Faculty members play a crucial role in the development and success of students, especially students from minoritized populations. Institutions are trying to diversify their faculty to reflect their minoritized student population, but faculty with disabilities are neglected in this hiring. There has been little exploration of how the disability…

This dissertation and research study is dedicated to the exploration of "critical posthuman educational technology." Research in this study determines, evaluates, and considers educational technology in U.S. art museums through a wide-reaching survey and case study evaluations of the implementation of digital content creation in museums…

The purpose of this paper was to study the effectiveness of language acquisition using speaker instruction and listener instruction and examining the emergence of bidirectional intraverbals using a non-sense language. Current research suggests that speaker type instruction is more effective in aiding untrained relations (Contreras et al., 2020;…

This convergent parallel mixed methods study explored barriers to teaching disability and accessibility awareness in the early elementary classroom and assessed the impact of an instructional video on educators' current perceptions and future teaching practices. Through one-on-one, semi-structured interviews on Zoom and a pretest, intervention,…

Autistic students are faced with ableism and oppressive practices daily in their school environments. Special educators can mitigate this problem by celebrating the neurodiversity of the students in their classroom. Utilizing a critical disability theory lens, I conducted an instrumental case study through observations and interviews with six…

Together, this dissertation describes the combined importance of visuality, pedagogy, and forces like power in deaf education. It documents a multimethod qualitative research design with case study and grounded theory methods to examine conflicting issues about "how" and "why" vision is used in deaf pedagogy. Initially,…

Students who are dually identified as English Language Learners (ELLs) and as students with disabilities have unique needs that can be addressed through differentiated instruction. There is a gap in the current literature on the experiences of special education teachers who differentiate instruction in their classrooms to meet the needs of ELLs…

This study focused on the perception of special education teachers on the new Common Core Standards and effective classroom instructions for students with disabilities. It shared a new understanding and increased knowledge of the Common Core Standards and how it has affected students with disabilities. Given that special educators have direct…

This quantitative dissertation examined the differences in special education teacher preparation programs and their association with novice teachers' self-efficacy in the areas of classroom management, student engagement, and instructional strategies while teaching students with moderate to severe disabilities. Tschannen-Moran and Woolfolk Hoy's…

Since the inception of ESEA of 1965 student achievement has been one focus on public education. Fast-forward to NCLB of 2001, a reenactment of the ESEA of 1965; school leaders have been pushed to demonstrate student achievement to all learners. With increased demands to close the achievement gap and track struggling learners co-teaching models…

Through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) 2004, Congress calls for all states to identify students who are at risk for reading difficulties and then to use research-based instruction techniques appropriate for the child's needs, delivered by highly qualified teachers to educate all children. Response to…

Students with disabilities are reading at levels lower than their nondisabled peers. Some school districts have incorporated Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) to assist in closing the reading achievement gap between students with disabilities and students without disabilities. There is a gap in the literature regarding which PLC-implemented…

I focused this dissertation on what is happening within schools regarding iPad usage and students with disabilities. Technology usage is thought to help provide students with another modality for learning the curriculum. iPads, specifically, are leading the technological revolution in classroom environments. One benefit of iPads in instruction is…

The educational policy Response to Intervention (RtI) was established in 2004 following the passage of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA). In California, the policy has become known as Response to Intervention and Instruction (RtI[superscript 2]). RtI[superscript 2] represents an educational reform initiative that…

Student engagement refers to the behaviors that suggest whether a student is interested in the learning process. Finn (1989) developed the participation-identification model to explain the correlation between student engagement and identification with school, suggesting that increased participation leads to an increased sense of belongingness in…