Special Education and Teaching Commons^™

The Many Worlds Of Neurosurgery And The Labyrinth Of Borges, Juan F. Villalonga, Giulia Guizzardi, Domenico Solari

Archives of Neurosurgery

Nowadays, an apprentice of neurosurgery has to complete long and different pathways of education.The encounter between the schools of Napoli and Tucuman, make us identify a common strategy of neurosurgical education. In attempt of defining the philosophy behind it we attempt a comparison in between the life and training of a modern neurosurgeon and the character of a tale of Borges (i.e. Ts'ui Pên). As neurosurgeons of the 21st century we must be like the inextricable Ts'ui Pên.

Improving Classroom Climate And Engagement At The Secondary Special Education Level Through The Implementation Of Classroom Management Strategies, Pauline Mickavicz

Student Research Poster Presentations 2022

A lack of professional development, the complexity of interventions, and limited data to reflect upon have implemented successful classroom management strategies challenging for special educators. These barriers negatively impact classroom climate and achievement in special education rooms. Educators should receive support to execute classroom management strategies confidently to decrease problem behavior and increase student engagement. Best practice classroom management strategies should be narrowed down to hone in on interventions and simplify the complexity of the delivery. Data collection will play an integral role in the reflection process and provide insight into how classroom management can be examined at the high …

Speech-Language Pathologists On The Autism Spectrum, Rebecca Freeman Barnett

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This thesis consists of three journal articles for publication that addresses three different aspects of the research that examines the state of diversity in the field of speech-language pathology (SLP) as it pertains to autistic representation and possible implications. In the first article, Demographic Analysis of Autistic Speech-Language Pathologists, the purpose was to determine the demographic differences between SLPs that identified on the autism spectrum and those that did not. A mass survey was conducted of SLPs in the states of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ohio. It was concluded that 2.98% of SLPs self-identified on the autism spectrum. Chi-square analyses found …

Impacts Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On Elementary School Teachers’ Practices And Perceptions Across The Spring And Fall 2020 Semesters, J. Marc Goodrich, Michael Hebert, Jessica M. Namkung

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Following the closure of schools in the spring 2020 semester due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we developed two surveys to understand how the pandemic affected elementary education in the U.S. First, we distributed a survey at the end of the spring 2020 semester to understand how school closures impacted delivery of instruction. Second, we conducted a follow up survey in November 2020 to determine the nature of instruction provided to students when schools did or did not re-open in Fall 2020 and understand teachers’ perceptions of student learning and achievement during the pandemic. Each survey was sent to a sample …

How Can Educators Better Inform Parents About The Special Education Process So That They Are Empowered To Increase Their Role As Active Participants In Their Students’ Education?, Beth Ann Thibodeau

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The benefits of family involvement in students’ education range from academic and behavioral growth to better attendance and social skills. Parent involvement in the educational process for students with disabilities is a legal right, yet barriers to involvement result in what researchers call an untapped capacity for joint collaboration between parents and educators. This literature review sought to determine how parent involvement is defined and then identify barriers to involvement. Those barriers are addressed with research summaries of how to empower teachers to support family involvement and how to empower parents to be involved in the special education process. One …

Teaching Writing To Middle School Students With Disabilities: A Merc Research Brief, David Naff, Jennifer Askue-Collins, Julie S. Dauksys

MERC Publications

This research brief by the Metropolitan Educational Research Consortium explores peer reviewed literature about effective strategies for teaching writing to middle school students with disabilities. It answers the following questions: 1) Why is it important to teach writing? 2) What is the nature of the challenge in teaching writing to middle school students with disabilities? 3) What interventions help with teaching writing to middle school students with disabilities? and 4) What strategies are utilized in the MERC region for teaching writing to middle school students with disabilities?

The Impact Of Using Pow+ Tree With High School Students With Adhd: Story Writing And Perceptions, Katie Page Kroeze

Dissertations and Theses

Only limited research has been completed that examines the impact of teaching outlining on improving ADHD students’ writing skills and perceptions about writing. An abundance of research demonstrates high school students with ADHD struggle with writing and organization skills. This study investigated the impact of using the POW + TREE outlining strategy on high school students with ADHD preparing a composition and how using this strategy impacted a high school student with ADHD’s perception of writing. To answer the first research question, high school students with ADHD were given the task to write an Opinion Story without the use of …

Learner Outcomes From An Echo In Augmentative And Alternative Communication, Lillie Reinhart

Theses and Dissertations--Communication Sciences and Disorders

Background: Students with complex communication needs (CCN) rely on the use of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) to support their communication; however, many students are leaving high school without an effective form of communication. To build capacity and increase school professionals’ knowledge and self-efficacy in AAC, this thesis used an adaptation of Project ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) for use with AAC.

Methods: Using a post then pre-retrospective survey, participants self-reported changes in knowledge, confidence, and overall satisfaction with ECHO sessions. Paired sample t-tests assessed participant-reported change in knowledge. Frequency counts were used to analyze responses about confidence and …

Examining The Lived Experiences Of Mothers' And Maternal Grandmothers' Co-Caregiving For An Elementary-Aged Child With Asd: A Phenomenological Study, Chelsea Pierce

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) often require additional support, compared to their neurotypical peers. Caregivers of individuals with ASD frequently report mental health impacts including high stress, as well as the need for familial support. While literature exists around grandparents raising children with ASD, the researcher was unable to identify studies regarding the complex care relationship between mothers and maternal grandmothers as co-caregivers for an elementary-aged child with ASD. Therefore, the researcher conducted a phenomenological study to contribute to the literature on the experiences of mothers and maternal grandmothers as co-caregivers for an elementary-aged child with ASD. The researcher …

Defying Deficit Thinking: Clearing The Path To Inclusion For Students Of All Abilities, Sacha Cartagena, Lindsey Pike

Education Faculty Publications

Bolstered by the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), inclusion became part of the education vernacular. This chapter provides a review of key highlights in the history of inclusive education. The impact of deficit thinking and role of social justice are emphasized as undercurrents driving legislative changes. The authors propose systems thinking as a method to identify actionable items for advancing inclusive education. An overview of promising inclusive frameworks, specifically Universal Design for Learning and social-emotional learning, are described and recommended for embedding inclusive practices into daily practice within the education system.

Mind The Gap: Addressing The Disproportionate Rate Of Discipline Of Black Students In The Public Education System, Sophia Mcconnell

OUR Journal: ODU Undergraduate Research Journal

Within public education, it has been shown that there is a disproportionate rate of discipline between Black and White students. A literature review was conducted to identify prevailing themes as to why this gap occurs, what factors maintain it, and what can educators do to reduce it. Several themes were found and are detailed in this paper in the following order: First, several studies have debunked the previously held idea that low socioeconomic status and the Differential Involvement theory could be explanations for the disproportionate rate of discipline. Second, there are two leading factors, among many others, that maintain the …

The Effects Of Peer Training And Coaching On The Implementation Of Aided Language Modeling With An Aac User With Extensive Support And Complex Communication Needs, Sara Elizabeth Henderson

Theses and Dissertations--Early Childhood, Special Education, and Counselor Education

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of training peers at a middle school in aided language modeling. The peers were trained and then coached as they implemented the strategy during a social break time in the resource classroom when communicating with an AAC user with extensive support and complex communication needs (ESCCN). A multiple probe across participants design was used to evaluate the effects of the peer training and coaching program. The results showed that the implementation of a peer training and coaching program were effective in increasing the frequency of aided language modeling and the …

“What Doesn’T Kill You, Makes You Stronger!” Alternative Certification Programs: Interns Perspectives About Mentorship, Rosalinda J. Larios, Andrea Zetlin, Leila Ricci

The Journal of Special Education Apprenticeship

Given the national shortage of special educators, many are entering the profession through alternative certification, assuming full responsibility for classrooms or caseloads before they are fully licensed as special education teachers. This qualitative study explores the support provided to beginning alternative certification teachers in a special education program. Through several sources of data, we describe the perspectives of first-year versus second-year interns about the frequency, helpfulness, and nature of support they received from their assigned mentors, other sources of support at their school sites, and their university intern program. The findings illustrate the need for universities and schools to immediately …

What Do You Meme? Meme Humor Comprehension In Adolescents With Language Disorder Or Hearing Loss, Lindsey Buxbaum Ms, Ccc-Slp, Holly F. Pedersen Ed.D., Cheryl Gilson Ph.D., Ccc-Slp, Lesley Magnus Ph.D., Ccc-Slp

The Journal of Special Education Apprenticeship

Easy access to the internet allows adolescents to share humor, such as memes, via social media. This quasi-experimental study investigated whether there was a difference in the number of memes comprehended on an assessment test among adolescents who were typically developing, adolescents who were deaf or hard of hearing, and adolescents with language disorders. It also sought to determine if the meme’s picture, whether related to the text or unrelated, contributed to adolescents’ comprehension. Participants were given a short reading screening and a multiple-choice test of meme comprehension. Adolescents who were typically developing out-performed adolescents who were deaf or hard …

Readability Of Covid-19 Parental Guidance Documents, Amber M. Gordon B.S, Kurustun S. Musick B.S., Alison R. King Ph.D., Ccc-Slp, Lsls Cert. Avt, Erin Stehle Wallace Ph.D., Ccc-Slp

The Journal of Special Education Apprenticeship

The purpose of this study is to examine the readability levels of the state departments of education guidance documents regarding COVID-19 protocols for families of students receiving special education services. The authors searched the 50 states and the District of Columbia’s departments of education websites for their COVID-19, special education, parental guidance documents for the 2020-2021 school year. Parental guidance documents were available from 90% (46/51) of the department of education websites with 61% (31/51) of those documents specifically designed for parents of children receiving special education services. The researchers used the Flesch Reading Ease (FRES) to analyze the reading …

Computer Assisted Delivery Of Discrete Trials To Teach Early Literacy Skills To Students With Significant Intellectual Disabilities, Tammi Waltjer-Haverly

Dissertations and Theses

This study was designed to determine the effectiveness of a computer assisted instruction to deliver discrete trial training of academic skills to students with significant intellectual disabilities. Based upon the principles of Applied Behavioral Analysis, discrete trial training was identified as an evidence-based practice in teaching skills to students with disabilities. The criteria for single-subject case research within a multiple baseline design across behaviors and participants was implemented for this study. The individual subject and the repeated measures across skills served as the experimental control to verify results. The multiple baseline design evaluated the effect of the intervention computer assisted …

Active Learning And Student Achievement: A Matter Of Space, Experiences, Or Pedagogy?, Justin Bruner, Rebecca Affoo, Angela M. Dietsch

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

The goal of this study was to contribute to research on active learning by addressing the problem of disentangling the effects of classroom architecture, student characteristics, and pedagogical design as they relate to student achievement. The study utilized a quasi-experimental design where data was collected on student perceptions of their classroom, their experience in the course, and the pedagogy of the instructor, then analyzed with respect to the course grade. Results indicate that neither student perceptions of the classroom spaces nor the spaces themselves had an impact on course grade, but the pedagogy employed by the instructor and student experiences …

The Effect Of Taste On Swallowing: A Scoping And Systematic Review, Rachel Mulheren, Ross M. Westemeyer, Angela M. Dietsch

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Consuming foods and liquids for nutrition requires the coordination of several muscles. Swallowing is triggered and modified by sensory inputs from the aerodigestive tract. Taste has recently received attention as a potential modulator of swallowing physiology, function, and neural activation; additionally, taste impairment is a sequela of COVID-19. This review presents factors impacting taste and swallowing, systematically summarizes the existing literature, and assesses the quality of included studies. A search was conducted for original research including taste stimulation, deglutition-related measure(s), and human participants. Study design, independent and dependent variables, and participant characteristics were coded; included studies were assessed for quality …

“I Just Stay In The House So I Don’T Need To Explain”: A Qualitative Investigation Of Persons With Invisible Disabilities, Gillian Hendry, Claire Wilson, Mairi Orr, Rebecca Scullion

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Research has shown that persons with disabilities continually face discrimination. More research attention has focused on individuals’ experiences of visible disability, despite evidence that there are higher numbers worldwide of people with invisible disabilities. As such, persons with invisible disabilities can feel under-represented in disability literature. A qualitative study was conducted to address this. Twenty-five persons with an invisible disability were recruited to take part in focus groups and interviews aimed at understanding the lived experience of invisible disability on social life and within the workplace. Data were analyzed using Braun and Clarke’s reflexive thematic analysis, identifying themes of (1) …

The Emotional Labor Of Special Educators: A Mixed Methods Study, Erika Thomas

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

This mixed methods study specifically answered the questions (1) How much and what kind of emotional labor do special educators do? and (2) What are the lived experiences of special education teachers as they relate to emotional labor, mental health, wellbeing, and retention? I used the Brotheridge and Lee Emotional Labor Scale to survey 55 special education teachers employed in public education in a mid-Atlantic County and conducted semi-structured interviews with four of the survey participants. Prior literature had found that teachers reported engaging in emotional labor with students; while true of survey respondents, through the qualitative interviews, I found …

Table Of Contents

The Journal of Special Education Apprenticeship

No abstract provided.

A Systematic Review Of Treatment Acceptability In Mathematics Instruction For Students With Learning Disabilities, Gena Nelson, Andrea Johnson, Mali Sawyer

Early and Special Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

Treatment acceptability is an aspect of social validity that refers to participants’ beliefs and perceptions about the intervention, such as the helpfulness of the strategies or the interventions’ efficacy to improve performance. The purpose of this study was to conduct a systematic review of treatment acceptability measures administered during mathematics interventions for students with learning disabilities (LD). We sought to identify the characteristics of the measures and the treatment acceptability outcomes. To be included in this review, studies had to (a) focus on testing the effectiveness of a mathematics intervention, (b) include preschool through 12th grade students who were diagnosed …

The Impact Of The Pandemic On Social Emotional Learning, Bryan Kilbourne Norman

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The COVID-19 pandemic declared in March of 2020 disrupted the landscape of education and presented students and teachers with unforeseen impacts and obstacles. Notably, negative social and emotional issues arose as these changes drove students into isolation from peers and school staff amid concerns about the health of themselves and the people they love. Social emotional learning (SEL) supports academics, mental health, and healthy relationships (Rosenbalm, 2021). The pandemic caused a decline in each of these areas, as well as an increase in anxiety and depression among students, and limited the ability of educators to support social emotional learning. As …

A Study Of Victorian Teachers’ Beliefs About Student Behaviour And Their Perception Of Preparation And Confidence To Engage In Evidence-Based Behaviour Support, Russell A. Fox, Umesh Sharma, Erin S. Leif

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Positive and proactive approaches to behaviour support have been recognised as one component required to create effective and inclusive school environments (Finkelstein et al., 2019). States and territories within Australia have increasingly adopted school-wide positive behavioural interventions and supports (SWPBIS) as a means to creating effective social and behavioural change (Poed & Whitefield, 2020). However, ensuring staff implement SWPBIS as it is intended has been a challenge, both in Australia and internationally (McIntosh et al., 2016; NSW Ombudsman, 2017). The current study identifies and seeks to address two gaps in the existing literature exploring noted barriers to …

Preparing Australian Special Educators: Courses And Content, Jennifer Stephenson, Rahul Ganguly, Coral Kemp, Catherine Salisbury

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

: The characteristics and content of post-graduate courses in special and/or inclusive teacher education in Australian universities were examined using publicly available material on university websites. Content analysis was guided by a set of content area elements covering desirable skills and knowledge for special educators that were identified in the Australian literature. The presence or absence of these content elements in each course and in core or elective units was coded for 28 courses from 21 universities. All or most courses covered generic content such as teaching strategies and evaluating and using research. However, more specialist content, such as explicit …

The State Of Speech-Language Pathology In Guatemala: A Case For Creating A New Post-Graduate University Program, Amanda Blackwell

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

Speech-language pathology is part of a broader discipline of allied-health professions including occupational therapy and physical therapy. The professionals in these disciplines work alongside doctors and nurses to provide rehabilitative care for people with congenital or acquired disabilities across the lifespan. The organization and application of the field of speech language pathology is in various stages of development in countries around the world. The current dissertation seeks to understand the state of speech-language pathology in the Low- and Middle-Income Country (LMIC) of Guatemala and suggest a specific plan for the creation of a new graduate program for this discipline.

Cultivating Family Empowerment In Schools: The Experiences Of Marginalized Families In Special Education, Rachel-Marie F. Sinco

Honors Theses

The provision of special education services to special needs students is largely upheld by federal and state policies and regulations, such as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) which ensures that children with disabilities have the opportunity to access a free appropriate public education (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 2004). However, marginalized families of low-income and linguistically diverse backgrounds continue to face barriers and challenges to effectively participate in their child’s education and secure the necessary and appropriate services for their child. Family Empowerment Centers on Disability (FECs) in California provide a policy solution to assist families navigate …

Importance Of Inclusion For Special Education Students In General Education Classrooms, Michelle L. Zidlicky

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This literature review aims to inform inclusive education and why it is crucial for all students. Inclusion is based on students' academic and social-emotional success from learning with general education peers from both general education, special education teachers, and support staff. Inclusion in education helps students with disabilities be able to learn in the same classroom as general education peers. It provides opportunities for staff to collaborate as team members to best support students. Studies included looking at inclusion and how it has evolved in education. It views teachers' attitudes and supports that staff needs to help inclusive education work. …

Parent Experience In Preschool Special Education Classroom Setting Decisions, Kaia Kathryn Nordtvedt

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Early childhood is a crucial time in a child's development and is often the entry point for a child experiencing developmental delays in the special education process. Parents play an essential role in the special education process as the child's primary caregivers. This study examined the decision-making process of economically disadvantaged Black and Hispanic/Latinx parents as they provide input on classroom setting decisions during preschool IEP creation. Through in-depth interviews, parents shared their lived experiences as they navigated the special education process and made decisions on classroom settings as part of the IEP team. Document analysis provided additional context in …

All Scientists Should Write Poetry: Creative Writing As Essential Academic Practice, Mariya Deykute

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Creative writing in undergraduate academics has often been regarded as an elective practice that has benefits primarily for students who plan to pursue creative or literary majors. However, poetic inquiry specifically offers crucial benefits to STEM students, owing both to the transformative nature of poetic process and to the way poetic inquiry can stimulate innovative, ethical, multilingual and interdisciplinary growth. The author frames the issue through individual experience of teaching poetry to STEM undergraduates in the context of a rich multilingual environment, in which many students are fluent or proficient in several languages. The author argues that due to the …