Browsing by Subject "Special Education"
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Item A Comparison of Behavior and Achievement of PRIDE Students with Emotional Disturbance in General and Special Education Classroom Settings(2020-05-02) Francois, Brunia; Education; Masters of EducationThe purpose of this study was to compare PRIDE studentsā behavior and achievement in their general and special education classroom settings Participants were 10 students who had failed to meet the promotion requirements to move to the next grade level last year and were in a specialized program for emotionally disturbed (ED) students called P.R.I.D.E., which stands for the behavioral goals taught in the program: Positive, Respectful/Responsible, In Control, Dedicated and Empathetic . The purpose of PRIDE is to provide students with supports to help them successfully transition to general education classrooms. The researcher collected studentsā daily behavior ratings from their point sheets, daily grades and anecdotal notes in both their special (PRIDE) and general education classes. Participantsā grades and PRIDE points earned in both settings were compared to help the researcher consider which behaviors were exhibited and how to improve behavior and academic performance in both settings. The t statistic comparing the PRIDE points in the two settings (3.19) was found to be statistically significant, (p<.002), so hypothesis 1 was rejected. The t statistic comparing mean daily grades in the Pride and Inclusion room of 2.784 (mean difference was 6.114 percentage points) was statistically significant (p< .006), so hypothesis 2 was also rejected. These findings indicated behavior and grades were rated higher in the PRIDE setting overall. The correlation between grades and behavior ratings in the inclusion room were statistically significant, so hypothesis 3 was rejected, but that was not the case in the PRIDE room, so hypothesis 4 was retained. However, the correlation between grades and points in the PRIDE room was also positive, so both correlations indicated that students who demonstrated better behavior (compared to the other participants) also tended to demonstrate better performance on academic tasks.Item Disproportionate Suspension and Special Education Identification of African American Students: A Case Study in the Early Elementary Grades(2019-07-13) Chambers, Linda; Cuddapah, Jennifer; Calo, Kristine; Harris, Keith; Education; Organizational LeadershipDisparate discipline and special education identification of African American students has been extensively documented showing a relationship between race/ethnic status and suspension/special education identification rates; yet the reasons for the disparities are less understood. The data on disproportionality for early elementary students are on the rise triggering states to implement suspension bans for elementary students, but there is limited research related to alternative interventions to suspension for this age group. This qualitative case study examined and contributed to research on disproportionality at the early elementary grades and considered interventions that may disrupt this disproportionality cycle that is pervasive across grade levels. The study investigated the effectiveness of a locally developed process where school teams, including an administrator and school-based mental health professional, consider suspension for students in grades pre-kindergarten through grade 2. This study answered the following questions: (1) the impact of the suspension consideration process on suspension and special education identification rates (2) what influences school teamsā discipline decision-making (3) staff perceptions about the suspension consideration process fidelity and effectiveness in reducing suspension and (4) the ways implicit bias influences decision-making in suspension and special education identification. Methods employed in the study included focus groups, semi-structured interviews, and document analysis. Participants included administrators and school psychologists who are members of the suspension consideration process from elementary schools in a large Pre-K-12 mid-Atlantic school system (pseudonym Big Valley). The Big Valley suspension consideration process, implemented after a state Senate Bill was passed banning early elementary student suspensions, did impact suspension and special education identification rates evidencing a significant decrease in suspension rates and special education identification rates, but disproportionality was noted for students who were African American as compared to their non-African American peers. Ways to decrease disproportionality were recommended including: having mental health professionals in every school, implementing social emotional learning curriculum explicitly teaching students social skills and self-regulation, and using restorative practices to resolve conflict and prevent future harm to keep students in schools. Participants shared that adverse childhood experiences, including trauma, are an impacting factor, beyond race, that needs to be addressed for early elementary learnersItem Does the Use of Conscious Discipline in Early Childhood Special Education Provide Emotional Support to the Teachers and Instructional Staff, as well as the Students?(2020-05-08) Drake, Erica Lynn; Masters of EducationThe purpose of this study was to determine if the implementation of Conscious Discipline in an early childhood special education program provided positive social emotional support to the teachers and instructional staff as well as students. The measurement tool, a survey using a Likert scale was, distributed to 20 staff members at a separate public school in Baltimore County, Maryland; 16 surveys were returned. This researcher reviewed the findings to determine if Conscious Discipline had an impact on staff members social-emotional well-being and their feeling of connectedness with students. The results indicated that implementing Conscious Discipline does have a positive effect on staff members as only responses of Strongly Agree, Agree, and Neutral were reported. Responses also targeted specific tenants of Conscious Discipline and how it supported a feeling of connectedness to students, staff members as only responses of Strongly Agree, Agree, and Neutral were reported. Further research needs to be conducted to examine specifically how implementing Conscious Discipline supports the social-emotional well-being of staff members and how that relates to connectedness with students in an early childhood special education program.Item Early Childhood Education: Environmental Factorsā and Interventionsā Impact on Diagnosis in Disadvantaged Communities(2017-05) Dowding, John C.; Graduate Programs in Education; Masters of EducationThe purpose of this study was to determine the impact of environmental factors in disadvantaged communities on misdiagnosis or a lack of a diagnosis, and the implications of pre-referral and Response to Interventions (RTI) on student identification for services based on the perceptions of staff working in an early childhood education center. The measurement instrument that was used for this study was a hard copy survey given to staff members in an early childhood education center in northeast Washington, DC. The perceptions of the staff were positive about pre-referral intervention and RTIās ability to remedy the environmental factors children are confronted with in disadvantaged communities. Future research should investigate the various success rates of pre-referral interventions and RTI in various different communities to determine the impact of environmental factors in different communities on childrenās social-emotional development and academic progress.Item The Effect of a Small Group Intervention on the Participation of Special Education Students in the General Education Classroom(2021-05-12) D'Agostino, Matthew; Woods, Rebecca; Vickery, James; Education; Masters of EducationParticipation in school activities is crucial for all students, especially students with special education needs. Literature shows that students with disabilities participate less in the school setting than their non-disabled peers. A quasi-experimental study was conducted to determine if a Circle of Friends intervention, conducted over a two-week period, would improve participation of students with special education needs in their inclusion classrooms. Increases in participation were noted, but the mean difference of 1.6 between the treatment groupās pre (5.4) and post (7.0) intervention mean participation incidents was not statistically significant (t= 2.138. p <.099). Therefore, null hypothesis 1 was retained. When changes in participation of the treatment group were compared to those of the control group it was found that the control groupās participation rate declined on average 2.5 incidences. The mean difference of 4.10 between the groupsā gain scores was statistically significant (t=2.85, p<.025); therefore, null hypothesis 2, that the gains in participation rates for both groups would be the same, was rejected. A self-assessment, in the form of a participation rubric, was also given to the treatment group. Analysis of their responses showed a slight increase in self-ratings of their participation over the two-week period. These results suggest that more in-depth study over a longer intervention period and with broader samples is warranted to determine how interventions like the Circle of Friends can best be implemented to increase student participation.Item The Effects of Listening to Certain Kinds of Music On Test Performance and Test Anxiety on a Special Education Student(2018-05-15) Storey, Elena; Rhoades, Thomas; English, Mashonah; Brown, Gaye; Brennan, Sarah; Sunshine, Phyllis; Masters of EducationThe purpose of this study was to examine the effects of listening to certain kinds of music on test performance and test anxiety on a Special Education student. The participant in this study is enrolled in an urban, inner city school in Baltimore. The participant functions academically at a fourth-grade level. This study was a case study with a single subject. The data collected involved three distinct music conditions, a studentās homework packet of three worksheets, observable behaviors during the academic task, an assessment of his testing behaviors, the accuracy of his scores on the worksheets and his musical preferences. The data on the pretest and post-test were analyzed using the participantās musical preferences. The study lasted over three days, with the participant completing the academic task in 20-minute sessions. The participant performed poorly on worksheets with no music and with fast music. The null hypothesis indicated that listening to music the student self-identifies as relaxing will result in the same levels of test anxiety and test performance compared to listening to music the student does not identify as relaxing or listening to no music at all during testing. The null hypothesis was not retained.Item The Effects of Social Stories on Negative Behaviors in Social Settings and Situations(2017-05-18) Wright, Elizabeth; Masters of EducationThe purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of using social stories to increase positive and decrease negative behaviors in students with autism in social settings and situations. The study was conducted over a six week period involving two preschool aged students diagnosed with autism. The instrument used to gather data was a tally sheet on which the teacher recorded the frequency of positive and negative social behaviors as they occurred during arrival times and developmental play times.Item The Efficacy of Two Training Methods for Writing Individualized Education Programs: A Case Study Approach(2020-07-20) Whitesell, Beth; Hecht, Allison; Beard, Kay; Dangel, Timothy; Special Education; Goucher Graduate Programs in EducationThe purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of two different methods of training special education teachers to write quality and standards-based IEPs. A case study design was used to compare the IEPs of two special education teachers at an elementary school in the same school district. One of the special education teachers had received a professional development for IEP writing that was provided by the school district two years prior to the study, and the other special education teacher received mentorship from a teacher that she worked with during the 2019 ā 2020 school year. One IEP from each special education teacher was selected to be scored by an IEP Rubric with a focus on the present levels of performance and goals for academic areas of reading, math, and writing. The score of the special education teacher who had received the professional development was slightly higher than the score of the teacher who had received mentorship. Research in the effectiveness of training methods for developing quality and standards-based IEPs should continue as there is limited information available from this study.Item Examining Reading Comprehension: Implementing the Close Reading Strategy with General Education and Special Education Students(2021-05-01) Winton, Kaitlyn; Masters of Education/ Special Education; Masters of EducationThe purpose of this study was to assist students enrolled in a high school special education English class to improve their reading comprehension skills and reading stamina to enable them to perform satisfactorily on achievement exams as well as on class assessments. Study participants were students enrolled in general education and special education students in the co-taught setting. The Performance Series Assessment was administered as both a pre and post-test assessment. The intervention used was the Close Reading Strategy and was implemented into four lessons throughout the year and assessed with a standardized Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program (MCPA) rubric. The results of the study, when considering the growth of studentsā Lexile Scores in general and special education groups, suggested that the Close Reading Strategy was not the most effective strategy for helping students improve their reading achievement. However, when breaking down studentsā writing assignments from the Close Reading Strategy lessons, there was significant growth in both groups.Item Improving Daily Living Self-Care Skills in Middle School Students with Intellectual Disabilities(2018-12-18) Dodson, Sarah; Masters of EducationThe purpose of this study was to determine if middle school students identified with an Intellectual Disability (ID) would improve in daily living self-care skills (DLSCS) after participating in Community-Based Instruction (CBI). A one-way analysis of variance was used to compare rubric scores collected before and after students participated in Systematic Instruction (SI) regarding a cooking-related daily living skill in the classroom and then after they participated in a CBI outing during which the same daily living skill was practiced. Results indicated that the studentsā scores improved significantly after SI and CBI, so the null hypothesis was rejected. The instrument used to conduct this study was a rubric that the teacher used to rate the studentsā knowledge of and performance on a cooking task. The results of the study indicated that improvement was made in the knowledge of the steps used to make a grilled cheese sandwich. The analyses further indicated that the increases in mean total scores from 17.33 before instruction to 29 after SI and to 38.83 after SI and CBI were statistically significant, suggesting that student participation in both SI and CBI improved their performance on the daily living skill. Future studies should evaluate the relative and combined effects of SI and CBI on various skills, with more diverse and larger samples. Future studies also should be implemented over a longer duration and use control groups to clarify the specific effect of both kinds of instruction. Adding other skills and control groups or counterbalancing the design would provide more information and reduce possible spurious results. Research in this area should continue as there is limited information available regarding the impact of SI and CBI on teaching DLSCS to middle school students identified with an intellectual disability.Item Improving Outcomes for Preschool Inclusion Students(2017-05) Hamlin, Cheryl; Masters of EducationCurrent inclusion models often fail to produce the desired outcomes for many pre-school students. This research study sought to compare reading skills, placement and social skills outcomes for children who attended pre-school placements in high-functioning inclusive settings as opposed to self-contained settings. Literature reviewed for this study included topics such as issues in special education, special education practices, service delivery models and program implementation, teacher and paraprofessional training and evidence-based Pre-K programs and behavioral interventions. The study employed descriptive and quasi-experimental methods (comparing outcomes or dependent variables for groups enrolled in different placements, the independent variable) and a non-parametric test to describe differences between reading scores, kindergarten and first grade placements, and social emotional skills of similar groups of children who attended inclusive versus self-contained preschools. Twenty first grade students who met the criteria of interest were selected as a convenience sample for this study as they were accessible to this researcher in her role as Early Childhood Intervention Specialist. Data from the research study the results did not provide evidence that preschool placement is statistically significantly related to reading performance in first grade. Furthermore, preschool placement for this sample was not found to correlate significantly with kindergarten or first grade placements. Finally, teacher feedback on social and emotional functioning did not differ significantly for students who attended self-contained versus inclusive preschool classroom settings. Additional research with increased controls for student demographics, teacher quality, and disability status is recommended to inform educators regarding how variations in placements may effect long term outcomes for special education preschool students.Item Reading Comprehension Strategies for Elementary Students with Learning Disabilities(2020-05-07) Boyd, Larita; Masters of EducationThis study provided an overview of research focused on using analyzing texture structure and graphic organizers as reading comprehension strategies, as well as examined the success of these strategies with second grade students with learning disabilities. The Measurement of Academic Progress (MAP) test was used as the determining factor for the achievement of the participants. The study involved eight participantās scores from the MAP assessment in spring of 2019, the fall of 2019 and then the winter of 2020. Analyzing texture structure provided the students with a framework on understanding the common elements such as plot, character, setting, and theme. Graphic organizers help students recall main ideas and important facts, organize their thoughts without doing a lot of writing, and through visual aids make connections between concepts and how they relate to each other. Incorporating analyzing texture structure and graphic organizers into instruction explicitly taught students with learning disabilities (LD) how to use these strategies to enhance their reading comprehension. There was notable improvement in the MAP reading results from the fall of 2019 to the winter of 2020 in comparison to the spring of 2019 to the fall of 2019. Research in reading comprehension strategies should continue with LD students due to their difficulties in reading and understanding what they are reading.Item Strategies and Approaches to Support Reading Instruction for Students with Severe and Profound Disabilities(2019-12-12) Heath, Megan; Brennan, Sarah; Dwarte, Marquis; Masters of EducationThe purpose of this study was to determine which literacy strategies are believed to be most effective in supporting improved reading comprehension for students with severe special needs. The measurement tool for the study was a survey distributed to 15 teachers at a public-separate day school in Baltimore County. This researcher reviewed the results of the survey to infer findings about the most effective interventions, strategies, and techniques to facilitate achievement on reading comprehension. The results of the survey indicated that teachers strongly agree or agree that seven of the ten reading strategies increase reading comprehension achievement for students who have severe special needs. The results also indicated that teachers either frequently use or always use the strategies during instruction to increase achievement with reading comprehension. Further research should be conducted in order to best define and provide evidence for using additional modes of presentation during reading instruction, to support students who have severe and profound special needs.Item Teach for America Baltimore's Impact on the Experience of Special Education Corps Members and Their Students(2021-05-13) Mullin, Charles; Brager, Gary; Masters of EducationThe purpose of this study was to determine the impact that Teach for America Baltimore pre-service and in-service programming has on Special Education corps members and their students. Two measurement tools were used. Researcher created a Teacher Experience Survey (TES) to determine which essential knowledge, skills, and responsibilities special education corps members felt prepared for. Respondents shared that they did not feel prepared to execute the vast majority of responsibilities needed in Special Education. After collecting Maryland State Assessment scores for special education students in corps member classrooms and traditionally-certified classrooms, a t-test was performed. Statistically-significant difference was not found between treated and untreated groups. Research on the impact of Teach for America on Special Education teachers and their students should continue given the gaps in experience found in survey responses and the lack of impact on math and ELA proficiency scores in comparison to traditionally-certified teachers.Item Using Time-Out to Manage Temper Tantrums in Pre-School Special Education(2019-05) Liverpool-Cummins, Whitnee; Masters of EducationTemper tantrums are common behavior in pre-school classrooms. The purpose of this study was to describe if the use of time-out had an impact on the temper tantrums of special needs preschoolers. The type of time-out used in this study was contingent time-out. Over the course of a series of months, behavioral data on tantrums including the antecedent, behavior, and consequence were recorded. Each tantrum exhibited by the subjects received a score that rated the severity. A rubric for describing tantrums was designed by the researcher. This was an ethnographic case study, the results for each subject including progress or lack thereof and rubric scores comparison are discussed. For each subject, the tantrum frequency and rubric score decreased over time. For one subject tantrums stopped, but then started again without a clear reason.