Special Education and Teaching Commons^™

Covid-19 Pandemic And Special Education Teacher Voices, Rama Cousik

The Qualitative Report

The pandemic caused by COVID-19 created havoc in schools across the world as it necessitated school closures and lockdowns, and/or a sudden switch to an online mode of learning. Although all children and teachers were adversely affected, children with disabilities faced additional problems. Special education teachers bore the burden of having to continue providing high quality special education in the face of these challenges. In this paper, I present findings from a survey of special education teachers through use of qualitative and arts-based research technics.

The Involvement Of Parents Of Students With Disabilities In Rural Early Head Start Programs: A Case Study, Cassandra Annette Justice

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative collective case study was to describe parent participation for home-based educators and parents at an Early Head Start home-based program in rural Appalachia. Parental participation in the Early Head Start home-based program was generally defined as the active participation of children with disabilities’ parents in a home-based program guided by home-based educators through the implementation of early intervention services. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs guided this study, as it relates to both identifying barriers that may prevent parents from being involved and illuminates how Early Head Start educators help families meet growth and developmental needs. The …

Meeting Them At "Tha" Crossroads: Examining General Education Teachers' Knowledge And Understanding Of Reaching And Teaching Black Boys With Disabilities, Benita Kluttz-Drye

Theses and Dissertations

Black boys with disabilities struggle in general education classrooms throughout the United States and face challenges and barriers regarding access, success, and equity. Educators must better understand how these students learn and create equitable opportunities by leveraging students' cultures, strengths, and knowledge. The purpose of this explanatory sequential mixed methods research study is to examine teachers' knowledge and understanding of enacting culturally responsive tenets. Four theoretical frameworks are used: Culturally Responsive Teaching (Gay, 2002b, 2018), Ethic of Care (Noddings, 2012), Differentiated Instruction (Tomlinson et al., 2003; Tomlinson, 2017), and Disability Studies and Critical Race Theory (Annamma et al., 2013). The …

Leaders And Restraints: Investigating How Attitudes Of School Leaders Predict The Number Of Physical Restraints, Sarah S. Ulmer

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study investigates how attitudes of school leaders predict the number of physical restraints that occur in schools that serve students under IDEA. This study focuses on the attitudes of school leaders from the geographical regions of Virginia in public and private schools. The “Educational Leadership and Behavioral Interventions” survey was used to gather research from 33 schools within Virginia. After collecting the data through the survey, the data was analyzed using a predictive correlation research design. The bivariate linear regression was used to analyze the predictor and criterion variables using SPSS. Based on the results of the data analysis, …

The Counseling Needs Of Students With Disabilities At The University And Their Relationship To The Level Of Aspiration And The Attitude Towards Study, Sharefa A. Alzubairi Phd, Najla Y. Alamry Phd

International Journal for Research in Education

The current study aimed to identify the counseling needs and their relationship to the level of aspiration and attitudes towards study among university students with disabilities. The sample consisted of 85 students with disabilities enrolled at Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University. The results indicated high percentages of counseling needs, and it came in the following order: academic, professional, psychological, health, social, and informatics. Also, it showed high level of aspiration and attitude among the study sample, and existence of a statistically significant negative correlation between the counseling needs and both the level of aspiration and attitude. No statically significant differences …

Harmonica Pedagogy For The Full Inclusion Instrumental Music Classroom, Expanding Opportunities For Students With Disabilities, George Wallace Miklas

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The harmonica was once taught in American public schools coast to coast from the 1920s through the 1940s when imports of harmonicas were curtailed due to World War II's efforts. Since then, American public-school instrumental music curricula have long forgotten the only wind instrument that makes music when the student inhales or exhales. The harmonica provides a natural calming effect to the player and medical benefits, including being a tool for overcoming mental health issues and expressing needs and feelings without words. During the era when the harmonica was taught, pedagogy lacked uniformity. Consequently, confusion about the instrument's unique tuning …

The Effectiveness Of Practicums On Preservice Physical Educators’ Attitudes And Self-Efficacy Toward Teaching Individuals With Disabilities., Megan E. Johnson

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

The aim of this study was to explain the effects a practicum had on the attitudes and perceived self-efficacy of preservice physical educators toward teaching students with disabilities in an inclusive learning environment. Existing literature established most physical educators receive one semester-long course in adapted physical education (APE), which often leads to feelings of unpreparedness and negative attitudes toward teaching students with disabilities in the general physical education (GenPE) classroom. The present study utilized a mixed-methods approach to combine quantitative data results from the Physical Educators Attitudes toward Teaching Individuals with Disabilities (PEATID-III) survey (Rizzo, 1993) and qualitative data findings …

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 …

Collaborating With Parents With Disabilities To Create Accountability In The Special Education System, Brooke Crosby, Julia Lutz-Lawlor, Kelsy Farley, Khadra Geelle

Master of Social Work Student Policy Advocacy Briefs

Minnesota is a state that prides itself on prioritizing education. As such, all school personnel must fulfill their obligation to ensure meaningful access for parents with a disability. As part of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA), the development of an Individualized Education Program (IEP) is required under both federal and state special education law. In the special education IEP process, parental involvement is mandated to ensure the child's best interest. Research shows parents’ involvement in their children’s education can lead to an improvement in grades, performance, literacy, attendance, and homework completion. Disabled parents must be engaged as …

Best Buddies Club: A Phenomenological Study Of The Non-Disabled Peer Perspective On Socially Interacting With Students With Disabilities, Joanna Marie Cavender

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to describe the shared experience of non-disabled peers serving as a “best buddy” to high school students with a disability in the southeastern United States. The theory guiding this study was Vygotsky’s Social Constructivism Theory, where learning between two diverse learners occurs through social interaction with one another, specifically a high school student with a disability and a non-disabled peer buddy. Participants in this study (N=14) were selected from three different high schools throughout one school district, each with active extracurricular Best Buddies Clubs in place. Data were collected through 1:1 interviews, …

Self-Advocacy And Postsecondary Program Achievement In Students With High-Incidence Disabilities, Alyssa Nelson

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This literature review examines studies that investigated and evaluated the relationship between self-advocacy and college program completion in postsecondary students with disabilities. Research was reviewed that used school-aged participants with disabilities, postsecondary-aged students with disabilities, high school faculty, postsecondary faculty, parents of the students with disabilities, and two and 4-year college Disabilities Services staff. Many factors are involved in why students with disabilities tend not to self-advocate for themselves or ask for support or assistance in secondary and postsecondary educational institutions. Inversely, some motivators promote students’ self-advocacy decisions, which has sparked interest in this area of study. The studies reviewed …

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?

Transportation: The Obstacle That Impacts Employment, Postsecondary Education, And Independent Living For People With Disabilities, Danielle Carter

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The journey to support people with disabilities began nearly 70 years ago when federal laws began to inform educational practices and ensured accountability that people with disabilities should be able to live a full life. Transportation is one skill that people with disabilities need in order to reach their goals. Transportation impacts nearly every aspect of daily life for people with disabilities and continues to be an obstacle to the attainment of employment, postsecondary education, and independent living unless changes are made. This study addressed the fears and the barriers of using transportation and then identified changes that could be …

The Why, The Who, The How… A Guide To Planning Effective, Collaborative, Person-Centered Transition Services For Students With Disabilities, Kristie Covington, Lorita Rowlett

Kentucky Teacher Education Journal: The Journal of the Teacher Education Division of the Kentucky Council for Exceptional Children

Providing effective transition services and plans for students with disabilities can seem like a daunting task to special education teachers and supporting agencies. Planning effective collaboration and coordination between stakeholders increases the likelihood that students with disabilities will graduate high school and participate in desired postsecondary activities, be it paid employment or postsecondary education (NTACT, 2019). Many special education teachers and supporting agencies are unsure where to start when planning and coordinating transition services; in response we created a document that can be used as a guidance and planning tool to design effective, person-centered, collaborative transition services. The planning tool …

Parent And Teacher's Perceptions Of Employment Outcomes For Youth With Intellectual Disabilities Transitioning From The Public School Setting., Rachel Leann Baker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Since 1990, and with subsequent amendments in 1997 and 2004, the secondary transition provision of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) have required special educators to plan, coordinate, and deliver transition services for secondary-aged students with disabilities (U.S. Department of Education, 2011). The experiences, social impacts and economic opportunities for employment continue to be monitored at both a federal and state level as part of expected outcomes for public secondary schools. The purpose of this instrumental case study was to examine the alignment of current research with current practice of transition planning for students with intellectual disabilities. The study …

University-Based Principal Preparation Programs In Texas In 2019: Where Is Special Education?, Ann Hoa Lê, Julie Peterson Combs

School Leadership Review

Most principal training programs in the United States focus very little on preparing aspiring instructional leaders to lead programs for students with disabilities. An examination of principal preparation programs and their SPED components is necessary at a time when standards have been revised and new certification exams have been constructed in Texas. To explore the presence of SPED topics in principal certification courses, we used a classical content analysis with a group of university-based principal preparation programs. Almost half of the universities in our study required 18 semester hours or fewer for principal certification, and none of these had course …

Understanding Principals’ Knowledge Of Special Education, Whitney G. Schexnider

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The percentage of students identified as eligible to receive special education services in the United States has grown from 8.3% in the 1976-77 school year to 14% during the 2018-19 school year (Hussar et al., 2020). Given this level of growth and the myriad of levels of support principals provide for students with disabilities, one would assume that principal preparation programs have adjusted their curriculum to ensure future school administrators are prepared to support every student, including those with disabilities. The purpose of this research study is to better understand how current school administrators learned special education-related information for their …

Shift: Moving Art Classes Into Rural America, Amy Schmierbach Mfa

Art & Design Faculty Publications

For the past 25 years academia has worked to create virtual and on-line classes. They have become mainstream and an expectation at each university. They want to keep education accessible for individuals unable to come to campus or that live in remote locations. Across the country universities have shrinking enrollment for their on-campus courses. The student that do come to campus learn differently than what most professors have been taught themselves. These students are passionate about the world and they want to impact their communities. The usual lecture or art demo may not be enough to prepare our students for …

Principals' Perceptions Of Manifestation Determination Implementation And Disciplining Secondary Students With Disabilities, Felicia Florez

ATU Theses and Dissertations 2021 - Present

Students with disabilities are often disciplined differently than their peers in school. This qualitative study focused on eight secondary administrators in the Fort Smith Public School district and their perceptions of manifestation determinations and their understanding of the laws of special education. Participants were interviewed face-toface via an online platform, and results were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Glasser’s Choice Theory guided the research and through the study the results indicated administrators gain insights to a SWD motivation for the behavior before assigning an intervention, punishment, or discipline procedure (Achilles et al., 2007; Glasser, 1998; Louis, 2009; Rose, 1988; Zirkel, 2010). …

Finding Ways To Increase Physical Activity In Students With Disabilities In A Social Distanced World, Paula Kerchenski

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Obesity in the United States is becoming a problem that negatively affects the life expectancy of young children, which for the first time in history is moving in the wrong direction (Ogden et al., 2014). According to obesity trend data, obesity has tripled in children from 5% in 1978 to 18.5% in 2016 (Anderson et al., 2019). For our students with disabilities, obesity rates are two times higher than students without disabilities (Neter et al., 2011). Although physical activity is considered an essential component of a young child’s health and development, the lack of physical activity attributes to the obesity …

Parents Of Children With Disabilities In The Early Months Of Covid-19: Knowledge, Beliefs And Needs, Mary Beth Bruder Phd, Tara M. Lutz Phd, Kelly E. Ferreira Phd

Developmental Disabilities Network Journal

COVID-19 has impacted families across the world. Besides the huge task of keeping their children and themselves healthy, families had more responsibilities such as supporting their children’s learning at home when they could not go to school. We asked 457 parents of children with disabilities about their knowledge, beliefs, and needs during the first few months of the pandemic. The parents reported a decrease in formal supports available to them. They also reported a decrease in being able to access informal supports. The parents stated concerns about the health and well-being of their families, the loss of jobs and income, …

A Comparative Analysis Of The Impact Of A Progressive Learning Curriculum On Student Achievement In A Northeastern Urban Public School District, Corey Mckinney

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

This study used a non-experimental, one-group, pretest-posttest design to compare the scale scores on the 2017–2018 and 2018–2019 Mathematics sections of the New Jersey Student Learning Assessment (NJSLA). This investigation compared the 2018 New Jersey Student Learning Assessment in Mathematics (NJSLA-M) scale score means for sampled special education students in Grades 4 – 8 to the 2019 NJSLA-M scale score means for the same group. A Paired-samples t-Test was used to determine what statistical differences exist, if any, between the scores 2017–2018 results of the students prior to receiving instruction based on learning progressions and the 2018–2019 results after receiving …

Investigating Special Education Services For Elementary English Language Learners Within The South-Central U.S.: A Survey Of General Education, Special Education, And Esl Teachers, Kylie Bray

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

This paper explores solutions to the issue of overrepresentation in special education among the English Language Learner (ELL) population. Reasons for overrepresentation of this population can be summarized into three main categories: diagnostic problems, TESOL shortages, and improper assessment tools. By educating future and current teachers on proper ways and techniques to teach, academic failure among ELL students is prevented. Assessment forms need to be revised and accountability needs to exist to ensure that poor teaching and learning environments are not being diagnosed as a disability. An attempt to find how effectively these solutions have been implemented into schools, overrepresentation …

A Descriptive Study Of The Accommodations, Assistive Technologies, And Supports Chosen By Students With An Intellectual Disability Attending A Post-Secondary Institution, Lori Olson

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study used a mixed methods approach to investigate the perceptions of students with intellectual disabilities (ID) attending a Transition Postsecondary Program for Students with Intellectual Disabilities (TPSID). This study explored what they perceived to be the most chosen and helpful accommodations, assistive technologies, and supports and why they chose them. The researcher sent out an electronic survey to students with ID attending a Transition Program for Students with Intellectual Disabilities (TPSID) to determine the most chosen and helpful accommodations, assistive technologies, and supports and why they found them helpful.The top ranked accommodations used and found most helpful in this …

Evidence-Based Practices To Promote Inclusion In Today’S Catholic School, Sean Smith, G Cheatham, Maggie Mosher

Journal of Catholic Education

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to present inclusionary practices for Catholic education classrooms that emphasize the integration of evidence-based practices (EBPs). Practices that have been developed to address the needs of all students, particularly learners who are at-risk as well as their peers with an identified disability. Over the past two decades, educational reforms and corresponding effective practices have evolved to correspond with the growing expectations that all student should be given the opportunity to participate in the general education experience. Applying the evidence-based practices presented in this article can provide Catholic educators with the needed support and …

Defining Inclusionary Practices In Catholic Schools, Sean J. Smith, G Cheatham, Jennifer M. Amilivia

Journal of Catholic Education

The purpose of this article is to provide Catholic educators, administrators, families, and broader parish communities an understanding of critical elements required to effectively include all students, particularly those with disabilities, in Catholic schools. With an understanding that Catholic schools enroll and will continue to add not only students with disabilities, but also other students who may struggle with learning in some manner, the Catholic school community needs to keep abreast of effective practices that facilitate meaningful inclusion. This is especially relevant for those Catholic families who desire a Catholic education for their children with disabilities, as well as their …

Parental Choice Of Charter Schools For Middle School Students With Disabilities, Oluwole Ilesanmi

Special Education ETDs

For many decades, traditional public schools were the dominant public schools available for educating students, including those with disabilities. However, in the current climate of school choice, parents can now choose from a variety of educational options for their children. This study sought to explore the reasons parents of students with disabilities enrolled their children in charter schools. Research questions addressed the reasons parents considered when enrolling their children with disabilities in charter schools, as well as their degree of satisfaction and experiences after enrollment in charter schools. A total of 108 parents of sixth-eighth grade middle school students with …

Supporting English Language Learners With Disabilities In Special Education, Margaret Kramer

Master's Projects and Capstones

The number of English Language Learners, both appropriately and inappropriately, placed in Special Education has risen in the public education system. This requires Special Education classrooms to incorporate language acquisition opportunities into the child’s education, but the school systems are not currently prepared to provide this to the staff and students. There is a lack of culturally and linguistically appropriate curricula, limited collaboration between parents and teachers, and incomplete IEPs affecting students placed in Special Education and learning English as a second language. The purpose of the project is to address the needs of staff and families working with students …

Teachers’ Perceptions Of Alternate Academic Standards And Alternate Testing In Northeast Tennessee, Jodie Bakely

Ed.D. Dissertations

In accordance with the Every Student Succeeds Act (2015), Tennessee developed alternate academic standards and an alternate assessment for students with significant cognitive disabilities. This study examined teacher perceptions of the alternate academic standards and alternate assessment in Northeast Tennessee. The researcher interviewed nine teachers of students with significant cognitive disabilities who had used the alternate academic standards and alternate assessment with their students in Northeast Tennessee. The study found that the teachers interviewed did not see the value in using the alternate state standards or alternate assessment with their students. The implications of this study included a need for …

Examination Of Online Accommodation Information For College Students With Disabilities In New England, Emily Rakers

Honors Scholar Theses

The purpose of this study is to report on the status of information available to college students with disabilities on the websites of New England colleges’ centers for students with disabilities. Primarily, this study focused on information about the application process for a student to receive accommodations. Data was generated by compiling a list of common factors on the websites of centers for students with disabilities at colleges not in New England, and then searching the New England websites to see if they included these factors on their own websites. Three separate categories of schools were included in the study: …