The purpose of this study was to determine if students with special needs participating in an inclusive classroom can learn the skills related to a STEM career as compared to the general student population. The study involved seventh grade students from two rural middle schools in north central Texas and was framed through a constructivist lens using a quasi-experimental design with a convenience sample. The Solenoid Invention Kit Assessment and the STEM Semantics Survey used in this study were used from a previously large existing dataset from a grant funded by the National Science Foundation for Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers. Findings suggested that there were no significant differences between the general student population and students with special needs. However, STEM coursework in an inclusive classroom may impact students' decision to pursue STEM careers.

The aim of this study is to examine the work carried out at Swedish upper-secondary special schools for pupils with learning disabilities in the subject area of language and communication, with particular focus on augmentative and alternative communication and multilingualism. The learning process is approached from a sociocultural perspective in this study, which entails that learning is taken to occur in social contexts in which interaction, communication, and co-operation play key roles. The method takes the form of semi-structured qualitative interviews inspired by a phenomenographical approach in the hope of highlighting five areas communication, possibilities, obstacles, AAC and competence development, that special education teachers and special educators are faced with in their work with students with language and communication impairments. The results show that special education teachers and special educators demonstrate a high capacity to see both possibilities and obstacles in the teaching process, together with an understanding for the students’ differing functional impairments and needs. The challenges facing special education teachers and special educators when dealing with multilingual student groups give an indication of the difficulties attached to determining remedies capable of leading to students’ increased participation and comprehension of the subject area. The two alternatives offered by Swedish special schools are individual native language instruction (in which the student is separated from the class) and support within the classroom in the form of a personal assistant with knowledge of the native language. The study demonstrates that the latter is preferable as means for a student to progress in their learning. The result also indicates that special education teachers and special educators have great understanding for the importance of using AAC in instructing materials but at the same time there are many things to be done about translating AAC material in order to increase educational participation for multilingual students. Results also indicates that peer learning within the profession is desirable. / Denna studie har till sitt syfte att belysa arbetet på gymnasiesärskolans individuella program inom ämnesområdet språk och kommunikation, och med fokus på AKK och flerspråkighet. Studien lyfter fram lärandet ur ett sociokulturellt perspektiv där lärande ses som handlingar i ett socialt sammanhang, och där interaktion, kommunikation och samarbete är viktiga för att nå ett lärande. Studien är en semistrukturerad kvalitativ intervjustudie och har inspirerats av en fenomenografisk ansats där jag försökt få kunskap och information kring hur verksamma speciallärare och specialpedagoger upplever arbetet med elever i kommunikativa svårigheter med behov av AKK- stöd och som har en flerspråkighet. Jag valde att redovisa resultatet utifrån fem olika teman kommunikation, möjligheter, hinder, AKK och kompetensutveckling. Resultatet visar att det finns en hög kompetens i att se både möjligheter och hinder i undervisningen, samt en förståelse för elevers olika funktionsvariationer och behov samt att öka delaktigheten för flerspråkiga elever. Möjligheterna och hindren i att möta och bemöta flerspråkigheten hos elevgruppen visar på svårigheterna i att bedöma vilka insatser som leder till både ökad delaktighet men också ökad förståelse och kunskap inom ämnesområden. Modersmålsundervisning och studiehandledning är de två alternativen som erbjuds inom den specifika gymnasiesärskolan. Studiens resultat visar att studiehandledning är att föredra för att öka flerspråkiga elevers delaktighet. Studien visar även på speciallärares och specialpedagogers kunskap kring att använda olika AKK-metoder för att skapa en större delaktighet hos elever med kommunikativa svårigheter och flerspråkighet men även på bristande översatta material att använda i undervisningssyfte för att öka delaktigheten för flerspråkiga elever. I resultatet kring kompetensutveckling ses kollegialt lärande som en möjlig kompetenshöjande funktion men respondenterna anser att det rent organisationsmässigt inte skapas utrymme för det kollegiala lärandet.

Syftet för denna studie är att undersöka problemrepresentationer kring arbetet med barn i behov avsärskilt stöd och inkludering samt att se till vilka tänkbara effekter dessa representationer kan få förindivider i behov av särskilt stöd och ett inkluderande arbetssätt. Denna kvalitativa studie bygger på 8semistrukturerade intervjuer av fritidshemspersonal. Uppsatsen grundar sig i en diskursanalytiskansats med Carol Bacchi’s WPR metod ur ett socialkonstruktivistiskt perspektiv. Tidigare forskningpå elever i behov av särskilt stöd och inkludering visar hur ett relationellt perspektiv är att föredra iarbetet med inkludering, annan forskning visar hur det är i sociala relationer som exkluderandetillfällen uppstår mellan elever, där fritidshemmets uppdrag kan ha en central roll. I denna studieanalyseras informationen i relation till olika perspektiv på inkludering. Individ- och relationellaperspektivet samt Nilholms fyra definitioner på inkludering. Resultaten visar att synsätten påinkludering skiljer sig åt mellan informanterna. Det finns tendenser som visar på att ettindividperspektiv kan tänkas ge effekter i form av exkluderande tillfällen för elever i behov.Personalen har uttryckt hur skolans traditionella undervisningsform samt stora elevantal kan försvåraett inkluderande arbetssätt där allas behov tillgodoses. Studien fann även skillnader kring genus ibeskrivningar kring diagnos och behov, där alla exempel om ett barn som uppvisat mer utåtagerandebeteenden handlade om pojkar, även fiktiva fall.

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Education in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Education (Educational Psychology) in the Department of Educational Psychology & Special Needs Education at the University of Zululand, 2015 / Parents play a crucial role in the support of learning. The study focused on the parental involvement in the education of teenagers with special needs in a High School in Pinetown district. The aim as to understand the role of parents in the education of their special need teenagers, thus, an in-depth literature study on different ways of parental involvement was undertaken. The comparison was made between how developed countries and developing countries perceive and engage parents in the education process. The laws and legislations that promote parental involvement were also looked at. Epstein (1995) theory of overlapping spheres of influence was discussed. It is emphasised that learners should be the focal point of all programmes to foster parental involvement and that learners succeed at a higher level when internal and external models of influence intersect and work together to promote learning. Furthermore, Epstein (2001) typology of parental involvement was discussed. Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) ecosystemic theory showed that a strong family and school linkage for the academic and socio-emotional development of a teenager with special needs is important and should be sustained. Qualitative research methodology was applied to gather data. Purposive sampling was used to select the participants which the researcher thought would provide with rich descriptions of their beliefs. Ten parents were interviewed, using the language they best understood. To better understand how they viewed parental involvement and what were the techniques they would like the school to employ to improve parental involvement. Tesch’s (1990) method of data analysis was used to assist the researcher in reducing the massive data into relevant themes and sub-themes. The results revealed that the beliefs that parents hold about the school, level of education, unwelcoming atmosphere in the school, limited time availability of parents, lack of support to equip parents with necessary skills to be effectively involved in the education of their teenager learners were identified as some of the barrier to parental involvement. The results also indicated that parents, school and community needed to be involved in teenagers’ education and development. For collaboration and partnership to take place there should be clear lines of communication and professional relationship guided by trust and respect. The study concluded with recommendations to develop strategies that could be used for effective parental involvement. The results may assist the school to fulfil its role as a community institution, assist parents to realise their role in the development of their teenagers, promote awareness of the factors that might influence the formulation of policies. However, further research on the topic was suggested.

The purpose of this study is to explore how music teachers in grades seven to nine work with adjustments in their teaching practices to include students with special needs. This has been done from a sociocultural perspective where inclusion, special adjustments and a school for everyone were the overall themes. The study has been conducted via qualitative interviews, which has been analysed and the results split threefold; teacher’s perspectives on student’s needs, teacher’s opportunities and limitations, and schools opportunities and limitations.    The results found in this study indicate that group size together with resources and the music classroom are limiting factors for the quality of music education and to which degree teachers are able to work with inclusion. Working for inclusion was found a must in music education, where playing together was perceived as a vital part of the education. In most of the cases students always being in the classroom were preferred, but there were exceptions where students leaving the classroom were found to be more beneficial for the students in question. Furthermore, letting all students take advantage from adjustments made for special needs students proved to be beneficial for the group as a whole. The study also shows that teachers need to have adequate education with elements of special education to enable them to properly include students with special needs.

How do special educators work to include children with special needs in preschool? That was the question that our thesis proceeded from, and the purpose was to get an insight in the methods used by the special educators to achieve inclusion.Our questions were:• Is Swedish preschool a place for inclusion?• How are special educators work organized and focused?• Which experiences do special educators have working with children with specialneeds in preschool, and what role do they mean that inclusion plays in this work?Our procedure in this enquiry was to perform semi-structured interviews with 5 different special educators in two different cities.Interpretation and analyis proceeded from three different theories: Urie Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory, John Bowlby’s theory of attachment and Karsten Hundeide’s sociocultural theory. The result showed support for the idea of the Swedish preeschool as a place with many opportunities for inclusion. We have also seen how both money and political decisions has an impact on which possibilities the preschools receive to work with inclusion. In addition it became apparent that the methods used by special educators differed depending on both cities and districts. One of the main purposes of the special educators consisted in finding different ways to include children in the everyday activities.

No description available.

This case study investigates how participating in the process of drama and the product of theatre affects the lives of persons with developmental and physical disabilities. In the summer of 2008, I documented the experiences of the actors in Kaleidoscope, a five-week musical theatre program in which 18 teenagers and adults created an original musical theatre production through a partnership between Asolo Repertory Theatre and Community Haven for Adults and Children with Disabilities in Sarasota, Florida. In an effort to understand how moving through the rehearsal process and culminating product influenced and changed the lives of the actors within the Kaleidoscope community, I conducted three rounds of interviews with eight selected actors and two rounds of interviews with artistic and clinical staff, as well as documented personal observations through my role as a participant/observer. The major through lines of my data detail how drama, movement, dance, and voice work cultivated change in the actors' socialization, self-confidence, and self-expression. While participating in the art shaped the actors' lives in a variety of ways, the production of Dream Out Loud grew from collaborative efforts that challenged and celebrated both individuality and equality within the spectrum of difference among the ensemble. As I also studied Kaleidoscope as a whole to guide the design of my own program, I sought to discover methods of sustaining growth that stem from participating in both the dramatic process and product. Due to their wide spectrum of disabilities, the actors experienced a variety of changes, and for some, no changes at all in socialization, self-confidence, and self-expression. I concluded that while every actor did not walk away from Kaleidoscope having made great changes within The Three Ss, participating in the program was an artistically and socially valuable experience for each actor.

Background: Compared with typically developing children, children with special needs often struggle with academic and social aspects of school, though certain factors can improve their academic and social developmental trajectory. The objective of this investigation was to explore the association between the developmental health of children with special needs at school-entry, as measured by the Early Development Instrument (EDI), and neighborhood-level SES. To date, the EDI has only been validated for use in typically developing children. Hence, a secondary objective of this investigation was to explore the psychometric properties of the EDI for children with special needs. Methods: The data for this investigation were from the Pan-Canadian database of children’s developmental health at school entry. The psychometric properties of the EDI, including item and domain characteristics, factor structure, and construct validity, were tested for children with special needs. Hierarchical generalized linear models was used to model the association between EDI domain scores and a custom neighborhood SES index. Results: A total of 29,841 (69.8% male) and 29,520 (69.7% male) children with special needs were available for the investigation on the psychometric properties of the EDI and the relationship between EDI outcomes and SES, respectively. The psychometric performance of the EDI in children with special needs was similar to its performance in typically developing children. The EDI was subsequently used to explore the association between developmental outcomes and neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES). All EDI domains were positively correlated with SES, indicating that children in high SES neighborhoods have better developmental outcomes at school entry than those in lower SES neighborhoods. Conclusions: The results of this investigation draw attention to the potential impact of contextual factors on children’s health and have implications for policy development and service planning. These results also indicate that the EDI performs similarly in children with special needs and typically developing children, thus enabling its more extensive use for this population. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc) / Background: Compared with typically developing children, children with special needs often struggle with academic and social aspects of school, though certain factors can improve their academic and social developmental trajectory. The objective of this investigation was to explore the association between the developmental health of children with special needs at school-entry, as measured by the Early Development Instrument (EDI), and neighborhood-level SES. To date, the EDI has only been validated for use in typically developing children. Hence, a secondary objective of this investigation was to explore the psychometric properties of the EDI for children with special needs. Methods: The data for this investigation were from the Pan-Canadian database of children’s developmental health at school entry. The psychometric properties of the EDI, including item and domain characteristics, factor structure, and construct validity, were tested for children with special needs. Hierarchical generalized linear models was used to model the association between EDI domain scores and a custom neighborhood SES index. Results: A total of 29,841 (69.8% male) and 29,520 (69.7% male) children with special needs were available for the investigation on the psychometric properties of the EDI and the relationship between EDI outcomes and SES, respectively. The psychometric performance of the EDI in children with special needs was similar to its performance in typically developing children. The EDI was subsequently used to explore the association between developmental outcomes and neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES). All EDI domains were positively correlated with SES, indicating that children in high SES neighborhoods have better developmental outcomes at school entry than those in lower SES neighborhoods. Conclusions: The results of this investigation draw attention to the potential impact of contextual factors on children’s health and have implications for policy development and service planning. These results also indicate that the EDI performs similarly in children with special needs and typically developing children, thus enabling its more extensive use for this population.

Background: One in every nine school-age children in Ontario has special needs (SN) as a result of developmental disorders, however, the distribution of SN is unequal among schools. This prompted a group level exploration of the developmental health outcomes of typically developing children in schools with SN children. Methods: This study uses data from the Early Development Instrument (EDI; kindergarten measure of child development), administered in Ontario between 2010-2012, and neighbourhood-level socioeconomic status (SES) from the 2006 Canadian Census to examine associations between school SN prevalence and typically developing children’s development. Relationships between school SN prevalence and developmental health in those schools were explored in Grade 3 using Education, Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) tests. Findings: Kindergarten multivariable regression model showed that school SN prevalence was associated with school level kindergarten vulnerability rates after controlling for SES and demographic factors. However, school SN prevalence was not a significant predictor of school performance in Grade 3 reading, writing and math test scores. Our exploration revealed that school kindergarten vulnerability rate, which was itself associated with the school prevalence of children with SN, was a stronger predictor of school Grade 3 academic outcomes than school SN prevalence after controlling for demographic and SES factors. Conclusions: This study provides a snapshot of population level inequalities in child health outcomes by demonstrating associations between school SN prevalence and kindergarten vulnerability, and kindergarten vulnerability and Grade 3 achievement. These findings further emphasize the importance of adequate early intervention programs in schools, and appropriate resource allocation for the health outcomes of typically developing children. / Thesis / Master of Health Sciences (MSc)