Student performance in the area of mathematics is a topic of national concern in the United States, with several reports documenting the need for effective instruction to boost student achievement. However, what type of math instruction will most effectively raise student achievement for students with disabilities (SWD) remains a matter of debate. Problem-based learning (PBL) is a promising methodology for engaging and motivating students’ learning while increasing their math skills. Enhanced Anchored Instruction (EAI) is a form of problem-based learning, rooted in a constructivist framework, which guides students through complex problems through video anchors and context rich environments that has been shown to significantly improve math performance of SWD. Assessing student performance during PBL units is often difficult. Formative assessments supplement curriculum by allowing teachers to gather information and assess student learning during the course of instruction. However, despite the rise in formative assessment use, the effects of formative assessment in PBL curricula are rarely addressed. This study examined the effect of embedding formative assessments in the EAI curriculum on academic outcomes in middle school math classrooms. Results showed that problem solving performance did not improve with the addition of formative assessment and gains on computation performance were mixed.

Syftet med denna studie är att, förstå hur några elever med diagnosen intellektuell funktionsnedsättning, deras vårdnadshavare och pedagoger, uppfattar en integrerad skolstruktur i grundskolan utifrån ett individ- grupp- och organisationsperspektiv.   Studien bygger på totalt sex intervjuer, två med elever, två med elevernas vårdnadshavare och två med den pedagog som eleverna träffar företrädelsevis i undervisningssituation. Som metod användes kvalitativa intervjuer med av en intervjuguide med utgångspunkt från ett individ- grupp- och organisationsperspektiv.   Resultatet i min studie visar att eleverna trivs i en integrerad skolstruktur, de beskriver på olika sätt en känsla av tillhörighet i sina klasser och är nöjda med sin skolsituation. Vårdnadshavarnas erfarenheter är liknande, men de beskriver också att barnets funktionsnedsättning har varit central för vilka resurser skolan tillfört. Det specialpedagogiska stödet har organiserats på olika sätt beroende på elevens behov, och alla beskriver stödet som positivt. Resultatet visar också att de två pedagogernas erfarenhet av en integrerad skolstruktur är begränsad, vilket de själv ser som en svårighet. Båda beskriver nödvändigheten av ett samarbete med grundsärskolan, specialpedagog och speciallärare för att kunna möta eleverna på sin nivå och utifrån deras förutsättningar / The purpose of this study is to understand how some students who are diagnosed with learning disabilities, their guardians and teachers, percieve an integrated school structure in the compulsory school, based on individual, group and organisational perspectives.   The study is based on six interviews. Two with students, two with the students' guardians and two with the teachers the students meet mainley in learning situations. A qualitative interwieus was used with an interview guide, based on individual, group and organizational perspectives.   The results of my study show that students appreciate an integrated school structure. They describe in different ways a sense of belonging in their classes and are satisfied with their school situation. The guardians’ experiences are similar, but also describe how the child's disability has been instrumental to which resources the school has provided. The special education support has been organised in different ways depending on the student's needs, and everyone involved describes the support as positive. The result also shows that the two teachers experience of an integrated school structure is limited, which they themselves see as a difficulty. These two teachers describe the necessity of collaboration with compulsory school for learning disabilities, the special education unit in order to meet students at their level and based on their abilities.

A dramatic upsurge in the number of students with learning disabilities (LD) who attended college has occurred since the 1970s. The granting of accommodations to students with LD and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or both was important for their success in postsecondary education. Key to the provision of these services was the attitude of faculty towards granting the accommodations. This study examined the attitudes of faculty members at community colleges which had specialized programs for students with LD or ADHD towards granting these accommodations. These attitudes were assessed through a questionnaire. The questionnaire assessed three attitudes: willingness to make accommodation confidence that the accommodations will make a difference, and belief that accommodations would threaten the integrity of the course. The questionnaire also divided accommodations into two large groups: instruction accommodations and evaluation and material accommodations. This study also included a qualitative component in that the questionnaire included some open-ended questions and some respondents were interviewed. A total of 1100 questionnaires was sent to faculty throughout selected Illinois and Indiana community colleges of which 285 questionnaires made up the sample population. Sample population consisted of 54% male and 46% female; 51% held the rank of instructor or adjunct professor while 49% held professorial rank; tenured status consisted of 68% and nontenured (32%) while 54% were full-time and 46% part-time faculty. The collapsed years of teaching experience comprised 46% with five years or less, 27% with six to 15 years, and 27% with more than 16 years. A majority of faculty members had previous experience with students with LD (86%) and ADHD (71%), and a majority of the respondents (71%) had a family member or knew an individual with LD. Results of the questionnaire were combined to generate two factors scores: instructional accommodations and evaluation and material accommodations. These scores were analyzed using means and standard deviations or the factor scores. Aside from overall means, individual differences among faculty members were analyzed using two-way and one-way ANOVAs with alpha set at .05. The overall means suggested that the faculty: were willing to make accommodations, had confidence that the accommodations would make a difference, and did not believe that the accommodations would threaten the integrity of the class. Individual differences were found for gender, tenure status, and training. Females were found to accommodate better than males. Subjects with additional training accommodated more positively than those without training. The current findings were interpreted within the framework of how these community colleges could improve faculty attitudes. Institutions should make LD training a main concern in order for faculty to accommodate. / Department of Special Education

Within the last decade, reports have indicated that the number of students classified as learning disabled (LD) has increased by 119%. Issues and research relating to this increment such as problems with assessment practices, special education decision-making practices, and the demands made by the regular education curriculum are reviewed. Research in both special and regular education has pointed directly or indirectly to curriculum-based assessment (CBA) and collaboration between the two systems as effective alternatives for assisting students with learning problems. However, barriers to implementation (e.g., personnel resistance) have been observed in schools implementing these alternatives.In order to develop grassroots support, a contextually appropriate model, Curriculum-Oriented Remediation/Prevention System (CORPS) was designed to ease the implementation and administration of CBA via problem-solving teams and consultation. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects an "instructional package", designed to train inservice school personnel in components of CORPS, had on the behavior of personnel and students referred for reading problems. Social validation (satisfaction ratings) of personnel and students with CORPS and procedures used to implement CORPS was also examined. Twenty implementors (school psychologists; special, regular, and Chapter 1 educators) accurately and reliably implemented CORPS for 30 elementary studentsResultsThe repeated measures ANOVA used to evaluate the changes in classroom behavior (pre-postobservations) was inconclusive due to the small sample size and the variability of behaviors resulting from different instructional arrangements in reading. However, while not statistically significant, the desired trend was observed in the amount of time students were actively engaged in academic tasks. Results from supplemental reading data indicated that 90% of the students demonstrated progress in reading. Satisfaction data suggested that personnel were quite positive about the effectiveness of CORPS and procedures used to implement CORPS. Student responses to satisfaction questionnaires were also positive.DiscussionResults are discussed regarding the overall effectiveness of the CORPS program and satisfaction of school personnel and students regarding the effectiveness and acceptability of CBA as implemented within the CORPS model. Limitations of the study and the need for future research are delineated. / Department of Special Education

A prospective study was conducted on a group of 160 students from 9 to 14 years of age with learning disabilities to predict neuropsychological outcome using perinatal information as predictors. Perinatal information was obtained from the Maternal Perinatal Scale (MPS) (Dean & Gray, 1985). Subjects' neuropsychological functioning was assessed by the Short Neuropsychological Screening Device (SNSD) (Reitan & Herring, 1985). Information concerning subjects' intelligence was obtained from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-III (WISC-III) administered within the past two years. Hollingshead's Four Factor Index of Social Status was employed to determine subjects' socioeconomic status. A stepwise multiple regression analysis yielded a regression model that contained a subset of 7 perinatal risk factors, involving: (1) Obstetric History; (2) Gestational Age; (3) Psychosocial Events; (4) Delivery; (5) Intrauterine Stress; (6) Teratogenic Stress; and (7) Fetal Oxygenation. A hierarchical regression analysis was further performed to examine if adding socioeconomic and intellectual information to the regression model could increase the prediction of neuropsychological outcome. Results showed that up to 82% of the variability in the neuropsychological outcome was explained by the linear composite of the 7 risk factors. When socioeconomic and intellectual information were added to the regression model, the prediction of neuropsychological outcome was significantly improved. About 201 of the students with learning disabilities in the present study were found to display symptoms similar to minimal brain damage (MBD) relating to poor visual-motor integration, underdeveloped language skills, and aphasic conditions. The results support the theory of a "continuum of reproductive casualty" proposed by Pasamanick et al. (1956). The importance of detecting early indicators of neuropsychological deficits in at risk children was further suggested by the present study. / Department of Educational Psychology

This study examined the relative risk of perinatal complications in common childhood disorders. Specifically, the ability of perinatal complications to predict membership into children's disorders was studied. The sample consisted of 634 normal children and children with mental retardation, learning disabilities, and emotional handicaps, whose mothers completed the Maternal Perinatal Scale (WS). Seven MPS items significantly contributed to the prediction of the mentally retarded, learning disabled, emotionally handicapped, and regular education groups. The two significant discriminant functions correctly classified about 46% of the students, with the greatest misclassification occuring for those with emotional handicaps. When the separate disorders were collapsed to form a single group, eleven MPS items significantly contributed to the prediction of the special education and regular education groups. The linear composite from discriminant function analysis correctly classified about 74% of the students. Some 89% of the special education students were correctly classified. When MPS factors were used as predictors, 90% of the special education students were correctly classified. Seven MPS factors comprised the discriminant function. Relative risk ratios were computed for each perinatal item. Significant relative risk ratios included maternal weight over 151 pounds, saddle block anesthesia, no anesthesia, stress during pregnancy, prenatal care, medically induced labor, unplanned pregnancy, medication use during pregnancy, hypoxia, and cigarette use during pregnancy. An overall relative risk of 6.35 was computed based on the linear composite of perinatal variables defined by the discriminant function, suggesting that a suggesting that a synergism of perinatal complications makes a child over 6 times more likely to be placed in special education. A second overall relative risk of 3.83 was derived from the linear composite of MPS factor scores. This indicated that children with a perinatal history marked by this particular combination of perinatal complications were nearly 4 times as likely to require special educational services. Results were discussed in terms of comorbidity among special education categories. The potential use of the MPS as a screener for early intervention was also discussed. / Department of Educational Psychology

The purpose of this study was to construct and validate a parent rating scale to screen for individuals with nonverbal learning disabilities (NLD). Scale construction began with extensive literature review and concluded with the adoption of Rourke’s conceptualization of the NLD syndrome. The behavioral manifestations in the areas of language, academics, adaptive and socioemotional functioning of Rourke’s model were deduced to be reasonable NLD constructs for the parent rating scale. An Asperger’s Syndrome (AS) group was used to test the sensitivity of the parent rating scale in differentiating NLD from AS in view of their several shared characteristics. The literature supported the presence of “unusual, restricted, repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests and activities” that typically are seen in AS but not seen in NLD as one probable differentiating factor. Hence, Likert scale items were written for 5 constructs - Language Assets and Deficits, Academic Assets and Deficits, Adaptive Deficits, Socioemotional Deficits, and Restricted Interests and Repetitive Behavior. Validation of the NLD parent rating scale began with data collection from the AS, NLD and Control groups. The NLD and AS groups consisted of parents of children who had been diagnosed in a clinical setting. The Control group children had never been evaluated for special education services by the school system or clinically diagnosed. Subjects were 14 in the AS group, 45 NLD, and 46 Control group. Discriminant groups validity test indicated that the AS, NLD and Control groups were significantly different from one another on the 4 extracted factors i.e., Socio-Conceptual, Asperger’s Syndrome, Adaptive and Learning Style. Thus, it may be concluded that the parent rating scale is discriminating in screening for individuals with NLD. The construct that most differentiates NLD from Control is the Socio-Conceptual deficits factor, which demonstrates the significant difficulty of individuals with NLD in interpreting the subtleties and nuances in social interactions and in understanding concepts. The NLD and AS groups were significantly different on the Learning Style factor but could not be differentiated on the other three factors, thus supporting literature that NLD and AS have overlapping characteristics and yet are distinctive disorders / Department of Educational Psychology

A quantitave study was done on children who were diagnosed with Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorders in primary schools. The main aim was to measure IQ and to find out if there are indicators of organicity. The hypotheses of the study were as follows: (i) Children diagnosed with ADHD will obtain lower scores on IQ tests than children not diagnosed with ADHD; (ii) Children diagnosed with ADHD have some form of neurological deficit or organicity The study consisted of a sample 25 children who were diagnosed with Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorders and the children who were never diagnosed with the disorder. The sample and the control group range from the age of six ( 6) to 13 years. Data was collected using Bendor Visual Motor Gestalt Test and Senior South African Individual Scale Revised. Descriptive Statistics, Chi-square Test and Mann-Whitney Test were used to determine the difference between the sample and the control group. The results indicated that there is significant difference between children with ADHD and the control group on both verbal and non-verbal IQ tests. This means that children who were diagnosed with ADHD scored lower on measures "of IQ. The differences may have been due to IQ. or the ADHD group was distracted enough to perform significantly worse on reading, spelling, mathematics, comprehension and written tasks. The results on the Chi-square indicated that there is a relationship between the presence and ADHD and organicity. The findings in this study will aid teachers and parents (especially in African communities), to find out more about the children who they think are just problematic children. ii A quantitative study was done on children who were diagnosed with Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorders in primary schools. The main aim was to measure IQ and to find out if there are indicators of organicity. The hypotheses of the study were as follows: (i) Children diagnosed with ADHD will obtain lower scores on IQ tests than children not diagnosed with ADHD; (ii) Children diagnosed with ADHD have some form of neurological deficit or organicity The study consisted of a sample 25 children who were diagnosed with Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorders and the children who were never diagnosed with the disorder. The sample and the control group range from the age of six ( 6) to 13 years. Data was collected using Bendor Visual Motor Gestalt Test and Senior South African Individual Scale Revised. Descriptive Statistics, Chi-square Test and Mann-Whitney Test were used to determine the difference between the sample and the control group. The results indicated that there is significant difference between children with ADHD and the control group on both verbal and non-verbal IQ tests. This means that children who were diagnosed with ADHD scored lower on measures "of IQ. The differences may have been due to IQ. or the ADHD group was distracted enough to perform significantly worse on reading, spelling, mathematics, comprehension and written tasks. The results on the Chi-square indicated that there is a relationship between the presence and ADHD and organicity. The findings in this study will aid teachers and parents (especially in African communities), to find out more about the children who they think are just problematic children. / M.Soc.Sc. (Clinical Psychology) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2006

Children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) find academic and performing age-appropriate perceptual-motor skills more difficult than their peers. According to research, children classified as learning disabled often show signs of one or more syndromes of developmental disorders rather than an isolated, discrete disability. The more common learning disorders include disabilities related to verbal communication development, reading disorders, gross and fine motor dysfunction and motor hyperactivity. Attention disorders, including or excluding hyperactivity, are not considered learning disabilities in themselves. However, because attention problems can gravely interfere with school performance, they are often associated with problems concerning academic skills Literature further reveals that boys are more inclined to motor problems, learning disabilities and ADHD, compared to girls. With regards to racial diversity, limited information is available, even though some literature implies that certain racial diversities differ to some extent regarding motor problems (DCD). The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between DCD, learning disabilities and ADHD of children (N = 99) in the age group 6 to 7 years in Potchefstroom in the NW province. A second purpose was to examine the differences between gender and certain racial groups in the age group 6 to 7years in Potchefstroom with regards to to DCD, learning disabilities and ADHD. Two grade one classes were randomly selected from three selected schools in the Potchefstroom district proportionally representing the different racial groups [white (n = 37), black (n = 50), Coloured (n = 12)]. In this group, 48 boys and 53 girls were evaluated with the Movement ABC (MABC) (Henderson & Sugden, 1992), the Aptitude test for school beginners (ASB) (Swart et a/., 1994), the Modified Conner's abbreviated teacher and the Taylor Hyperactivity checklist (Lowenberg & Lucas, 1999). The Statistics for Windows computer package was used for analyzing the data. The group of children without DCD showed a statistically significant higher total ASB scores than the DCD group (p ≤ 0.00). A multiple regression analysis showed a statistically significant interaction between DCD, learning disabilities and ADHD which varied between 22% and 36%. Analysis of differences in the ASB of boys and girls with and without DCD showed no significant interactions, although racial interactions (p < 0.001) were found with the DCD group (p < 0.025). Boys with DCD did not perform as well as the girls in the coordination subtest, and their ADHD totals indicate more symptoms than those of the girls. Black children's numerical skills, verbal communication and the ASB total appeared to be considerably lower than the values of the white children. Overall, the conclusion can be made that DCD has an effect on 6 to 7-year old children's learning abilities and to a lesser extent on their ADHD status. / Thesis (M.A. (Human Movement Science))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

Students who struggle with reading are common in today’s middle school classrooms. This research used a socioecological framework to explore middle school teachers’ perceptions of struggling readers. As the notion of perception encompasses many influences, the research sought out teacher understandings of components and factors relating to reading difficulties, both intrinsic and extrinsic. As well, the study examined teacher views of struggling readers’ behaviours, affect, and the classroom implications of their difficulties. Finally, the study explored feelings of both competency and responsibility in the teaching of struggling readers. The research was carried out in three school districts in the Vancouver Island/Gulf Islands, BC area. Using a phenomenological case study approach, survey data from 35 respondents, and interview data from 10 participants were analyzed using both a within-case and cross-case analysis method. Identified common themes included teachers’ difficulty defining and assessing students who struggle with reading, and tending to attribute the difficulties to factors beyond their control. The teachers realized the correlation between reading difficulties and motivation but were unsure how to mitigate the ensuing behaviours in their classrooms. The participants believed that middle school students should be competent grade level readers and did not believe it their job to teach specific reading skills in content area classes. Although the teachers in this study wanted to do more to help their students who struggle with reading, they were constrained by a perceived lack of knowledge and time. The findings suggest that teachers, both pre-service and in-service, need more education about reading difficulties, classroom strategies and practice. The research indicates a need for more optimal use of specialist teacher time, literacy coaching, levelled resources, and a focus on the British Columbia Performance Standards. / Graduate