Researchers have indicated special education students tend to be motivated by working with interactive whiteboard (IWB) technology; however, few researchers have examined how this technology is used in adaptive classrooms. Many high school teachers have not been able to use IWB technology to create student-centered learning experiences for special…

Campus culture continues to be a popular topic of study at both traditional and specialized schools. Leadership behaviors are paramount to any school's success, and teachers at school-within-a-school campuses share that their perceptions of campus leaders and colleagues are significant indicators of overall school health. The literature around…

Educating students who engage in disruptive behaviors is a challenge for many educators. Literature acknowledges this challenge, but there is a paucity in the research related to the perception of teachers, specifically elementary teachers who teach within self-contained behavioral programs on the effects of the interventions they are currently…

Paraprofessionals play a significant role in the education system. However, they often need more training on specific instructional strategies to use with the students they work with. In this study, we trained two paraprofessionals working in a self-contained U.S. elementary classroom for students with high-intensity behavioral support needs. Each…

As a result of educational reforms in many countries, including Finland, new or renovated comprehensive schools have increasingly begun to incorporate open and flexible designs and principles. Multipurpose and adaptable open learning spaces can provide children with amplified opportunities to be physically active during general education.…

Shared reading focuses on the interaction between an adult and one or more children as they experience a book together. While research has documented classroom shared reading practices among students with diverse characteristics, few have focused on students with significant support needs. Using a conversation-analytic approach, this study sought…

Little is known about the content and quality of reading instruction provided to students with intellectual disability. This study aimed to describe the reading instruction provided to students with intellectual disability who were not yet readers in self-contained elementary classrooms. The teachers of 24 classrooms participated in the study.…

This case study examined the school-based interventions used to determine a self-contained special education placement for a fourth-grade African American male student with an emotional disturbance disability. The study aimed to answer four research questions, which included the academic and behavioral school-based interventions provided to the…

The primary aim of professional learning and development (PLD) is to create a meaningful experience to build educator knowledge and practice that can positively affect student behavior. Yet, few studies evaluate the role of PLD with special educators who work with students with emotional and behavioral disorders in self-contained settings. The…

We explore the resiliency (i.e., the ability of a system to return to its original state or move to a new desirable state after being disrupted) of traditional lecture-based classes and flipped classes in the face of disruption caused by COVID-19. One flipped class and one traditional lecture-based class, both taught in the Department of Marketing…

Social and emotional learning has gained much leverage in special education discussion, but limited research has been conducted on the effectiveness of social and emotional programs addressing low engagement in self-contained classroom settings. This qualitative action research study examines the implementation of an evidence-based social and…

We created the Recognizing Excellence in Learning and Teaching (RELATE) Tool for Special Education Classroom Observation to fill the need for a well-researched, observational tool that provides a more accurate lens for observing instructional and social processes in the self-contained, special education setting. In this study, we examined the…

The problem addressed is that special education teachers lack the professional development and awareness of EI to assist in learning outcomes for students receiving special education services. A qualitative narrative inquiry was completed to collect teachers' stories and perceptions. Research questions focused on teacher perceptions, experiences,…

The purpose of this research study was to prove if students who are intellectually disabled can obtain phonemic awareness and the ability to read independently with the use of Wilson's Fundations. This study aims to investigate if students who have been identified as intellectually disabled are able to gain phonemic awareness by using Wilson's…

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive designed study was to explore how special education teachers from a private special education school with self-contained classrooms describe their experiences teaching and how they identify and select instructional strategies based on student's individual instructional and cognitive needs when teaching…