College of Education

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The collections in this community comprise faculty research works, as well as graduate theses and dissertations..

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    The Effects of a Systematic Training Package on Secondary Special Education Teachers to Teach Self-Determination Skills to Students with High Incidence Disabilites
    (2011) Bond, Marcy Beth; Kohl, Frances L.; Special Education; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    There has been increased interest in and concern about the level of self-determination with which secondary students with disabilities leave high school. While educators acknowledge the importance of teaching such skills, researchers have documented a lack of self-determination instruction occurring in the secondary school setting. When teaching self-determination skills to students with disabilities, two barriers most frequently cited by educators are they feel unprepared to teach self-determination skills and they are unsure how to prepare students to be active participants in the Individualized Education Program (IEP) process which determines a student's future. The purpose of this study was to determine whether secondary special education teachers could provide self-determination instruction to students with high incidence disabilities having been given systematic training opportunities. A multiple probe single subject design across three special education teachers was used. Teachers were systemically trained on the ChoiceMaker's Self-Directed IEP Curriculum™. Direct observation of self-determination instructional procedures were conducted across baseline, intervention, and maintenance conditions for three teachers during self-contained secondary special education classroom settings. The results of the study confirmed the author's hypothesis that secondary special education teachers can effectively use the ChoiceMaker's Self-Direct IEP Curriculum™ to teach self-determination skills to students of high incidence disabilities after receiving systematic training. Furthermore, IEP committee members, including the students, parents, general educators, special educators, and administrators noted an increase in active student involvement and self-determined behavior at IEP meetings. The results contribute to the self-determination knowledge base addressing teachers' preparation and confidence in teaching self-determination skills to students with high incidence disabilities.
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    Predicting school dropout among youth with disabilities: The roles of youth characteristics, academic experiences and emotional engagement factors.
    (2009) Zablocki, Mark Steven; Leone, Peter E; Special Education; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of disability classification, individual characteristics, academic experiences and emotional engagement on dropping out of school among youth with disabilities. Variables related to youth characteristics and school experiences were drawn from the first three waves of the National Longitudinal and Transitional Study 2 database. Chi-square analyses, t-tests, reliability analysis and logistic regression were used to answer five research questions. The descriptive results showed that there were significant group differences between dropouts and non-dropouts on disability classification, race/ethnicity, gender, disciplinary school exclusion, grade retention, grades and levels of emotional engagement. Logistic regression results showed that disability classification and race/ethnicity characteristics were reduced to non-significance when controlling for gender, household income, academic experiences and emotional engagement factors. Predictors that increased the odds of dropping out were out of school suspensions or expulsions and grade retention. Additionally, girls had significantly increased odds of dropping out compared to boys when controlling for other variables in the model. Factors associated with decreased odds of dropping out included coming from households with higher than average income, higher than average grades and higher levels of emotional engagement. The findings suggest that factors related to academic experiences significantly increased the odds of dropping out beyond disability classification or ethnic membership alone. Higher than average levels of emotional engagement were also associated with decreased odds of dropping out but appeared to have the smallest effect. Recommendations stress that school practices such as disciplinary removal and grade retention should be carefully considered, and that school programs be in place to help keep youth at-risk from dropping out.
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    The Associations Among Youth Characteristics, Secondary School Experiences, and Enrollment in Two- and Four-Year Colleges Among Youth with Disabilities
    (2008-09-22) Miceli, Meredith Anne; McLaughlin, Margaret J; Special Education; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    The purpose of this study was to explore the associations between school program and services, high school achievement characteristics, and individual and household characteristics and enrollment in two- and four-year colleges among youth with disabilities. Variables related to youth characteristics and secondary school experiences were identified from the first 5 data collection points of the National Longitudinal Transition Study 2 (NLTS2) database. Chi-squares, t-tests, and logistic regression analyses were used in this study. The results in this study showed that individual and household, high school achievement, and school program characteristics significantly predicted college enrollment among youth with disabilities. The model of variables including individual, household, parental, high school achievement, self-determination, and school program characteristics correctly classified 86.4% of the college enrollers in the analytic sample. These findings confirm the appropriateness of categories included in the NLTS2 Conceptual Framework. Additionally, the study found that high school achievement characteristics such as graduating from high school, participating in extra curricular activities, and experiencing financial management/ responsibility had the most consistent, positive impact on the probability of enrolling in two- and four-year colleges. Additionally, youth characteristics such as disability category, household income, and parental level of education significantly impacted the probability of enrolling in colleges. Finally, participating in vocational education, having a postsecondary goal to attend college, and taking a leadership role in one's transition planning process significantly increased the probability of the youth enrolling in college. The findings emphasize the importance of obtaining a high school diploma, participating in organized activities outside of the classroom, experiencing a level of autonomy or independence, and taking a leadership role in the transition planning process while in high school for youth with disabilities.
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    Leadership Self Efficacy for College Students with a Learning Disability
    (2008-05-05) Fincher, Justin; Komives, Susan R; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    This thesis explored the pre-college and college factors that contribute to the outcome of leadership efficacy for college students with a learning disability, an area with little prior research. Data from 717 undergraduate students who identified a learning disability on the Multi-Institutional Study of Leadership were used for this study. Five hypotheses were tested using the Input-Environment-Outcome model as an organizing framework and multiple regression as the statistical method. The study's model explained 47.2% of the observed variance in leadership efficacy with both campus climate and the pre-test for leadership efficacy serving as positive predictors. Negative predictors of the model included students who were Asian/Asian American as well as students who were employed off campus. Several other independent variables had moderate predictive ability, and seven out of eleven blocks in the model explained a significant proportion of the variance. This study's findings offer suggestions for practitioners and researchers.
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    Evaluating Schools Based on the Performance of Students With Disabilities: A Comparison of Status and Value-added Approaches
    (2006-04-27) Embler, Sandra Dee; Burke, Philip J.; Special Education; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    The purpose of this study was to describe, analyze, and compare the results of five commonly used approaches to measuring school-level performance for the subgroup of students with disabilities. Using the reading and mathematics scale scores of students in grades two, four, and six on the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills (CTBS) and the California Achievement Tests (CAT/5) within a large school district in the mid-Atlantic, five approaches were applied to classify schools as high-performing or low-performing based on the subgroup students with disabilities. The approaches applied included three status approaches (cross-sectional, cross-sectional with confidence interval, and three-year rolling average) and two value-added approaches (unadjusted and adjusted for student demographics). The characteristics of schools classified as high-performing and low-performing based on the performance of students with disabilities using each of the approaches were explored. Each approach was also examined for its reliability, fairness, inclusiveness, and usefulness. Significant differences in the performance of students with disabilities based on socioeconomic status were observed across all grade levels, but no differences in gain scores were consistently observed. No significant differences in reading and mathematics performance were consistently found across grade levels based on the disability group and LRE of students. Overall, none of the accountability approaches employed reliably rated schools based on the performance of students with disabilities. Even within the same subject area and using the same approaches, schools labeled as high-performing for students with disabilities one year were labeled as low-performing the following year and vice versa. Schools classified as high-performing using the cross-sectional and three-year averaging approaches demonstrated some bias against high-poverty schools and schools with large percentages of minority students. Schools classified as high-performing using the cross-sectional with confidence approach disproportionately identified schools with small numbers of students as high-performing. The value-added approaches were least biased in terms of socioeconomic status and the percentage of minority students, but were limited in their inclusiveness. The usefulness of all the approaches was limited by complicated assessment and accountability policies and the use of non-standard accommodations. All analyses were affected by the small number of students with disabilities in the subgroup