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Presentation discusses assistive technology devices: Simon Soounds It Out, WordMaker, Pix Writer, Co:Writer, Write:Outloud, WYNN and WYNN Wizard, Written Expression Software, Kidspiration, Start-to-Finish Reading Series,Neo, AlphaSmart 300, DANA, Lottie Kit.

A decline in high school dropout rates of students with learning disabilities (SWLDs) has been reported in the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI). Of the2 school districts in the USVI, St. STT/STJ and STX, the researcher examined high school experiences of SWLDs who dropped out and did not attain a high school diploma in STX. Utilizing the conceptual framework of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, participants' personal high school experiences were examined in an effort to understand factors leading to their choice to drop out. The researcher interviewed 12 participants who were drop out SWLDs, ages 18 years and older. Interview data were coded and analyzed for common themes. Member checking and peer debriefing were utilized to achieve credibility and trustworthiness. Data analysis resulted in the identification of patterns, or themes, relative to participants' STX high school experiences which contributed to their decisions to drop out. The themes included, peer, family and teacher lack of support, ridicule, peer pressure and behavior problems. Most of the participants had not reached Maslow's highest need for self-actualization. Maslow purported that if needs are not being fulfilled in homes, then they can be fulfilled in schools where a positive school culture is apparent. In this case, students with learning disabilities needed to feel there was value in their education and obtaining a high school diploma. The results of this research might contribute to positive social change by identifying SWLDs' need requirements to attain a high school diploma and provide high school administrators with valuable information to enhance school learning environments for SWLDs and increase high school SWLD graduation rates.

Each year as a growing number of students with learning disabilities are included in statewide assessments, teacher perceptions and beliefs toward student achievement are being identified and examined. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001(NCLB) and the 2004 reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 2004) raise the achievement expectations of students with disabilities and require that teachers are knowledgeable about state academic content and achievement standards (Thompson, Lazarus, Clapper, & Thurlow, 2006). State departments of education are responsible to ensure that teacher competencies and expectations are specific to the achievement of grade level content standards (Thompson, et al., 2006). Educational reform, increased knowledge in the teacher-learning process, and greater access to the general education curriculum require changes in instructional practice. This study investigated special education teachers' perceptions, backgrounds and beliefs related to test performance of third grade students with learning disabilities who passed the reading portion of the state assessment in Florida, the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT). The comparative descriptive research design was used to identify these factors and their effects in the study (Creswell, 2002). Quantitative data collection was used. A survey instrument was developed to include information on teachers' background, beliefs, experience, and perceptions toward statewide assessments. The survey was sent to seventy six third grade teachers of students with learning disabilities. Teachers receiving the survey were categorized into two groups based on the outcome of the 2007 FCAT in reading. Significant differences between teacher responses were found in the areas of professional development for test accommodations, co-teaching, and working with professionals in the general curriculum. Response to survey items on service delivery models indicated that students who spend the majority of time in the general education classroom or in a resource room setting have increased student achievement on statewide assessments. Differences were also found between teachers on questions related to school location, percentage of minority students, students who are eligible for free and reduced lunch, and positions employees held in education by the teachers in the study. One of the most significant findings of this study concluded that increased time spent in the general education classroom and collaboration of special education teachers with general education staff proved to be most beneficial when addressing the needs of students with learning disabilities and statewide assessment. The concept of teacher knowledge base and continued awareness of perceptions andbeliefs addressed in this study allowed for further research investigations.

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The significance of students being able to express and demonstrate their knowledge and understanding in all content areas has always been important especially in the sciences. Students under the Next Generation Science Standards will be required to participate in science discourse through a variety of approaches. This study examined student engagement and student demonstration of content knowledge in inclusive science classrooms through a quasiexperimental research design which included four case study participants with a learning disability. The researcher also evaluated student content knowledge through the implementation of Universal Design for Learning-Expression (UDL-E) through a non-replicated control group design. Data were collected through a variety of sources including: researcher observations, review of student academic records, interviews, surveys, UDL-E products, and pre-test and posttest scores. Researcher observations spanned over a 10 week period and were coded and analyzed quantitatively. Findings from a Repeated ANOVA demonstrated no statistical significance, however based on interviews with students; findings show that the students did enjoy exploring the opportunity to express their knowledge using the Expression principle of Universal Design for Learning. Student time-on-task did remain equally as high during UDL-E and students’ inattentive behaviors decreased.

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This single-case study compared the effects of a typical practice baseline phase to those of a treatment phase. Seven students with learning disabilities (LD) in Grades 4 and 5 participated in the two-school-site study. Each student had basic word-reading proficiency and a distinct deficit in comprehension. Baseline lessons consisted of text reading with corrective feedback, a text-based summary with corrective feedback, and a daily quiz. In treatment, students read text with corrective feedback, used a graphic organizer to study and teach the content to the instructor, and completed a daily quiz. The baseline and treatment lessons were influenced by direct, systematic, and explicit instruction. Analysis indicates that an experimental effect was present for all students when the daily quiz results for baseline and treatment phases are compared. Percentage of non-overlapping data (PND) results were 100% for five students, which is characterized as a highly effective treatment according to single-case standards. Two students had minimal overlap between baseline and treatment, but their scores indicate that the treatment was effective at improving informational text learning. On a cumulative pre/post social studies test, students at School A improved from 26% to 56%, and at School B, students scored 28% on pretest and 81% on posttest. Results indicate that treatment components that were previously effective for students with LD in secondary school are promising for enhancing informational text learning for students in upper elementary school. A social validity questionnaire indicated that students perceived graphic organizers as an efficacious practice for improving learning potential. / text

Thesis (MEd)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The importance of increased accessibility to higher education for non-traditional students has been recognised globally. In South Africa, a strong drive exists to provide access to students who were previously excluded from higher education because of the apartheid history. Stellenbosch University attempts to contribute to redress and transformation through, amongst other initiatives, the SciMathUS Bridging Programme (Science and Mathematics at the University of Stellenbosch). The SciMathUS Bridging Programme provides access to educationally disadvantaged students to higher education. Even though these students gained access to higher education, they were struggling to succeed. Many questions about the functioning of specifically educationally disadvantaged students in higher education are still unanswered. This study aims to find answers to some of these questions, namely what are the major challenges educationally disadvantaged students face at a predominantly white, Afrikaans university and how do they function within the university. The research is a narrative ethnography with the focus on the experiences of seven former SciMathUS students at Stellenbosch University. The data was collected by means of unstructured interviews, student journals as well as social media over a period of four months. Narratives about the seven students’ experiences on campus were compiled and analysed within the framework of Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model by focusing on the reciprocal and dynamic interactions of the students within their campus systems. The analysis of the narratives showed limited interactions in the academic, social and residential contexts and revealed that these students faced academic, financial, linguistic, social and administrative challenges, which led to very high stress levels. They struggled to become part of the academic practice and responded by functioning on the periphery of the university system. The implications of providing access to educationally disadvantaged students to higher education, and particularly Stellenbosch University, are threefold. On a theoretical level, gaps in current theory on student development and support were identified. On a substantive level, a disjuncture between university policies and initiatives, and the real-life experiences of the students existed and systemic changes in the academic, social and residential contexts are imperative. Finally, on a practical level, the narratives of these students provided insight into their experiences and highlighted the need for the reconsideration of current practices around teaching and learning, language, admission, re-admission, financial support, tutoring and mentoring, and social life, particularly in residences. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die belang van groter toeganklikheid tot hoër onderwys vir nie-tradisionele studente word wêreldwyd erken. As gevolg van die apartheidsgeskiedenis, is daar in Suid-Afrika ‘n grootse poging om aan studente wat voorheen uitgesluit was, toegang tot hoër onderwys te verleen. Die Universiteit Stellenbosch poog om ‘n bydra te lewer tot die regstelling en transformasie, onder andere, deur die SciMathUS Brugprogram (Science and Mathematics at the University of Stellenbosch) wat aan onderwysbenadeelde studente toegang tot hoër onderwys verleen. Alhoewel hierdie studente toegang tot hoër onderwys verkry het, sukkel hul om sukses te behaal. Baie vrae oor die funksionering van spesifiek onderwysbenadeelde studente in hoër onderwys is steeds onbeantwoord. Hierdie studie poog om antwoorde te vind op van hierdie vrae naamlik, wat is die grootste uitdagings wat onderwysbenadeelde studente aan ’n hoofsaaklik wit, Afrikaanssprekend universiteit in die gesig staar en hoe funksioneer hul binne die universiteit. Die navorsing is ’n narratiewe etnografie met die fokus op die ervarings van sewe voormalige SciMathUS studente aan die Universiteit Stellenbosch. Die data is oor ’n tydperk van vier maande deur middel van onderhoude, studentejoernale en sosiale media versamel. Narratiewe oor die sewe studente se ervarings op kampus is saamgestel en binne die raamwerk van Bronfenbrenner se ekologiese model ontleed deur op die wedersydse en dinamiese interaksies van die studente in hul kampus- sisteme te fokus. Die ontleding van die narratiewe het beperkte interaksies binne die akademiese, sosiale en residensiële kontekste aangedui en het getoon dat die studente akademiese, finansiële, taal, sosiale en administratiewe uitdagings in die gesig gestaar het, wat tot hoë stresvlakke gelei het. Hul het gesukkel om deel te word van die akademiese praktyk en het daarop reageer deur op die rand van die universiteitsisteem te funksioneer. Die implikasies van toegang tot hoër onderwys, en meer spesifiek die Universiteit Stellenbosch, aan onderwysbenadeelde studente, is drieërlei. Op ’n teoretiese vlak is gapings in huidige teorie oor studente-ontwikkeling en -ondersteuning geïdentifiseer. Op ’n substantiewe vlak het daar ’n gaping bestaan tussen universiteitsbeleide en -inisiatiewe en die werklike ervarings van die studente en is sistemiese veranderinge in die akademiese, sosiale en residensiële kontekste nodig. Laastens, op ’n praktiese vlak het die narratiewe van die studente lig gewerp op hul ervarings en die behoefte aan die heroorweging van huidige praktyke rondom onderrig en leer, taal, toelating, her-toelating, finansiële ondersteuning, tutor- and mentorskap en sosiale lewe, spesifiek in koshuise, beklemtoon. / FIRLT Committee

U.S. students with learning disabilities' math skills acquisition has been on the decline in recent years. Studies show that teachers using traditional methods of teaching math lack knowledge of task analysis, chunking, sequencing, mass practice, modeling, and repetition of instruction. These components of direct instruction or pedagogical activities are hallmarks of special education teaching and are collectively described as cognitive support pedagogy. The study evaluated direct instruction teaching strategies to teach Common Core math to middle school students with learning disabilities, to determine if the current downward trend in math skills acquisition amongst them can be reversed. The theoretical framework of this study was based on Watson's theory of behavioral psychology as it applied to learning and teaching. The participants consisted of a convenience sample of students with learning disabilities. The study used a Solomon 4-group experimental design, in a series of two One-way ANOVAs to measure differences in math score by intervention for pretested and for non-pretested students, with one Factorial 2 X 2 ANOVA which measured for differences by interaction between pre-testing and intervention. Results of ANOVAs were significant at the α-levels of .05 (F (1,78) = 233.66 p < .001), indicating that significant differences existed in math scores of pre-tested students who received intervention and those who did not. The study is significant to teachers, curriculum developers, and instructional leaders because it is the first study of its kind to measure the outcomes of Common Core math using direct instruction and it points a way forward to creating positive social change by increasing students' graduation rates and promoting students' engagement in school and beyond.