The purpose of this dissertation is to explore what can be done to mitigate the onset of a disability for young adults aged 18-24 in order to prevent suicidal thoughts or actions. Research suggests that many factors play into suicidal ideation for this young population, including lost hope, lack of coping mechanisms, lack of financial security and…

Decision making is a cornerstone of quality leadership. However, specific research is needed in areas pertaining to education and programs used towards state test scores. In this study, the researcher has investigated the scores from the New York State English Language Arts exam; the effect two literacy programs had on the exam, Teacher's College…

The purpose of the phenomenological study was to examine elementary educators' perceptions of full inclusion as the least restrictive environment for students with disabilities. Thirty-six teachers and administrators participated in interviews and responded to multiple-choice survey items. The recorded data from the interviews were…

The purpose of this study was to describe and analyze how the characteristics of age, major and type of disabilities for students who received services through Disability Support Services at Montana State University-Billings have changed from 1999 to 2011. Furthermore, this analysis contrasted local trends for types of disabilities with national…

The interpretive nature of this dissertation study was grounded in the field of qualitative research. The purpose of the study was to qualitatively define successful inclusion instruction and/or programming. The units of analysis were three schools at each academic level within the Broward County School District which made Adequate Yearly Progress…

The Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 established the basis for the mandate to provide all children with disabilities a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) and aligned the state and school districts ability to receive federal funding. The most recent legislation, Individuals with…

The Individual with Disability Educational Improvement Act (IDEA-2004) (P.L. 108-446) includes a policy called Early Intervening Services (EIS) which makes it permissible, but not mandatory, for a school district to use 15 percent of their IDEA Part B funds to provide services to non-disabled at risk students. However, a school district cited for…

Grandparents of children with disabilities have an expanded grandparental role that can include performance of child care, raising the grandchildren, and in some instances taking legal custody of the grandchildren. Grandparents in the extended family of a child with a disability have needs that must be identified in order to facilitate the…

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to discover ways in which community college faculty and administrators can better facilitate learning for students with disabilities. Semi-structured interviews, preinterview questionnaires, and a review of relevant documents were used to gain an understanding of how community college faculty perceive…

Wide disparity exists in philanthropic giving to public, two-year community colleges as compared to public, four-year universities. Recent estimates indicate that 0.5 to 5% of all private philanthropic giving to U.S. higher education annually goes to public, two-year community colleges, with the remainder going to public and private four-year…

The purpose of this study was to discover if there was a statistically significant relationship between the self-reported instructional leadership practices of North Carolina superintendents and the achievement of their students with limited English proficiency (LEP) and students with disabilities (SWDs) as measured by the percent of students who…