<p> Co-teaching has been utilized as a method of academic intervention used in K-12 classrooms over the past fifteen or more years. This method has consistently involved the pairing of a special educator with a general educator through a variety of co-teaching models. Co-teaching is meant to be used in inclusive environments, where students with and without disabilities are taught together. Co-teaching is a commitment from both educators who participate voluntarily, develop a professional relationship with one another, allow time for planning of classroom objectives, and obtain sufficient training. Multiple benefits to carefully implemented co-teaching in the K-12 environment have been documented in research studies. However, few studies contain information about co-teaching in higher education, particularly in the field of education. This research hopes to gain an understanding of how the pairing of a K-12 special educator and special education professor can bridge educational theory and practice to, hopefully, produce pre-service educators that have more competence about the realities of the teaching world. Results under analysis include measuring attitudes about special education inclusion and overall academic growth for pre-service educators after exposure to knowledge from two working professionals in a co-teaching and traditionally taught classroom environment. </p>

<p> Despite the vast research on students with disabilities, little is known about the perspectives of faculty in higher education. According to the literature reviewed, the overall experience of students with disabilities inside the classroom in higher education is negative due to faculty knowledge, awareness, and perceptions. Institutions of higher education are seeing an increase in the number of students with disabilities who are attending college. Students with disabilities have needs inside of the classroom that exceed a typical student in higher education. Faculty provides the support inside of the classroom necessary to meet both the university standards and the standards addressed in the Americans with Disabilities Act. The purpose of this study was to assess faculty knowledge, awareness and perceptions as they relate to students with disabilities and the regulations that mandate accessibility in higher education. </p><p> A survey was administered to 162 faculty members at a large four-year university in the southeastern United States. The findings from this study identified that faculty at the university had significant differences across gender, knowledge, awareness, and perceptions. No significant group differences were found in faculty based on years teaching and their knowledge, awareness, and perceptions. Findings could serve as the foundation for future research on faculty knowledge, awareness, and perceptions. In addition the findings add to the existing literature and provide data to offices for students with disabilities to further understand faculty knowledge, awareness and perceptions as well as possible justification for faculty development. Suggestions and implications for practice are also addressed.</p>

<p> Previous literature suggests that academic achievement and self-concept among adolescents in the general education population are positively related (e.g., Huang, 2011). For students with disabilities, however, the correlation between academic achievement and self-concept is sometimes negative and non-significant (Daniel &amp; King, 1995; Feiwell, 1997; Houck &amp; Houck, 1976; Young, 1990). Limited research has investigated the relations between academic achievement and self-concept of students with disabilities and few studies consider this relation over time. This study design included four features to address the gaps in the literature: 1) methods appropriate for complex data sets; 2) use of latent constructs; and investigation of differences 3) between genders and 4) among the categories of disability. </p><p> Three questions were investigated: What are the relations between self-concept and academic achievement over time among adolescent students with disabilities? What are the differences in these relations among male and female adolescents with disabilities? What are the differences in these relations among adolescent students with emotional disturbance (ED), intellectual disabilities (ID), and learning disabilities (LD)? </p><p> In a secondary analysis of the Special Education Elementary Longitudinal Study (SEELS) database, cross-lagged longitudinal panel path analyses were used to explore the relations among the overall sample of 14-year-olds as well as of males-only, females-only, ED-only, ID-only, and LD-only subgroups. Additional procedures were used to account for issues due to missing data, non-normality of distributions, and clustered, stratified, and disproportionate sampling. </p><p> Results of the study suggested that the relations between academic achievement and self-concept were complex. In the overall sample, no significant relations were found. When split by gender, the data indicated nearly equal but opposite path coefficients from self-concept at Time 1 to academic achievement at Time 2. The paths from academic achievement at Time 1 to self-concept at Time 2 obtained statistical significance among the ED-only (positive) and LD-only (negative) groups. The subgroup differences in the relations between academic achievement and self-concept suggested that more subgroup analyses need to occur. None of the study's hypotheses were fully supported by the data. The recommendations for practice, policy, and research are presented.</p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of listening to music as an intervention to improve disruptive behavior in middle school age children with emotional/behavioral disabilities. Five middle-school students participated in a single-subject design, which involved a multiple baseline across subjects and settings. Students listened to an eight-minute recording of classical music on an iPod before engaging in an independent math or reading assignment while seated at their desk. The researcher used fixed rate recording to collect data over a five-minute session. No significant differences were found between pre-treatment and post-treatment for the targeted behaviors observed during the study. The small sample size of the study is cited as the possible reason for the negative results. Limitations as well as directions for future research are also discussed.</p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of timbre and pitch-pattern difficulty on perceptions of same-difference between paired pitch patterns, altered and unaltered by timbre and pattern difficulty, among elementary-aged users of cochlear implants. Three null hypotheses were tested to determine the significant effects of these variables and their interaction on the pitch perceptions of children aged five through twelve, who used cochlear implants (p &le; .05). Secondary purposes of the study included the examination of the relationships, if any, among age, age at implantation, and pitch perceptions, and of significant differences between participants' speech processor and pitch perceptions (p &le; .05). </p><p> The Adapted Musical Background Questionnaire was completed by each participant/parent/guardian and used to collect information about each participant's hearing history and musical experiences. The Pitch Discrimination Test (PDT) was a researcher-developed, 36-item data collection instrument used to measure pitch perceptions of participants. Three timbres were used as stimuli, including the soprano voice, piano, and violin. Thirteen participant responses to the PDT were recorded individually. Results were analyzed using IBM^&copy; SPSS^&copy; Statistics Version 22. </p><p> Results of the study revealed no effect of timbre (p = .511), or pitch-pattern difficulty (p = .971) on pitch perceptions. A significant interaction between timbre and pitch-pattern difficulty, however, was found (p = .046). Additional analyses revealed that there were significant differences between mean scores of PDT test items presented by violin and soprano voice for difficult patterns (p = .041), and items presented by soprano and piano for patterns with moderate difficulty (p = .041). The participants discriminated difficult patterns more accurately when the PDT items were presented by soprano voice than piano, but participants discriminated moderate patterns more accurately when the PDT items were presented piano than by soprano voice. </p><p> There were no significant positive or negative correlations between age or age at implantation and PDT scores (p > .05). Additionally, there were no significant differences between participant scores on the PDT and the type of speech processor used (p > .05). Participants who used Cochlear&trade; devices, however, had higher average scores than participants who used MED-EL&reg; devices. Recommendations were suggested for future research and instruction of children who use cochlear implants in elementary general music classrooms. </p>

<p> This research is about the attitudes and educational practices towards inclusion of students with disabilities in science classroom. Four research questions were raised: (1) What are the attitudes of science teachers about the inclusion of students with disabilities?, (2) What is the relationship between attitudes and teachers demographics characteristics?, (3) What are the factors that influence the attitudes of science teachers? and (4) What does the Science teachers do in their educational practices to teach students with disabilities? </p><p> A mixed design of two phases was performed to answer this question. In the first phase a questionnaire was submit to 79 Science teachers from the middle and high school level. This questionnaire with the title <i>Attitudes and educational practices towards inclusion of students with disabilities in Science teaching</i> was developed by the researcher. In the second phase a focus group was conducted with Science and Special Education teachers. Also, two structured interviews by telephone were conducted. </p><p> The findings indicate that the attitudes of science teachers who participated in the first phase of this research seems to be neutral. However, in their responses to the interview or focus group the attitudes were perceived negative. This attitudes are influences by a number of factors that hinder the process of inclusion. Using a nonparametric test with a chi-square test, it was determined that the number of students in a classroom is one of the factors that have a significant relationship with attitudes. The modifications that Science teachers do in their educational practices these will depend on the discapacities. But usually the modification will be in the evaluation of the students. Using assessments as a technique. Also, individualized instruction and peers are educational practices that highlight.</p>

<p> The perceptions of general education teachers,' special education teachers,' and site administrators' regarding the benefits of <i>inclusion </i>, or <i>mainstreaming</i>, for students with mild to moderate disabilities at the secondary level were examined using the lenses of psychological benefit, academic benefit, behavioral benefit, and overall benefit. This quantitative study utilized a survey methodology using a random sampling from among seven school districts in Southern California.</p><p> The statistically significant results indicated that none of the groups perceived an overall benefit of inclusion, with specific differences by lens and group. The three groups did not perceive a benefit of inclusion in the areas of psychological, behavioral, or academic specifically, but had less significant perceptions of an overall benefit. Although none of the areas were perceived to be beneficial, comparatively the psychological benefit was perceived to be higher than behavioral benefit, and all groups perceived the academic to be the least significant.</p><p> There were significant differences among groups on benefits perceived, as well. Administrators perceived a significantly higher psychological benefit to inclusion than did general education teachers. There were no significant differences among groups in relation to a behavioral benefit to inclusion. General education teachers perceived a significantly higher academic benefit than did special education teachers. The only area that showed positive results was in a perceived overall benefit, with administrators scoring overall benefit the highest, followed by special education teachers. General education teachers perceived overall benefits of inclusion to be significantly lower than did either other group.</p>

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Counseling and Educational Psychology, 2007. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-07, Section: A, page: 2878. Adviser: Jack A. Cummings. Title from dissertation home page (viewed Apr. 15, 2008).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2008. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-05, Section: A, page: 1693. Adviser: Stacy Dymond. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 218-239) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2008. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-05, Section: A, page: 1738. Adviser: Lisa Monda-Amaya. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 87-94) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.