Teacher Education

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    What are the perceptions on fostering and sustaining prior learning assessment in Texas institutions of higher learning
    (2024-05) Mencacci, Shelly Poor 1967-; Fredrickson, Rebecca; Trujillo-Jenks, Laura; Dunlap, Karen,; Dutton, Catherine
    This study examined the multifaceted influences on the prior learning assessment (PLA) landscape in Texas. Drawing from legislative changes, higher education policies, economic factors, technological advances, demographic shifts, and public awareness, it evaluated how these forces shaped PLA practices in institutions of higher learning. Legislative amendments affected institutional accountability, while policy governed PLA practices in public colleges and universities. Economic conditions drove demand for PLA as individuals sought expedited degree completion and career advancement. Technological advancements influenced PLA delivery methods and assessment tools. Demographic changes necessitated institutional responses to diverse student populations. Moreover, public awareness and perception played a role in enhancing PLA program participation among students and employers. This analysis sheds light on the dynamic interplay of forces shaping the PLA ecosystem in Texas through a qualitative case study of two Texas public institutions of higher learning. Through conduction of this research, modern practices emerged which informed today’s leaders about innovative ways to meet the unique needs of learners. The study results indicated that Texas institutions utilized PLA as a strategy to engage with adult learners offering them flexibility to acquire, evaluate, and validate knowledge according to their own schedules and preferences. Modern PLA methods in Texas institutions of higher learning included competency-based education (CBE) and the arcane PLA portfolio method.
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    We be talkin': Critical explorations into how black adolescents experience a black language book club
    (2024-05) Anderson, Phyliciá 08/20/1987-; Stewart, Mary A; Elzy, JaNiece; Myers, Aimee; Burke, Amy
    Deficit views about Black language have circulated throughout society since before desegregation. However, Black literary societies were used as a way to counter hegemony by developing the language of the Black community and continue to exist (Muhammad, 2021). This single case study sought to understand how Black American adolescents connect with, perceive, and take power over Black language. This was done by investigating the experiences of the adolescents as they interacted with Black literature during a book club with consideration for the pedagogical shifts that emerge because of these experiences. Critical consciousness and reader response theories were used to understand how the Black adolescents described their experiences. As a result, the overarching theme, recognition of Black language, emerged from the data. This was supported by three subthemes: Black language identity, language awareness, and societal positioning. Findings suggest a need for pedagogical shifts in education to consider the asset tools Black adolescents utilize when interacting with Black language.
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    Understanding black males’ access to and perception of academic discourse in an academic probation course
    (2024-05) Gaddy, Sonja 1966-; Kaye, Elizabeth; Burke, Amy; Elzy, JaNiece
    The purpose of this study was to describe how Black males access and perceive academic discourse when situated in an academic probation class. Recognizing time management, test preparation, and other learning and study strategies as hidden features of the curriculum, the academic probation course addressed these features through explicit instruction to support academic success. Academic discourse was defined as the “discourse that academics use when they publish for other academics” (Elbow, 1991, p.145), meaning academic discourse is reading, writing, and speaking at the university level, including the behaviors and experiences associated with its delivery (Fairclough, 2001; Gee, 1989). The qualitative multiple case study occurred at a small, four-year private university near the heart of a mid-sized metropolitan city in North Texas. Participants consisted of six Black males on academic probation, 18 years old or older. Data collection included semi-structured interviews, observations, and student documents to enable comparison and cross-checking of data over time. Two cycles of open coding produced a codebook and developed themes across the six cases. Individual cases represented each participant’s perceptions of and access to their discursive practices, while cross-case comparisons examined and described common themes across te multiple cases. The study confirmed the participants' view of the benefits of college as providing a foundation for acquiring and negotiating the secondary academic discourse of the university. The participants accessed content through various tools, mainly their cell phones, allowing them agency and ease of connecting home and community practices to academic literacy. The study also suggested that participants’ awareness and practice of time management skills were critical to their access to academic discourse.
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    Voices from the field: Factors related to job satisfaction of educational diagnosticians
    (2024-05) Loveless, Michelle 1974-; Peterson-Ahmad, Maria; Keeley, Randa; Jones, Adam
    The purpose of this study was to fill a gap in the current research related to educational diagnostician retention and job satisfaction and provide insight for current leaders of special education programs and campus administrators on ways to attract and retain educational diagnosticians to/in their schools. Educational diagnosticians certified in Texas anonymously completed a survey containing the Job Descriptive Index (Bowling Green State University, 2009) and the Principal Leadership Questionnaire (Jantzi &Leithwood, 1996) along with demographic questions. Multiple regression analysis was conducted to determine if years of experience, caseload size, or engagement of transformational leadership by campus principals was a predictive factor of educational diagnostician job satisfaction. Results of this survey indicate overall high levels of job satisfaction for educational diagnosticians with transformational leadership style demonstrating a significant relationship and caseload size trending toward significance.
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    The relationship of teacher turnover and student achievement in elementary school mathematics
    (2024-05) Turrubiarte, Aaron Landon; Trujillo-Jenks, Laura; Keeley, Randa; Fredrickson, Rebecca; Ausburn, Jerry
    The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of teacher turnover on student achievement in grades three through five in mathematics and campus ratings from accountability systems. For this study, teacher turnover rates, student achievement scores, and economically disadvantaged (ED) percentages of 2,838 elementary campuses in Texas were used. Publicly available retrospective data from the Texas Education Agency was used and made available through online sources and public information requests. The results of the study indicate a negative correlation between teacher turnover and student achievement and a negative correlation between teacher turnover and overall campus ratings from accountability systems. The ED status of a campus was not a significant predictor of teacher turnover.
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    Experiencing Readers Theater in a first-grade bilingual classroom
    (December 2023) Walker, Marlene Jeannette; Torres, Annette; Anderson, Nancy; Kaye, Elizabeth
    This qualitative case study explored the use of Readers Theater through the experiences of emergent bilingual students in a first-grade bilingual classroom. Readers Theater is a strategy that has produced great results in helping the development of literacy in reading fluency, motivation, and comprehension. The research regarding the use of Readers Theater with students in the lower elementary grades enrolled in bilingual education classrooms is very limited. Emergent bilinguals could benefit from using teaching strategies that integrate the practice of all language domains, listening, speaking, reading, and writing, to allow them access to academic content. I collected qualitative data from observations, conferences, and student artifacts from emergent bilingual students who were in my one-way dual language classroom in a North Texas school district. The analysis of the data pointed to the following findings: the students perceived Readers Theater as an engaging and enjoyable experience, engaged in metacognitive activities such as, self-evaluations, helping and evaluating their peers, and being aware of the processes involved, and engaged in complex literacy processes, where they demonstrated understanding of character feelings, retelling and summarizing the story, and using new vocabulary.
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    Engaging in youth participatory action research to change our world: Middle school emergent bilingual students
    (December 2023) Solano, Griselda Ivette 1988-; Burke, Amy; Anderson, Nancy; Hansen-Thomas, Holly
    As the population of the United States continues to change, so do the students in the classrooms and their needs. As a result, dual language bilingual education programs have become very popular and widely implemented in elementary schools. The goals of dual language bilingual education programs are to serve Latinx students. Yet, their growth in popularity has created some inequities in program implementation for Latinx students. Additionally, implementing the standards and literacy curriculum often focuses on a single story that fails to include minoritized students' diverse voices and stories (Adichie, 2009). Literacy goes beyond reading and writing and can serve as a tool that acknowledges and embraces all voices while eliminating inequities. Additionally, critical literacy and Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies aim to validate students' lived experiences while providing a space to interrogate and reimagine the world they live in and to enact change through action. This study explored how sixth-grade emergent bilingual students enrolled in a dual-language program engaged in a youth participatory action research project in an afterschool setting. Students engaged in the youth participatory action research project through critical literacy practices and culturally sustaining pedagogies. Three themes were identified representing the space created by the youth: space to explore identity, space to interrogate and reimagine, and space cultivated agency.
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    The instructional decisions and considerations teachers utilized with the integration of multimodal texts during a global pandemic
    (December 2023) Hilton, Aimee 1975-; Anderson, Nancy; Kaye, Elizabeth; Burke, Amy
    The COVID-19 global pandemic challenged the educational system in unprecedented ways. Teachers were tasked to shift modes of instruction and incorporate new multimodal curriculum with very little preparation time. Obstacles of incorporating technology into teaching were amplified by the lack of teacher preparation. Prior to the pandemic, research and theory clearly illustrated how multimodal texts support students as they employ the affordances to make meaning (Jewitt, 2008; Kress & van Leeuwen, 2001). Although many teachers were not adequately prepared, the pandemic provided a unique opportunity or case where teachers were required to use multimodal texts and multimodal digital texts despite the existing hurdles. The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe the planning and teaching considerations teachers utilized as they integrated multimodal texts into their instruction during the pandemic. Three individual case studies of teachers resulted in a cross-case analysis. Through surveys, interviews, and observations, the data provided a narrative perspective of their instructional decisions, use of multimodal texts, and their affordances in classroom instruction. Four themes emerged such as professional development, multimodal knowledge, multimodal texts, and instructional considerations. When teachers receive the explicit professional development over the best practices of multimodal texts and their affordances, then their multimodal knowledge grows which will then change how the teachers make their instructional decisions and shift their instructional approaches.
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    Autonomous fearless use of language: Understanding non-fiction English text with fifth-grade bilinguals through culturally sustaining pedagogy
    (December 2023) Ramos-Rivera, Margarita 1973-; Torres, Annette; Anderson, Nancy; Stewart, Mary A
    At schools in the Unites States, English-centric hegemonic policies often hinder emergent bilingual students from fully applying their linguistic skills to read non-fiction texts. This phenomenon necessitates investigation into how Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy (CSP) can be utilized to support fifth-grade bilingual students’ understanding of non-fiction texts in English. This qualitative descriptive study documents the process of five participants utilizing their entire linguistic repertoire, engaging in translanguaging practices while experiencing CSP instruction to enhance comprehension of non-fiction texts. The research questions guiding this study are: How do emergent fifth-grade bilingual students use language when reading and writing about non-fiction texts in English? How does culturally sustaining instruction relate to the students' use of language while reading and writing about non-fiction texts in English? Five important themes were identified, representing features appearing to support emergent bilingual (EB) students’ understanding of non-fiction texts. These features included translanguaging inquiries during reading discussions, adeptly integrated linguistic translanguaging in written practices, validation of autonomous flexible translanguaging, demonstration of self-identity and belonging, and the promotion of school community and diversity.
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    Aspirante bilingual educators’ development of critical consciousness: A critical qualitative inquiry
    (December 2023) Solano, Ivonne Janeth 1983-; Annette Torres Elias; Nancy Anderson; Mandy Stewart; Dan Heiman
    The critical teacher shortage of bilingual educators in the state of Texas has created a need to examine the experiences of preservice teachers or aspirantes in teacher preparation programs. Recent research has also documented the need for future bilingual educators to be critically conscious (Cervantes-Soon et al., 2019) to fulfill the purpose of bilingual education as a transformative endeavor. Palmer et al., (2019) consider critical consciousness the foundational goal of bilingual education. The purpose of this study is to explore how aspirante (pre-service) bilingual teachers enrolled in a teacher education program at a local Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI), understand, interpret, and reflect on the role of critical consciousness as a foundational goal in becoming a bilingual educator. A critical qualitative inquiry approach rooted in Xicana/Feminista epistemologies was conducted in a study that incorporated three phases. The first phase consisted of an exploratory survey; the second phase consisted of aspirantes engaged in two critical professional development sessions, and the last phase consisted of aspirantes participating in a 1-1 plática. Aspirante bilingual educators engaged in critical professional development comprised of two sessions that fostered dialogue surrounding critical consciousness including language, culture, pedagogy, and policy as well as in a 1-1 plática (conversation). This exploration of aspirante bilingual educators’ embodied knowledge around critical consciousness provided an opportunity to critically listen to their understandings, interpretations, and negotiations surrounding critical consciousness in Dual Language Bilingual Education (DLBE). This study aimed to learn the ways in which aspirantes engaged with elements of critical xii consciousness through their lived experiences, consciousness raising, and counternarratives as they participate in critical professional development and pláticas. The critical professional development sessions explored racial literacies, critical multilingual language awareness, and policy formation. Findings indicate that aspirantes’ experiences in bilingual education shape their beliefs about teaching, learning and biliteracy fostering the practice of interrogating and reimagining education. Additionally, a critical consciousness framework reveals how aspirantes understand and interpret critical consciousness and their advocacy lens. Finally, this inquiry explored the ways in which aspirantes engage in counternarratives. Aspirantes engaged through advocating for self, utilizing navigational capital in higher education, and counternarratives about gender roles.
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    What are the lived experiences of caregivers to adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities
    (December 2023) McDaniel, Lisa Koenig 1972-; Keeley, Randa; Trujillo-Jenks, Laura; Goo, Minkowan
    The purpose of this qualitative phenomenology design was to describe the experiences of caregivers to adults with I/DD in the State of Texas. The theory guiding this study was the social constructivism framework which focused on how language and culture frame how individuals communicate, experience, and understand reality. In this study, the social constructivism framework assisted in understanding the challenges, and coping strategies employed by caregivers as they navigate the demands of caregiving. This study was guided by one research question: What are the lived experiences of caregivers of adults with I/DD that contribute to their perceived quality of life? An individual, semi-structured interview was completed with each of the four participants. The participants were asked three general questions: (a) What have you experienced in providing care to an adult with I/DD; (b) What are the highlights of your experience; and (c) What would you change. Through the narratives and experiences of the participants, several themes emerged such as familial bonds, challenges, coping mechanisms, and the need for support. The theme of family bonds underscores the connections that fuel caregiving journeys, while the challenges and coping strategies unveil the resilience of caregivers in navigating multifaceted responsibilities. The study's implications provide evidence for policy changes and societal shifts that can empower caregivers, enhance their support systems, and amplify the quality of life for both caregivers and those they care for.
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    Investigation of the role of the parent in the initial evaluation for special education services: Increasing collaboration within K-12 school districts to create a positive working relationship
    (December 2023) Brandt-Bersosa, Amy Elizabeth 1980-; Dr. Randa Keeley; Dr. Maria Peterson-Ahmad; Dr. Laura Trujillo-Jenks
    The purpose of this study is to investigate how K-12 school districts can create and increase a positive working relationship with parents and guardians who have students that are actively going through the Initial Evaluation process to determine if their student meets eligibility criteria to receive Special Education Services. A phenomenological study was conducted to address two research questions: (RQ 1) What is the parent experience from the start of the Initial Evaluation to the placement of their child receiving special education services? (R Q2) What types of collaborative involvement parents experience with the school district during the initial review process? This qualitative study was conducted with n=10 research participants to discover their personal responses on how to create positive working relationships with campus level staff who are conducting Initial Evaluations on students to determine if the student qualifies to receive special education services. Parents continue to voice their concern regarding their involvement with the local school district and the role of the parent involvement is being further researched to identify positive ways to build a positive working relationship between the parent and the school district.
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    Middle Eastern, North African, and South Asian families experiences with special education in the United States
    (December 2022) Elramly, Nehal E 1977-; Keeley, Randa; Peterson, Maria; TrujilloJenks, Laura; Goo, Minkowan" <
    DECEMBER 2022 The parents’ role in implementing appropriate educational programming for children with disabilities was written into federal legislation under the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 (EAHCA). Yet the nuances, legalities, and overly complex language used in special education paperwork has proven to be a deterrent and hindrance to many minority parents and families. This dissertation seeks to add to the current literature on minority families in special education with a specific focus on the underrepresented group of Middle Eastern, North African, and South Asian Americans. Results of this study reinforce the suspicion of lack of understanding of their roles and rights regarding special education and disabilities. Because of the small participant size, findings of this study may not be generalized to the greater population but can provide evidence and guidance to educators working with students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Implications and findings will be discussed with further recommendations for future research and educational opportunities.
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    Special education teachers’ perception of video modeling
    (May 2023) Sefah, Emmanuel 1980-; Minkowan Goo, Ph.D.; Shann Hwa (Abraham) Hwang, Ph.D., CFLE; Randa G. Keeley, PhD
    ABSTRACT EMMANUEL SEFAH SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHERS’ PERCEPTION OF VIDEO MODELING MAY 2023 The current study investigated special education teachers’ perception on video modeling (VM) intervention to improve the skills of students with disabilities using survey methodology. The study was conducted to determine if special education teacher characteristics (grade-level assignments, age, educational level, instructional setting, years of teaching, work location, and training influence their perception of VM, the differences in the perception of VM use among special education teachers who teach in elementary, middle, and high school, and the relationship between special education teachers’ training and their confidence in the use of VM. According to 235 special education teachers (K-12) who responded to the survey, 76.6% strongly agreed or agreed that using VM benefits students with disabilities. ANOVA results showed significant differences in the perception of VM based on years of teaching. Special Education teachers’ perception of VM significantly differed between teachers with 0 - 5 years of experience and teachers with 6 -10 years of experience. Special Education teachers with less experience were more likely to use VM. No significant differences were found in special education teachers’ perception of VM based on teachers’ grade-level assignments, age, educational level, instructional setting, years of teaching, work location, and training. Based on regression analysis special education teacher training of VM use positively correlates with their confidence in using VM. Findings may guide future research in implementing and training special education teachers to use VM to teach students with disabilities.
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    Measuring teacher candidate self-efficacy using varied learning environments to implement explicit instruction
    (May 2023) Beecher, Schuyler 1993-; Keeley, Randa; Peterson-Ahmad, Maria; Trujillo-Jenks, Laura
    The call for research in the special educator preparation community is needed to help provide successful strategies to support effective teaching and student learning (Brownell et al., 2019). The purpose of this study was to better understand the impact of a learning environment for pre-service educator self-efficacy and their implementation of explicit instruction. Through qualitative and quantitative investigation, this study helped better understand alternative technology learning environments and how they impacted pre-service educator performance on expected assignments in their preparation program.
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    Comparing classroom spelling lists and sound-specific digital flashcards as therapy materials for first graders with speech sound disorders
    (May 2023) Bradburn, Christina 1977-; Green, Laura; Gill, Cynthia B; Keeley, Randa; Mehta, Jyutika
    School-based speech-language pathologists (SLPs) are charged with minimizing the negative educational impact of their students' speech sound disorders (SSDs) (Ehren, 2000; Wallach, 2009, 2014). Current studies on SSDs in children are rich with discussions of therapy-and child-level contributions to gains in speech sound production (Byers et al., 2021; Farquharson et al., 2020; Jesus et al., 2019; Namasivayam et al., 2019; Preston et al., 2019; Rehfeld & Sulak, 2021). However, while many studies have supported using curricular content during language interventions (Ehren, 2009; Wallach, 2014; Wallach et al., 2009), there is little theoretical and no empirical evidence to demonstrate that using academically integrated therapy materials (AITM) during intervention provides a positive educational impact for students with SSDs. The purpose of this study was to determine if the materials used during school-based speech therapy could impact spelling performance in the classroom. In addition, the study sought to determine if there were differences noted in speech sound production performance when AITM vs. CATM (commercially available therapy materials) were utilized in business-as-usual therapy. Five first grade students with moderate to severe SSDs participated in this study. A single participant, alternating treatment design was used to compare the effectiveness of using AITM and CATM during intervention for SSDs. For spelling performance, results from quantitative and qualitative measures (visual inspection of the data, calculation of a d-statistic, Percentage of Nonoverlapping Data (PND), a pre-and post-test spelling assessment, and teacher/student social validity questionnaires) were varied with four out of five participants demonstrating gains in spelling on at least one measure. When comparing the relative effects of the two therapy materials on speech sound production in the classroom, quantitative and qualitative data indicated that speech sound production was better for four out of five participants when AITM were used during intervention. This early feasibility study sought to examine data on the potential academic impact of materials used during speech intervention. Results indicated that further study is warranted on the use of AITM during intervention with speech sound disorders, specifically the impact on interprofessional practices and the workloads of school-based SLPs.
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    Examining the connection between the referral process and the disproportionate identification of African American students having an emotional disturbance in special education
    (2022-12-01T06:00:00.000Z) Mellerson, Sonya Detreece; Keeley, Randa; Armstrong , Joyce; Peterson, Maria
    Historically, African American students have been overrepresented in special education (NEA, 2007. Specifically, African American students have been identified with an emotional disturbance (ED) in special education at an excessive rate in comparison to students of other racial and ethnic categories (OSEP, 2021). State and federal education and human rights agencies have studied and monitored this discrepancy; however they have not been successful at alleviating disproportionality in special education (Ferri & Connor, 2005; Garvey; 2018; NEA, 2007; Samuels, 2005; U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2013). Proposals for understanding why this disproportionality exists include the examination of various educational and societal factors (Hutchison, 2018; Moreno & Bullock, 2011; Rausch & Skiba, 2004; Serwatka et al., 1995; Skiba et al., 2003; Sullivan & Proctor, 2016; Tefera & Fischman, 2020). This study explored the linkage between the special education referral process and disproportionality in identifying African American students as emotionally disturbed. Data was collected and analyzed using the Grounded Theory approach through the examination of special education evaluations and general and special education educator narratives. This study found that cultural and lifestyle factors influence behaviors and behavioral expectations, and in turn those factors lead to behavioral disruptions that increase the likelihood of African American students being identified as ED.
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    Effects of imitation therapy for non-verbal children with autism in Zambia
    (2022-12-01T06:00:00.000Z) Peele, Muchinka; Gill, Cynthia B; Goo, Minkowan; Mehta, Jyutika
    Imitation is a skill that emerges early to serve an important cognitive and social function in a child’s typical development (Ingersoll, 2011). Many children with autism (CA) have demonstrated deficits in imitation skills, and they show a general failure to understand relationships and communicate with other people (Heinmann et al., 2006). Problems with imitation in CA can hinder the development of communication which may later affect social learning. It is suggested that teaching imitation to CA leads to broader improvements in social functioning and other social-communication skills including language, pretend play, joint attention, and spontaneous gesture use (Ingersoll, 2008; Ingersoll & Schreibman, 2004)). Imitation therapy, an intervention developed by Zedler (1972), has been used for non-verbal children who did not imitate, and the results showed that imitation skills for the children improved, and verbalizations increased when the children were taught to engage in imitation (Gill et al., 2011). Unfortunately, there is no data available to demonstrate that this technique has been used with children in Zambia and, in fact, there is very little data or research on treatment of non-verbal children with autism in Zambia (Nyoni & Serpell, 2012; Kabali et al., 2019). This study attempted to ascertain preliminary data on the treatment of children in Zambia. It involved utilization of imitation therapy with three young children with suspected autism who were non-verbal. Effectiveness of the intervention was measured by counting the changes in the number of utterances, the different phonemes (speech sounds) produced, the number of non-verbal imitations, and the number of reciprocal verbal imitations. For these three children, an intense intervention using imitation therapy resulted in significant changes in all areas for the children. This preliminary study suggests that imitation therapy may be an effective intervention for non-verbal children in Zambia.
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    Creating connections: Investigating the use of diagnostic information in classrooms
    (6/29/2021) Broyles, Jonathan Lee; Goo, Minkowan
    The purpose of this study was to identify how recommendations provided by educational diagnosticians in a student’s full and individual evaluation are used by teachers to effectively promote and provide specialized instruction. This study also investigated how to communicate the recommendations to teachers most effectively. An exploratory and descriptive, non-experimental design study was conducted, and data were gathered from respondents using a researcher-designed survey. Respondents included general and special education teachers instructing students at 10 junior high campuses within a metropolitan school district in North Central Texas. Responses to survey questions were analyzed using both frequency distributions and descriptive statistics. Overall, two major themes emerged from the study. First, respondents indicated a need for the information found in the instructional recommendations in a full and individual evaluation and reported accessing and utilizing this information to enhance classroom instruction. Second, the communication of this information can be improved, and special education teachers need to be involved in the transmission of this information in some way. Recommendations and limitations are also discussed.
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    First responders' perceptions of public safety instruction for individuals with intellectual disabilities
    (4/6/2021) Chatter-Fitzhugh, Calisha Reynolds; Goo, Minkowan
    It can be quite challenging for first responders to identify an individual with intellectual disabilities (ID). As a result, individuals with ID are often mistakenly perceived as suspicious when the behavior is related to their disability. This study addressed the questions of whether there were significant differences in first responders’ perceptions of public safety instruction for individuals with ID and whether ADA awareness predicted preparedness. Results from ANOVAs did show significant differences in first responders’ ratings. Additionally, linear regression results revealed that ADA awareness was a significant predictor of preparedness. Findings from this study could be used to advocate for educational and training programs which promote ADA awareness, confidence-building, and strategy. These programs could also guide first responders in developing culturally responsive practices for teaching individuals with ID of various cultural backgrounds that, in turn, could promote social change by ensuring that an at-risk population receives the same access to public safety instruction as those without disabilities. Limitations and implications for future research were also discussed.