classes. Additionally, respondents agree that collaborative teaching is beneficial to support inclusion, enhance delivery of instruction, improve teacher relations and improve classroom management. However, teachers expressed collaborative teaching is more …

Thinkmed: Inspiring The Future Of Stem, One Project At A Time, Steven Trinh, Lauren Dudley

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

ThinkMED is a nonprofit initiative offering a four-week curriculum specifically designed to develop critical thinking and encourage evidence-based decision making. Each week’s content material revolves around the use of a ThinkBOX science kit containing four (4) wet-lab experiments designed to supplement the curriculum. Each experiment is formulated to be inclusive of all California Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) K-5. At the end of each week, students get the opportunity to speak with university professors & scientists from a multitude of subject areas including chemistry, anatomy, computer science, physiology, and bioengineering. ThinkBOXes are donated to children and families who do not …

Middle School Staffs' Perceptions Of Bullying And Traumatization Of Special Education Students In An Alternative School Setting, Marlene Williams

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative hermeneutic phenomenological study is to know and understand teachers’ perceptions of bullying, teachers’ perceptions of special education students, and what influences their decision to intervene and assist when observing special education students being victimized through bullying. The theory guiding this study is Aaron Beck’s Cognitive Behavioral Theory’s Cognitive Triangle that suggests that thought influences emotions and emotions influences behaviors, as well in reverse. The data collection process includes individual interviews with eight classroom teachers who work in alternative middle schools. Due to COVID-19, in-person observations were omitted, and the individual interviews were conducted using Zoom …

Investigating The Collaboration Of Teachers Of Students With Disabilities And Teaching Assistants In The Classroom, Sa-Qwona S. Clark

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

This qualitative dissertation study examined the complex dynamics and structures (i.e., people and/or explicit/implicit classroom-, school-, and district-wide behaviors and practices and school-wide structures) that influence collaboration between teachers of students with disabilities (TOSD) and teaching assistants (TAs). Specifically, I wanted to learn: (1) What are the complex dynamics (i.e., people and/or explicit/implicit classroom-, school-, and district-wide behaviors and practices and school-wide structures) that interact to influence collaboration between teachers and teaching assistants? (1a) What role does each participant stakeholder (i.e., teacher, teaching assistant, and principal) play in those complex dynamics? (1b) How do participants develop their understandings about the …

The Utility Of The Dibels Phonemic Segmentation Fluency Assessment In Kindergarten For Establishing A Correlation With Third Grade Reading Performance, Jennifer Lynn

Masters Theses/Capstone Projects

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether student scores on the kindergarten DIBELS PSF assessment are correlated with student reading assessment scores in third grade. I chose to examine this correlation because the kindergarten PSF score is used as one of the earliest identifiers of students who are at-risk for reading difficulties. I determined that a small number of those students who scored at-risk in kindergarten remained at-risk in the third grade.

High-Probability Tasks And Task Completion Rates Of Students With Emotional And Behavioral Disorders., Amy R Hall

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is an investigation into the effects of high-probability tasks on the task completion rates of three students diagnosed with an emotional and behavioral disorder. It begins with a close look into best practices verses common practices, examines students supports currently available in schools, and highlights gaps present in today’s educational system for students who exhibit significant challenging behaviors. The dissertation reviews literature available on the topic of high-probability tasks as a logical solution to combating gaps in behavior support and describes methodology used to investigate the strategy and its effects. It closes by presenting data, conclusions, implications, and …

Design For A Spectrum, Brooke Warden

Interior Design Undergraduate Honors Theses

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a growing disorder across the world. ASD affects around 1 in every 68 children in the United States (Block, 2018). This disorder results in significant social, intellectual, and behavioral changes within a child, and create challenges for a child with ASD to learn and develop like children without ASD. No two cases of ASD are alike which is why it is called a spectrum disorder. This adds an extra challenge to designing spaces for children with ASD to inhabit and thrive. These children frequently suffer from sensory processing deficits in which they have a hard …

Examining The Impact Of A Self-Awareness Intervention On The Reading Accuracy And Self-Monitoring Skills Of Students With Reading Difficulties, Meagan A. Payne

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Students with reading difficulties often struggle to monitor their reading, which limits their ability to become independent readers. To foster development of self-monitoring skills in the process of reading, strategies for monitoring one’s own reading performance should be incorporated into existing reading interventions. However, there is a lack of comprehensive interventions that support both reading and self-monitoring. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of a video self-monitoring intervention on the word reading accuracy, oral reading accuracy, and self-monitoring skills of students with reading and self-regulation difficulties. The theory of change on which the study was based …

The Effects Of Schema-Based Instruction On Students At Risk For Or With Learning Disabilities, Molly Daniels

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of schema-based instruction (SBI) on the correct response of 2 second-grade students at risk for or already determined to have a learning disability (LD) of comparison difference word problems. The study was a multiple probe across participants. Although the students did not use the RUN Strategy, one student’s ability to solve the word problems improved significantly after learning the strategy. Even though time was a factor in completing everything, the other student’s score did begin to improve after learning the RUN Strategy.

Using The Raap Strategy To Promote Communication Skills For Students With Multiple Disabilities, Hannah Millard

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of the RAAP strategy on students with multiple disabilities and their ability to produce multi-symbol messages. Using a single-case, multiple probes across participants design, 4 students with multiple disabilities participated in this study. They were taught how to answer reading comprehension questions through the RAAP strategy and access to a communication/core board.

Results indicated a functional relation between the RAAP strategy and the student’s multisymbol messages. Three of 4 students increased their multi-symbol messages and made progress with the intervention as it was planned. One student needed the intervention to …

A Parent-Mediated Intervention To Teach A Generalized Repertoire Of Auditory Tacts To A Child With Autism, Hazim Aal Ismail

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Tact is the most important verbal operant (Skinner, 1957) due to the uniqueness of stimulus control and its role in facilitating acquisition of another verbal (e.g., mands, intraverbals) and nonverbal (i.e., listener) operants (Sundberg, 2015). Teaching tacts to children with ASD and the research on this area, however, are largely focused on visual stimuli. Teaching tacts of auditory stimuli to children with ASD is important as they constantly experience various auditory stimuli (e.g., vehicles, pets, machines, music) in the natural environment. Adding auditory and other nonvisual tacts to tact repertoire increases its effectiveness (Sundberg & Partington, 1998). Furthermore, teaching auditory …

Using Smart Phone Technology To Improve Daily Living Skills And Independent Living Skills For Individuals With Intellectual Disability, Jordan Stierle

All Dissertations

Independent living is an important facet of adult life. Individuals with ID often experience a combination of both intellectual and adaptive functioning deficits which negatively impact their ability to live independently. Fortunately, research has shown that assistive technology (AT), and particularly video prompting helps support independent living for individuals with ID. This single case multiple probe across participants design study investigated the efficacy of a highly customizable task analysis smartphone application in assisting three young adults with ID learn how to cook three different recipes. Findings indicate that all three participants experienced large effect size gains from using the AT …

The Covid-19 Pandemic And The Implementation Of The Americans With Disabilities Act Amendments Act In Higher Education: Discretionary Practices Of Disability Services Professionals, Crystal Denise Hill

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The COVID-19 pandemic abruptly transformed the landscape of higher education. The urgent nature of procedural changes in academic and administrative higher education services did not exempt leadership, faculty, or staff from their legally mandated responsibility to provide equal access to the educational environment for students with disabilities as outlined within title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act (ADAAA). The purpose of this study was to explore the strategies used by disability services professionals to implement the ADAAAA during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sources and preferred formats of policy guidance were explored. The priorities of department, division, and institution-level …

Using Peer-Models And Aac To Increase Expressive Vocabulary In Preschool Children With Developmental Delays, Jazmine Wiles

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of training peer models to implement the system of least prompts and model augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) on expressive language in children with developmental delays. Using a multiple probe across participants design, 4 students with developmental delays were trained to use a language output app on the iPad to communicate five common phrases. Results for 3 participants indicated a functional relation between the peer modeling and expressive language. One student did not complete the intervention due to excessive absences. In most cases, students increased verbal language. Two participants made …

The Effect Of Constant Time Delay And Sentence Frames On Correct Word Selection For Sentences Constructed Using Technology-Aided Instruction During A Story-Based Lesson, Thai Williams

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of an intervention package that included constant time delay (CTD) and sentence frames on correct word selection for sentences constructed using technology-aided instruction (TAI) during and following a story-based lesson (SBL) for participants ages 6-8 who have intellectual disability, developmental delays, and autism (IDD). A multiple probe across participants design was used to evaluate the efficacy of the intervention. Probes were conducted during baseline, intervention, generalization, and maintenance phases to determine the effectiveness of the intervention on correct word selection for sentence construction. Results indicate a functional relation between the …

The Effects Of Demographics, Training, And Experience On The Self-Efficacy Beliefs Of Online Special Education Teachers, Jeanette Huff

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Self-efficacy beliefs have been shown to be indicators of student outcomes. They have been extensively studied in the brick and mortar setting and in online schools as well, but they have not been studied by special education teachers in the online setting. A key duty of special education teachers is delivering Specialized Academic Instruction (SAI). This study is a quantitative, predictive, correlational, and causal comparative, study and extends the understanding of the self-efficacy beliefs of special education teachers who deliver SAI in the online setting by using Tschannen-Moran and Woolfolk Hoy’s (2001) Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale to measure self-efficacy …

Exploring Teachers’ Beliefs And Practices On Mathematical Discourse For Diverse Students In Inclusive Classrooms, Gloria A. Carcoba Falomir

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The recent implementation of rigorous standards in mathematics education has required shifts in classroom practices. Standards-based instruction places large emphasis on students’ conceptual understanding, requiring them to demonstrate high cognitive levels of mastery of the content through communication of their mathematical reasoning. Teachers and students’ mathematical discursive practices in the classroom can lead to meaningful discussions that integrate students’ explanation, justification, and arguments of ideas or claims and understanding of the content. Research on teachers’ discursive practices has shown that (a) teacher talk tends to dominate classroom instruction and (b) classroom discourse lacks frequent opportunities for teacher-student and peer interactions. …