Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons^™

Stem And High School Students With Disabilities: A Qualitative Review Of The Research Literature, Scott Yamamoto Ph.D., Charlotte Y. Alverson Ph.D., Laura Mccoid-Goudy M.A.T., Hannah Castle B.A., Jacquelyn Burr M.Ed.

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

We conducted a qualitative review of the research literature on STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) related to high school students with disabilities (SWD). We selected and analyzed 53 articles to answer two questions: (1) How are high-school SWD prepared for careers in STEM? (2) How are educators prepared to support high-school SWD for opportunities in STEM? In answering the first question, four qualitative themes emerged: (a) barriers to STEM, (b) increasing STEM opportunities, (c) STEM readiness in college and career, and (d) STEM identity. In answering the second question, three qualitative themes emerged: (a) individualizing learning and supports for SWD, …

Self-Efficacy Perceptions Of Middle School Reading Teachers In Majority Minority Inclusive Classrooms On Their Ability To Achieve Students Success., Debra Jean Lewis

Dissertations (2016-Present)

According to the U.S. Department of Education National Center for Education Statistics (NCES, 2022), the number of students who require special accommodations in the classroom continues to increase. Because studies have shown that positive outcomes for students are directly linked to the self-efficacy of educators (Lotter et al., 2018; Neugebauer et al., 2019), educators who serve these populations must possess high levels of positive self-efficacy to handle the challenges associated with inclusive settings and specialized skills needed to achieve student success. The purpose of this study, which was guided and supported by the Social Cognitive Theory (Bandura, 1986), was to …

The Efficacy Of A Key Word Signing Workshop, Krista Mcmorran-Maus

Education (PhD) Dissertations

This study examined the effect of a 1-day, 6-hour key word signing (KWS) workshop on in-service special education teachers’ and speech-language pathologists’ (SLPs) (a) skill identifying American Sign Language (ASL) signs; (b) skill producing ASL signs; (c) use of KWS in the classroom or therapy room; and (d) perceived changes from taking part in a KWS workshop. Participants included five special education teachers, three SLPs, and four students with complex communication needs (aged 3 to 14 years) participated in the study. All eight adult participants participated in a pretest-posttest design with repeated posttest measures over time, survey design, and phenomenological …

Increasing Collaboration And Knowledge In School Communities To Enhance Outcomes For Autistic Students, Amy Jane Griffiths, Diana Baker, John Brady, Kelly Kennedy, Anaiza Valladolid, Rachel Wiegand, Raquel Delgado

Education Faculty Articles and Research

Purpose

This paper describes a case study of a developmental program evaluation on the Autism Community Toolkit, a collaborative skills training program for parents and school professionals. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of the training on participants’ knowledge, competence and perceived collaboration; and potential improvements to the training program.

Design/methodology/approach

The program included multiple training sessions for families and school professionals, designed to educate participants on autism, evidence-based interventions and to increase home-school communication and collaboration. Data collection methods included pre- and post-measures and feedback forms.

Findings

Results indicated that the training program was beneficial …

K-5 Elementary Alternative Program: A Case Study, William E. Scheuer Iv

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this case study was to examine how the K-5 elementary alternative program All Students Can Thrive (ASCT) used student-centered learning practices to influence the whole child. There is a lack of research on K-5 elementary alternative programs, such as ASCT, and specifically those that integrate student-centered learning practices to influence the whole child. Literature does not contain universally accepted interventions that are effective in the elementary alternative setting to help students return to the mainstream classroom setting better prepared to display appropriate behaviors when a student is removed from a mainstream classroom setting due to disruptive behaviors. …

Activity-Based Intervention And One-To-One Correspondence For Children With Developmental Delays, Cyndy Anang

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

PreK children with developmental delays in inclusive classrooms need access to math interventions helps them develop foundational math skills that are needed to succeed during their K-12 education. Research is significantly lacking that addresses increasing math skills for children with disabilities in PreK classrooms. The purpose of this study was to examine how using activity-based intervention (ABI) increases one-to-one correspondence for children with disabilities in an inclusive classroom. A single subject multiple probe design across participants was implemented to embed one-to-one correspondence math goals into daily routines and preferred activities. The participants of the study were two 3–5-year-old children categorized …

Teachers Of General Education: Perceptions And Experiences Teaching Inclusion In U.S. Schools, Ann C. Sander

Teacher Education, Educational Leadership & Policy ETDs

This phenomenological qualitative study explored the perceptions and experiences of a group of U.S. public schools, kindergarten through fifth grade teachers, certified in general education with experience teaching inclusion--a federally mandated practice requiring schools to educate students both with and without disabilities in the same classroom. Much of the literature surrounding inclusion focuses on the perceived benefits of the program and children with disabilities' legal rights. The literature has a limited number of references describing the perceptions and experiences of teachers who are required to provide the educational services necessary for inclusion in the classroom.

In this study, 35 participants …

Using Markup Languages For Accessible Scientific, Technical, And Scholarly Document Creation, Jason J.G. White

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

In using software to write a scientific, technical, or other scholarly document, authors have essentially two options. They can either write it in a ‘what you see is what you get’ (WYSIWYG) editor such as a word processor, or write it in a text editor using a markup language such as HTML, LaTeX, Markdown, or AsciiDoc.

This paper gives an overview of the latter approach, focusing on both the non-visual accessibility of the writing process, and that of the documents produced. Currently popular markup languages and established tools associated with them are introduced. Support for mathematical notation is considered. In …

Principals' Knowledge Of Special Education Policy And Procedure And The Special Education Teachers' Intent, Tara Clark

Dissertations

Teacher shortage has been a growing problem. With the increase of teacher shortages, some areas are being impacted more intensely. Special education is one of the areas most impacted by the shortages. Common reasons exist as to why teachers are leaving the field or profession. These reasons may be personal or professional related. Some of the professional reasons for leaving pertain to the school’s administration and the way special education teachers are treated. Principal support is cited as one of the primary indicators of teacher satisfaction. Literature supports the analysis that a principal’s leadership heavily determines a teacher’s job satisfaction. …

Individualized Clinical Coaching With Bug-In-Ear: Enhancing Fidelity Of Implementation Of Behavior Specific Praise Among Novice Teachers Of Students With Developmental Disabilities In Rural Classrooms, Dennis P. Garland Ph. D.

Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education

Five novice special education teachers in rural classrooms received individualized clinical coaching (ICC) via the Internet to increase their use of behavior specific praise (BSP) with their students who had developmental disabilities (DD) during clinical supervision. Web cameras provided opportunities for the teachers to be observed during their regularly scheduled classroom teaching. The participants received brief coaching prompts through a wireless earpiece that they wore while teaching. A single subject multiple baseline across participants design was used to determine if a functional relation existed between the ICC and the rate of BSP use per minute for each of the participants. …

Goal Setting: Impacting Teacher Candidate Growth In Residency Practicum Prior To Student Teaching, Shantel Farnan, Victoria Seeger, Sue Wood, Greg Rich

Journal of Human Services: Training, Research, and Practice

Educator preparation programs and school districts continue to strive to meet their commitment to better prepare future teachers for entry into the field of education. For more than 100 years, beginning as a normal school, a midwest university has had a strong reputation for the preparation of teachers. After a significant revision to the curriculum to one driven by competencies, this university increased field experiences for teacher candidates, including a culminating year out called Residency Practicum and Student Teaching. Over the course of the undergraduate program, candidates work toward achievement of competencies assigned throughout the coursework and aligned to state …

Synchronous Distance Language Learning And Critical Visual Literacy Practices In Greek Primary Education, Marianthi Oikonomakou, Emmanouil Sofos, Argyro Kontogianni

Journal of Research Initiatives

Our research, focusing on critical literacy practices in education, demonstrates the outcome of a teaching scenario applied in 2021 in a primary school e-class learning environment with the aid of distant learning tools. Having taken for granted that: (a) covid-19 pandemic has initiated important changes regarding our understanding of language teaching and (b) the extend we expose ourselves to modern multimodal environments, our teaching intervention attempts at displaying how the use of visual grammar can contribute to the critical understanding and production of multimodal texts by junior pupils in the language teaching framework. In the light of the above, through …

Developing A K-12 School Leadership Plan, Marian E. Truehill

Journal of Research Initiatives

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to develop a K-12 School Leadership plan for public, private, and parochial educational institutions. The K-12 School Leadership plan will help principals, teachers, staff and students focus on how to accurately operate a successful school culture, climate, and improve academic performance at their educational institutions. I used a pseudonym JFK for the high school examined in this paper. Themes represented in this paper will include assessment of ineffective leadership style, assessment of school culture, climate and performance, school improvement areas, explanation of leadership style, most effective style to improve school performance, research-based leadership …

Trauma-Informed Practices For Test-Taking Anxiety At The Elementary Grade Level, Kate Campbell, Shalini Mathew

Journal of Research Initiatives

Test -Taking Anxiety (TTA) is a challenging experience for children of all ages. Childhood exposure to trauma and adverse experience has been increasing. Fortunately, trauma-informed practices, such as mindfulness activities have become more widespread in schools throughout the last few years. Existing school counseling literature offers limited perspectives on how school counselors can support elementary students for TTA. This conceptual article explores the effects of trauma-informed practices on elementary-age students' test anxiety and overall academic success in schools and offers implications for practice.

White Out: An Analysis Of Presentations Of Race And Ethnicity In U.S. Inclusive Education Textbooks, Phillandra Samantha Smith

Dissertations - ALL

Textbooks are heavily used in the United States and throughout the world as a medium between students and fields of knowledge. In the field of education, textbooks are a primary source through which pre-service teachers gain expert knowledge and develop their professional stature. Inclusive education textbooks used in introductory courses have a particular significance in that they help to shape the pre-service teacher’s understanding of the field by providing access to information and ideas at a time when prospective teachers are beginning to formulate their pedagogical and philosophical beliefs. The purpose of this study was to analyze engagement with race …

Implementing Tactile Learning To Aid Students Understanding Of The Bohr Model, Christin B. Monroe, Andrew B. Stein, Cindy Tolman

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

It is essential for introductory level chemistry students to understand atomic models and how atoms interact to form chemical bonds. The tactile model in this article utilizes marbles to represent subatomic particles, a cup to represent the nucleus and wooden rings to simulate the electron orbitals. These inexpensive items can be combined to construct models in which students can build foundational knowledge of atomic structure and how subatomic particles interact. Students were asked to provide feedback comparing the use of this tactile model to atomic computer simulations, videos and their textbook regarding the method they felt was most useful to …

An Examination Of The Working Relationships Between General Education Teachers, Special Education Teachers, And Paraprofessionals In General Education Settings, Rita Page Hosay

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to provide an examination of the relationships between general education teachers, special education teachers, and paraprofessionals and the influences of these relationships on students with disabilities. This study was conducted through the process of semi-structured interviews with general education teachers, special education teachers, and paraprofessionals working in two Tennessee school districts. The researcher found that communication practices, training, perspectives, time, role expectations, development of partnerships, and the creation of supportive environments affect the development of working relationships among special education teachers, paraprofessionals, and general education teachers. The researcher found that these relationships influence the …

The Effects Of Coaching Provided Via Video-Conferencing To Caregivers Of Children With Asd, Kendra L. Antill

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The ability to communicate effectively to others is a pivotal skill necessary to get one’s needs and wants met; however, children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often have significant delays in communication skills. Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices provide an alternative means for children with complex communication needs to express their needs and wants. Communication interventions involving AAC have been largely conducted in school and clinical settings, despite young children spending a significant amount of their time at home and in the community. Family involvement plays a critical role in improved outcomes for young children with disabilities. Recent shifts …

Effectiveness Of Music-Infused Aba Strategies On Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Josephine A. Sodano

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Given the nationwide increase in the diagnosis of autism, particularly in the pediatric population, there is obvious value in examining the effectiveness of intervention methods. This research sought to examine the effectiveness of a music-infused approach combined with Applied Behavioral Analysis methodology. The exploratory mixed method design pilot study examined and comprehended the narratives of special education early childhood teachers assigned and trained to deliver a music-infused intervention program within a natural self-contained Applied Behavioral Analysis program, five days a week, 20 minutes a day, for a duration of 6 weeks to a population of ten preschool students, ages 3-5, …

A Spark Of Light In The Darkness: A Framework Of Habits And Routines That Grow Literacy Identities, Andy Schoenborn

Michigan Reading Journal

Using familiar and flexible classroom routines, authentic literacy habits, and encouragement, his students moved from "I hate reading and writing" to self-identifying as readers and writers in a matter of eighteen weeks.

Overview Of The Proceedings Of The 2021 Inclusion In Science, Learning A New Direction, Conference On Disability (Island), Cary Supalo, Jasodhara Bhattacharya, Daniel Steinberg

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

No abstract provided.

Faculty Perspectives On Online Teaching In Higher Education: A Qualitative Approach To Understand Faculty Members’ Challenges And Experiences, Felix O. Quayson

Journal of Research Initiatives

This study explored faculty members' perspectives on online teaching in higher education and described, analyzed, and interpreted faculty members challenges and experiences of teaching online courses. Participants were twelve (12) faculty members who have taught online courses or currently teach online courses. Data was collected from 60-minutes semi-structured interview sessions, 78 open-ended questions, three research driving questions, background questionnaire, and personal artifacts from faculty members. Five major themes with subthemes, 15 code categories, and code co-occurrences emerged from the data collection, field notes, memos, and data analysis. However, not all of the code categories were replicated by all of the …

Finding Correlations Among Academic Performance, Demographic Influences And Clinical Competency Utilizing Predictive Variables In An Associate Degree Nursing Program, Rebecca Montz, Brett Welch, Neil Faulk, Clementine Msengi

Journal of Research Initiatives

A nonexperimental, quantitative, correlation study was utilized as the research design to explore the relationship between multiple academic and demographic variables on the final clinical assessment score and Health Education Systems, Inc., (HESI) Exit Exam (E²) score from a South Texas ADN program. The research was conducted to address the nursing workforce shortage and effective ways to predict academic and clinical achievements for associate degree nursing (ADN) programs. The academic variables for the research consisted of preadmission grade point average (GPA) and Anatomy and Physiology (A&P) I prerequisite GPA. Age and gender were used as the demographic variables …

English Teachers' Opinions On Challenges Face In Teaching English As Foreign Language: The Case Of Jalalabad Selected Secondary Schools, Fahim Rahimi, Hangama Samadi

Journal of Research Initiatives

One important goal of teaching is to achieve learning outcomes. It has been observed in universities that many students have different levels of English language proficiency. However, they study in the same English courses at the school level. The main objective of this study is to learn the challenges that exist in teaching the English language as a foreign language in secondary schools that affect the English proficiency of students. In addition, ways in which these challenges will be overcome is reviewed. The data collection tools were questionnaires and semi-structured interviews to collect data from English language teachers in selected …

Esl Teachers And School Leaders Perspectives: Culturally Relevant Pedagogy In Elementary And Middle Grades Social Studies, Matthew John Wynne, Landon Hadley

Journal of Research Initiatives

The American public education system is undergoing significant changes. This is in regard to what students should be learning and how teachers should deliver quality instruction. English language learners (ELLs) are a group that demands time, attention, and special consideration. This is due to their increasing population in public schools and their low academic performance when compared to their native English-speaking students (Samson & Collins, 2012). English language learners are one of the fastest-growing student populations in the United States, with over 4.6 million students as of 2015 (McFarland et al., 2017). This qualitative study with a narrative inquiry approach …

7 Hands-On Strategies For Struggling Readers, Elise Murray, Stacey Murray

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

Struggling readers are found in almost every classroom across the world. With differing learning styles and abilities, teachers are encouraged now, more than ever, to be innovative when teaching foundational reading strategies. Within this article, readers are provided with a literature review of research and educational literature that discusses how multisensory, hands-on activities promote engagement and active learning for all students. The recommended seven hands-on learning strategies that can promote learning and support for struggling readers during literacy instruction include Build the Words, Feel the Words, Whole Body Letters, Five Finger Retell, Sight Word BINGO, …

De Bono's Six Hats Thinking Strategy For All Content Areas, Jamie Mahoney, Lynn Patterson, Carol Hall

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

Problem-solving and collaboration require people to compromise, negotiate, and brainstorm to understand, create, manage, judge, and be intuitive and remain positive and calm while working as a team to address problems. Teachers can teach students to collaborate and problem-solve in any content area using de Bono's Six Thinking Hats Strategy. Using de Bono's strategy, university students in this study explored learning hats and ways to apply learning hat properties to collaborate and problem solve in group activities. Researchers employed a mixed-method study enlisting both general education and special education pre-service undergraduate and in-service graduate teachers to discover personal thinking hat …

Preservice Teachers’ Perceptions And Knowledge Of Response To Intervention/Multitiered Systems Of Support, Alexandra J. Taylor, Tommy Wells, Amy E. Lein

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

There has been considerable research that establishes the need to improve teachers’ knowledge of and ability to effectively implement response to intervention (RtI)/multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS), and there is a scarcity of research examining interventions addressing these concerns. In a mixed methods study, we examined the perceptions and knowledge of the RtI/MTSS frameworks of undergraduate preservice teaching candidates enrolled in a dual certification program at a small, private Catholic university in Kentucky, before and after participating in a semester-long, experiential learning project. The project involved monitoring both the reading and mathematics progress of struggling elementary or middle school-aged students …

Activities Negatively Influencing Retention Of African American College Students And Leadership Strategies To Increase Retention, Melvaughn Thompson

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to recognize the decrease in retention of African American college students. What are some of the reasons for a decrease in retention and what do the leaders do about it? Leadership can develop and implement to recruit and increase retention of some of these African American academic students. The college dropout rates on college campuses overall are 40%, with 30% of these students being freshman and sophomores. The theoretical framework for this study is based on the expectancy theory of motivation which is a process theory of motivation (Vroom, 1964). An individual's motivation (Valence) …

A Qualitative Study On Nurse Facilitators Of Mind-Body Skills Groups, Paula D. Blake-Beckford

Mindfulness Studies Theses

The Center for Mind-Body Medicine (CMBM), founded by Dr. James Gordon, provides communities with evidence-based Mind-Body Skills Groups (MBSGs) that foster self-care, self-awareness, and self-expression. MBSGs range from 8 to 12-week series on various mind-body practices wherein group members meet, practice, and reflect on the impact of mind-body skills in their lives. Research has demonstrated that participants in MBSGs have positive outcomes. Healthcare professionals (HCPs), especially nurses, gain resiliency from MBSGs. As facilitators of MBSGs, nurses develop essential skills transferable to clinical and educational settings. MBSGs are therapeutic for adult participants with chronic stress. Prior to this thesis, only one …