The purpose of this study was to establish the concurrent validity of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC) with the Wechsler Intelligence Battery for Children-Revised (WISC-R). The study postulated that ethnicity would be a significant factor in the performance of learning disabled, Anglo and Hispanic students on the K-ABC compared with the WISC-R. Subjects were 33 Anglo and 34 Hispanic students ranging in age from 5 though 12. All students in the study were certified learning disabled and were administered the K-ABC and the WISC-R within one calendar year. Three null hypotheses were tested: (1) There is no significant difference between Anglo and Hispanic performance on the WISC-R Verbal and K-ABC Sequential IQs (Intelligence Quotients), (2) There is no significant difference between Anglo and Hispanic performance on the WISC-R Performance and the K-ABC Simultaneous IQs, and (3) There is no significant difference between Anglo and Hispanic performance on the WISC-R Full Scale and the K-ABC Mental Processing Composite Test IQs. The K-ABC was found to be concurrently valid based on the WISC-R. The range of correlations between the K-ABC and the WISC-R coincided with that necessary to establish a significant positive correlation. The WISC-R Full scale IQ scores for both Anglos and Hispanics correlated with the K-ABC Mental Processing Composite IQ (r =.57, p.05). The WISC-R Verbal scale scores for Anglos and Hispanics correlated (r =.55) with the K-ABC Sequential scale. Anglo and Hispanic scores on the WISC-R Performance scale correlated (r =.75) with the K-ABC. Ethnicity was not found to be a factor in low Hispanic test performance. The results showed no significant difference between the performance of Anglos and Hispanics. Comparisons were also made between the WISC-R and K-ABC performance of Anglos and Hispanics as a function of age, sex, grade and socioeconomic status (SES). Significant differences were found as a function of SES on both the WISC-R Full and Performance scales. Specifically, the higher the SES, the higher the Full and Performance scale IQs. On the K-ABC, SES and grade positively correlated with scores on all three scales. Sex was also positively related to Sequential scale scores with girls scoring slightly higher than boys.

This research study was designed to investigate whether authentic assessment in written language is a valid assessment tool for students with and without learning disabilities. Teacher judgements were used to evaluate students' authentic writing assessments gathered from the classroom. Students' report card grades, authentic writing assessments, and two standardized writing assessments, the Test of Written Language- Revised and Written Language Assessment, were correlated to provide evidence of the validity of authentic assessment practices in written language.

The purpose of this study was to determine reliability estimates of authentic assessment for fourth-grade narrative and descriptive writing samples for students with and without learning disabilities. Three types of reliability estimates were established: (a) inter-rater, (b) score stability, and (c) alternate-form. The research design involved 40 teachers, trained in holistic scoring by Education Service Centers 10 and 11 in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas, who scored 16 writing samples. Approximately 2 weeks later the teachers rescored 8 of the same writing samples. In addition to scoring the writing samples, the teachers also completed a demographic questionnaire. The writing samples, which consisted of eight narrative and eight descriptive writings, were selected based upon teachers' holistic scores and scores from 1993 writing sample of the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills. Based upon these scores, two narrative and descriptive writings of above-average, average, and below-average writings were selected. In addition, two narrative and descriptive writing samples of students with learning disabilities in written language were selected.

This study investigated the effects of selected spelling teaching methods on spelling mastery of upper-elementary, learning disabled students. It also examined the value of assessing learning disabled students' modality preferences for diagnostic/prescriptive purposes.The study's significance is that it sought to (a) determine whether students classified as learning disabled can identify their preferred learning modes; (b) determine whether matching modes of instruction to students' modality reference(s) results in greater achievement; and (c) identify a systematic way of prescribing instruction for learning disabled students.

M.Ed. / Every child has the right to education regardless of race, religion, colour, creed, or ability or disability. Learners with disability experienced great difficulty in gaining access to education (Department of Education, 2001:9). It is therefore imperative that such inequalities be amended and the process of 'education for all" accelerated. In a foreign country such as the USA for example, “Calls for educational reform” and “school restructuring” within the educational community are echoed in media, in state legislatures and in local schools. Questions regarding the effectiveness of current educational systems approaches to educating an increasing diverse student population are raised. The concept of “inclusive school practices” is discussed as a philosophical basis for reconstructing the manner in which schools are organized to meet the needs of all learners” (Sands, Kozleski & French, 2000:1-4). As teachers alter their instructional methods in response to student diversity in South Africa, they also need to change their practices in response to other social, political and economic conditions. Information Technology (IT) has expanded both the amount of information we access and the ways we access it (Dede, 1989:4). Changes in the world necessitate changes in what and how students are taught. / Prof. D. Van der Westhuizen

D.Ed. (Educational Psychology) / This research was done in response to the need of educational psychologists to intervene on a sensory integration level as it affects learning and behaviour, which falls within the scope of practice of educational psychologists in South Africa. The research study aimed to explore the research question: how sociodrama could be used as a therapeutic intervention to address the sensory integration of adolescents who present with mild intellectual impairment. The study is situated in the interpretivist-constructivist paradigm, using sociocultural theory as theoretical framework. I therefore commenced with the research with the assumption that the six participants each had their own cultural stories and background within which they functioned, and that they could learn from one another in the sociodramatic group setting. The sociodrama sessions were conducted at a school for learners who presented with mild learning impairments. The participants of the research study attended the bridging class of the school, where the focus is on basic literacy and mathematical skills. Thirteen sociodrama sessions were conducted, where the focus was on the development of sensory integration skills. A qualitative research approach was followed and a case study design was chosen for the inquiry. Data collection included the use of sensory profiles, a background questionnaire, context observation, participant observation, visual journals, reflections, video-recordings and an interview with the educator. I utilised the steps suggested by Braun and Clarke (2006) to thematically analyse the qualitative data and to identify themes. The aim of the research study was to firstly be of benefit to the research participants, creating sociodramatic opportunities through which their sensory integration skills could be developed. The research inquiry furthermore aimed to contribute to the field of educational psychology as it allowed for the development of knowledge on sensory integration and provides a unique therapeutic approach to develop sensory integration skills in adolescents who present with mild intellectual impairment.

Thesis (M.Ed. (Educational Psychology))--University of the Witwatersrand, Education Faculty, 1998 / Reports received on psychoeducational assessments of their pupils, were rated by 93 teachers from Ex-"Model"C" primary schools in the greater Johannesburg area. The reports came mainly for psychologists in private practice (n=63) followed by departmental support services. (n=27) and education clinics (n=3). The chief reason for referral was academic difficulties. Thf majority of teachers held favourable attitudes to psychologists and test data in general, found report content as presented in specific reports useful, and found reports useful overall. Forced choices ratings also indicated that the majority of teachers were satisfied with their reports in areas commonly criticised in the literature (length of report, .understanding of the teacher’s role, specificity and number of recommendations, language use). These very positive findings are tempered by indications that teachers may have been : somewhat biased toward giving positive ratings, and by certain criticisms of the reports.Also reports were not seen as positively with regards to helping teachers deal with classroom ; behaviour and in helping develop specific instructional plans/methods. Language use, particularly in the presentations of test results, may represent a difficulty for teachers, Teacher ratings of the overall usefulness of specific reports did not relate significantly to their demographic charactel^ajs, or their attitudes to psychologists or test data.

Orientador: Cassia Letícia Carrara Domiciano / Banca: Milton Koji Nakata / Banca: Patrícia Abreu Pinheiro Crenitte / Resumo: Os materiais educacionais são instrumentos decisivos no processo de ensino e aprendizagem da criança, em especial aquelas com transtornos de aprendizagem. A presente pesquisa se propôs a verificar que aspectos do Design Gráfico tornam os materiais educacionais de intervenção e avaliação aplicados às crianças portadoras de dificuldade ou transtornos da aprendizagem mais inclusivos. Para isso foram levantados conceitos relacionados ao Design Inclusivo, Design da Informação e Design Educacional, gerando subsídios que embasam a coleta de dados através de entrevistas com especialistas em transtornos da aprendizagem, a fim de identificar os materiais educacionais mais usados em intervenção junto ao público infantil, bem como os problemas que apresentam neste processo. Tais materiais foram analisados e problemas relativos ao design dos mesmos foram evidenciados. Por fim, alcançou-se um conjunto de diretrizes capazes de auxiliar no desenvolvimento e projeto de novos materiais tendo como norte o Design Gráfico Inclusivo. / Abstract: Educational materials are decisive instruments in the teaching and learning process of children, especially those with learning disorders. The present research aimed to verify which aspects of Graphic Design make the educational materials of intervention and evaluation applied to children with difficulty or learning disorders, more inclusive. In order to do, concepts related to Inclusive Design, Information Design and Educational Design were developed, generating support that supports the collection of data through interviews with specialists in learning disorders, in order to raise the educational materials most used in intervention with children, as well as the problems they present in this process. These materials were analyzed and problems related to their design were evidenced. Finally, a set of guidelines capable of assisting in the development and design of new materials based on Inclusive Graphic Design, were reached / Mestre

The purpose of this study was to compare the achievement scores in reading/language arts and math of fourth and fifth grade special education learning-disabled students who received academic instruction in an inclusion classroom or a pull-out classroom. Student achievement scores from the 2012-2013 Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) and the Discovery Education Assessment (DEA) improvement scores were compared with regard to service location and analyzed for significant differences between the locations: inclusion and pull-out classrooms. A quantitative study was used to find the differences in reading/language arts and math achievement scores for fourth and fifth grade special education learning-disabled students in an East Tennessee school district. Eleven research questions guided the study. The results of the analyses indicated significant differences in reading/language arts and math scores between the groups in all but 2 analyses. The inclusion students scored higher than the pull-out students. The fourth grade inclusion students scored significantly higher than the fourth grade pull-out students in TCAP reading/language arts, TCAP math, and DEA math but scored with similar results in DEA reading/language arts. The fifth grade inclusion students scored significantly higher than the fifth grade pull-out students in TCAP reading/language arts, TCAP math, and DEA reading/language arts but scored with similar results in DEA math. This study supported the idea that learning-disabled students receiving academic instruction in an inclusion classroom score significantly higher on achievement tests than the students who received their instruction in the pull-out classroom.

Thesis (M.Ed. (Educational Psychology)) --University of Limpopo, 2014 / Self-concept is a driving force, (Barongo & Nyamwange, 2013: 7) and Harter (1998: 559) pointed out that improved self-concept is an important means to enhance other desirable outcomes like, self-acceptance and academic improvement. The purpose of this study was therefore to explore the self-concept of adolescent learners with cerebral palsy in special schools in Limpopo Province, to check their level of selfconcept. The objectives of this study were to determine if cerebral palsy affects the self-concept of these learners, to measure their level of self-concept and to find out if intervention improves their self-concept. The sample was selected by means of random sampling. The Self Descriptive Questionnaire (SDQ) with nine subscales was administered to a group of participants, 65 adolescent learners with cerebral palsy, (30 males and 35 females) at the three special schools; Helena Franz, Letaba and Tšhilizini. The questionnaire was administered to the respondents twice, before and after intervention. Pre-test and post-test were done at Helena Franz Special School since it was the only high school among the three special schools catering for cerebral palsied learners in Limpopo Province. The empirical investigation revealed that the self-concept of adolescents with cerebral palsy in special schools in Limpopo Province is not negative but just leaning in the direction of the positive judgments. It further indicated that cerebral palsy affects the self-concept of the adolescent learners and that intervention has a positive impact on the self-concept of adolescent learners with cerebral palsy