Browsing by Subject "Special Education"

Now showing 1 - 8 of 8
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    The Effects of Computer-Assisted Instruction in Reading: A Meta-Analysis
    (2015-05) Kunkel, Amy
    The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of computer-assisted instruction (CAI) to improve the reading outcomes of students in preschool through high school. A total of 61 studies met criteria for this review, and 101 independent effect sizes were extracted. Results indicated that the mean effects for students receiving reading CAI were small, positive, and statistically significant when compared to control groups receiving no treatment or non-reading CAI. Categorical moderator analyses and meta-regression were conducted to explore the variation in effects. Results of an analysis of research quality indicated that, on average, about half of quality indicators were met. The results of this meta-analysis show that CAI in reading can effectively enhance the reading outcomes of students in preschool through high school. Future, high-quality research should be conducted to identify effective programs and establish best practice in the instructional design of CAI to enhance the reading skills of all students.
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    A Man's Search for Meaning in the Lives of Children with Intellectual Disability
    (2013-01-14) Martin, Kevin
    This thesis explores the concepts of resilience in families having children with intellectual disabilities. Key to this is the process of developing a reconstructed life narrative that includes a sense of purpose or meaning for the lives of the children with disabilities. The author explores his own reconstructed narrative for his two children who have intellectual disabilities and shows how that narrative has influenced decisions made regarding his children.
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    Perspectives of Special Educators on the Use of Tablets and Handhelds
    (2015-12) Curtis, Susan
    This paper presents the results of a mixed methods study on the use of tablets and handhelds in special education. The results identify the perceptions of 115 special educators representing 39 districts in Northwestern Wisconsin. This study examined the current and past practices of three groups of special educators. The study sought information regarding how special educators perceived changes to their technology practices as a result of their use of tablets and handhelds and how these changes benefited student learning. In addition, the study examined how the utilization of tablets and handhelds influenced the instruction and learning of students with disabilities (SWD) as well as the necessary school supports for the successful integration of assistive technology. Data from this study supported prior research identifying tablets and handhelds as valuable learning tools for SWD. This study presents a graphic framework that summarizes the data identifying the benefits of tablets and handhelds for student learning and instruction. Access is a key finding of this study. Special educator and student access to tablets and handhelds resulted in perceived student and educator benefits. Student benefits were noted in the areas of motivation, engagement, focus and attention, independence, communication, behavior, and social skills. Special educators and administrators report increased use of assistive technology, changes in how they differentiate, use instructional strategies, individualize, and group students for instruction after tablet and handheld use. The data from this study confirmed research on the importance of key school supports for successful technology integration in education. Identified are school and student success stories offering examples of tablet and/or handheld use in school contexts. Implications for practice provide suggestions that assist school districts and administrators to support tablet and handheld use in special education.
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    A Qualitative Study of Data Utilization in Special Education
    (2020-09) Giebink, Erin
    For the last two decades, schools have increasingly been required to administer and report standardized accountability data to prove they are successfully educating students. Previous research has found that educational leaders report using this standardized data more often than any other type of data. This is problematic for students who require special education services to access their education as they have needs that may not be met during a standardized testing administration and can impact their ability to demonstrate their learning. Leaders responsible for making decisions for students with disabilities need to know how to use data from a variety of sources in order to obtain a complete understanding of student progress. The purpose of this study is to learn more about how leaders use data to support students receiving special education services. Nineteen principals and other administrators identified as making decisions for students in special education from five traditional public and five charter schools in the Twin Cities area were interviewed in order to gain an understanding of how leaders use data to support students in special education. In addition to semi-structured interviews, annual reports from each participating school were analyzed. Four themes emerged from the resulting data: (1) leaders use big-picture or detail-oriented data depending on their role; (2) educational setting matters; (3) leaders have similar expectations for all students; and (4) data use is collaborative. Results support previous findings that leaders use academic data as the most common type of data used by leaders. Findings also suggest that school setting may play a role in the likelihood that leaders use different types of data to support students in special education and that leaders often use data in collaboration with others when making decisions about programming for students.
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    School Psychologists’ Decision Making in Evaluations for Emotional Disturbance
    (2016-07) Sadeh, Shanna
    For decades, there has been a persistent national trend of public schools disproportionately qualifying more Black students relative to White students for special education under the category of serious emotional disturbance (ED). Such disproportionality suggests but does not prove racial bias in ED evaluations. I experimentally tested how much, if at all, school psychologists’ racial bias impacted eligibility determinations using a vignette methodology and between-group design with three conditions that varied by level of data ambiguity: (a) low-ambiguity data that do not meet ED criteria; (b) low-ambiguity data that meet ED criteria; and (c) highly ambiguous data. The hypothetical student in each vignette was a fifth grade male who had primarily externalizing problems. Participants completed one vignette in each ambiguity condition; student race (Black versus White) was experimentally manipulated. Participants were 60 practicing school psychologists in a northeastern state that adopted the federal regulations for ED eligibility. For each vignette, participants decided whether the student qualified as ED, rated their confidence in their decision and the diagnosticity of data included in the evaluation, and had the option to describe additional data they wish had been included in the results. Chi-square analyses indicated there were no statistically significant differences based on race between students qualified and disqualified as ED across ambiguity conditions, providing some evidence against the racial bias theory of disproportionality. Under the highly ambiguous data condition, there was no statistically significant difference between students qualified as ED and those not qualified – i.e., regardless of race, all students had a coin-toss chance of qualifying as ED. This finding makes sense in light of the numerous ambiguous key terms in the ED criteria, which allow for more than one reasonable interpretation. Results also showed that most school psychologists were at least moderately confident in their determinations across ambiguity conditions. Their confidence in the low-ambiguity conditions makes sense because those vignettes were designed to be relatively easy. Their confidence in the highly ambiguous data condition may illustrate the potency and frequency of confirmation bias in decision making under conditions of high uncertainty. Across ambiguity conditions, participants frequently identified behavior rating scales and infrequently identified achievement and intelligence scores as highly diagnostic. They identified interviews, family information, and observations with varying frequency across conditions, demonstrating that the diagnosticity of data can fluctuate depending on the presenting problems and evaluation results. Finally, school psychologists who opted to describe additional data they wish had been included in the evaluation results primarily requested more information about interventions that had been attempted and consultation with outside mental health providers. Implications for practice and further research opportunities are discussed.
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    Student Assistance Teams Purpose, Function and Reactions for Instructional Leaders
    (2017-01) Mobley, Alecia
    There are more African American males in higher education that prison or jails (Toldson & Morton, 2011). This auspicious fact is one rationale for the re-examination of educational outcomes of African American males in our education system today-from preschool to institutions of higher education. A closer look is imperative to ensure educational equity and to prevent legal discourse in the future, as the focus on equitable classrooms and school practices over jail or prison are more realistic, profitable and beneficial for scholars and society.
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    A study of current interventions and professional development interests of teachers of early childhood special education for children with autism spectrum disorders.
    (2010-06) Balbo, Maria L.
    Although research-based interventions for young students with Autism Spectrum Disorders exist and are supported in the literature, early intervention teachers in public schools often lack knowledge and training in the adoption and proper use of these effective-intervention interventions. The purpose of this study was to investigate current interventions and professional development interests of early childhood special education teachers of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) in Minnesota. This study employed a descriptive methodology utilizing an online, web-based survey to gather information from four separate groups representing all regions in the state: early childhood special education teachers, early childhood special education coordinators, special education directors, and regional autism consultants. Results indicate that research-based interventions for young children with Autism Spectrum Disorder are implemented at a low level of frequency across the state. The top rated past learning methods that had supported early childhood special education teachers in their knowledge of research-based interventions were identified as: experience in the classroom with other ASD students, experience with other children with disabilities, and workshops/inservices. The top rated future learning methods to advance knowledge of ASD interventions were: learning with other colleagues, workshops/inservices, and mentoring by autism teachers. Leading barriers found to prevent early intervention teachers in accessing training in the area of Autism Spectrum Disorders were found to be: inability to take time away from the classroom, cost of training, and shortage of training funds. Keywords: early intervention, Autism Spectrum Disorders, research-based interventions, research-based interventions, professional development.
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    Supporting Early Elementary Students' Reading Comprehension Development Using Inference Galaxy
    (2022) Kendeou, Pani; McMaster, Kristen; Reno, Emily; Burey, Joseph; Kim, Jasmine; Orcutt, Elly; Slater, Susan; Harsch, Rina; Stagnaro, Kyle; Hwang, Hyejin; Chen, Chen