In three experiments, I first examined the correlation between the presence of transformation of stimulus function (TSF) across computation and the presence of TSF across saying and writing for spelling words, and then tested the effects of the establishment of TSF across saying and writing on the establishment of TSF across math operants. Eight middle school students with learning disabilities participated in experiments I and II. All participants demonstrated reader/writer and math skills such as textual responding and using counting strategies to solve one-step word problems. Four of the eight participants also demonstrated TSF across saying and writing for spelling. The dependent variables of Experiment I were the accuracy and fluency of solving word problems after receiving fluency training on math facts, as well as the number of counting strategies used when solving word problems. Results showed that all participants with TSF across saying and writing for spelling demonstrated significant increases in both their accuracy and fluency when responding to word problems (i.e., ES = 1) whereas participants who did not demonstrate TSF across saying and writing for spelling demonstrated minimal gain from accuracy and fluency training of math facts (i.e., mean ES = 0.3). Experiment II tested the effects of fluency and accuracy training of word problems on the accurate and fluent responding to math facts and other math operants. Results showed that accuracy and fluency training had large effects on all participants (i.e., ES = 1). Participants who did not demonstrate TSF also demonstrated larger improvement (i.e., ES > 0.67) compared to Experiment I. The results of Experiments I and II demonstrated an association between TSF across math operants and TSF across saying and writing for spelling. Experiment III further tested for a functional relation by examining the effects of the establishment of TSF across saying and writing for spelling on the establishment of TSF across math operants with three of the participants who did not demonstrate TSF across saying and writing for spelling in the first two experiments. Upon establishment of TSF across saying and writing for spelling words, all three participants demonstrated TSF across math operants (i.e., increased accuracy and fluency of word problems, extinction of counting strategies). The results of the three experiments suggest the importance of teaching math as a verbal behavior, more specifically, as a speaker-as-own-listener behavior instead of as visual match-to-sample repertoires. Future replication of the procedure is needed to extend the external validity of the current experiments.

A comprehensive view of secondary learning disabilities programs is not available in the professional literature. Previous studies have been limited to certain program aspects and often to single states. Therefore, a more integrated investigation is needed into what high school LD teachers do; what their needs are; what teachers and supervisors consider important for their programs; and the impact of these variables on consultative practices. The purpose of this study was to provide a more complete picture of secondary LD programming by investigating LD teachers’ and program supervisors! perspectives on their programs. Surveys were used to gather descriptive data on program practices in seven states: Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. Questionnaire items were based on summaries of open-ended interviews with teachers and supervisors in Virginia and information from the professional literature. Questionnaires were mailed to a random sample stratified by state and district size. Response rates for teachers and supervisors were 72.0% and 69.0% respectively. According to the findings of this study, content area instruction and basic skills remediation are the most frequent instructional emphases in these programs; time devoted to paperwork and non-teaching duties is excessive; and minimal time is devoted to consultation and program planning and development. These findings are consistent with research of the past ten years. However, teachers and supervisors in this sample seem to want more emphasis on learning strategies instruction and consultation and less on content instruction in their program. Lack of time and flexibility were identified as the greatest barriers to consultation. Both teachers and supervisors indicate a need for more comprehensive programming. However, differences in perceptions of what teachers' needs for assistance are, how to meet these needs, and teachers' lack of involvement in program planning and development may contribute to the static quality of these programs and prevent sufficient change in working conditions to accommodate teachers' and supervisors' priorities. Implications of findings for developing action plans in local school systems are discussed. / Ed. D.

Research has shown that most school leaders lack the knowledge necessary to deal with the many different aspects and issues that special education programs encompass. This lack of knowledge ultimately places special education teachers, programs, and students with disabilities at a clear disadvantage. With The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001 and the reauthorization of The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) in 2004, schools and school leaders are being held accountable for the learning gains of all students, including students with disabilities. This study sought to assess the knowledge of Florida school principals in the area of special education policies and procedures through survey administration. In addition, the survey was designed to establish the method by which school principals purport to have learned the majority of special education policies and procedures. Social justice as defined by Adams, Bell, and Griffin (1997) and ethical reasoning in educational leadership, developed and defined by Shapiro and Stefkovich (2005) were chosen as the conceptual framework with which to guide the design and analysis of the study. These underlying sets of ideas were used to help recognize the many inequalities that have hindered education for a variety of students, including those with disabilities (Lashley, 2007). FIndings of this study demonstrate the level of knowledge practicing administrators in Florida possess, the methods by which they acquired that knowledge, and the dire need for this knowledge under new state mandated reform initiatives. / by Lindsay Jesteadt. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2012. / Includes bibliography. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / System requirements: Adobe Reader.

The purpose of this research paper is to investigate how dyslexia is currently being defined and debated by both the academic and scientific communities. Additionally, this thesis analyzes how dyslexia is presently being dealt with in the classroom and how this disability is represented in children's literature.

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Summaries en Afrikaans and English / Text in Afrikaans / Een van die kenmerke van leergestremde kinders is dat hulle, benewens hul leertekorte, dikwels ook gedragsprobleme manifesteer wat nie net hul leer benadeel nie, maar ook hul uiteindelike volwassewording. Talle skoolse opvoeders wat met hierdie kinders gemoeid is, is nie in staat om hierdie kinders se gedragsprobleme na behore aan te spreek nie. Die doel van hierdie studie is om enkele onderrigstrategiee daar te stel aan die hand waarvan bepaalde gedragsprobleme van leergestremde laerskoolkinders in die hoofstroom van die onderwys aangespreek kan word. V oordat daar oorgegaan is tot die beplanning van hierdie onderrigstrategiee, is daar op die etiologie en manifestasies van leergestremdheid gefokus. Vervolgens is enkele bestaande hulpverleningspraktyke bespreek en aan die hand van ortopedagogiese beginsels geevalueer. Aangesien hierdie hulpverleningspraktyke as ortopedagogies verantwoordbaar beskou is, kon dit as basis dien vir onderrigstrategiee vir die bantering van die volgende gedragsprobleme: aandagtekorte, hiperaktiwiteit, impulsiwiteit, hipoaktiwiteit, katastrofiese gedragsuitinge en aggressie. / One of the characteristics associated with learning disabled pupils is that they not only experience learning difficulties, but often manifest behavioural problems that impede their learning and eventual adulthood. Many educators involved with learning disabled pupils are unable to address the behavioural problems of these children effectively. The purpose of this study is to compile instructional strategies that could be put into practice when dealing with the behavioural problems of learning disabled pupils who are in the mainstream of education. Before planning these strategies, the etiology and manifestations of learning disabilities were addressed. Thereafter, orthopedagogical criteria were applied to evalute certain schools of thought regarding orthopedagogical practices. Having ascertained that the practices in question are orthopedagogically sound, instructional strategies, based on these practices, were planned to address the following behavioural problems: attention deficits, hyperactivity, impulsivity, hypoactivity, catastrophic reactions and aggression. / Educational Studies / M.Ed. (Orthopedagogics)

Thesis (MMus)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: As a recent graduate, I feel that young educators are graduating from South African universities and are teaching in schools without adequate knowledge of the various learning disabilities and behavioural disorders that many children suffer from. In the context of the Arts & Culture or music classroom, educators especially suffer as they are taught to encourage creativity. However, how can one differentiate between creative behaviour and disruptive behaviour and be certain that bad behaviour is not a symptom of a behavioural disorder? Upon graduation and starting to teach in the southern suburbs in the Western Cape, the researcher was struck by the number of children diagnosed with behaviour disorders and taking the stimulant medication Ritalin. Yet the notion of medicating a child for a behavioural disorder is not agreeable to many parents and educators to whom the researcher has spoken while researching this topic. The general feeling seems to be that a child should be given space to be creative, but a teacher cannot control a class of at least twenty-five children who are all claiming their own creative rights. This research explores various steps that a music educator can take to control a class of both medicated and non-medicated learners. The effects of music on the behaviour of learners diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder (abbreviated to ADD) have been investigated in various ways over the years and these are described in this thesis. Likewise, information on various prescription medications and non prescription medications that are available in South Africa are presented to offer options to an educator/parent faced with a child demonstrating behavioural problems. There is also substantiation that by increasing the intake of essential fatty acids and adjusting a child’s diet, one can positively enhance behaviour and concentration. The researcher discusses the various foods that should be avoided and those should be enjoyed generously. The researcher observed learners who were considered problematic in the general classroom in the form of observation of behaviours before and after each musical activity. Class educators were asked to assist the researcher by further observing the selected children’s behaviour in the following lesson. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: As ‘n onlangsgegradueerde, voel ek dat jong onderwysers aan Suid-Afrikaanse universiteite afstudeer en onderrig in skole begin gee sonder voldoene kennis van die verskeie leergestremdhede en gedragsafwykings waaraan ‘n groot hoeveelheid kinders ly. In die konteks van die Kuns en Kultuur of musiekklaskamer is dit vir onderwysers besonder moeilik omdat hulle geleer is om kreatiwiteit aan te moedig. Die probleem is hoe om te onderskei tussen kreatief en ontwrigtende gedrag en hoe om seker te wees of slegte gedrag nie ‘n simptoom van ‘n gedragsafwyking is nie. Na graduering en die begin van haar onderrigloopbaan in die suidelike voorstede van die Wes-Kaap is die navorser getref deur die getal kinders wat die stimulant medikasie Ritalin gebruik. Tog sou die meeste ouers en onderwysers waarmee die navorser gepraat het gedurende haar navorsing nie die gebruik van medikasie vir gedragsafwykings verkies nie. Die algemene gevoel is dat die kind die geleentheid gegun behoort te word om kreatiefe te wees, maar ‘n onderwyser kan nie ‘n klas van minstens vyf-en-twintig kinders onder beheer hou wat almal hul kreatiewe regte eis nie. Hierdie navorsing ondersoek verskillende stappe wat ‘n musiekonderwyser kan neem om ‘n klas te beheer met leerlinge wat op en sonder medikasie is. Die effek van musiek op die gedrag van leerlinge wat gediagnoseer is met Aandagafleibaarheidsindroom (afgekort na AAS) is reeds in verskeie vorme oor die jare ondersoek en word in hierdie tesis beskryf. Inligting aangaande verskeie voorskrif en nie-voorskrif medikasie wat in Suid-Afrika beskikbaar is, word verskaf om opsies te gee vir ‘n opvoeder/ouer wat gekonfronteer word met ‘n kind wat gedragsprobleme demonstreer. Daar is ook bewyse dat deur om die inname van essensiële vetsure te verhoog en ‘n kind se dieet aan te pas, gedrag en konsentrasie positief beinvloed kan word. Die navorser bespreek die verskeie kossoorte wat vermy behoort te word teenoor dié wat vryelik geniet kan word. Die navorser het leerlinge waargeneem wie se gedrag as problematies in die algemene klaskamer beskou was, voor en na elke musikale aktiwiteit. Klasonderwysers is gevra om die navorser by te staan deur verdere waarneming van die kinders se gedrag in die volgende les.

This study identified factors related to solving mathematical word problems and then examined the differences in characteristics between students with low achievement in mathematics who were likely to have a learning disability and students with low achievement in mathematics who were unlikely to have a learning disability. Factoral analysis identified two significant factors: abstract thinking and long term retrieval from memory. Results indicated qualitative differences between sixth grade students with achievement in mathematics at or below the 25th percentile with indications of learning disabilities (MLD) and students with achievement in mathematics at or below the 25th percentile without an indication of a learning disability (Low Math/NLD). The Learning Disabilities Diagnostic Inventory, which measures intrinsic processing disorders indicative of learning disabilities, was used to differentiate between students with MLD (n = 13) and students with Low Math/NLD (n = 16). The Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Achievement, Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals-Fourth Edition, and the Informal Mathematics Assessment (IFA) were used to compare the two groups. In contrast to students with MLD, students with Low Math/NLD had a higher mathematical performance and had more difficulties with math fluency. When solving mathematics word problems on the IFA, a test composed of word problems, student interview, and error analysis, students with Low Math/NLD had more correct answers, more computational errors, and fewer translation errors than students with MLD did. Students with MLD had conceptual difficulties in the areas of analyzing, reasoning, and abstract thinking.

This thesis address the question of agency that children with profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD) have in educational contexts. Teachers and educators do not usually regard children with PMLD in terms of their agency, because of their profound and multiple impairments. Discourses on children and adults with PMLD are linear, systematic, defining and closed to contingency. The discourses normally applied with regard to children with PMLD attending school are mapped out in the beginning of the thesis. The thesis provides an account of my becoming-teacher and my becoming-researcher It is my journey with students whom I worked with directly as their teacher in a segregated specialised school for children with PMLD, and also as a participant observer in two mainstream primary classrooms. The works of Jacques Derrida, Felix Guattari and Gilles Deleuze were crucial in reading the lives of these children together with mine. Nine stories with comments are the central focus of this thesis, where through the writing of these stories my own becoming-teacher is mapped out. The thesis shows how students with PMLD are able to provide teachers with spaces of possibilities in the linear and closed discourses mentioned above. Students themselves are able to introduce in the life of teachers, their classroom and at times even at school level, the ‘non-sense’ that help teachers ‘think again’ the discourses that they are working with. They are able to help teachers open up discourses, and see that they are ‘assemblages’, characterised by contingency, contradictions and aporias. Students with PMLD provide possibilities (potentials) for engagement in these assemblages. The identity of a teacher is shaken when she experiences her identity as an assemblage, but even more so when such an identity is seen as a process of becoming by engaging with the possibilities. Here the end is not important and is unknown; what is important is the process. What is argued is that the teacher’s identity is seen as becoming-teacher through becoming-PMLD. This thesis concludes that there needs to be a desire to engage with students with PMLD to continue the process of becoming-teacher.

Learning disabled students in special education programs have not been demonstrating equal achievement gains in reading when compared to their non-handicapped peers. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of Accelerated Learning methods in teaching reading to ten learning disabled middle school students in southwest Washington. Accelerated Learning (AL) was developed by Georgi Lozanov in Bulgaria in the 1960's. The method incorporated the fine arts, suggestion and visualization techniques with a dynamic, active instructional presentation. A multiple-case study design was conducted using ten learning disabled middle school students. Each case study used information gathered from school cumulative, confidential and special education files, parent, teacher and student interviews and observation. Their achievement in reading was measured using the Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery. Their reading gains, as measured after experience in their regular classes and after special education instruction using Englemann and Hanner's Direct Instruction methods, were similar to Educational District #112's learning disabled population's average gain of five months a year. Under Eclectic instruction the subjects' gains averaged nine and a half months per year and using AL instruction the gain was approximately fifteen and one half months a year. No patterns emerged to substantiate an effect between instructional reading treatment and behavior or attendance. Pattern matching for grade point average was inconclusive due to paucity of data. / Graduation date: 1992