In the spring of 2020, brick and mortar colleges had to abruptly adapt to the reality of COVID-19 and transition to entirely online environments in a manner of weeks. This required a rapid (< 2 weeks) acquisition of knowledge and flexibility in using technology, most commonly Zoom. Upon completion of the semester, and after debriefing with…

Mindfulness has woven through American education for decades as an enduring concept aimed at reforming teachers, students, and classrooms. Signified as a "quiet revolution" in media and education policy today, our youth have been rebranded and schools remarketed as "A Nation at Hope," with promises of mindfulness and…

Children with special education needs possess unique learning characteristics which may inhibit their effective learning in mainstream, general education classes. Special education practices are therefore designed to address the educational needs of students with disabilities through various strategies including thorough assessments of students'…

All students, no matter their ability or disability deserve equal opportunities, equity in programming and practices, and opportunity to reach their full potential. No child should be held back from achieving their goals due to lack of appropriate programs and services provided by schools. Unfortunately, this is not often the case. What is…

A single-subject research design was utilized to study the effects of noise-cancelling headphones on students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the classroom. Academic success has long been linked to students' time spent on-task in the classroom. Interventions to maintain time spent on-task have been studied and researched but many, currently…

Diversity and inclusion at research one Predominantly White Institutions continues to be an investment for administrators in higher education. To increase faculty diversity at any research university, there must be multiple innovative strategies to recruit diverse applicants while also reducing bias in the search process. One such initiative, the…

The purpose of this study was to identify the factors serving as barriers to effective building-level administrator participation in special education individualized education program (IEP) meetings. For the purposes of this study, research was conducted in the multidisciplinary areas of social cognitive theory and self-efficacy, along with an…

"Inclusive education is an approach to mixing special education and general education students in classroom settings to promote diversity, lifelong learning and create a more equitable society" (Tahir et al., 2019, p.17). Educators play a significant role in creating an inclusive learning environment for students with ASD, enhancing…

Trends in inclusive education signify a shift in educating students with disabilities (SWDs) in exclusively special education settings to more appropriate placements with access to the general education curriculum. However, general education teachers in the workforce may perceive themselves as unprepared to provide high-quality, evidence-based…

This study explores the "Youth Leadership Experience" (YLE), (pseudonym) an afterschool experiential learning and leadership program for 9th and 10th-grade high school students from the midlands area of Columbia, SC. The study aims to identify and document the experiential learning and leadership practices at "Youth Leadership…

This essay briefly explores the challenges faced by international educators and administrators during the initial shift to online learning in March 2020. It discusses how the VUCA leadership model was adapted to the school environment to help manage the rapid and unpredictable change associated with the global pandemic. The essay explores ways in…

Background: It is well-established that traditional approaches to initial teacher education do not adequately prepare physical education (PE) teachers for teaching pupils with disabilities. Consequently, pupils with disabilities participate less frequently and in fewer PE activities than their age peers. School-based placements, which form a…

This paper describes an original interlinking of a conceptual frame and co-production methodology of a participatory internet radio intervention (RadioActive101) that supports engagement and non-formal learning amongst socially excluded young people. This considers the inclusive learning of socially excluded young people as a social innovation…

A survey was developed to obtain information on practitioner self-reported knowledge, use, and perceived effectiveness of classroom-based practices for the inclusive instruction of students with emotional disturbance (ED). This study reports descriptive results for a sample of general and special education teachers from the northeastern United…

Research shows that epistemic cognition can support reasoning about the inclusion of diverse children. We argue that, to engage in such reasoning, children need the capacity to consider and evaluate competing knowledge perspectives (epistemic cognition) and to be cognitively flexible. Cognitive flexibility involves a subset of skills within the…