For the past 35 years, researchers examining the factors that contribute to student achievement have identified teacher self-efficacy (a teacher's belief that they have the ability to influence student achievement) as one contributing characteristic. Bandura's theory of self-efficacy has been applied to a wealth of research looking at the early…

Mathematics education in the elementary schools has experienced many changes in recent decades. With the curriculum becoming more complex as a result of each modification, immense pressure has been put on schools to increase student proficiency. The Common Core State Standards is the latest example of this. These revisions to the mathematics…

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to gain an understanding of teacher attrition among the emotional and behavior disorder (EBD) student population within a self-contained environment through the lived experiences of former EBD teachers. Attrition among special education teachers has been a perennial issue. Special education teacher…

The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine if classroom configuration--departmentalized and self-contained--is related to the academic achievement of Grade 6 students in a large urban school district as measured by California Standards Test (CST) scores in mathematics and English Language Arts (ELA) when controlling for prior academic…

The effectiveness of using American Sign Language (ASL) handshape stories to teach word recognition in whole stories using a descriptive case study approach was explored. Four profoundly deaf children ages 7 to 8, enrolled in a self-contained deaf education classroom in a public school in the south participated in the story time five-week…

This quasi-experimental quantitative study examines whether six general inclusion classrooms teachers treated students receiving IDEA services in the same manner as they treated general, non-IDEA students through an analysis of teacher-student interactions of praise and desisting. The study took place in six separate self-contained classrooms that…

Students with emotional disturbance exhibit difficulty interpreting and responding appropriately to social situations occurring in the community, home, and school. Interactive multimedia instruction has advanced to the degree that it is possible to create learning environments that encourage active problem solving and knowledge construction. This…

The purpose of this study was to explore the formation of teacher identity among four teachers of students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and my own by examining our perspectives, influences, and experiences at different points in our careers and determining the similarities and differences that exist in our professional and educational…

Self-modeling can take different forms but is described as a process where one observes one's own successful behavior and learns from it without dependence on any particular medium. In this study, two separate experiments were conducted to evaluate a video self-modeling (VSM) feedforward intervention. VSM feedforward (independent variable, IV),…

Given the rising prevalence rates of autism spectrum disorders (ASD), schools are serving an increasing number of students with ASD (Scull & Winkler, 2011). Researchers have highlighted active engagement as a critical component of effective interventions for students with ASD (National Research Council, 2001), yet there is limited research…

Employment of metacognitive strategies has been documented as a key factor in academic success. For students with learning disabilities (LD), however, exposure to these strategies is crucial to both their academic and social growth. While there has been much research demonstrating the importance of modeling metacognitive strategies for students…

The current study examined the effectiveness of a video modeling procedure on a basic math skill acquisition in students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) using a multiple probe across students design. Participants were four kindergarten/first grade students in a self-contained classroom in an urban public school. All met the criteria for ASD…

The study explores two teachers' beliefs and literacy instruction in self-contained classrooms with adolescents identified with emotional and behavioral disorders. Data are presented from participant observations and interviews collected over a three-month period in two middle school classrooms. Qualitative analysis investigates the literacy…

This qualitative study identified perceptions of risk and resilience in four different teaching roles of first-year, secondary special education teachers in three school districts in a large metropolitan area. The study sample consisted of nine women in their first year of teaching who were also completing the requirements of a master's…

In an effort to improve academic performance for students receiving special education services, a large urban school district in Tennessee has implemented Integrated Service Delivery Model. The purpose of this study was to compare the performance of students receiving instruction in self-contained classrooms to the performance of students…