Special Education and Teaching Commons^™

Educated Guesses That Affect Access To Educational Resources Beyond Early Childhood, Pamela Colton

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Misconceptions about cognitive development cause damaging assumptions that affect access to academic intervention after middle childhood, especially for older students who also have significant disabilities (Aos, Lieb, Mayfield, Miller, & Pennucci, 2005). In this study, possible sources for reduced expectations for post-middle childhood students are discussed and evaluated. Brigance test scores of seven adult students labeled with severe cognitive impairment are documented at the beginning of a regular school year, and then compared to scores at the end of the school year. Target students received regular school based speech language therapy and occupational therapy, as well as direct academic instruction …

Transition Programming For Students With Learning Disabilities From High School To College, Christine H. Georgallis

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Researchers have shown the importance of effective transition services for students with learning disabilities entering college. Few studies, however, have explored the perceptions of students with learning disabilities going through the transition process while pursuing postsecondary options. To address that gap, this study analyzed how students with learning disabilities perceive the effectiveness of their secondary transition services and preparedness for college. The conceptual framework was based on Rogers's theories of learning, which suggest learning includes feelings and emotions as well as cognitive development. Education should promote the type of learning that leads to this personal growth and development. A phenomenological …

Effectively Preparing Special Education Teachers: Success In Urban Environments, Gabrielle Siegenthaler

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This literature review examines the level of preparedness of pre-service and novice special education teachers, specifically teachers pursuing education careers within urban school districts. Research studies were reviewed to indicate what teaching methods are regarded as effective in relation to behavior management. It was found that using culturally responsive teaching has been proven to be effective within urban settings. Studies were also examined to determine if first-year teachers were well prepared and what teacher preparation programs could possibly implement to ensure that future educators are well equipped to effectively teach and manage the growing special education population of students in …

Impact Of Professional Learning Community On Coteaching, Lalita Karpen

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A professional learning community (PLC) is designed to increase pedagogical knowledge and encourage collaboration amongst teachers. Many schools are using a variety of PLCs to increase collaboration and improve teaching and learning. The study school implemented a PLC, but collaboration and effective coteaching practice have not improved. Guided by social constructivism and social cognitive learning theories, the goal of this research was to explore coteachers' perceptions, attitudes, and beliefs about the overall effectiveness of the PLC coteaching model to improve instructional strategies. A qualitative case study with semistructured interviews to collect data and a narrative analysis for reporting was utilized. …

The Impact Of The Arts For Students With Moderate To Severe Disabilities, Rebekah Fuss

All Master's Theses

Students with moderate to severe disabilities are often left out of arts programs, especially in rural areas where resources are limited and drama, music and art classes are often not available. This action research study focused on a small group of students in a self-contained classroom in a high school. The classroom teacher worked with a teaching artist to start an art program for students with moderate to severe disabilities. Even though there are limited resources in rural areas, it is still possible to create a quality arts integration program which requires planning and effective collaboration with other teachers and …

Classroom Management Practices For Male African American Students With Behavioral Disorders, Jamie Helton Hubbard

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Male African American students with disabilities in a South Carolina school district have received a greater proportion of discipline referrals and exclusionary consequences than have other demographic groups. The purpose of this sequential mixed methods study was to explore classroom management strategies that may reduce this disproportionality. The conceptual framework was Skinner's applied behavior theory, which states that to change behavior, the environment must be changed. The qualitative guiding question investigated teacher beliefs about best classroom management practices. The quantitative research questions were intended to provide a description of discipline preferences. Quantitative data were collected through the Behavior and Instructional …

Exploration Of Implicit Bias On Multidisciplinary Team Members When Referring African American Students For Special Education Services, Twana Romona Fletcher

Theses and Dissertations

The disproportionality or overrepresentation of African American students in special education is a longstanding problem that continues to be prevalent today. There are numerous reasons why this phenomenon continues to persist including but not limited to implicit bias among multidisciplinary team members (MDT). One function of the MDT is to decide if a student needs to be referred for special education services. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the decision making processes of the MDT members to determine if implicit bias impacted their decision to refer an African American student for special education services. This qualitative study …

The Effect Of Repeated Reading Strategy On Oral Reading Fluency Of A Fourth Grade Student With Reading Difficulties, Fatmeh Mahmud Al Jaffal

Theses

This study aims at examining the effects of repeated reading strategy on the oral reading fluency of a 9-year-old Fourth Grader with reading difficulties in a private school in the United Arab Emirates. The research employed a quantitative means by using a SingleSubject Design. A pre-post-test design was used. The results of this study indicate that repeated reading strategy is found to be overall effective on oral reading speed and oral reading accuracy. This study has some recommendations for teaching instructions and research. For example, teachers can use it as an instructional approach for improving the oral reading 11w1fluency not …

Collaborative Teaching: A Delivery Model To Increase Responsiveness To The Needs Of All Learners Through Academic And Social Inclusion, Dayna Reilly

Dissertations, Masters Theses, Capstones, and Culminating Projects

Students with special needs often miss out on classroom curricula for specialized instruction. While these services are valued for educational benefits, this instruction method often has negative impacts on social-emotional development and targets students for their differing needs.

Integrated collaborative teaching models include collaborative teaching among general and special educators in an inclusive environment. In this descriptive study, the author examined integrated collaborative teaching as a delivery model to increase responsiveness to the needs of all learners through academic and social inclusion.

This study involved students with a wide range of disabilities from two different grade leveled collaborative classrooms, who …

Learning-Disabled Students: A Comparison Of Achievement Scores Of Students Receiving Services In Pull-Out Classrooms And Inclusion Classrooms, Gerilyn T. Scalf

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to compare the achievement scores in reading/language arts and math of fourth and fifth grade special education learning-disabled students who received academic instruction in an inclusion classroom or a pull-out classroom. Student achievement scores from the 2012-2013 Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) and the Discovery Education Assessment (DEA) improvement scores were compared with regard to service location and analyzed for significant differences between the locations: inclusion and pull-out classrooms. A quantitative study was used to find the differences in reading/language arts and math achievement scores for fourth and fifth grade special education learning-disabled students …

Incarcerating Exceptional Pupils: Is There A School-To-Prison Pipeline In Eastern Oklahoma?, Brett Alan Fitzgerald

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The school-to-prison pipeline metaphor represents an educational environment that allows public schools to push many at-risk children out of school and into the juvenile justice system or even worse, the adult criminal justice system (Wald and Losen, 2003; Lynn, 2010; Tuzzolo and Hewitt, 2006). The purpose of this study is to examine whether a school-to-prison pipeline exists in eastern Oklahoma, and if so, to better understand the characteristics of the public schools that may be contributing to it. The school-to-prison pipeline metaphor guided three research questions regarding whether certain public schools in eastern Oklahoma referred greater percentages of their students, …

Special Educators Speak Out On Co-Teaching Knowledge And Skills, Cynthia Shamberger, Kendra Williamson-Henriques, Noran Moffett, Yolanda Brownlee-Williams

Journal of Research Initiatives

This study explored practices and attitudes of special educators from various states around the country regarding what they consider to be the most important elements for effective co-teaching. Results indicated that co-planning, communication skills, and shared instruction were the most critical factors in effective co-teaching. Professional development was found to be the most common way that participants gained co-teaching knowledge and skill. Future implications for research suggest that teacher preparation programs and districts use e-learning to support pre-service and in-service programs and initiatives related to co-teaching.

Future implications for research suggest that teacher preparation programs and districts use e-learning to …

Special Educators Describe The Critical Mass Of Co-Teaching, Cynthia T. Shamberger, Kendra W. Henriques

Georgia Educational Research Association Conference

Co-teaching is an instructional approach usually initiated by school administrators to help general and special education teachers who share a single classroom to ensure students with disabilities have access to the general curriculum. Although research regarding co-teaching is still in need of further development in some areas such as student achievement, co-teaching has increasingly grown in popularity as an option for addressing the multiple needs of diverse learners, including students with disabilities. Some school professionals and researchers who are proponents of this instructional delivery model believe that, "At the core of co-teaching is determining what instructional techniques will be most …

In-Service Teachers' Perceptions Of Students With Emotional Behavioral Disorder, Cassandra Schreiber, Ashley Kuemper

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

Teachers play an important role in the education of children with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). While parents and caretakers often are aware of their child’s difficulties, educators witness the child’s level of progress (VanGelder, Sitlington, & Morrison-Pugh, 2008). Teachers are these students’ first advocates within the academic setting. According to one study, a majority of teachers working with these students are planning on leaving their positions within the next five years (Adera & Bullock, 2010). Another study found that special education teachers are more likely to leave their position than those in general education fields such as math and …

U. S. Mainland-Born And Non-Mainland-Born Children Referred For Special Education, Miriam Eisenstein Ebworth, Jay Gottlieb, Barbara Gottlieb, Marjorie Goldstein, Justin B. Bennett

Journal of Multilingual Education Research

In this study, we compared the referrals for special education evaluation of U.S. mainland-born children with those of mostly Latino non-mainland-born children in two school systems in the Northeastern United States. The investigation focused on whether there was a significant difference between referrals for special education from each group, based on either language or behavior. According to the literature, nonnatives are both overrepresented and underrepresented in special education, with reasons for referral including problematic use of language and inappropriate behavior. The researchers found that referrals for behavior in our sample were more frequent among natives compared with nonnatives, while referral …

Analyses Of Suspension, Expulsion, And Incarceration Data Reported Under Idea 2004, William Dennis Garnett

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Disproportionate representation in special education has been an enduring issue, even before P.L. 94-142. Though the main focus of research in the area of disproportionate representation has been on the placement of students from historically marginalized racial and ethnic groups into special education programs, disproportionality has been found in other areas such as the use of exclusionary practices and placement in correctional facilities. As more data regarding students with disabilities are accumulated, it is important to investigate current trends in order to ensure patterns of disproportionate representation are understood and perhaps remedied. This study focused on state level data reported …

Effects Of Cooperation Games On Social Interactions Of Students With Emotional And Behavioral Disorders, Teri Alicia Marx

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Students with emotional and behavioral disorders often present with social skills deficits that negatively impact their outcomes in the educational setting. The inability of students to demonstrate appropriate social skills may lead to placement in more restrictive educational environments, limiting opportunities for social interactions with general education peers. Students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds are often overrepresented in the disability category of emotional and behavioral disorder and experience more frequent placement in more restrictive settings. Traditionally, students with emotional and behavioral disorders are taught social skills through direct instruction approaches. Limited research has identified if direct instruction approaches to …

The Fight Within: Experiences Of School District Employees Who Advocate For The Rights Of Their Own Children With Disabilities Inside The Districts Where They Work, A Heuristic Case Study, Keri Haley

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Parents of children with disabilities face a daunting task when it comes to advocating for the rights of their children in school districts across the country. Yet, when these same parents also work inside those school districts, the challenge to balance their advocacy within the expectations of their employment may come with barriers. The intent of this study was to understand the experiences of people who are parents of children with disabilities, as well as educators, and have had to advocate for their own children inside the school districts where they work. Using a heuristic case study approach, this study …

Middle School Transition: Faculty And Parent Perceptions Of The Academic, Procedural, And Social Changes That Occur Between Elementary And Middle School, Barbara Mckeon

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

This purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of parents and faculty regarding the transition from a private special education school to the middle school environment. Research was conducted using a mixed methods design to investigate the attitudes and perceptions of those directly involved with the transition process. Seventeen participants, nine parents and eight faculty participated in both the interviews and questionnaire processes. Social competence, academic competence, procedural challenges, maturational readiness and program planning were dominant themes in this study. The study examined the academic, procedural and social changes that occur in middle school from the stage-environment fit …

A Special Educators Insight On Stigma, Student Performance And Job Satisfaction : Who Determines Educational Success?, Claudette Mincey

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This study describes the views, perceptions and thoughts of special education teachers at a New York City public school in Brooklyn, NY.

A School System And University Approach To Reducing The Research To Practice Gap In Teacher Education: A Collaborative Special Education Immersion Project, Christine R. Grima-Farrell, Jan Long, Robyn Bentley-Williams, Cath Laws

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This research is a response to the call for more effective practice based knowledge on ways to build inclusive cultures that assist the translation of research-to-practice. It reports on the factors identified in literature as being significant to the successful translation of research-to-practice and seeks to identify important sources of influence from an undergraduate teacher perspective.

By investigating a collaborative school system and university generated Special Education Immersion Project, specifically designed for undergraduate teachers, a number of factors are presented as contributors to the gap between research and practice. They include the importance of linkages between teacher preparation programs and …

Differences In Elementary School Team Communication And Practices For Students Of Varied Educational Status, Kathleen Kroll

Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on interdisciplinary problem-solving teams used to address the academic needs of elementary students struggling with reading. Use of teams has a strong theoretical base and wide endorsement by educational leaders, but limited empirical base. Three studies explore teams that convene students of differing academic status: typical learners (TL), literacy-learning risk (LLR), or language-learning disability (LLD).

The first, a survey study of 183 elementary school personnel in 8 professional categories, examines perceptions of teams convened for students with identified learning disabilities in the area of reading, compared with students struggling but unidentified. Results indicate principals, general education teachers, …

Comparing The Perceptions Of Inclusion Between General Education And Special Education Teachers, Debra Bruster

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This causal-comparative, quantitative study compared the perceptions of inclusion of students with disabilities in the mainstream classroom that are held by high school general education teachers and high school special education teachers that teach in inclusive settings. The study determined there is a difference between the perceptions of inclusive education between teachers with different teaching assignments. Special education teachers were clearly more positive than general education teachers about the inclusion of students with disabilities, the influence of students with disabilities on the general education classroom and its students, and the management of behavior in the inclusive classroom. There was no …

The Effects Of Peer Tutoring On Junior High General Education Students' Attitudes Toward Students With Severe Disabilities, Amanda Kim Hunsaker

Theses and Dissertations

The primary purpose of this study was to determine if and how the perceptions of general education students toward their peers with severe disabilities changes when they participate in a peer tutoring program. The study was conducted in a suburban/rural district in Utah and included 102 participants in treatment and control groups over three junior high schools. The data found mixed results. One of the three schools had a significant difference in the attitudes of the treatment group after being part of a peer tutoring program. The study shows that being part of a peer tutoring program can have a …

Teaching High School Students Scientific Concepts Using Graphic Organizers, Kyle Lusk

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

In the current study, the effect of using graphic organizers as a teaching method in a special education classroom was compared to the effectiveness of lecture style teaching in a regular education classroom. It was hypothesized that the use of graphic organizers in a special education classroom would result in a greater difference between the pre-and post-test measures than the group that was taught using lecture style instruction. Each classroom was given the same pre-test, followed by four weeks of instruction, then the same post-test. A paired samples t-test indicated that there was a significant difference observed in both groups, …

Creating The Continuum: J. E. Wallace Wallin And The Role Of Clinical Psychology In The Emergence Of Public School Special Education In America, Philip M. Ferguson

Education Faculty Articles and Research

This paper reviews the history of the continuum of services in intellectual disability programs. The emergence of public school special education in the United States in the first two decades of the 20th century is used as a case study of this history by focusing on events and personalities connected to the St. Louis Public Schools. Using Annual Reports from the era along with the abundant publications and personal papers of J.E. Wallace Wallin, the author explores how the growing class of specialists in clinical psychology and psychometrics gained a foothold in the schools as educational gatekeepers for student placements …

An Investigation Of Special Education Teachers' Perceptions Of The Effectiveness Of A Systematic 7-Step Virtual Worlds Teacher Training Workshop For Increasing Social Skills, Natalie Christina Nussli

Doctoral Dissertations

This study describes how a systematic 7-Step Virtual Worlds Teacher Training Workshop promoting inquiry, experiential learning, and sociocultural theory guided the enculturation of 18 special education teachers into three-dimensional virtual worlds. The main purpose was to enable these teachers to make informed decisions about the usability of virtual worlds for students with social skills challenges, such as students with autism. Mixed-methods data analysis and triangulation were based on the analysis of seven instruments. Six of the seven steps of the intervention received high ratings indicating its viability for teachers' professional development opportunities

Living At The Friendship House: Findings From The Transition Planning Inventory, Jane Finn, Vicki-Lynn Holmes, Rebecca Johnson

Faculty Publications

A residential initiative, named the Friendship House, was created through advocates focused on helping people with intellectual disabilities live independently in affordable and safe housing on a university campus. The Friendship House is a small residence hall where individuals with intellectual disabilities live side-by-side with similarly aged and same gendered university students. Qualitative finding as in resident reports and observational data provides support that the Friendship House experience has been successful. However, to better equip these residents with intellectual disabilities, it is important to assess the program in terms of post school transition acquisition skills. This study focuses on whether …

Intrusiveness Of Behavioral Treatments For Children With Autism And Developmental Disabilities: An Initial Investigation, Michael R. Mayton, Stacy L. Carter, Jie Zhang, John J. Wheeler

ETSU Faculty Works

The behaviors frequently displayed by students with autism can place them at risk for overly reactive behavior interventions with unwanted side effects. The current study examined the level of intrusiveness of behavioral treatments developed for 198 students with disabilities from 13 different states. Results demonstrated that students diagnosed with autism had proportionally more intrusive behavior interventions when compared to students in five other disability categories and indicated that many students with autism were unnecessarily subjected to highly intrusive behavior interventions. The implications of these findings are discussed, and recommendations for future research are provided.

What Are The Similiarities And Differences Of Reading Instruction Of Fourth Grade Students With Learning Disabilities Taught In A Co-Taught Classroom, A Resource Classroom And A Single-Taught Teacher Classroom?, Doreen Cheryl Avenall

Wayne State University Dissertations

WHAT ARE THE SIMILIARITIES AND DIFFERENCES OF READING INSTRUCTION OF FOURTH GRADE STUDENTS WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES TAUGHT IN A CO-TAUGHT CLASSROOM, A RESOURCE CLASSROOM AND A SINGLE-TEACHER TAUGHT CLASSROOM?

By

DOREEN AVENALL

September 2014

Advisor: Dr. Gerald Oglan

Major: Special Education

Degree: Doctor of Education

With the reauthorization of Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) in 2004, more demands are being placed on schools to provide special education services within the general education classroom. The law states that students with disabilities should only be removed from their general education classroom when the nature and severity of the disability is such that …