The concepts of an inclusive classroom, inclusion, co-teaching, and disability have been called poorly defined and in need of fresh conceptual analyses. In Chapter 1, I respond to this call for further analysis and then demonstrate, using current educational headlines, that these concepts of `an inclusive classroom,' `inclusion,' `co-teaching,' and `having a disability' are not just issues that are discussed in academia, but are also current issues in schools, courtrooms, and statehouses. In Chapter 2, the Literature Review examines philosophical literature of inclusive education, legislative and judicial history, and service delivery models for special education. In Chapter 3, Methods: A Conceptual Analysis, we examine the history and practice of conceptual analysis, and then look at the models of conceptual analysis as detailed by Jonas Soltis. Chapter 4, Conceptual Analyses, is the core of this dissertation, containing a generic analysis of the `inclusive classroom,' differentiation analyses of `inclusion,' and `co-teaching,' and a generic analysis of `having a disability.' Finally, in Chapter 5, Discussion, we examine implications for further research and conclusions.

This study focuses on science education in primary school. The aim is to systematize and exemplify the content in primary science, not only scientific content but everything surrounding teaching in science, in the forms of a didactical model. The study was performed in grades 1-3 (ages 7-10) in a Swedish primary- and lower secondary school. Four primary school teachers and their classes were followed in their teaching in science education. The empirical data consists of field notes, video- and audio recordings from in total 17 science lessons. The results show how science education in primary school contains much more than just teaching a scientific content. The results also show how teachers, in relation to, and simultaneously with, the scientific content, also teach students in speaking, reading, writing and in social interaction with others. The three types of content areas that were identified were systematized into a didactical model called ‘didactic score’. The didactic score highlights that all these parts in the teaching situation is performed simultaneously, but that different parts may be fore fronted and other parts may be put in the background during the process of teaching. The teacher has a prominent role in directing the students’ attention towards the different parts in the didactic score, in order to give the students conditions for creating continuity in the learning process.

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Clinical pathways have been studied to promote best practices in nursing and enhance patient satisfaction. For 10 years a pediatric orthopedic surgical team at a Midwest hospital has not had a clinical pathway to treat or standardize care for adolescents following posterior spinal fusion surgery. Pain scores and patients' length of stay were collected using a retrospective chart review. This information was used to revise preoperative education materials and develop a visual poster. The purpose of this project was to identify and develop a way to educate the pediatric nursing staff on the use of the developed educational materials, poster, and clinical pathway prior to its implementation. David A. Kolb's learning cycle and the experiential learning model was used as the theoretical foundation of this study. The quality improvement project for the nurses will be developed using a flipped classroom approach as the learning environment. Videos, scenarios, and small group activities will be created and used in an interactive learning environment. The study will use a pretest-posttest design of retrospective chart review data with the independent variable being the education provided to the nurses. Social implications related to this project are to provide information on the plan of care following surgery to the adolescent and caregiver. This project will promote positive social change for adolescents and caregivers who will be engaged in the postoperative care to increase their satisfaction and decrease their anxiety.

The federal government established nutrition assistance programs such as the School Breakfast Program and school districts have implemented Breakfast in the Classroom (BIC) to improve participation rates, yet millions of low-income children do not partake in these programs. Thus, many school districts are failing to meet the nutritional needs of the low-income population, which can have negative effects on a child's healthy development. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to observe and explore teachers' perspectives regarding school breakfast implementation in a small school district in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Research questions examined experiences with implementation, benefits and challenges to the program, and how children's needs are impacted based on Maslow's hierarchy of needs, the theoretical framework for this study. Data from the research participants' interviews, journals, and classroom observations were coded, themes were identified, and triangulation occurred to answer the research questions. Findings indicated changes need to be made with food portions, food options, food quality, the logistics of implementation, and outreach efforts. Recommendations included changing equipment, providing equal amounts of food, evaluating food options and quality, providing clean up supplies, and educating parents on BIC. Stakeholders addressing these challenges can increase support and participation rates in the program, leading to positive social change. Implications for positive social change include reduced state costs associated with hunger, decreased food insecurity for low-income families, improved behaviors in the classroom, and improved support of the physiological, safety, and socialization needs of children.

Classroom teachers are provided instructional recommendations for teaching reading from their adopted core reading programs (CRPs). Explicit instruction elements or what is also called instructional moves, including direct explanation, modeling, guided practice, independent practice, discussion, feedback, and monitoring, were examined within CRP reading lessons. This study sought to answer the question: What elements of explicit instruction or instructional moves are included in the five most widely published CRP teachers’ edition lessons across five essential components of reading instruction? A content analysis of reading lessons in first, third, and fifth grades within current (copyright 2005-2010), widely used CRPs was conducted to determine the number and types of explicit instruction elements or instructional moves recommended within reading lessons for the following essential components of reading instruction: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Findings offer several implications for publishers of CRPs and educators. First, guided practice was recommended most often in CRP lessons. Second, all five publishers were more similar than different in the number and types of explicit instruction elements or instructional move recommendations. All publishers rarely recommended the use of the explicit instruction elements of feedback and monitoring. Conversely, the explicit instruction elements or instructional moves of discussion and questioning were used almost to the exclusion of other elements of explicit instruction for comprehension lessons. It was also found that the recommendations to use elements of explicit instruction diminished from the lower to the upper grades—offering intermediate-grade teachers fewer explicit instruction recommendations.

The purpose of this study was to explore whether Latino parent perception of their involvement in their elementary child’s education affect their child’s behavior in the classroom. Previous research has demonstrated that parent involvement in education enhances the academic, socioemotional, and behavioral outcomes of children (Matingly et al., 2013). The current study utilized the qualitative method to examine Latino parent perception of school involvement and its relationship to child’s classroom behavior. Results from interviews were transcribed and analyzed. Findings of this study suggest that a relationship exists between parent perception of involvement in child’s education and child’s classroom behavior. Findings revealed three major themes: perception of parent involvement, communication and barriers. Results may bring awareness to the Latino community of how parent involvement can impact behavior and lead to mental health implications. Findings may influence social workers to change school policies, develop new programs and to refer them to adequate services.

This study aimed to understand constructs related to classroom social dynamics in a sample (n = 1863) of rural middle school students. First, it used latent profile analysis to classify classrooms based on classroom norm salience. Next, the study used the Hierarchical Linear Model to study the influence of classroom norm salience on the social roles and reputations, social network centrality, bullying involvement, and school belonging of students with disabilities. There were four major findings. First, classrooms were classified into two distinct categories based on students’ social reputations, which were positively associated with peer-nominated popularity: High Aggression Norm Salience Classrooms and High Academic/Prosocial Norm Salience Classrooms. Second, there were significant differences by class type in two specific social characteristics: students with disabilities were more likely to get their way and be nominated as leaders in classrooms classified as High Aggression Norm Salience Classrooms. Third, there was no difference in either social network centrality or bullying involvement of students with disabilities by class type. Fourth, students with disabilities were more likely to feel school belonging in classrooms that were identified as High Academic/Prosocial Norm Salience Classrooms. The implications for practice and policy are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to compare the flipped and traditional classroom pedagogies in relation to retention, critical thinking skills, and student engagement as measured by the multiple choice and short answer questions on the final exams, course evaluations, and CUCEI scores. Radiologic technologists, nuclear medicine technologists, and radiation therapists play vital roles in both diagnostic and therapeutic applications in patient care. Employers today are seeking graduates who know more, are better able to apply this knowledge, and solve more challenging problems (McLean, et al., 2016). This quasi-experimental study aimed to compare the flipped and traditional classroom pedagogies at increasing retention and critical thinking skills, as measured by final exams, and student engagement, as measured by course evaluations. The model was delivered and assessed for 61 radiation science students at Virginia Commonwealth University’s College of Health Professions Radiation Science program. Based on numerical results for the final exam and College and University Classroom Environment Inventory (CUCEI), no significant difference in critical thinking skills, retention, or student engagement was observed between the flipped and traditional pedagogies for radiation science students. For the purpose of this study, pedagogy referred to the application of a method of teaching, the flipped or traditional classroom, in relation to constructs of the Cognitive Learning Theory (CLT). For this study retention is defined as the amount of information that a student can retain for the length of a semester, 15 weeks. Critical thinking is defined as the students’ successful ability to take several concepts and put them together to make an analysis of a given situation. Student engagement for this study was defined as the level of attention and interest for the material being taught. Further analysis of the results indicated that the demographics (gender, age, years in college, and race) did not affect preference for flipped or traditional pedagogy. Statistically significant results on the CUCEI subcategories of satisfaction and innovation indicate that students found the flipped classroom more enjoyable and innovative than the traditional classroom. These results support professor exploration of different teaching pedagogies that they are comfortable with. Further studies are needed to ensure model validity and generalizability of findings.