The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of an intervention combining holistic and graphophonic methods on the decoding performance of children with reading disabilities. The impact of this synthesis of teaching methods was evaluated by examining five students' abilities to decode a set of training words using three common vowel patterns. Words containing these magic e, double vowel, and closed vowel patterns were presented in isolation and in context. Additional sets of novel words and nonsense words using the same vowel patterns were used to evaluate generalization. The study incorporated single-subject experimental research methods, using a multiple baseline design across vowel patterns. Data were collected and analyzed daily. The results of this study indicated that all five second-graders, three boys and two girls, demonstrated substantial gains in decoding ability on all three vowel patterns. The students increased their accuracy on training words in isolation, as well as in context. In addition, students increased their decoding accuracy on generalization words, in both novel and nonsense words. These increases in decoding accuracy were maintained during post-intervention probes and during the 7-week follow-up phase of the study.

Although the policies and practices of special education are openly constructed around a premise of mobility and opportunity, students from low income backgrounds (‘at risk’ youth) are twice as likely to be labeled “special.” Moreover, of all the special educational categories, learning disabilities (a diagnosis deeply contested) account for the largest group of special educational students who are ‘at risk’ learners. This project is hinged on addressing how those students who are apparent beneficiaries of special educational policies and programs (evidenced by post-secondary enrolment) make meaning of their prior and current educational experiences in relation to special educational policies, services and programs. The author begins by theorizing that such disabilities may medicalize social problems while still preserving a veneer of equality. However, since not all labels have universal meanings when applied to specific social agents, they may both hinder and help some in gaining access to post secondary education. With the support of a group of four enrolled post secondary students located in the Canadian urban west-coast, who identify as learning disabled and the recipients of related interventions, this thesis provides a complex reading of the everyday that draws upon how the students’ specific cultural and material locations inform their understanding of education, ability, disability, meritocracy and normalcy. Collecting data through semi-structured qualitative interviews conducted during the Spring and Fall of 2007, the students actively engage and challenge the author’s original theoretical and methodological assumptions. Anticipating critiques of special education, the author is surprised by the students’ support of such programs. Expecting responses to interview questions to be based on a reading of meritocracy as normalcy and disability as deficit, these students weave understandings of meritocracy and normalcy to articulate their abilities without rejecting their disability labels. In terms of policy where the emphasis is placed on disability as deficit, the findings imply that policy-makers neglect the energy and labour students invest in emphasizing their abilities. For educators, this reveals an important pedagogy of inclusion by inverting assumptions that special educational students are ‘at risk’ of educational failure without unfolding the complex ways in which they actively demonstrate their abilities. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate

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This study records the perceptions of special education administrators, building principals and regular and special education teachers in four neighboring North-of-Boston communities as to how each has: viewed the evolution of the special education law and its implementation process; included or excluded students with disabilities in local public schools during 15 years of state and federal mandates; mainstreamed students with disabilities; dealt with the fiscal restraints of Proposition 2 1/2; become more or less concerned with "due process" than with quality education. Twenty-one special and regular educators from two cities with large low income populations and two smaller, more affluent towns provided data responding to multiple choice questionnaire surveys and semi-structured interviews. Results indicate all four systems have adopted special education mandates incorporating change at varying degrees of implementation. The two multi-ethnic and socio-economically diverse cities have been assisted with compliance through state and federal regulators and the courts, overseeing procedural implementation. The smallest affluent suburban community studied continues to resist mainstreaming. While their affluent neighbor has successfully upheld a strong commitment to mainstreaming, evident in a more unified education system, where principals and the special education administrator share the role of gatekeeper of the regulations. Three communities' respondents described a separate system of education for students with disabilities where the special education administrator is considered the ultimate gatekeeper of the regulations. Compliance continues to dominate and concern school administrators. Legal and technical issues are reported to overwhelm the mainstream educator who, generally, has abdicated responsibility for the student with disabilities to the specialist. The specialist has all too readily accepted this assignment. Decentralization of special education and restructure of the mainstream, as recommended in the Regular Education Initiative, will require a metamorphosis of the gatekeeper to collaborative consultant and eventual elimination of the position special education administrator. The transition from policy to practice will occur only to the extent that regulatory agencies view educational outcomes and quality of programs as a priority, and when all educators apply the standards for special education to all education.

The purpose of the study was to examine and compare the service delivery models of three students with severe disabilities in three different settings and to detail the benefits derived in each of the programs. The study included classroom observations, analysis of individual educational plans (IEPs), interviews with families and teaching assistants, and presentation of in-depth cost data. The study found three examples of unsuccessful inclusion, as determined by observed social isolation, documented skill loss, and feedback presented by the teaching assistants. Analysis further revealed a lack of staff support and training. Cost analysis found that the highest expenses incurred among the participants were for individual aides and transportation. Implications of the study focus on the importance of thoroughly assessing a child's needs prior to placement in an inclusive setting, and then comparing those needs with existing and potential programmatic resources. Finally, inclusion strategies deemed effective in serving students with mild to moderate special needs in all likelihood will provide insufficient support to youngsters with severe disabilities.

This study investigated the attitudes and opinions of students and teachers regarding the use of computers with students having special learning needs. Using a quasi-experimental design with three non-equivalent groups, within and between subjects effects were studied using a survey instrument and follow-up interviews. The students and teachers at three school sites, consisting of students in grades 5 through 13, participated in pre and post-test surveys. One site served as the experimental group, while the other two were control groups. The experimental condition consisted of the installation of a campus-wide computer network for use by all students and teachers at the experimental site. The survey consisted of demographic questions as well as 26 pre-test and 27 post-test questions. A 19 item scale measured participants' general attitudes about computers in schools. A four item scale measured participants' attitudes about the use of computers by students with special needs. Two items served as independent outcome measures of participants' attitudes about students' and teachers' comfort level and worry about computer use. Twelve follow-up interviews were conducted with two students and two teachers from each school. The interviews focused on having participants discuss their attitudes and opinions about the use of computers in special education. The survey data were analyzed using analysis of variance, multiple regression, and repeated measures procedures. The interviews were evaluated using Glaser and Straus' Grounded Theory methods. Results from the surveys showed that there was no correlation between the experimental condition and changes in students' and teachers' attitudes and opinions about computer use in special education. These data also showed that the most significant variables related to students' and teachers' attitudes and opinions were variables related to past experience using computers as well as their school affiliation. The interview data supported the survey results and showed that how the interview participants had used computers in the past related to their current attitudes, opinions. Taken together, these data suggest that schools can shape the computer-related attitudes and opinions of students and teachers. Recommendations include providing students and teachers with regular access to computer uses that are embedded in curricular activities.

The field of education has been confronted with an expansion in the use of technology over the last decade. This expansion has made technology beneficial to individuals who possess disabilities, allowing them more independence by capitalizing on the use of assistive technology. This expansion has also placed technology into the classrooms and adding a new dimension to teaching. This research explored the differences between regular and special education teachers with respect to assistive technology. The participants included teachers in the Boston Public Schools system. Utilizing a questionnaire, the researcher investigated the knowledge and attitudes of regular and special education teachers. In addition, the researcher determined if demographics had an impact on participants, knowledge and attitudes. The data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences. Descriptive Statistics, Reliability Analysis, Factor Analysis, t-tests, Analysis of Variance and Regression analysis were utilized to determine if any statistically significant difference were evident between these different groups of teachers.

There is a national shortage of school-based Speech Language Pathologists (SLP). Schools located in rural and geographically remote areas are often impacted by the shortage, and as a result students with an autism spectrum disorder may not receive services that are mandated by their Individual Education Plan. This study examined the use of telepractice as a method of delivery of speech and language services to individuals with autism spectrum disorders in rural areas. A quasi-experimental, single-subject, time-series design was employed. The treatment conditions were manipulated. A counter-balancing methodology was used to control for order effects in this study. Inter-observer agreement on student progress and outcomes were determined by two other master-level clinicians. Progress was measured using pre/post intervention assessments and intervention data. A statistical analysis and comparison of the two service delivery methods (telepractice and traditional on-site) was conducted using the Improved Rate Difference and a Tau-U method. Group comparison was conducted using the Pearson's Correlation. A non-directional critical value for all parametric and non-parametric analysis was set at α = .05. If the null hypothesis was rejected, then there was a statistical difference between the progress students made when receiving telepractice as compared to on-site services. If the null hypothesis was not rejected, there was not a statistical difference between the progress students made when receiving telepractice as compared to on-site services. Comparison at the group level resulted in a finding of non-significance between the two conditions. Findings at the individual level resulted in three out of the six participants demonstrating a finding of non-statistical difference between the on-site and telepractice conditions. For the remaining three participants a statistical difference was noted. When comparing the means of the outcome data between the two conditions, two participants responded more favorably to telepractice intervention, while the other responded better to on-site intervention. Overall, these findings suggest that a telepractice service delivery method is an effective and valid way to provide interventions to students with ASD.

There is a growing population of individuals using Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) in need of evidence-based intervention from highly qualified personnel. However, not all speech pathology programs offer AAC coursework and/or practicum opportunities, and practicing speech-language pathologists (SLPs) report low levels of confidence and expertise in working with individuals using AAC. Therefore, there is a need to develop more innovative pre-professional training programs to better equip the next generation of SLPs with the knowledge and skills necessary to provide high-quality, evidence-based AAC interventions. Telepractice is emerging as an inventive way to provide both direct and indirect intervention services, and could theoretically be used to support pre-professional training by providing clinicians the opportunity to engage in direct services with individuals using AAC concurrently while receiving supervision from a skilled mentor. A thorough review of the literature revealed limited information and data regarding tele-AAC for direct and indirect service delivery. This investigation examined the feasibility and effectiveness of utilizing telepractice to train pre-professional clinicians regarding AAC interventions while in the context of service delivery both on-site and via telepractice. A single-subject, multiple baseline design was employed to examine the impact of real-time supervisory guidance offered via telepractice to pre-professional clinicians (Active Consultation) on the performance of the clinicians and the clients in each service delivery condition. Data was gathered on the number of target language acts modeled by the clinicians and generated by the clients when Active Consultation was provided. The results supported the use of telepractice for supervision, and as a service delivery method for AAC users.

This dissertation reports a study of the experience of disability of one student identified as having a Nonverbal Learning Disorder (NLD), his parents, teachers, and other educational personnel at the private, boarding school he attends. This qualitative, phenomenologically-based interview study examines the narratives of each of the participants to explore the construction of disability that each has developed and to present a picture of the multiplicity of perspectives that coexist and interact in this student's daily life. This study used in-depth phenomenological interviewing as its primary approach to qualitative research and supplemented that with more traditional, qualitative interviewing techniques. In-depth interviews were conducted with the study's primary participants: the student and his parents. Three 90-minute interviews were conducted with each of these participants, focusing on their stories of the student's disability. The audiotaped interviews, transcripts of those interviews, and my notes during the interview process became the raw data for this study. From these data, profiles and portraits of the central participant were developed by selecting data from the transcript of each participant's interview. Data was selected and coded according to its relevance to the construct of disability and portraits were crafted from the selected data. The completed portraits are presented in the participant's original words and are arranged, with my interpretive remarks, in chapters that reference the participants' relationships with the student participant. Two concepts, locus of disability and identifying features of disability were used to compare and contrast the stories of participants in this study. The findings of this study suggest that the construction of disability among a student, his parents, teachers, and other school personnel is multiple and heterogeneous in nature. The extent to which those constructions were idiosyncratic and dependent upon personal relationships with the student participant is a central finding of this study. Implications for educational administration are discussed.