Special Education and Teaching Commons^™

1:1 Technology Programs Impact On Iowa Schools, Kong Chen, Palmer Scott, Noor Albayat, Ghader Albayat, Danielle Stubbs

Annual Graduate Student Symposium

The purpose of this research is to examine school-based use and student outcomes of 1:1 technology initiative. Qualitative methodology was used to understand one district’s process implementing 1:1 technologies. Guiding this exploration was an interpretivist paradigm that facilitated understanding the district’s intent, motivation, planning, and results of 1:1 implementation.

Tiers 1, 2 & 3 Intervention: Student Engagement, Amber Olson, Reece L. Peterson

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Conclusion

Although it is a broad term which includes many potential components, student engagement is a critical component to both academic and behavioral success. Various research studies have linked positive student engagement to an increase in school success, a decrease in adolescent troubles, and a decrease in dropout risk (Skinner et al., 2008; Fredricks, Blumenfeld, & Paris, 2004; O’Farrell & Morrison, 2003; Stout & Christenson, 2009). Increasing teacher engagement and support has been identified as a key way to increase student engagement (Bryson & Hand, 2007). Various instruments can be used to assess the levels of student engagement within schools, …

Ua10/1 Cec Newsletter, Mary Lloyd Moore Executive Director, Wku Suzanne Vitale Clinical Education Complex

CEC Publications

No abstract provided.

Increasing Rural Special Education Teacher Candidates' Ability To Implement Evidence-Based Practices: A Program Description Of The Boise State University Taters Program, Evelyn S. Johnson

Early and Special Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Technology Accentuated Teacher Education for Rural Specialists (TATERS) program aimed to: (a) prepare highly qualified special education teachers across a state comprised of more than 70% rural districts, (b) develop a system of support through a mentor network and institutions of higher education collaboration to address the needs of teacher candidates in rural areas, (c) ground special education teachers in the use of evidence-based practices to improve the instructional services that students with disabilities in Idaho receive, and (d) develop a mechanism to evaluate and provide feedback on teacher candidates' implementation of evidence-based practices. This article describes the application …

The Effects Of Classwide Function-Related Intervention Teams On Preschool Behavior, Krystine Alycia Jolstead

Theses and Dissertations

Challenging behavior in preschool is a serious concern for teachers. In recent years, positive behavior support (PBS) has been shown to be effective in reducing such behaviors. Class-Wide Function-related Intervention Teams (CW-FIT) is a specific program for implementing PBS principles in classroom settings. CW-FIT is a group contingency that utilizes social skills training, teacher praise, and positive reinforcement to improve student behavior. Students are taught specific social skills and then work in teams to earn a group reward based on the use of these skills. CW-FIT has been shown to be effective in elementary classrooms but has not yet been …

Function-Based Behavior Intervention To Decrease Off-Task Behavior Of A Student With Adhd In The Large Music Classroom, Nina A. Testa

Capstone Projects

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of implementing function-based intervention to decrease the off-task behaviors of a 6th grade student with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, in a large music classroom. By conducting a functional behavior assessment, the triggering antecedents and consequences maintaining the unwanted behavior were examined and the function of the behavior was identified. Following, a function-based intervention plan was implemented to minimize antecedents, teach replacement behavior, and decrease consequences maintaining the target behavior. Data were collected and analyzed during baseline and intervention phase using direct observation. Results indicated that function-based intervention was successful in …

How Does Inclusion With Co-Teaching Affect Student Performance On Summative Assessments?, Kaitlin Marie Hutchinson

Masters Theses/Capstone Projects

Schools have been pushed toward inclusive practices with an emphasis on co-teaching models (Yeung, 2012), yet reservations exist and little is known about the effects of inclusive practices. The questions this study aims to answer are: 1. Does inclusion with an emphasis on co-teaching affect performance of newly transitioning students with disabilities on district and teacher made summative assessments?, and 2. Does inclusion with co-teaching have a carry-over effect on typically-developing students’ assessment scores? This study aims to investigate the effect of inclusive practices on student summative assessment scores. Results from the district preassessment were gathered for all students in …

Gender Stereotyping By Regular Vs. Special Education Teachers, Annie Eyer

All Capstone Projects

This study explores the teacher perceptions of gender roles held by regular education teacher as opposed to special education teachers. The purpose of the study is to examine the differences in responses held by these two groups of teachers. An online quantitative, longitudinal survey was distributed to teachers in the Illinois Counties of Will and Cook. A quantitative analysis discovered no statistically significant differences between the two certification groups. However, the teachers free response questions obtained mixed results between all teachers surveyed. Future implications of the research suggest that the teacher preparation programs need better focus on the study of …

Teacher Knowledge And Perception Of Students With An Adhd Label, Carrie Ballantine

All Capstone Projects

This descriptive, quantitative study utilized a cross-sectional survey to determine if there was a relationship between teacher knowledge of ADHD and their perception of students with the label, and it investigated the potential difference between general education and special education teachers. A three-part survey will be disseminated to participants. This includes demographic information, true-false questions about ADHD, and vignettes with a Likert scale measure of perception of the events described. A Pearson correlation may be used to analyze the degree of relationship between the level of teacher knowledge about ADHD and their perception of students with the label. T-tests were …

The Benefits And Drawbacks Of Behavioral Management Plans In Therapeutic Day Schools, Bruce A. Korensky

All Capstone Projects

Behavioral management plans were analyzed as to their effectiveness in helping students improve their behavior. The settings where the research was conducted were in five therapeutic day schools. Therapeutic day schools are schools that are designed to help students improve in their social emotional conditions so they can return to their regular schools. The students who were interviewed had behavioral and social/emotional conditions. In add ition, the administrators of the five schools were interviewed in regards to how effective they believe their selected behavioral management plans are.

Vestibular Dysfunction, Altered Macular Structure And Trait Localization In A/J Inbred Mice, Sarath Vijayakumar, Teresa E. Lever, Jessica Pierce, Xing Zhao, David Bergstrom, Yunxia Wang Lundberg, Timothy A. Jones, Sherri M. Jones

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

A/J mice develop progressive hearing loss that begins before one month of age and is attributed to cochlear hair cell degeneration. Screening tests indicated this strain also develops early onset vestibular dysfunction and has otoconial deficits. The purpose of this study was to characterize the vestibular dysfunction and macular structural pathology over the lifespan of A/J mice. Vestibular function was measured using linear vestibular evoked potentials (VsEPs). Macular structural pathology was evaluated using light microscopy, SEM, TEM, confocal microscopy and Western blotting. Individually, vestibular functional deficits in mice ranged from mild to profound. On average, A/J mice had significantly reduced …

Parental Involvement And Academic Achievement, Rosie Thornton

All Capstone Projects

The parent-school relationship for families of students with disabilities is clearly prescribed by law and is one of the main systems of belief of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), 2004. The purpose of the study was to focus on homework, parental involvement, parental involvement in homework, and parental involvement in homework of students with special needs. This study was designed to analyze parents and teachers beliefs on parent involvement in their child’s homework as it relates to higher student outcomes and achievement within a traditional urban elementary school setting. Participants consisted parents of primary grade level students in …

Employers Attitudes Towards Hiring Individuals With Alternative Diplomas, Leah West

All Capstone Projects

Having career aspirations is a natural part of development. Many students dream of receiving their high school diploma and going on to enter the workforce. However, one must consider what happens to students who receive degrees of completion, certificates of attendance, or occupational diplomas. In order to examine the postsecondary job opportunities for students who hold alternative diplomas the researchers conducted an action based study which used the mixed methodology approach of surveys and interviews to examine employer’s attitudes towards hiring individuals with alternative diplomas. A total of 50 participants, who were part of a convenience sample, were asked to …

The Effects Of Transition Planning And Postsecondary Outcomes For Students With Disabilities In An Urban School Division, Janice James-Mitchell

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

According to The National Center on Secondary Education and Transition (2004), young adults with disabilities continue to face significant difficulties in securing jobs, accessing postsecondary education, living independently, fully participating in their communities, and accessing necessary community services. Furthermore, studies have indicated that IEPs generally do not always contain transition related information. In this dissertation study, the postsecondary outcome data from Indicator 13 and Indicator 14 and student attendance at IEP meetings for students with disabilities were examined.

There were two levels of research to this study. In level one, there was an overall picture of the data by completing …

Piecing The Puzzle Together With The Use Of Physical Therapy, Mikayla Pruitt

Honors Projects

For my Honors Project I decided to create a set of exercise cards for children with autism. The front of each card had a picture symbolizing the exercise/activity, and on the back included directions, supplies and tips to complete the activity. The following is a selection of a few exercise cards from each of the four exercise sections, as well as the title card, table of contents cards, information cards, and source cards.

Examining Masculine Gender-Role Conflict And Stress In Relation To Religious Orientation, Spiritual Well-Being, And Sex-Role Egalitarianism In Latter-Day Saint Men, Loren B. Brown

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated two aspects of masculine gender role strain—gender role conflict and gender role stress—and their relationship to religious orientation, spiritual well-being, and sex-role egalitarianism among Latter-day Saint (LDS or Mormon) men. To investigate these variables, a sample of 201 LDS undergraduate men who were predominantly White/Caucasian and single completed the Gender Role Conflict Scale, Masculine Gender Role Stress Scale, Intrinsic/Extrinsic Religious Orientation Scale-Revised, Spiritual Well-Being Scale, and the Sex-Role Egalitarianism Scale. As predicted, LDS men who reported higher levels of religiosity and spiritual well-being reported lower levels of gender role strain. This study also found that participants who …

Examining Experiences Of Early Intervention Providers Serving Culturally Diverse Families: A Multiple Case Study Analysis, Wendy Lea Bradshaw

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The cultural and linguistic diversity of the United States is growing rapidly and early intervention service providers are very likely to work with families whose cultures differ from their own. Service providers must consider the multiple cultural factors of families which contribute to family dynamics and the potential for miscommunication is high when the cultural frameworks of early intervention providers differ from those of the families they serve. Culturally responsive practices have been put forth in the theoretical literature as a way to increase successful communication and service provision but there is limited research investigating the beliefs, experiences, and practices …

The Effects Of Function-Based Thinking On Teacher Selection Of Interventions For Disruptive Student Behavior, Kimberly Yanek

Communication Disorders & Special Education Theses & Dissertations

Traditional approaches to addressing student misbehavior often involve the imposition of reactive and punitive consequences. Certain groups of students who engage in disruptive behavior experience a disproportionate amount of these punitive disciplinary responses. African American males are one such group. A growing body of research suggests that a need exists for more proactive and positive approaches to addressing student classroom misbehavior. One promising option is function-based thinking—a critical component of functional behavioral assessment. The present study examined both the accuracy of and change in teacher selected antecedent and/or consequence interventions aligned with the function of student behavior. Additionally, changes in …

Parental Expectations And Perspectives As They Relate To Their Children With Special Education Needs (Sen) During Transition From Early Intervention/Preschool To Kindergarten, Arika Spencer-Brown

Dissertations

Parental Expectations and Perspectives as They Relate to Their Children with Special Education Needs (SEN) During Transition From Early Intervention/Preschool to Kindergarten

By Arika Spencer-Brown

The purpose of this study was to define parent perspective and expectation as it pertains to their children with special needs transition process using a descriptive method. This study was designed to assess the perception and expectation of third year and first year Head Start families and provide insight into how effective their special needs transition was from preschool into kindergarten and the individuals related to the overall development of an Individualized Family Service Plan …

Education For All, Kathleen Vantol

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"In Nicaragua, teachers do not have the option of sending their students to the special education classroom to work on a particular skill or activity. Just as there are no educational assistants, there are no special education classrooms and no special education teachers."

Posting about one teacher’s goal to bring inclusive education available to all schools in Nicaragua from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has implications for the entire world.

http://inallthings.org/education-for-all/

Capturing Success! Using Remote Observation Technology For Teacher Candidate Supervision: What Does The Research Say?, Tina M. Hudson, Cathy Galyon Keramidas, Lori J. Marks

ETSU Faculty Works

Excerpt: In response to the shortage of special education teachers in rural areas, many teacher preparation programs are providing supervision to pre-service teachers via distance education technologies.

Repeated Reading For Students With Special Needs, Julie Sara

Theses and Dissertations

This research study seeks to determine the effects of implementing variations of the repeated reading strategy with fourth and fifth graders with special needs when reading informational text. The purpose of this study was to teach students new techniques to improve word accuracy and comprehension and to better inform instruction. Four students in a multiple disabled self-contained classroom participated in this five week study. In addition to base-line data that was collected, data on timed repeated reading, paired repeated reading, listening-while-reading repeated reading, and vocabulary instruction prior to repeated reading was also analyzed. An interest inventory measured students' reading motivation …

H. O. N. E. S. T. Teaching, Jamie Vancleve, Sharon Petteys

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

It’s time to get real with HONEST Teaching.

This frank approach takes the excuses out of the classroom and places the focus back on learning. Teachers, counselors, or support staff that work with children of any socio-economics or learning abilities can benefit from HONEST Teaching.

What You Know Counts: Why We Should Elicit Prior Probabilities From Experts To Improve Quantitative Analysis With Qualitative Knowledge In Special Education Science, Tyler Aaron Hicks

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Qualitative knowledge is about types of things, and their excellences. There are many ways we humans produce qualitative knowledge about the world, and much of it is derived from non-quantitative sources (e.g., narratives, clinical experiences, intuitions). The purpose of my dissertation was to investigate the possibility of using Bayesian inferences to improve quantitative analysis in special education research with qualitative knowledge.

It is impossible, however, to fully disentangle philosophy of inquiry, methodology, and methods. My evaluation of Bayesian estimators, thus, addresses each of these areas. Chapter Two offers a philosophical argument to substantiate the thesis that Bayesian inference is usually …

Effects Of Explicit Print Referencing On The Print Awareness Of A Child With Severe Disabilities, Mallory Roberts, Blake Hansen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

This great opportunity of being awarded an ORCA grant allowed me to pursue and share my research with others at an Applied Behavioral Analysis International Conference. I was able to take my research study and present it with many ABA professionals at the conference held in Chicago, IL. Participating in such a conference enlightened my understanding of my own research method and taught me many other research methods unique from what I already knew.

Deletion Of Shank1 Has Minimal Effects On The Molecular Composition And Function Of Glutamatergic Afferent Postsynapses In The Mouse Inner Ear, Jeremy P. Braude, Sarath Vijayakumar, Katherine Baumgarner, Rebecca Laurine, Timothy A. Jones, Sherri M. Jones, Sonya J. Pyott

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Abstract

Shank proteins (1-3) are considered the master organizers of glutamatergic postsynaptic densities in the central nervous system, and the genetic deletion of either Shank1, 2, or 3 results in altered composition, form, and strength of glutamatergic postsynapses. To investigate the contribution of Shank proteins to glutamatergic afferent synapses of the inner ear and especially cochlea, we used immunofluorescence and quantitative real time PCR to determine the expression of Shank1, 2, and 3 in the cochlea. Because we found evidence for expression of Shank1 but not 2 and 3, we investigated the morphology, composition, and function of afferent postsynaptic densities …

Special Education Due Process Hearing Requests Under Idea: A Hearing Should Not Always Be Required, Timothy E. Gilsbach

Brigham Young University Education and Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Exploring Trends In Disproportionality Of Emotional Disturbance Classification After The Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act (Ideia), Ghirmay Alazar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The aim of this study was to systematically investigate the trends of disproportionate representation of African American students in special education when compared to Caucasian special education students in emotional disturbance category as well as the trends in disproportionality of emotional disturbance classification after the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA). African American students in special education are disproportionately represented when compared to Caucasian special education students but uncertainty persists regarding the nature and the extent of the problem (Aud et al., 2010; Countinho & Oswald, 2002; Skiba et al., 2006, 2008). This study employed a mixed methods multiple …

Towards An Understanding Of The Use Of Digital Media To Facilitate The Inclusion Of Children With Learning Disabilities In Mainstream Primary School Classrooms, Róisín Garvey

Masters

Inclusion, or the integration into mainstream classrooms of students with learning difficulties, should strive to make the students’ education sufficiently challenging while also making considerations for their particular capabilities and needs. A key aspect of inclusion is the requirement for appropriate support services and additional aids for both students and teachers. Digital media can be effective in helping to facilitate learning and can provide opportunities for engagement, peer learning, curriculum support and assessment. It can also promote collaborative and cooperative learning when the educational content is tailored to the capabilities of individual students. Finding teaching strategies that are suitable for …

Tiers 2 & 3 Intervention: Dropout Screening & Early Warning, Natalie Hoff, Amber Olson, Reece L. Peterson

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Conclusion

Understanding the various risk factors and how they may impact a student’s success in school or their decision to drop out is very important. Identifying these factors and understanding which students are at-risk can help schools to take action early and reduce dropout rates. One method of doing this is to implement a universal, or school-wide, dropout screener. These screeners flag students at risk for individual or multiple variables and are helpful in keeping track of which students are in need of immediate assistance or intervention, which students should be watched carefully, and which students are on track for …