<p> Learning social skills through play is an important aspect of a preschool child&rsquo;s development. Young students who are not developing normally, such as those diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders, tend to exhibit more difficulty in their social skills development. As a result of this serious deficit, these skills must be taught by the teacher once the child begins their journey through education. Thus, it is necessary for the special education teacher to embed different teaching strategies into the curriculum so as to teach children with ASD the proper social skills effectively and efficiently. </p><p> The goal of the present study was to determine if the reading of a social story and the discussion of that social story on a daily basis can positively affect the behavior and social skills of a preschool student diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The student under study was a 4-year old male who presented with limited social skills. The teacher/researcher applied a social story intervention that included the reading of a social story on a daily basis, a comprehension check that was followed by a modeled play scenario between the student and the teacher/researcher. The study was conducted for a period of 5 weeks. The teacher/researcher used comprehension checks, field notes and partial interval record forms in order to measure growth in student behaviors and social interactions. The results of this study indicated that applying a social story intervention on a daily basis can effectively improve a preschool ASD student&rsquo;s social skills and provide that student an opportunity to be socially successful during structured and unstructured dramatic play time.</p>

<p>Despite legal advancements recognizing the rights of individuals with disabilities, societal barriers are still arising from the medical model of disability. These obstacles have resulted in marginalizing and isolating practices, in turn leading to the underrepresentation of individuals with disabilities in the workforce and, by extension, in leadership positions. Grounded in the frameworks of critical pedagogy and critical disability studies, this autoethnographic study examines, using my personal experiences as contextual evidence, the determining factors underlying the struggle for equity and leadership, within the hegemonic society that people with disabilities must navigate. The study further explores the issue of empowerment and raised consciousness among people with disabilities, as afforded by blending the tenets of critical pedagogy with a critical social model of disability. Based on the autoethnographic analysis, the study proposes future research and makes recommendations for inclusion of individuals with disabilities, educators working with people with disabilities, and institutions committed to inclusiveness of leaders with disabilities.

The purpose of this qualitative research study is to examine the evolution of inclusive special education policies and practices within an amalgamated urban school division between the years of 2002 and 2015. An historical case study (Bogdan & Biklen, 2007; Gillham, 2000; Lapan & Quartaroli, 2009; and Yin, 1997, 2004) is used as a methodology. Conceptually, the study is informed by a great wealth of local and international research on inclusive special education. Moreover, a two-dimensional theoretical framework is used to illuminate the concepts of inclusive special education/appropriate educational programming and divisional leadership to examine how these concepts may have contributed to the evolution of the policies and practices of inclusive special education in this amalgamated school division. Eight key themes were established from the findings and are related to both inclusive special education leadership research and the three basic tenets of successful leadership practice espoused by Leithwood, Seashore Lewis, Anderson & Wahlstrom (2004). Five key recommendations are suggested for school-based administrators to consider as they envision a model of student support services that aligns with the concepts of inclusive special education and appropriate educational programming. / May 2017

<p> Autism research continues to refine the exact rate of autism; it also attempts to approximate the undiagnosed rate of autism to capture the number of individuals functioning on the high-end of the spectrum without a formal diagnosis. Whether students exhibiting characteristics of autism have a formal diagnosis or not, many enrolled in public education classrooms are most appropriately served in the general education setting. This study examined the characteristics of students in general education settings to ascertain the number of students diagnosed with autism. Additionally, it investigated the educational practices regularly applied in the general education setting in conjunction with the classroom teacher&rsquo;s knowledge of those practices most beneficial to students with autism. This mixed methods investigation used a survey to examine practices in two Utah school districts. Reported rates of students who were served under an IEP or 504 and identified as having autism were consistent with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reporting rates of autism prevalence in the United States. Teachers identified instructional practices effective for students with autism 80% of the time. Additionally, teachers reported they &ldquo;always&rdquo; or &ldquo;often&rdquo; used 91.7% of the instructional practices in their classrooms that have been identified as effective for students with autism. Fisher&rsquo;s exact test yielded no statistically significant differences between groups of participants. Themes from open-ended survey responses revealed students with significant learning differences impact the delivery of the curriculum, but teachers believe the general education setting is most appropriate for students with learning differences. Teachers also report feeling inadequately prepared to teach students with autism. Data suggests that additional research is needed regarding the design and implementation of universal classroom instructional strategies to meet the needs of all learners in the general education setting.</p>

<p> Inclusion is a federal education policy in the United States that challenges educational leaders. Despite U.S. federal laws requiring an inclusive education for students with disabilities (SWD), educators continue to struggle to implement inclusion. Some scholars argue that leadership is the key to inclusion, with most studies focused on principal leadership. Successful inclusive districts are rare, as are studies of these districts. The purpose of this in-depth case study was to describe and understand the leadership practices of SSSD (pseudonym), an inclusive (based on LRE .75% for three consecutive years) and effective district (based on district grades of As and Bs, state measures of student achievement) in Southeast Florida. Within SSSD, a purposeful sample of 31 participants was selected that included eight district leaders, three principals, 15 teachers, and five parents located at four sites and observed across three events over the span of one semester with multiple supporting documents analyzed.</p><p> Four findings describing district leadership practices emerged from the data analysis; 1) a shared inclusive mission, 2) collaborative efforts, 3) formal and informal professional development (PD), and 4) acknowledging and addressing challenges. The practices of district leaders found in this study resonate with other findings in the literature and contribute two of the new findings in this study: 1) the superintendent&rsquo;s attitudes, beliefs, and experiences as a special educator were described as key to her district&rsquo;s inclusive focus and success and extends previous research connecting principal leadership to school site inclusion; and 2) informal versus formal PD was more beneficial to teachers in building collective capacity for inclusive service delivery&mdash;marking a new distinction within related PD literature.</p><p> Recommendations to district leaders, policy makers, and scholars are included. The study concludes by encouraging educational leaders to cultivate a shared inclusive mission implemented through collaborative efforts. There is hope for inclusion, not only in theory, but in practice, mirroring the call of other district leadership studies of successful, systemic inclusion. </p>

<p> Preservice special education teachers need to develop essential teaching skills to competently address student academics and behavior in the classroom. TeachLivE&trade; is a sophisticated virtual simulation that has recently emerged in teacher preparation programs to supplement traditional didactic instruction and field experiences. Teacher educators can engineer scenarios in TeachLivE&trade; to cumulatively build in complexity, allowing preservice teachers to incrementally interleave target skills in increasingly difficult situations.</p><p> The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of TeachLivE&trade; on preservice special education teachers&rsquo; delivery of error correction, specific praise, and praise around in the virtual environment and in authentic classroom settings. Four preservice special educators who were teaching on provisional licenses in upper elementary language arts classrooms participated in this multiple baseline study across target skills. Participants attended weekly TeachLivE&trade; sessions as a group, where they engaged in three short teaching turns followed by structured feedback. Participants&rsquo; proficiency with the target skills was analyzed on three weekly assessments. First, participants&rsquo; mastery of current and previous target skills was measured during their third teaching turn of the intervention session (i.e., TeachLivE&trade; training assessment). Next, participants&rsquo; proficiency with all skills, including those that had not been targeted yet in intervention, were measured immediately following intervention sessions (i.e., TeachLivE&trade; comprehensive assessment). Finally, teachers submitted a weekly video recording of a lesson in their real classroom (i.e. classroom generalization assessment).</p><p> Repeated practice and feedback in TeachLivE&trade; promoted participants&rsquo; mastery of essential target skills. Specifically, all participants demonstrated proficiency with error correction, specific praise, and praise around on both the TeachLivE&trade; training assessment and the more complex TeachLivE&trade; comprehensive assessment, with a strong pattern of generalized performance to authentic classroom settings. Participants maintained proficiency with the majority of the target skills in both environments when assessed approximately one month after intervention was discontinued. Implications of the study are discussed, including the power of interleaved practice in TeachLivE&trade; and how generalization and maintenance may be impacted by the degree of alignment between virtual and real teaching scenarios.</p>

M.Ed. / Educationalists the world over have recognized the need for different levels of school in and support to meet the educational needs of learners. In some countries, like the United Kingdom and Australia, these types of educational services are specified by legislation (Porter, 2002, p.3). The rationale behind this is that society has a responsibility to provide all learners with an education that meets their unique learning needs (ibid., 2002, p,3). South Africa is no different, with national and departmental policies providing guidelines for the provision of specialized education and the placement of learners within such contexts. While much research has been conducted in the field of transitions from school to the workplace and from special needs education to mainstream environments, little is known about the experiences of learners undergoing the transition from mainstream education to more specialized environments. The researcher became interested in understanding this experience of learning and chose to consider the case study of 1Mike Munch, a primary school learner, who underwent the transition from a mainstream school environment to a school environment for learners with special educational needs. In order to understand Mike‟s experiences during the transition, data was collected using individual and focus group interviews, a sandtray session with the learner and projective techniques. This data was coded and analysed using content analysis and presented against a backdrop of literature, including the policy and development of inclusive education in South Africa, whole school development, systems theory and an ecosystemic perspective, as well as developmental theories of childhood and transition theory. The researcher found that Mike Munch had become more independent and motivated, gained confidence and felt more accepted in the new environment, which was more structured than the previous one. He also benefited from more intensive support and while he had to adjust to different expectations and changes he became more motivated in his learning. From these findings the researcher developed guidelines for schools to support learners 1 Pseudonym used to protect the identity of the participant iii undergoing the transition from a mainstream school environment to a school for learners with special educational needs. These included involving parents in the process, facilitating small social skills groups for learners, maintaining regular communication between team members and the home environment, positively reinforcing learners, progressing at the learner‟s pace, tailoring tasks to learner abilities, allowing learners‟ special responsibilities in the classroom, using cooperative learning strategies to increase socialization, establishing a sense of community in the classroom and providing a structured environment for learning.

<p> This research examined the co-teaching method of instruction for students with disabilities in the inclusion classroom setting. Quantitatively, the study sought to explore the impact of co-teaching on student achievement growth and performance. Achievement growth and performance was measured using STAR scores and TCAP assessment scores. Qualitatively, the researcher investigated teacher beliefs and attitudes toward co-teaching using a survey including Likert-scale and open-ended questions. Co-teaching was found to be beneficial, since both special education students and general education students made equal academic progress in the inclusion classroom. A teacher perception survey provided the researcher with insight into the benefits, challenges, and beliefs about co-teaching.</p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to determine the impact a specialized cooking course can have on cooking behaviors in college students with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Specifically, the study aimed to identify if learning how to handle and cook food altered the following variables in young adults with Autism: methods of cooking, frequency of self-prepared meals, and confidence in participants&rsquo; ability to prepare meals for themselves.</p><p> Subjects were participants in California State University, Long Beach&rsquo;s Learning Independence For Empowerment (LIFE) Project cooking class- an elective 6-week cooking class offered annually to students with ASD who are students of Disabled Student Services. The class was designed and taught by a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist using recipes that met nutritional considerations for this population. Pre-and post-tests were administered during the first and final sessions of the cooking class; two years worth of data was obtained and combined. Paired samples t-tests data analysis determined that completion of the cooking class significantly increased participant&rsquo;s cooking frequency, as well as confidence in cooking ability.</p>

<p> This study examines parental perceptions of their participation in the special education process at a high school in southern Illinois. Eleven parents were interviewed based on either self-reported low socioeconomic status or non-participation in a formal IEP meeting during the previous year. Regarding the quality and the quantity of their participation in the special education process, parents reported favorably in both areas. Most parents placed greater importance on more frequent and less formal methods of communication with trusted staff members, and less importance on IEP meeting participation. Some barriers to effective parental participation were noted, such as doubt as to whether or not their input in the IEP meetings was relevant and taken into consideration. Draft copies of IEP paperwork may inadvertently communicate predetermination of meeting results, and many parents did not fully understand the IEP paperwork. Technical language used at IEP meetings was also noted as a possible barrier. Parents also indicated a desire to avoid conflict with the school. Initial special education eligibility meetings were a negative experience for over half of the participants. This study also noted a fundamental difference in how parents and schools perceive children with disabilities. Nearly all parents focused on positive aspects of their children and similarities to their peers without mentioning any disabling conditions. The theoretical framework of this study suggests that schools approach special education through a &ldquo;defectological&rdquo; approach that emphasizes a child&rsquo;s disabling condition. This extreme difference in perception could account for some lack of parental involvement in the IEP process. The implications of this study call for a re-examination of the definition of parental participation in the special education process, exploration of ways to minimize the barriers to parental participation in formal IEP meetings, inclusion of parents and students into the process of developing the IEP document itself and a focus on similarities and abilities of children rather than the current practice of emphasizing disabilities and limitations.</p>