The learning of socially appropriate behavior and the mastery of literacy skills are highly critical to function successfully. Students with emotional disabilities (ED) have difficulty in both areas. Further, research has shown that the pro-social behavior and literacy skills are related. The increased use of strength-based assessments is also a growing area. The current study examined the relationship between pro-social behavior and literacy skills as measured by two developmentally sequenced strength-based assessments, the Language Arts objective Sequence (LOS) and the Behavioral Objective Sequence (BOS), using students with emotional disabilities. The subjects for this study were 102 students from grades K-12 who had been diagnosed with an emotional disability or as a student with challenging behavior. The study also provided psychometric data on the LOS. The results of the current study found significant correlations among the subscales of the LOS and the BOS. Further analyses indicated the strong relationships may be related to the sequential and developmental nature of the instruments. The LOS was found to have good internal consistency and did not demonstrate any gender bias. Significant differences were found for ethnicity on two of the LOS scales, favoring European American females. However, the low number of females suggests the differences may be due to sampling error. The results are discussed with respect to complexity of pro-social behaviors and literacy, the unique characteristics of students with ED and the importance of strength-based assessments. / Department of Special Education

A dramatic upsurge in the number of students with learning disabilities (LD) who attended college has occurred since the 1970s. The granting of accommodations to students with LD and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or both was important for their success in postsecondary education. Key to the provision of these services was the attitude of faculty towards granting the accommodations. This study examined the attitudes of faculty members at community colleges which had specialized programs for students with LD or ADHD towards granting these accommodations. These attitudes were assessed through a questionnaire. The questionnaire assessed three attitudes: willingness to make accommodation confidence that the accommodations will make a difference, and belief that accommodations would threaten the integrity of the course. The questionnaire also divided accommodations into two large groups: instruction accommodations and evaluation and material accommodations. This study also included a qualitative component in that the questionnaire included some open-ended questions and some respondents were interviewed. A total of 1100 questionnaires was sent to faculty throughout selected Illinois and Indiana community colleges of which 285 questionnaires made up the sample population. Sample population consisted of 54% male and 46% female; 51% held the rank of instructor or adjunct professor while 49% held professorial rank; tenured status consisted of 68% and nontenured (32%) while 54% were full-time and 46% part-time faculty. The collapsed years of teaching experience comprised 46% with five years or less, 27% with six to 15 years, and 27% with more than 16 years. A majority of faculty members had previous experience with students with LD (86%) and ADHD (71%), and a majority of the respondents (71%) had a family member or knew an individual with LD. Results of the questionnaire were combined to generate two factors scores: instructional accommodations and evaluation and material accommodations. These scores were analyzed using means and standard deviations or the factor scores. Aside from overall means, individual differences among faculty members were analyzed using two-way and one-way ANOVAs with alpha set at .05. The overall means suggested that the faculty: were willing to make accommodations, had confidence that the accommodations would make a difference, and did not believe that the accommodations would threaten the integrity of the class. Individual differences were found for gender, tenure status, and training. Females were found to accommodate better than males. Subjects with additional training accommodated more positively than those without training. The current findings were interpreted within the framework of how these community colleges could improve faculty attitudes. Institutions should make LD training a main concern in order for faculty to accommodate. / Department of Special Education

Behavioral competencies are important elements of school readiness and make up an important component in any preschool curriculum. In this study, music therapy was implemented in a Head Start preschool program as a behavioral intervention. Forty-five subjects received music therapy sessions in groups of six to ten children for 25 minutes, twice weekly. The first treatment group received music therapy intervention along with the regular curriculum for eight weeks while the other subjects participated in the regular curriculum only. The second eight weeks, the second treatment group received music therapy intervention along with the regular curriculum while the first group participated in the regular curriculum only. Head Start teachers used the Behavioral Objective Sequence to assess all students at the beginning, in the middle and at the end of the sixteen week period. Results indicated a significant increase in positive behavioral competencies associated with the music therapy intervention. Additionally, the music therapy intervention had a stronger impact on older students (ages five to six years) versus younger students (ages three to four years). / Department of Special Education

This study examined the relationship between Indiana's Graduate Qualifying Examination (GQE), a criterion referenced assessment which is a part of the general educational assessment and Indiana's alternate assessment, the Indiana Standards Tool for Alternate Reporting (ISTAR), a teacher rating assessment. The study utilized ISTAR ratings and GQE scores for three years (2003-2005). These data were derived from a secondary data source, the student test number (STN) database at the Indiana Department of Education. Use of the STN protects the confidentiality of personally identifiable information are, protects the confidentiality of students. All students in the study participated in both the GQE and ISTAR assessments. The Pearson correlation coefficient was used to determine the relationship between GQE scores and ISTAR ratings. The results of the Pearson correlation coefficient were mixed. Overall when all students were included in the sample, the relationships were stronger than when only students with disabilities were included in the sample. When only 10th grade students with disabilities were included in the sample for two years, 2003 and 2004, no significant correlation was found in the domain of English/language arts. With a larger sample size in 2005, a significant correlation between GQE scores and ISTAR ratings for 10th grade students with disabilities was determined (r = .31). In the domain of mathematics, all correlations were shown to be significant for both all students and students with disabilities. Even though some evidence of validity was demonstrated, the present study does not provide enough data to make definitive determinations regarding the validity of ISTAR ratings. Additional years of data are needed before any judgments regarding the ratings yielded from the ISTAR instrument can be made. The current study provides a base for future ongoing validation studies. / Department of Educational Leadership

This study examined the effects of an early reading intervention with 652 students with disabilities and students at-risk of reading failure over the 2004-2005 school year. An intervention was put into place in a general education setting in Kindergarten (n=155), first (n=246) and second grade (n=251) that consisted of 30 minutes a day of explicit intensive instruction that focused on phonemic awareness, phonics, and fluency in a small group setting. The intervention met the requirements of a Tier II intervention. After one school year of intervention, students who were at risk of reading failure or who were already identified as being eligible for special education services made significant progress toward predictive reading benchmarks as assessed by using DIBELS measures. The greatest gains were seen in kindergarten and first grade.This study provided evidence that the intervention was effective with students who were socio-economically at risk. Sixty-five to 80% of students in the study were eligible for free or reduced lunch and 31 to 54% were students with disabilities yet made significant progress toward reading benchmarks. The intervention seemed to ameliorate the `negative' effects of special education status or low socio-economic status. As urban schools struggle to meet AYP, this is an encouraging and welcomed development. / Department of Special Education

Public policy and current educational reforms have challenged schools to close the achievement gap for all students, including those with disabilities as required under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001. As schools seek to implement sound instructional practices for students, technology has become a dominant force in schools and society. The focus of improving instruction and meeting the needs of diverse learners has not yet blended with the technology capabilities that are more readily available in schools. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) seeks to build an inherent flexibility into the curriculum and to utilize technology to accommodate diverse learners. The purpose of this study was to analyze how UDL training impacted school personnel’s perceptions of inclusion, instruction, student engagement, and the use of technology to differentiate instruction to meet the needs of diverse learners. The sample consisted of faculty from 50 Indiana schools, and analysis was completed based on respondents’ level of UDL training. Significant differences were found in perceptions that the primary responsibility for accommodating classroom activities for students with disabilities lies with the special education teacher, as well as whether accommodations designed for students with disabilities create increased opportunities for all learners. Significant differences were also found in how technology is used to provide choice and flexibility to students and differentiate instruction. There were significant differences in faculty perceptions that choice and technology impacted students’ levels of engagement. Significant differences were found among variables based on respondents’ categorization as general education or special education, as well as categorization as administrators or teachers. / Department of Special Education

Access to abstract permanently restricted to Ball State community only / Access to thesis permanently restricted to Ball State community only / Department of Educational Psychology

This research project explored levels of self-determination in transitioning first-year college students using the MAP-Works Fall Transition Survey. Competency in self-determination skills has been called the most important element for students’ successful postsecondary experiences. The purpose of this research was to investigate whether there were statistically significant differences in levels of self-determined behavior between students with and without disabilities; and within the students with disabilities (SWD) grouping, whether there were meaningful differences in levels of self-determined behavior between students who had and had not registered with the Disability Services office and sought assistance. Comparisons of levels of self-determination were also made among students with varying demographic and student characteristics (i.e., gender, race, and GPA) as well as between SWD with visible and non-apparent disabilities. Gaining an understanding of how levels of self-determination differ among different incoming student groups can help success and retention strategists directly target interventions to students at risk and most likely to benefit. Recommendations for practice and future research are provided. / Department of Educational Studies

The purpose of this inquiry was to conduct a comparative analysis of the legislative action taken by the government of each Canadian province and territory, as of December 31, 1992, with respect to the provision of equal educational opportunity for students with disabilities. The methodology consisted of a form of qualitative content analysis of the relevant legislative action, validated by provincial representatives, complemented by a study of relevant case-law. The analytical framework comprised 60 items grouped around five types of rights: non-discrimination, access, identification/placement, service delivery and parental participation. Overall, four jurisdictions, the Yukon, followed by Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan, were found to provide for a significant level of rights. Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and the Northwest Territories were found to provide for the lowest level of overall rights. Equality rights and access received the highest ratings across all jurisdictions, while parental participation, service delivery and identification/placement were rated lowest. Extensive references and key extracts from all legislation analyzed are included.

Implementing the legal mandate to accommodate students with impairments in higher education, particularly in fieldwork settings, poses a significant challenge to retaining academic integrity (Pardo, 1999). Currently, there is no consistent way of determining which academic requirements are “bona fide” (OHRC, 2004), and might not be altered for students with disabilities, and those which can be accomplished using a different method. Situating accommodation and accessibility within the Environmental Factors domain of the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Function, Disability and Health (ICF) as a theoretical framework, a set of questions are presented to determine whether academic requirements in fieldwork can be accommodated or not, and why. Combining an occupational therapy perspective on the importance of task analysis (Ashworth, 1995) with the means of identifying discrimination laid out in the human rights case law provides the required tools for such an analysis. This dissertation examines the intersection of legislated mandates for accommodation and academic integrity, by applying human rights legislation to higher education. Using the three-step test of discrimination set out in Meiorin (1999) and an additional question based on Granovsky (2000) to analyze academic tasks and requirements of fieldwork, bona fide requirements can be determined. The resulting model for determining accommodation for students with impairments is applicable to accommodation of disability in primary and secondary education, as well as in the employment sector and accessibility planning, and contributes to standards of practice in academic accommodation planning, a need identified by Reed, Lund-Lucas, & O'Rourke (2003). Following the introduction, six distinct chapters explore 1) the background of accommodation in post-secondary education, 2) the weaving together of models of disability with legislated requirements and curricula, 3) the human rights paradigm itself, 4) accommodation policies, 5) an experimental focus group investigation of the proposed model, and 6) an explication of when accommodation might not be appropriate. The conclusion draws these various threads together into a lifeline for accommodation analysis and planning. / Thesis (Ph.D, Education) -- Queen's University, 2013-02-04 19:28:14.838