<p> Assistive technology is used in education to support and increase students&rsquo; learning. Many of these are math and science virtual manipulative applications, studies of which are well documented. Studies documenting the effects of social studies software on special education students, however, are scarce due to the small number of applications and the difficulty of gathering consistent data. This is because students often suffer from mental, emotional, behavioral and physical instability. This study was intended to determine whether assistive technology is beneficial in this regard. The study used Study Island software, which provides students and teachers self-adjusting, customizable social studies coursework. The study examined the suitability of the software in increasing the academic performance of middle school special education students at Pandale School, a public separate school. This quantitative, experimental study compared two sets of randomly assigned students who used identical learning materials, presented in either print or software form. The demographics of the school dictated the participant pool, which consisted of 11-20-year-old African American males. Using two mixed model ANOVAs, the pretest and posttest scores and test completion times of each group were compared to determine the software's efficacy. Every experimental group participant saw an increase in test scores from pretest to posttest. After controlling for preexisting conditions, it was observed that the type of instruction variable explained 18% of the test score variance between groups, as represented by partial <i>&eta;²</i>, <i>p</i> &lt; .0001, indicating a rejection of the null hypothesis and a finding that the software had a positive effect on the participants' test scores. An analysis of test completion times for the pretest (<i>M</i> = 43.64) and posttest (<i>M</i> = 33.23) showed that the mean test scores differed significantly, <i> F</i>(1.000, 38.0000 = 90.184, <i>p</i> = 0.001) from pretest to posttest and amongst both groups, and suggested that the null hypothesis should not be rejected and that the Study Island virtual manipulative had neither positive nor negative effect on test completion times. Study results indicated the usefulness of Study Island as one tool of many in the classroom. Future studies targeting specific demographics and student needs are indicated. </p>

<p> This research utilized an interpretive, multiple-case design to explore how fourth- and fifth-grade charter school students with high-incidence disabilities experienced instruction to participate in their annual IEP meetings and how they described their experiences of their meetings. Using student interviews, observations of the instruction and IEP meetings, review of instructional materials, and researcher-developed tools for students to self-record data, the study focused on <i>students'</i> perceptions of their experiences. Specifically, this research examined factors that motivated students to participate in their IEP meetings and factors that supported and impeded their participation. </p><p> A review of the literature revealed a wide gap around research on preparation of elementary students to participate in their IEP meetings. Much of the research on how best to involve students with disabilities in their educational programming has focused on student development and training in the context of transition planning, specifically with regards to self-determination skills (e.g., problem-solving, goal-setting, self-regulation). However, researchers have suggested that students in elementary grades may require adult support and monitoring, as well as contextual practice opportunities, in order to build self-efficacy in using these skills. </p><p> Results from the research are presented separately for each student and finally compared and contrasted across students. Findings were (a) students were primarily motivated to participate in their meetings out of a need to develop competence and mastery in their academic pursuits and (b) they perceived their teachers and mothers as critical supports in their efforts. Factors found to support and impede students' participation related to: accessibility of language and content, teachers' expectations for the students' participation, level of autonomy support students received, the extent to which students perceived their voices were validated, and the extent to which students' participation focused on strengths versus deficits. </p><p> The discussion provides an analysis of motivational, support, and impediment factors through a theoretical lens that integrates self-determination theory and self-efficacy theory. The discourse highlights the importance of autonomy support to enhanced student competence and ultimately to students' more active participation in their IEP meetings. Recommendations for future research, policy, and practice are provided.</p>

<p> This Critical Race Theory study used a qualitative methodology to analyze guided, online response interviews from African-American parents who have sons with eligibilities of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The study focused on the roles these parents played in navigating their son&rsquo;s K-8 education. The findings indicated some of the parents were isolated and ridiculed, whereas all the parents experienced roles as the Parent Advocate, the Parent Warrior, and the Triumphant Parent all while navigating the intersectionality of race, gender, and disability.</p>

<p> The purpose of the qualitative descriptive case study was to explore the perceptions and experiences of middle school general educators using Individual Education Plans (IEPs) of students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The study participants consisted of 13 teachers selected from two public middle schools in a suburban county in the State of Georgia. The descriptive case study examined six links associated with the phenomena. The links were inclusion, a description of ASD complexities, and the global significance. Other links to the phenomena were the middle school structure, the legal ramifications, and stakeholder involvement. The six themes and three subthemes developed from the analytic generalizations related to the research question. The data collection procedure included semi-structured face-to-face interviews. Data analysis included using NVivo 10 software to code, organize, and categorize data. The results of the study recommended training and support for general educators using the IEPs of ASD students in middle schools. The conclusion of the study acknowledged the necessity for allowing general educators to make suggestions and accommodations to update middle school IEPs. The study recommended five suggestions to improve the education of middle school ASD students. Three of the recommendations were a project study, developing middle school mini IEPs, and detailed structuring to manage on-going training sessions. Also, parent and student meetings and meet and greet sessions can stabilize parent, student, and every middle school general educator&rsquo;s involvement. </p>

It has been suggested that Organophosphate (OP) pesticides have the potential to harm children's health by interfering with central nervous system functioning. The purpose of this study was to investigate how exposure to pesticides affects children's cognitive and behavioral functioning. Two groups of children were studied: Exposed and Non-Exposed. The children participated previously in the Children's Pesticide Survey (CPS) conducted in an agricultural area in the state of Arizona. They were selected based on the presence/absence of OP pesticides in an urine sample collected during the CPS. Both Exposed ( n = 25) and Non-Exposed (n = 23) children were assessed with cognitive measures: Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition Short Form (WISC-III SF), Children's Memory Scale (CMS), Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), Trial Making Test A (TMTA), and Trial Making Test B (TMTB). Parents and teachers completed behavioral measures: Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and Teacher Report Form (TRF) respectively. All children provided an urine sample the day of cognitive assessment for analysis of OP pesticides metabolites. Data were analyzed using MANOVA and Pearson's correlation procedures. Results of the MANOVA indicated that children in the Exposed group did not perform significantly different than the Non-Exposed group on the WISC-III SF, the CMS, the TMTA, the CBCL and the TRF. However, Exposed children took significantly more time to complete the TMTB than the Non-Exposed group. Moreover, when Grade Level was considered, Exposed children in kindergarten and 1st grades made greater number of errors in the TMTB than the Non-Exposed children in the other Grade Levels (2nd and 3rd). This suggests that exposure to OP pesticides might have only a negative effect on such cognitive functions as speed of attention, sequencing, mental flexibility, visual search, and motor functioning in younger children. In addition, there were significant positive correlations between the OP metabolite concentrations on the day of cognitive assessment and some of the measures of the WCST. Further research is needed since this study represents a first approach to a complex problem.

The purpose of this study was to examine the reliability and validity of out-of-level (OOL) testing for students with mild cognitive disabilities participating in large-scale accountability assessments. Federal law now requires maximum participation of students with disabilities in these assessments, and OOL testing is one method used to accomplish this mandate. However, the prevalence, reliability, and validity of this practice have not been established. This study involved the analysis of second through eighth grade students' OOL and grade-level (GL) Stanford 9 reading and math subtest data. Raw data was collected by the district studied, as part of an annual state-mandated testing program. Participation rates and methods of participation for students with Specific Learning Disability (SLD) and Mild Mental Retardation (MIMR) were examined over a five-year period. Results indicated that an over 700% increase in the numbers of MIMR and SLD students participating in Stanford 9 testing occurred from 1998 to 2002. The use of OOL tests also increased substantially during that period. With regard to reliability, results indicated that KR-20 coefficients were comparable across regular education GL and Special Education OOL test groups. In addition, comparable percentages of students in GL and OOL groups scored within the test's reliable range. Special Education students were not given tests that were too easy as a result of OOL testing options. Validity evaluation included comparisons of modified caution indices (MCI) and point-biserial correlations for matched GL and OOL groups, as well as differential item functioning (DIF) analyses. MCI and point-biserial analyses provided no evidence of differential validity for GL and OOL groups. Although DIF analyses identified more items as functioning differently across groups (GL vs. OOL) than would be expected by chance, no systematic patterns of bias resulting from the OOL test administration condition were identified. OOL testing was determined to be an appropriate method of achievement testing for students with SLD. True differences between OOL and GL groups, as well as differences in test administration other than the OOL versus GL condition are discussed. Recommendations regarding OOL testing policy, stakeholder education, test development and reporting practices, and future research are included.

This study was designed to validate multiple dimensions of reading motivation and to examine how students with learning/reading disabilities (LRD) differed along these dimensions from non-LRD, same-aged peers. A sample of fourth and fifth grade students completed the Motivation for Reading Questionnaire (MRQ; Wigfield & Guthrie, 1997), a questionnaire designed to assess 11 possible dimensions of reading motivation, including self-efficacy, intrinsic and extrinsic motives for reading, goals for reading, and social aspects of reading. Confirmatory factor analysis, analysis of covariance, and discriminant analysis were employed to demonstrate that the proposed dimensions of reading motivation could be identified, measured reliably, and could discriminate between cohorts of students. Several of the scales were positively related to one another. Scale score means on some of the dimensions differed by grade and LRD status, fourth graders reported stronger motivation than fifth graders, non-LRD reported stronger motivation in Self-Efficacy and Challenge, while LRD students reported stronger motivation in Compliance. Scale score means on most of the dimensions were similar by gender and ethnicity regardless of LRD status. Eight of the 11 scales related to children's report of reading activity. Discriminant analysis revealed three dimensions discriminating between students with and without LRD. This study confirms that reading motivation is multidimensional and should be considered when conducting research and practice.

This study dealt with teaching archaeological skills and knowledge to adults with mental retardation using procedures and techniques of applied behavior analysis. The components of this research consisted of: (a) a descriptive study of archaeological field excavation procedures and activities; (b) an experimental study of three archaeological laboratory tasks that involved washing, counting, and sorting ceramic artifacts; and (c) a survey of opinions of archaeologists concerning the use of adults with mental retardation and other handicapping conditions to assist in archaeological research. Results from the descriptive study demonstrated the ability of three participants to successfully perform all skills required in the field excavation of artifacts, and their accurate identification in retrieval screens. Results from the experimental study of six participants demonstrated successful performance with respect to rigorous and specified criteria for all participants who completed training across all three tasks. In addition this study demonstrated the ability of archaeological personnel to successfully perform the teaching and monitoring procedures of the skills involved in this study. Results form the survey of opinions of three archaeologists provided a positive response to the inclusion of persons with mental retardation into archaeological projects and identified four areas of consideration for future projects in this area.

This study used qualitative methods to investigate successful individuals who had a learning disability. Six participants, three men and three women, along with their family members and significant others were interviewed. A participant observation was also conducted during each participant's typical day at work. Four common characteristics were found among the participants. These characteristics were organizational skills, drive, a match between strengths and career, and interpersonal competence. The characteristics identified by the study were similar to those found by Gerber and Ginsberg (1990); however, it was noted that over-reliance on one characteristic and an inability to adjust to success often created difficulties. Further, job satisfaction and eminence in one's field did not always mean self-fulfillment, happiness, and psychological maturity. A definition of success which suggests a balance between career, family, and social activities was given. The study noted that a key element in coping with a learning disability was that the individuals understood both their strengths and weakness. Family members indicated that the transition from school to adult life was critical and that the role of parent and family members' perceptions about the participants usually needed to be adjusted. Older participants indicated that having a son or a daughter who had a learning disability helped them to come to terms with their disability. They also noted the importance of having a diagnosis, so they could reframe their self-perception in terms of a condition rather than a sense of mental incompetence or laziness. Recommendations for future research in this field were presented.

The purpose of this study was to examine the professional concerns of beginning special education teachers of deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) students. Five beginning teachers were selected for this study. Three of the participants were beginning self-contained and two were beginning itinerant teachers. To examine their professional concerns, participants were asked questions in the domains concerning life, contemporary, and meaning-making experiences. The study used the in-depth phenomenological interviewing method. Shadowing and critical incident reports were used to triangulate interview data. Analysis-in-the field strategies were used to analyze field notes, critical incident reports, and interview data. Inductive analysis strategies were used to conduct in-depth within- and cross-case analyses. The results of the study revealed that the majority of participants were motivated to become teachers of DHH students by family support, experience with DHH students, personal preference for teaching DHH students, friends' encouragement and support, interest in sign language, and teacher support in high school. The study also showed that participants found audiology, reading, and speech classes to be particularly helpful. The majority of participants perceived their over all teacher preparation experiences as very positive and felt that their teacher preparation programs were very good. The professional responsibilities of participants vary according to the service delivery models in which they worked. All participants were responsible for teaching academics, supervision of students, assessments, and writing students' IEPs. Itinerant participants had expanded responsibilities. Participants' professional interactions were with students, parents of their students, school administrators, teachers, and other school personnel. The nature and purposes of these interactions vary among participants. Professional concerns of participants include lack of administrative support, non-accepting attitudes of regular education teachers towards DHH students, human relation, students' behavior problems, policy concerns, and parents' expectations. To address beginning teachers concerns, participants recommended administrative support, parents empowerment, training on inservicing regular education teachers who work with DHH students, inservices for special education directors on the needs of DHH students, and staff development activities. Participants recommended various classes, early exposure to real life teaching situations through internships, and more emphasis on teaching practical techniques for teaching and classroom management to preservice teachers.