Special Education and Teaching Commons^™

Establishing A Connection Between Quality Of Life And Pre-Academic Instruction For Students With Profound Multiple Disabilities, Jonna L. Bobzien

Communication Disorders & Special Education Theses & Dissertations

The field of special education has begun to concentrate its efforts on developing objectives and procedural strategies that promote a positive quality of life for students with profound multiple disabilities, while determining which educational strategies are the most appropriate. A multi-element design was used to compare the effects of two educational conditions, pre-academic skills instruction and functional life skills instruction, on the quality of life indicators of four students with profound multiple disabilities. Results indicated that all four students demonstrated a greater number of happiness indicators while receiving pre-academic instruction. Implications for current educational practices are addressed and directions for …

A Short Report: Word-Level Phonological And Lexical Characteristics Interact To Influence Phoneme Awareness, Tiffany Hogan

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

In this study, we examined the influence of word-level phonological and lexical characteristics on early phoneme awareness. Typically-developing children, ages 61-78 months, completed a phoneme-based, odd-one-out task that included consonant-vowel-consonant word sets (e.g., “chair-chain-ship”) that varied orthogonally by a phonological characteristic, sound-contrast similarity (similar vs. dissimilar), and a lexical characteristic, neighborhood density (dense vs. sparse). In a subsample of the participants – those with the highest vocabularies – results were in line with a predicted interactive effect of phonological and lexical characteristics on phoneme awareness performance: word sets contrasting similar sounds were less likely to yield correct responses in words …

Vowel Recognition From Articulatory Position Time-Series Data, Jun Wang, Ashok Samal, Jordan R. Green, Tom D. Carrell

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

A new approach of recognizing vowels from articulatory position time-series data was proposed and tested in this paper. This approach directly mapped articulatory position time-series data to vowels without extracting articulatory features such as mouth opening. The input time-series data were time-normalized and sampled to fixed-width vectors of articulatory positions. Three commonly used classifiers, Neural Network, Support Vector Machine and Decision Tree were used and their performances were compared on the vectors. A single speaker dataset of eight major English vowels acquired using Electromagnetic Articulograph (EMA) AG500 was used. Recognition rate using cross validation ranged from 76.07% to 91.32% for …

An Observational Study Of The Fast Forword Program And Attention Skills Of Students With Learning And Behavioral Difficulties, Eileen A. Mosby

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the effectiveness of the Fast ForWord program (FFW) on attention for students with learning and behavior problems, compared to two other reading programs (Achieve 3000 computerized reading program and a traditional reading program). Improvements in attention skills were observed and compared following a 30-minute, 5 day-a-week schedule. The three programs were implemented within the curriculum in a middle school setting for a 40 day period. The design was a single group study conducted within a single school in the Gloucester County Special Services District. The study participants were 12 seventh through ninth-grade students attending Bankbridge Regional School …

Development Of The Test Item Pool For A Screening Instrument Of Emotional And Behavioral Disorder Of Elementary School Students., Laura Eileen Conley

Theses and Dissertations

The functioning of children with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) is a concern for parents and educators. Screening focuses efforts to identify and prevent/remediate EBD for students most at risk. Current screening instruments fail to meet three factors that may be related to successful early identification. The three factors are universality (rates all students), brevity, and identification of internalizing and externalizing symptoms. This thesis began the construction of a screener with all three factors. The thesis determined a conceptual basis for the instrument and created an item pool. The conceptualization was based on a literature review. The item pool was …

Advanced Community Empowerment Partnership In The 21st Century Technologies, James P. Lawler

Cornerstone 2 Reports : Community Outreach and Empowerment Through Service Learning and Volunteerism

No abstract provided.

Manipulatives In Mathematics Instruction, Jessica Strom

Mathematics Graduate Theses

This paper is a review of research pertaining to the use of manipulatives in middle and secondary school mathematics instruction. It covers the research on the rationale for using manipulatives, the psychology behind learning with manipulatives, the common mistakes when teaching with manipulatives, and the suggested process to follow when using manipulatives in the classroom. There is a large amount of research and information on manipulatives in the classroom. One of the most prevalent topics addresses that the concrete characteristics of manipulatives allow students to progress through a natural learning process on their way to an abstract understanding of mathematical …

Does Change In Timbre Alter Stereotypy Movements Exhibited By Three Persons With Diagnoses Of Mental Retardation And Autism Spectrum Disorder: Three Case Studies, Kathy Wade Webb

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to observe and collect data while monitoring the responses of three individuals to recorded presentations of four folk songs. The individuals, or participants, were all residents of a state-run facility in the southern region of the United States. The participants were females diagnosed with mental retardation and autism spectrum disorder, and they all exhibited one or more stereotypy behaviors in some form or another. The primary purpose of the study was to see if change in timbre of the songs would alter the stereotypy movements exhibited by these participants as the songs were presented …

The Relation Among Sleep, Routines, And Behavior In Children With An Autism Spectrum Disorder, Jill Angelique Henderson

Dissertations

Children with an ASD have a propensity for routines and reportedly have a greater incidence of sleep disturbance and externalizing behaviors than typical children. In addition, significant relations have been identified among routines, sleep behavior, and externalizing behavior in a community sample of children, suggesting that a lack of routines maybe related to sleep disturbance and externalizing behaviors. However, to date, no known studies have thoroughly examined the relation between these variables in children with an ASD. The primary purpose of the present investigation was to examine relations among routines, sleep, and behavior in children with an ASD. Primary caregivers …

Factors Of Effective Teaming Of Special Education Paraprofessionals And Special Education Teachers., Heidi Zisla

Theses and Graduate Projects

The purpose of this study is to identify the factors that lead to effective teaming of special education teachers and special education paraprofessionals. These teams face many challenges in teaming effectively. Teachers and paraprofessionals were surveyed and interviewed to gather their perspectives. Communication, clear roles and expectations, demonstrating appreciation and respect emerged as some of the main factors leading to effective special education teaming.

Effects Of After School Programs On Elementary School Students' Language Arts And Mathematics Achievement, Jennifer Lynn Presnell

Theses and Dissertations

This study evaluated after school program participation on student academic achievement as a way of helping schools meet Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) standards set by the No Child Left Behind Act. After school programs were divided into academic after school programs and traditional after school programs. Student achievement was measured through Criterion Referenced Tests in Language Arts and Mathematics. This study took place in a small urban school district located in the Intermountain West. Students in after school programs were matched with students not participating in the programs on several background characteristics including socioeconomic status, English language proficiency status, school …

Familial Predictors Of Long-Term Outcome Following Inpatient Treatment For Eating Disorders, Anna Mae Ridley

Theses and Dissertations

The present investigation examined characteristic, symptomatic, and familial predictors of long-term symptom severity of eating disorders. The purpose of the study was to determine if, after accounting for a number of known predictors of outcome, familial variables explained a significant amount of additional variance in disordered eating and general well-being scores measured at post-treatment follow-up. The sample included 398 women, ages 13 to 56, who had completed eating disorder treatment at an inpatient facility. Hierarchal multiple regression analysis demonstrated that familial predictors at admission to treatment did significantly predict long-term outcomes, while changes from admission to treatment in symptoms and …

Understanding Acculturation Patterns Of Burmese Refugee Children In Utah Public Schools, Stacie Jai Fraire

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study explored the experience of 21 Burmese refugee adolescents as they acculturated into public schools in Salt Lake City, Utah. Unstructured, open-ended interviews were conducted to elicit information on the students' perception of the U.S. educational system, as well as their feelings about acculturation. The interviews were conducted with the aid of a Burmese/Karen translator and were transcribed and analyzed utilizing a grounded theory approach. The findings detail the acculturation process of the Burmese refugee students, the positive effect motivation has on the pace of acculturation, the impact of unfamiliar technology and language-based misunderstandings on the students' educational …

Students' Perceptions And Experiences Of Secondary Public School Safety, Suzanne E. Jacobson

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to generate in-depth understanding and descriptions of secondary students' experiences of safety in the public schools. Quantitative research has demonstrated that students self-report feeling unsafe in school (Utah State University: Center for the School of the Future, 2006). School violence is decreasing, yet many school districts have sponsored and implemented heightened security measures. It seems a contradiction, but amidst heightened security secondary public school students self-report feeling unsafe in school. This study investigated this phenomenon to provide rich and detailed data, utilizing a grounded theory approach to qualitative research and design. The perceptions and …

Teacher Perspectives On Behaviors Exhibited By Students At Risk For Ebd And The Implications Of These Behaviors For The Development Of An Ebd Screener In Middle And Junior High Schools, Brittany Linn Schilling

Theses and Dissertations

Universal screening is an emerging practice in the field of education to provide at-risk students with early intervention services. Currently there is not a universal screener specifically designed for the middle school population. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to obtain junior high and middle school teachers' perspectives on behaviors exhibited by students at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders in order to develop preliminary test items. Several themes were identified from the teachers' perspectives. Teacher perspectives noted that at-risk students displayed a variety of internalizing and externalizing behaviors. These issues included difficulty maintaining peer and teacher relationships, difficulty …

Creating An Expected Profile For Affinity 2.5 From A Sample Of Non-Pedophilic, Exclusively Heterosexual, College Age Males, R. D. C. Boardman

Theses and Dissertations

The Affinity 2.0 has been recently upgraded to the Affinity 2.5. Both instruments purport to measure sexual interest using viewing time as a form of measurement using non-pornographic images of people of varying ages and genders. The Affinity 2.5 increased the number of slides by 42.9%. This increase may have impacted the expected Chi square weights established for the Affinity 2.0 for non-pedophilic, exclusively heterosexual males. The purpose of this study was to create new expected Chi square weights for the Affinity 2.5 for non-pedophilic, exclusively heterosexual males. Additionally, this study re-examined the temporal stability of the Affinity 2.0 using …

Receiver Operating Characteristic (Roc) Curve Analysis Of Affinity Profiles, Benjamin C. Caswell

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis tests the relative efficiency of Fischer's approach of Chi-square on Affinity viewing time profiles to the more commonly used deviance differential approach. Through his use of a Chi-square approach, Fischer has attempted to make a norm-referenced, comparison of ipsative scores generated using Affinity. His goal has been to create an ethically acceptable approach to identifying sexual interest without losing the efficiency generated through the use of the commonly used deviance differential. A Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve is used to generate the efficiency of each approach and provide results for comparison. These results lead to a discussion of …

Spanish-Speaking Parents' Perceptions Of School-Based Crisis Response., Brenda Dean

Theses and Dissertations

American schools are becoming increasingly diverse. With the increasing diversity in school enrollment, professionals are faced with the challenge of providing culturally sensitive services in all areas, including crisis intervention planning. Additionally, language differences also affect help-seeking behaviors and may serve as a strong barrier to effective service delivery. Taking into account individual school and district demographics, schools must consider strategies to best meet the needs of students and families from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. As a starting point, this thesis provides an overview of the literature on school crisis response. Current demographics in U.S. public schools, the perceptions …

Confronting Bullying: Searching For Strategies In Children's Literature, Emily Ellen Moulton

Theses and Dissertations

Literature is a great resource for teaching valuable principles to children, including how to cope with bullying. However, no analyses exist regarding the appropriateness of these books. Children's books were identified as potential stories for bibliotherapy with elementary school children who face bullying. Information presented in selected books was compared to the current research literature on bullying. Each book's content was analyzed according to important variables, including the type of bullying behavior, gender of the perpetrator and target, presence of bystanders, adult involvement, and resolution of the problem. Verbal bullying was most commonly observed, followed closely by physical bullying. The …

Mentors Increasing Special Education Retention, Michael J. Humphrey, Evelyn S. Johnson, Keith W. Allred, Jack J. Hourcade

Early and Special Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

Lack of effective professional mentoring and minimal ongoing support programs have been suggested as two primary contributors to the chronic shortages of special education teachers. Few programs have been designed to address these specific causes. In this article we describe TATERS, a partnership between a university special educator preparation program, a state Department of Education, and district level administrations designed to (a) develop effective mentoring systems, and (b) strengthen training and recruitment of preservice and new special education teachers, especially in rural areas.

Preface To The 18th Annual Asha-Nih Research Symposium: Neurobiological Determinants Of Communication Development, Steven M. Barlow, Jordan R. Green

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Neurobiological studies of the mammalian brain in health and disease have contributed greatly towards an improved understanding of the maturation-dependent vulnerability of the late preterm brain, the plasticity of the immature nervous system, and the evolution of specialized mechanisms for a communication or ‘language-ready’ neural substrate. Advances in developmental neurobiology have important implications for speech-language pathologists and audiologists working with neonates who, by virtue of their prematurity, are at risk for developmental disabilities. The extra-uterine environment during this critical period (24–40 weeks gestation) in brain development has a profound and long lasting impact on the premature infant. Prior barriers to …

Cultural Responsiveness In The Special Education/Esl Department: Faculty Perceptions At Brigham Young University, Temma Jo Devereaux

Theses and Dissertations

Faculty members from Brigham Young University's special education/ESL program participated in professional development centered on increasing multicultural competence. The primary investigator interviewed faculty members regarding their perceptions of professional development. After conducting the interviews, faculty members' feedback was coded to determine whether or not the professional development aided them in infusing more culturally sensitive practices into the curriculum and created a more sensitive learning environment for students from diverse backgrounds. Researchers also coded the faculty members' feedback to determine if faculty members felt they have changed at an individual/personal level in terms of how they view their own cultural background …

Monitoring Classroom Behavior In Early Childhood: Using Group Observation Data To Make Decisions, Delilah Krasch, Deborah Russell Carter

Early and Special Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

Monitoring and evaluating classroom behavior in early childhood for the purpose of improving teaching and learning is critical. There is a clear link between social behavior and academic learning. Classrooms where students are following expectations, engaging academically, and transitioning effectively between activities are classrooms where students spend more time accessing instruction. In order to make efficient and effective decisions for class-wide supports, data should be collected on the class as a whole. With accurate data, interventions can be implemented for the whole group that will increase instructional time. In this paper we propose quick and efficient data collection methods for …

Videostories: Using Technology To Give Voice To Adolescents With Disabilities: Mid-Project Status Report, Leslie Soodak, Ph.D.

Cornerstone 2 Reports : Community Outreach and Empowerment Through Service Learning and Volunteerism

No abstract provided.

Defining Spoken Language Benchmarks And Selecting Measures Of Expressive Language Development For Young Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders, Helen Tager-Flusberg, Sally Rogers, Judith Cooper, Rebecca Landa, Catherine Lord, Rhea Paul, Mabel Rice, Carol Stoel-Gammon, Amy Wetherby, Paul Yoder

Communication Disorders Faculty Publications

Purpose: The aims of this article are twofold: (a) to offer a set of recommended measures that can be used for evaluating the efficacy of interventions that target spoken language acquisition as part of treatment research studies or for use in applied settings and (b) to propose and define a common terminology for describing levels of spoken language ability in the expressive modality and to set benchmarks for determining a child's language level in order to establish a framework for comparing outcomes across intervention studies.
Method: The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders assembled a group of researchers …

Statistical Frequency In Perception Affects Children’S Lexical Production, Peter T. Richtsmeier, Louann Gerken, Lisa Goffman, Tiffany Hogan

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Children’s early word production is influenced by the statistical frequency of speech sounds and combinations. Three experiments asked whether this production effect can be explained by a perceptual learning mechanism that is sensitive to word-token frequency and/or variability. Four-year-olds were exposed to nonwords that were either frequent (presented 10 times) or in¬frequent (presented once). When the frequent nonwords were spoken by the same talker, children showed no significant effect of perceptual frequency on production. When the frequent nonwords were spoken by different talkers, children produced them with fewer errors and shorter latencies. The results implicate token variability in perceptual learning.

Technical Adequacy Of Curriculum-Based Measures Of Vocabulary Growth For Preschool English Language Learners, Kathleen M. Vantol

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to design and establish the technical adequacy of curriculum-based measures (CBMs) of vocabulary acquisition for use with preschool children. This study sought to establish the technical adequacy of two tools that can be used for measuring benchmarks of vocabulary acquisition for both native English speakers and for English language learners (ELLs) who are native Spanish speakers. In order to address the instructional needs for students who are Spanish speakers, a Spanish version of the CBM expressive language measure was created.

In this study, CBMs of expressive and receptive vocabulary were developed based upon the …

A Case Study Of Jemicy School To Determine Practices Conducive To Developing Creative Potential Of Dyslexic Children., Brenda Sue Graves

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Approximately 15% to 20% of Americans struggle with learning disabilities. The National Institutes of Health reported that 60% to 80% of those with learning disabilities have problems with reading and language skills (as cited in International Dyslexia Association, 2000). Dyslexia is a specific learning disability and according to Moats (2008), it is more common than any other kind of learning disability. Dyslexia varies in degrees of severity. About 4% of those diagnosed with dyslexia are severely dyslexic. This includes some 375,000 school children (Dyslexia Action, 2006). Although dyslexia certainly causes difficulties for children, many of them are bright and capable. …

A Study Of Selected Teachers' Methods To Improve Parental Involvement In Education, Michael Sandberg

Theses and Dissertations

The primary purpose of this study was to explore teaching methods of selected teachers that help to improve parental involvement in education at a middle school in South Jersey. The study also investigated demographic factors such as gender, subject taught, subject or discipline taught, and years of teaching experience. Data on the attitudes were collected by means of a survey using 14 Likert-type items using a 4 point scale and 4 open-ended questions. Research and this study show that a variety of teacher's methods could improve the communication and involvement of parents in the educational process.

Screening Preschoolers For Autism With Behavior Rating Scales, Amber Desiré Gross

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Early identification of autism is important in order to maximize the potential of intervention efforts. However, the identification of autism can require extensive training and experience. Psychologists routinely use behavior rating scales to assess children for various social, emotional, or behavioral problems when completing evaluations in the school or clinical setting. The focus of the current study is to determine whether a behavior rating scale can accurately distinguish between referred preschoolers with autism and referred preschoolers without autism. Parents of 82 preschoolers referred to a nonprofit child development clinic because of behavioral or developmental concerns completed two behavior rating scales …