Students with significant cognitive disabilities (SCD) almost always lack independence compared to their same-aged typical peers. To increase the independence of students with SCD, a dissertation project was conducted in the William Henry Middle School (WHMS) Intensive Learning Center - Academic (ILC-A) special education classroom. The purpose of…

In a school district in the southwestern United States, the problem that this study explored was that too many students with intellectual disabilities (ID) are placed into separate classrooms at the middle school level rather than being mainstreamed into general education classrooms. The purpose of this basic qualitative project study was to…

There has been a sharp increase in mental health support for children in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with a growing demand for school-based mental health services due to gaps in the US youth mental health infrastructure. This dissertation presents an action research study conducted in a Title I middle school in Arizona, exploring a school…

This study investigated non-proficient middle school readers enrolled in a reading intervention who transitioned to distance learning during quarter four of the 2019-2020 school year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The study examined archival pre-and-post comparison data using i-Ready diagnostic reading and state English Language Arts (ELA)…

Writing is a difficult task for most students. Only 27% of all students in America can write proficiently at or above grade level (U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, 2012). With the recent adoption of rigorous standards (i.e., Common Core State Standards, Next Generation Science Standards), secondary students are…

In a multi-year randomized control trial, paraeducators received targeted coaching and professional development to implement an individualized intervention for elementary or middle school students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Paraeducators in the study's two treatment conditions delivered an early literacy intervention…

Secondary public education for students with severe disabilities offers some of the last opportunities for improved social/behavioral skills, activities of daily living, and cognitive/academic instruction. The problem is that thorough descriptions of self-contained classroom ecology and teachers' use of evidence-based strategies are limited.…

The National Council for the Social Studies recommends high-quality access to academic content in the social studies domains (history, government, economics, and civics) to improve in-school performance and postschool civic and community outcomes for students in K-12 schools. To date, limited research information exists to inform social studies…

Creating a fully inclusive educational environment continues to be a topic for educational reform. Children with disabilities have the right to access their education in the Least Restrictive Environment. In the United States, this right is protected by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (2004). Approximately 13.3% of the total number…

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB, 2006) set a precedent that established even higher expectations for all students, including those with disabilities. More recently, the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School Officers developed a common set of state standards for proficiency in English…

Peer-mediated interventions (PMIs) offer substantial benefits to middle school, high school, and post-secondary students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). However, with no valid and reliable measure to capture the ways in which the peers without disabilities are impacted, far less is known about the outcomes for these…

Video-based modeling is an evidence-based practice for teaching social and communication skills, functional and daily living skills, and some academic skills to students with autism spectrum disorder. The efficacy of video-based modeling, however, has not yet been established for STEM skills related to science, technology, or engineering. Drawing…

The current study evaluated the effects of modified schema-based instruction (SBI) on the algebra problem solving skills of three middle school students with autism spectrum disorder and moderate intellectual disability (ASD/ID). Participants learned to solve two types of group word problems: missing-whole and missing-part. The themes of the word…

Self-determination is the freedom to make choices that impact an individual's life. Many people would agree that self-determination leads to an enhanced quality of life, and choice making is considered a central element in self-determination. Most learn choice making through a gradual release of responsibility by caregivers throughout their…