Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore ways in which third, fourth, and fifth grade teachers reported they successfully improved the reading achievement of students with LD as documented by an increase in test scores on standardized tests in reading. Moreover, this study is an examination of productive ways in which elementary classroom…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate and measure the effectiveness of Handwriting Without Tears (HWT) modified gray block paper with letter writing on two preschool students diagnosed with developmental delays in pre-academics. Two students were selected from a self-contained special education preschool classroom in the Pacific Northwest. All…

This preliminary study investigated the use of the Function-Based Intervention Decision Model (Decision Model; Umbreit, Ferro, Liaupsin, & Lane, 2007) to improve teacher treatment integrity for a function-based classroom management plan. The participants were a special education teacher and three elementary-age students receiving special…

Maladaptive adolescent behavior patterns often create escalating conflict with adults and peers, leading to poor long-term social trajectories. To address this, school-based behavior management often consists of contingent reinforcement for appropriate behavior, behavior reduction procedures, and placement in self-contained or alternative…

The fundamental intent of special education is to provide instruction to meet each child's unique needs. "Life Journey through Autism: Navigating the Special Education System" offers information, tools, and tips that will help parents become an even more effective advocate for their children. Many teachers, administrators, and school…

Researchers have linked teachers' use of mathematical tasks and questions to students' achievement in mathematics, and also have documented that the types of tasks and questions posed might change throughout the year in grades that include high-stakes tests of student achievement. This qualitative research study explored 3 elementary school…

This qualitative study examines the identities of three secondary special education teachers in self-contained classrooms. Nationally, there is a serious shortage of special educators interested in and successful working with students exhibiting emotional and behavioral disorders. An understanding of teacher identity and the personal and…

Children with profound hearing loss often do not have the same prelinguistic opportunities for social and communication interaction as peers with typical hearing and benefit from structured opportunities to learn these skills. This study examined the effect of two interventions to improve the communicative and social skills of four preschoolers…

Although previous research has examined factors related to gang membership and offending, research on the relationship between gangs and victimization is limited. The present study builds on previous research and examines gang membership, victimization, and self-control among 2,414 jail inmates. Results from self-report surveys indicate that gang…

Elementary instruction of fifth grade classrooms was found to be primarily in two organizational models in a school district northwest of Atlanta, Georgia. The self-contained classroom provided a generalist teacher responsible for the instruction of all academic subjects to one group of students throughout the day, while departmentalized…

This study addressed the benefits of departmentalization in upper elementary grades for students and teachers. The variables of gender and classroom structure (departmentalized versus self-contained) were considered for student participants (n = 125). Results for students were evaluated on pre-test and post-test data using the following measures:…

Teaching students to enjoy reading is important in middle level education; however, middle school students with emotional behavioral disabilities (EBD) frequently struggle with reading skills and frequently display motivational deficits during reading instruction. The purpose of this study was to examine if the presence/absence of a classroom pet…

This retrospective qualitative study was designed to investigate perceptions of the learning experiences of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics)-talented male students who were in a self-contained, single-gender, gifted program in a selective high school in Taiwan. Twenty-four graduates of the high school's gifted program…

Check in/check out (CICO) is a secondary-tier intervention implemented within the framework of schoolwide positive behavior interventions and supports (SWPBIS) that uses school-based contingencies to encourage positive behavior. CICO is a five-step cycle which uses daily progress report cards (DPR) to monitor progress toward schoolwide or…

Background: This study investigates the models of elementary content specialization (ECS) in elementary mathematics and science and the affordances and constraints related to ECS--both generally and in relation to specific models. Elementary content specialists are defined as full-time classroom teachers who are responsible for content instruction…