Over the last 5 years, high school students with disabilities in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) have experienced a higher rate of dropout compared to their peers, adding to an ever-widening gap in learning and graduation rates. The rationale for this study was the growing numbers of dropouts among students with disabilities that contribute to high rates of poor performing schools and create a burden on the local and federal government as the CNMI employment rates decline and reliance on the U.S. government for support increases. The purpose of this study was to understand the experiences of students with disabilities who drop out of high school, their perceptions of the learning environment, and the factors that contributed to their decisions to drop out. The conceptual framework was the constructivist theory. To answer what influenced high school students with disabilities to drop out of school and to what extent their perceptions of the constructivist element of belonging, engagement, or advocacy contributed to their decision to drop out, a qualitative case study design was used. Interviews were conducted with 10 former students who dropped out between 2013 and 2016 school years from high schools in the CNMI. Thematic analysis was used for emergent themes. Findings included that students do not receive their high school diploma because school policies prevented them due to age and lack of credits. Poor learning environments hindered students' engagement. Poor teachers' advocacy also hindered students' graduation. The findings can be used by school district leaders and staff in the implementation of effective interventions for improving graduation outcomes for students with disabilities in order for these students to become contributing members of society through gainful employment and enhanced quality of life.

Despite increased inclusion of individuals with special needs in educational and leisure settings, people with disabilities continue to experience social isolation. Research indicates that negative attitudes play an important role in contributing to this marginalization. This study examined the impact of an inclusion program at a residential summer camp on the attitudes of its typical participants. Participants in the treatment group (n = 30) experienced contact with peers with disabilities through structured, intentional programming while participants in the control group (n = 77) experienced less formal inclusive encounters. The Chedoke-McMaster Attitudes toward Children with Handicaps (CATCH) scale was administered to the treatment and control groups at the beginning and end of the summer session. Research questions were designed to examine the impact of consistent and formal contact through inclusion on the attitudes of participants in the treatment group and to explore whether or not there was a differential impact of different types of contact on attitudes of typically developing children. Results from 1-time repeated measures ANOVA indicated that attitudes of participants in the treatment group did not change significantly during the session but that attitudes among the treatment group did improve significantly more than did the attitudes among the control group, F(1, 105) = 11, p = .001. Influenced by these results, program directors in educational and leisure settings might prioritize creating formal opportunities for contact between people with and without special needs, thereby decreasing social marginalization, increasing genuine integration, and promoting positive social change.

A special education population failed to meet the state target in English. This occurrence drove educational leaders to review their program options to address the problem. Their decision to offer a partial inclusion English program setting is important because it supports using data to provide students a Free and Appropriate Education (FAPE) in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE). The purpose of this study was to examine if the new setting was supported by an increase in student academic achievement scores. The theoretical framework included the social relationship model by Reindal and Gürgür and Uzuner's successful inclusion practices theory. The guiding research question addressed the influence of a self-contained setting for English, replacing the general education class offered for special education students on California Modified Assessment (CMA) English scores. A comparative quantitative pre- and posttest design study was conducted using a before-and-after sequence of events (partial-inclusion implementation) and included a sample size of 8 participants. A Friedman Test was followed up with the Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test to complete the data analysis. Findings showed noteworthy differences between 2 or more of the mean scores, and scores in 2013 were higher than scores in 2012. The resulting project is a training session on the implemented intervention Read Naturally, which was supported in the data analysis. Recommendations include providing technical support and time management strategies for staff. Implications for positive social change support provision of settings and supportive reading strategies to meet the needs of individual special education students. This support will ensure students' placement into the least restrictive environment.

People with intellectual disabilities (ID) struggle with social interactions that are vital to the development of a high quality of life. Although evidence exists to support the use of technology as cognitive aids for youth with ID, little exists on the use of common hand-held devices for social support. The use of such devices has the potential to level the playing field in adult social roles, helping people with ID make and keep relationships. It is unclear how applications like video chatting might be used to support transition-age youth with ID in adult social roles. Using a framework of modeling (i.e., social learning), generalization across settings (i.e., ecological systems), and self-determination, this single-case study was developed to learn the effect of direct instruction of youth with ID on initiation of and responses to others in adult social roles while using common hand-held devices. Three participants, selected from 9 youth participating in a structured social skills class, were taught to initiate interaction and respond to initiations made by others with modeled support in self-selected adult social settings. Visual analysis of graphed data showed generally increased initiations and responses. Percent of nonoverlapping data (PND) and percent of all nonoverlapping data (PAND) found varied effect size from one participant to the next. Quality of interactions had mixed results across participants. The results found these 3 transition-age youth with ID to be quite adept in their use of common hand-held devices, and they all used them successfully to access support. These findings suggest that the use of well known devices may increase the number of people who can provide social support, reduce the cost of devices and live supports, and reduce the of stigma of having a paid staff shadowing the individual.

Education reform in schools has focused on inclusion of all students in general education environments and accountability measures. Students with cognitive impairments are mandated to participate in standards-based alternate assessments. Special education teachers in a school district in a southeastern state in this study have been faced with the challenge of implementing these assessments. A bounded case study design was used to examine their perceptions of the use of standards-based alternate assessments for students with cognitive impairments. Guiding research questions focused on the nature and process of implementing alternate assessments. Resistance to change was the conceptual framework. The bounded case included 3 elementary, 1 middle school, and 4 high school special education teachers who have taught students with mild to moderate cognitive disabilities in self-contained classrooms in the district. Teachers were interviewed and data were coded and analyzed for common themes. Results included implementation concerns such as time for administration, scoring issues, lack of usefulness of assessment results, inappropriate expectations for performance, and lack of validity of assessments for cognitively impaired students. Recommendations included decision makers' reconsideration of the procedures for implementation and establishing validity and usefulness of standards-based alternate assessments. Findings in this study reflected teachers' resistance to change, but were informative in providing local decision makers with an opportunity for social change that includes examination of where current policy fails to accommodate students with cognitive impairments and creation of appropriate policy and assessments that actually benefit those students.

Sensory processing disorder (SPD) is a neurological condition that alters the way an individual perceives sensory information. Although the condition has been studied for more than 40 years, SPD remains a difficult condition to diagnose, treat, and live with because it affects individuals uniquely, and the symptoms can change from childhood to adulthood. For children diagnosed with SPD, the misinterpretation of sensory cues can cause difficulties in family, social, and academic settings. While there is some research on the assessment and treatment of SPD, what is missing is a deeper understanding of the family, social and academic challenges these children and their families face. The purpose of this case study was to examine the experiences of children diagnosed with SPD, as told by 4 parents and their occupational therapist in semi-structured interviews. Four themes emerged from the analysis: family dynamics (challenges within the family structure), support impact (seeking and having support), emotion and balance (overcoming the struggles related to the emotional demand), and an SPD child (the search for balance for the child and the family). The results may serve as a catalyst to encourage positive social change for the children with SPD and their families by expanding the available knowledge on the challenges of SPD.

Response to Intervention (RTI) programs are designed to support students at risk of failing in school due to academic or behavioral problems. When RTI programs are applied inconsistently due to teachers' resources or knowledge, students may be wrongly identified for special education services. The purpose of this qualitative bounded descriptive case study was to explore K-4 general education teachers' experiences with RTI program implementation and the extent teachers used the RTI program in their classrooms. This study was guided by Gagné's conditions of learning theory. A purposeful sampling of 10 K-4 general education teachers, who taught an RTI program, volunteered and participated in individual semistructured interviews and classroom observations. Data were analyzed thematically using open, axial, and thematic coding. Participants revealed they needed materials and time to prepare and use interventions and desired parental participation in team meetings. Numerous interventions, large class sizes, and scheduling constraints with specialists were obstacles implementing RTI. Academic specialists' expertise, teaching methods, and assessment data assisted planning and implementing RTI in the classroom. Teachers demonstrated a high frequency of events of learning in lessons. Based on the findings, it is recommended that district personnel develop a tiered system of teacher support and a shared vision for an RTI plan, provide teachers with necessary materials and resources to deliver instruction, and plan actions for parental involvement. These endeavors may contribute to positive change by improving general education teachers' instruction to help students at risk of failure to be successful, thus, reducing unnecessary special education referrals.

According to the U.S Department of Education, co-teaching is an intervention used to give students with disabilities access to the general education curriculum while in the general education classroom. It's necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of co-teaching as it relates to academic performance. However, there has been a dearth of research on quantitative studies related to co-teaching and their results have been inconclusive. This quantitative study explored whether co-teaching has a positive effect on academic performance compared to collaborative teaching, and adds to the literature in this area that is considered current. On an annual basis from 2002 to 2011, junior and senior students from each school district in Georgia were given the GHSGT. Descriptive statistics were performed on the demographics of the respondents, including gender and ethnicity. The Mann-Whitney U Test was performed to evaluate if there were significant GHSGT mean scores differences between the co-teaching and collaborative class settings. Results indicated that students with disabilities performed better in the collaborative setting in math, English, and writing; and students in the co-teaching setting did not perform better than students in the non co-teaching setting in all subject areas. These results support that co-teaching is not meeting the needs of all students with disabilities (SWD) in this school district. Butts County education professionals may want to use this research to help guide them in designing a special education program that focuses on the needs of the SWD and how to meet those needs. This study contributes to positive social change because it supports previous research that concludes the needs of all SWD are not being met. More research still needs to be conducted to determine how to meet the needs of these students.

Regular education teachers are sometimes at a disadvantage when required to instruct learners with a visual impairment or other special needs in the classroom. A problem exists with reduced support and training for regular education teachers responsible for meeting literacy needs of students with visual impairment. The purpose of this qualitative interpretive case study was to explore regular education instructors' perceptions of their self-efficacy and ability to modify literature for learners with visual impairment. The research questions targeted this purpose, specifically in the areas of training opportunities and technology use. The social cognitive theory, a model emphasizing learning occurring through social contexts and observations, was used as the conceptual framework for this study. Data were collected from 1-on-1 interviews with 10 volunteer regular education teachers teaching students at the elementary level. The resulting data were analyzed via color-coding transcripts, NVivo running word-frequency queries, and manual review of each transcript. The results revealed the participants did not have training, awareness for the literacy needs of students with visual impairment, or knowledge of the different types of technology used to access and create literacy materials. Although they lacked training and current knowledge of providing literacy instruction, the participants expressed confidence in their ability to research, collaborate, and gain the knowledge needed to effectively do so. The implications for positive social change include implementation of training and/or an education cycle for more efficient instruction when serving a student with visual impairment in the local school district. Efficient instruction can facilitate an improvement in the academic performance of students with visual impairment.

Historically, students with intellectual disabilities (ID) have low reading comprehension skills that can impede their overall academic success. There is a gap in practice regarding the identification and effective use of evidence-based reading comprehension instructional strategies for students with ID. Guided by Piaget's and Vygotsky's constructivist theories, the purpose of this study was to test the effectiveness of a metacognitive reading strategy on the emerging reading comprehension (ERC) skills of kindergarten students with ID. A single-participant, multiple baseline design with graphical visual analysis was used across 4 kindergarten students with ID to illustrate the influence of the reading intervention. All 4 kindergarten students showed increases in their ERC skills after the completion of the intervention. An effect-size statistic was calculated to measure the improvement in percentage rate of correct responses between each participant's baseline and intervention phase. The effect-size results indicated a 60% to 80% improvement rate difference. Therefore, for these kindergartners, the metacognitive reading strategy significantly increased the ERC skills of the participants. The implications for social change include providing teachers with effective metacognitive instructional strategies for ERC skills and for improving ERC skills among students with ID, thus, allowing ID students greater opportunity to benefit from curriculum and instruction over time.