In the need to improve high stakes standardized test scores for all students, many schools began to implement research-based instructional techniques, such as Marzano's Instructional Elements and Strategies. This student will investigate the implementation of Marzano's Instructional Elements on the Star Reading Assessment Scores of students at a…

The development of more culturally competent special education teachers is integral to striving for a more equitable education system for all students. However, the development of cultural competency around disability as diversity, especially from an intersectional lens, is often underrepresented in teacher preparation programs. As a result, if it…

This study examined the clinical levels of depression and stress associated with raising a child with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). A range of factors, such as aberrant and challenging behaviors, measures of severity of ASD, and increasing child care responsibilities contribute to paternal stress. In addition fathers may experience high levels…

Over the years, many special education trends have emerged and faded, each claiming to be the solution to providing students with special needs a greater chance for success. Each year, new requirements for graduation and new educational legislation are introduced to try and correct old problems of ensuring students with special needs are properly…

This dissertation presents a project that included two main objectives: 1) creating and validating a scale of teacher and parent perceptions of the importance of social-emotional learning (SEL) in the schools; and 2) examining differences among perceptions of SEL based on a variety of factors. Exploratory factor analyses indicate that all 50…

Virtual reality (VR) is rapidly becoming a popular tool for use in the classroom. VR technology has been available for years, but education stakeholders struggled with adoption due to the high costs and complexity. As VR technology has evolved, a broad spectrum of VR has been developed for use including non-immersive to fully-immersive VR. While…

School-based occupational therapy practitioners (OTPs) often face challenges impacting their ability to collaborate and communicate consistently with educators, including decreased time, lack of resources, educators' limited knowledge regarding occupational therapy (OT) scope of practice, informal communication and decreased focus on preventive or…

Individuals with disabilities live in higher rates of poverty and are not always able to fully integrate into their communities. Postsecondary education has traditionally been a means to enhance employment opportunities. Currently, students with disabilities are attending community colleges as their primary choice for higher education. Having an…

This study examines federal law IDEIA and its four purposes. This research aims to understand better this federal law's purpose and what it is supposed to do. The researcher examined her own experiences with special education and other families' experiences across the United States. Within these personal stories are both negative and positive…

Gifted students with high functioning autism (gifted-HFA) are being excluded from gifted programs in one public school setting in the Southeastern United States designed for gifted and high-achieving students. Although the literature indicates teacher self-efficacy in working with this group can contribute to this problem, it was unclear whether…

In special education there are disabilities and health concerns teachers have to keep at the forefront when working with autistic students. The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to gain knowledge and understanding regarding special education teachers' perceptions of the stressors they experience when interacting with students…

Autistic students often face stigmatization surrounding their autism diagnosis, especially in academia, which can cause depression, lower self-esteem, or suicidal ideation and lead to lower academic success. The problem of insufficient research-based effective practices to guide support services for autistic students in their post-secondary…

Students in Oklahoma schools who struggle to read consistently perform low in reading, including those with dyslexia. Teachers of these students are directly linked to students' achievement in all areas of academics. This qualitative content analysis explored the perceptions that six selected Oklahoma public school educators had about dyslexia and…

This dissertation is an examination of one reading fluency intervention presented in digital form. It begins as an overview of the academic challenges faced by students classified as emotional behavioral disorder in our P-12 schools, due to challenges accessing the curriculum. Children that also have reading fluency deficits have an even more…

Students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often exhibit problem behaviors in the classroom. Some of these students present challenges for teachers in general classrooms that impact not only the students' own learning, but also the learning of other students. Thus, the purpose of this qualitative, transcendental phenomenological…