Remedial and Special Education

This article asserts that the field of special education, historically founded on conceptions of disability originating within scientific, psychological, and medical frameworks, will benefit from acknowledging broader understandings of disability. Although well intended, traditional understandings of disability in special education have inadvertently inhibited the development of theory, limited research methods, narrowed pedagogical practice, and determined largely segregated policies for educating students with disabilities. Since the passage of P.L. 94-142, along with the growth of the Disability Rights Movements, meanings of disability have expanded and evolved, no longer constrained to the deficit-based medical model. For many individuals, disability is primarily best understood within social, cultural, and historical contexts. As career-long educators, the authors describe the emergence of Disability Studies in Education, illustrating ways it offers them the means to engage with longstanding tensions, limitations, and promises within their chosen field of special education—helping to reframe, accurately ground, and define their own research and practice. The authors call upon the field of special education to acknowledge and accept a greater plurality of perspectives about the nature of disability, recognizing the profound implications this raises for research, and viewing it as a welcome opportunity for ongoing dialogue.

Four students with disabilities enrolled in a secondary transition program located at a community college were interviewed to learn more about their transition experiences. One of the issues they touched on was self-determination. This study is a part of the larger qualitative narrative effort but with a specific focus on exploring participants’ perceptions regarding their journey toward self-determination. Field and Hoffman’s model of self-determination (i.e., know yourself, value yourself, plan, act and experience outcomes, and learn) guided the data re-examination. Themes found in students’ stories were (a) personal factors associated with the construct of self-determination, (b) environments and experiences that foster self-determination, and (c) the individualized education program meeting as a significant tool for supporting students’ building of skills leading to self-determination. The journey toward self-determination for the four narrators was formative and complex and highlights the need to promote its practice. The authors conclude that the study’s methodology promoting joint recollection and reflection about significant life events can enhance students’ understanding and appreciation of their acquisition of self-determination skills.

This investigation examines the relationship between prior disability-focused training and university staff members’ attitudes toward students with learning disabilities (LD). A survey containing items pertaining to prior disability-focused training experiences and attitudes about students with LD was administered to 300 university staff members. Responses from 112 participants indicated that staff who had not received any form of prior training had greater interest in receiving training regarding LD and had insufficient knowledge to support students with LD. In contrast, staff who had received some form of prior training reported greater scores on general knowledge and sensitivity toward university students with LD. Analyses of training type indicated that staff who had previously participated in disability-related workshops and coursework reported the most positive attitudes, followed by staff who had participated in other forms of training (i.e., reading books and articles or visiting websites). Total number of training types experienced, time spent engaged in training activities, and the amount of time elapsed since training experiences predicted different aspects of staff members’ attitudes and perceptions as well as their satisfaction with prior training. The implications of these findings for future disability-focused professional development efforts within postsecondary settings are discussed.

The characteristics of a state’s accommodations policy may affect a state’s decision about whether to develop an alternate assessment based on modified achievement standards (AA-MAS). A very restrictive accommodations policy may make it more difficult for some students to participate in the state’s regular assessment used for accountability purposes. Descriptive discriminant analysis was used to identify whether differences in the number of allowed accommodations in five categories (presentation, equipment and materials, response, scheduling and timing, setting) differentiated between states that planned to offer an AA-MAS and those that did not. The results of this study provide preliminary evidence that the number of presentation accommodations a state’s policy allowed may be related to the decision the state made about whether to develop an AA-MAS.

One of the most fundamental math skills for students to learn is basic computational skills. Students who have difficulty learning math skills may benefit from representational approaches, such as TouchMath. A multiprobe, multiple baseline, across-participants design was used in this study to investigate the use of TouchMath with students with physical disabilities. The study was designed to determine the effectiveness of this strategy on the students’ ability to solve basic addition problems with sums to 20. All students were successful in reaching the criterion, with high percentages of correct responses using the TouchMath strategy to answer simple addition problems. Data were analyzed by graphic visual analysis and calculation of the percentage of nonoverlapping data. Generalization and maintenance data supported the effectiveness of this strategy.

The voices of Black male students labeled as having an emotionally disorder (ED) are seldom heard regarding their perspectives on education. By excluding their opinions, educators are missing an important aspect that could improve educational services for Black males with ED. This study was undertaken to determine the implications of web-based mentoring for Black male students with ED on factors that affected their behaviors and academic achievement. Mentoring through technology was used to engage students with ED and to provide a platform to share their thoughts. Using a case study approach, two Black males with ED in high school participated in web-based mentoring. Results of the study reveal that the participants’ behaviors and achievement were affected by negative school and home environments, but that web-based mentoring was a positive venue to support their needs.

In this article, the authors discuss ways ecobehavioral assessment (EBA) has contributed to greater understanding of students’ response to instructional intervention and its relationship to academic learning and achievement. EBA represents a proven effective way to conduct a contextual analysis of the instructional environments, teacher and student interactions, student engagement, and specific teaching practices that promote learning. It mirrors much of the current thinking regarding functional assessment of academic behavior and response to intervention (RTI). With EBA, school personnel are able to examine various aspects of the classroom environment and instruction to determine how best to increase students’ positive response to instruction and, in turn, improve academic achievement. The authors argue that incorporating elements of EBA into the RTI model yields a more complete picture by allowing observers to identify the ecological and educational factors that promote or inhibit student academic gains. That knowledge can easily be incorporated into multitiered prevention and intervention programs in schools.

Reciprocal peer tutoring can be an effective supplement to teacher-led instruction, but students need to have the tutoring skills necessary to teach their peers successfully. Previous studies have addressed the challenge of providing essential information to a naïve tutor, allowing for correct modeling and feedback. The present study compared incidental learning of vocabulary words through classroom reading instruction to a combination of incidental learning supplemented with peer tutoring. Eight fourth-grade students were trained to tutor each other using a digital recording and playback device that provides audio prompts to naïve tutors. Results indicated that students made modest gains from incidental learning and much stronger gains from peer tutoring with audio prompting. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.