The purpose of this exploratory study was to determine what competencies urban directors of special education perceived to be essential for newly appointed urban special education administrators. Two research questions and two null hypotheses were generated to investigate the underlying factors in competencies perceived by urban special education directors to be essential for newly appointed special education administrators and to investigate the relationship between years of experience as a director of special education and these underlying factors. A factor analysis revealed that there were three underlying factors reported to be essential for newly appointed special education administrators. A multiple regression analysis indicated that the relationship between the years of experience as a director of special education and the underlying factors (Management, Instruction and Change; Supervision of Faculty; and Team Building Skills) was not statistically significant. A post hoc test was conducted to further detect differences in years of experience as an urban director of special education and the underlying factors. The results were sufficient to reject the null hypotheses in both cases.

Because many general education teachers feel unprepared to provide students with disabilities with appropriate instruction, changes to teacher education programs are needed (Burdette, 2007; Smith et al., 2010). Teacher education programs need to integrate content regarding instructional methods for teaching and accommodating students with disabilities in secondary, general education classrooms (Burdette, 2007; Smith et al., 2010). The results of the research should provide insight (1) to determine if integrating instruction on UDL into preservice SGE students' instructional methods courses will increase students' knowledge of UDL and (2) to determine if integrating instruction on Universal Design for Learning (UDL) will affect how secondary social studies (SS) students design lesson plans, particularly, content delivery and student assessment, in regards to the three principles of UDL. The research design was a quantitative, quasi-experimental design. The participants in the research study were students enrolled in four content specific SGE instructional methods courses: Social Studies (SS), Language Arts (LA), Mathematics (M) and Science (S). Research question one's data were analyzed both within content area, Wilcxon test for matched pairs, and between content areas, Mann-Whitney U test for independent samples. The results from research question one indicated a significant difference (p < .05). between pre and post UDL Knowledge test scores within the SGE SS participants. Within the other three SGE content areas, M, LA, and S, subjects' UDL Knowledge pre to posttest scores did not significantly change. When each content area's difference score for the UDL knowledge pre and posttest were calculated and compared between content areas, only the SS and S pairing demonstrated a statistically significant difference score (p < .05). Data from research question two indicated no statistically significant difference (p > .05) between pre and post intervention UDL lesson plan rubric scores. The study provides impetus for future research regarding effective delivery of UDL content in teacher preparation programs. The study also provides suggestions for future researchers who may be interested in designing a similar research study. Finally, the study provides teacher education leadership with questions regarding how the three principles of UDL planning, instruction, and assessment align with the current teacher and student educational evaluation practice of standardized assessments.

Mathematics education reform has led to more conceptually focused instruction in the classroom. Yet, students with disabilities are receiving fewer chances than other students to engage in meaningful mathematics. Furthermore, a research divide between mathematics education and special education in mathematics has led to significant gaps in research on the individual and conceptual understanding of students with disabilities. Through task-based interviews and classroom observations, this study begins the process of closing this research gap through an examination of students' understanding of variational and covariational reasoning. Data suggest that the participants, two students with disabilities, increased their conceptual understanding in a reformed learning environment with support from teacher presence and questions. The students were able to increase their understanding of the difference between discrete and continuous functions, demonstrated an ability to self-correct, and improved their ability to choose appropriate levels of reasoning. The results suggest that conceptually oriented instruction with the presence and questioning of a teacher can support students with disabilities in developing a deep and rich understanding of complex mathematics.

Student well-being (as opposed to an overemphasis on learning outcomes or technologies) should serve as the central component of a successful online model for students with disabilities. Historically, research on online schools for students with disabilities has focused on outcomes. One online charter schools growth of the students with disabilities population has outpaced the growth of the general education student population over the past eight years, which is an unusual trend that warrants additional scrutiny. Using anonymous parent and student surveys coupled with in-depth phenomenological interviews, this explanatory mixed-methods study investigates the reasons families of students with disabilities chose online learning at this particular school and what their experiences have been. The findings suggest that parents and students value the learning environment in terms of choosing when, where, and how to learn, and the student experience in terms of safety, support, academics, and teachers. Further analysis suggests the importance of mattering, social safety and connection, open educational resource-enabled pedagogy, and self-determination in providing supportive online learning environments for students with disabilities and their parents. This dissertation can be downloaded at www.delainatonks.com.

There are more than 2.4 million American public school students identified with learning disabilities who are served under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). General education preservice teachers are expected to effectively teach all students, including those with disabilities. However, most teacher preparation programs only require a single course in teaching students with disabilities. Research shows that that teachers’ attitudes regarding inclusion are the greatest predictor of a successful inclusion classroom. This study explored the attitudes of preservice elementary and preservice secondary teachers regarding integrating students with disabilities into general education classrooms. A quantitative research design with a survey method was used in this study. The survey method included a questionnaire via Qualtrics, an online survey system used at the University of Central Florida. Findings of this study revealed that 40% of preservice teachers indicated that integrating students with disabilities in the general education class was a burden. However, due to information limitations the results for preservice elementary and preservice secondary teachers’ attitudes regarding the integration of students with disabilities in the general education classroom and the number of hours of service learning completed was inconclusive.

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