Self-contained Special Education Classrooms Research Articles

Identifying Implementation Strategies to Increase Augmentative and Alternative Communication Adoption in Early Childhood Classrooms: A Qualitative Study.

The goal of this study was to identify promising implementation strategies that may increase teachers' and speech-language pathologists' (SLPs) adoption of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) during routine classroom activities. A grounded theory approach was used to collect and code online, semistructured interviews with six special education teachers and 14 SLPs who taught children aged 3-8 years who used AAC in inclusive and self-contained special education classrooms. Interviews were transcribed and coded verbatim using the constant comparative method. During a member checking process, six participants (n = 30%) confirmed their transcripts and commented on emerging themes. Participants shared a range of implementation strategies to increase AAC use during typical classroom activities, which were organized into seven themes: distribute modern AAC equipment, provide foundational training, share video examples, develop a systematic plan for adoption, deliver practice-based coaching, alter personnel obligations to provide protected time, and connect with professionals. A preliminary thematic map was created to link implementation barriers, strategies, and potential outcomes. AAC interventions effective in clinical research can be difficult to translate into routine practice unless investigators directly explore the needs of and demands on educational professionals. Future research should define implementation strategies clearly, solicit feedback from school-personnel, and match implementation strategies to the needs of local schools to support the uptake of AAC interventions in routine classroom settings. https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.23699757.

Audience Control and the Emission of Stereotypy and Social Verbal Exchanges in Children With Autism and Developmental Disabilities.

In 2 experiments, using a within-subjects alternating-conditions design, we measured our participants' stereotypic and verbal behavior under 2 audience conditions. Our participants were 8 children, ages 10 and 11 years, diagnosed with autism and related developmental disabilities. We measured the percentage of intervals with occurrences of stereotypy (Experiment 1) and the number of verbal operants emitted per minute (Experiment 2) in the presence of 2 types of audiences: members of the participants' own special education class and typically developing peers from general education classes. Results from both experiments demonstrated that participants emitted a lower percentage of intervals with stereotypy and higher rates of social verbal operants in the presence of their typically developing peers than in their self-contained special education classrooms.

Managing Student Behavior in a Middle School Special Education Classroom Using CW-FIT Tier 1

Middle school special education teachers often express concern about challenging student behavior. Class-Wide Function-Related Intervention Teams (CW-FIT), a behavior management program based on school-wide positive behavior support, have been effective in elementary general education classrooms. The present study, the first to apply it in a middle school special education setting, used an ABAC design to examine effects on student on-task behavior and teacher praise rates in a self-contained special education classroom for students with severe disabilities and their typically developing peer tutors. Results suggested that CW-FIT Tier 1 is associated with improvements in student on-task behavior and teacher praise rates, especially when peer tutors are included in the intervention and when the timer is silent. Both teachers and students reported the intervention to be socially valid. Study limitations and areas for future research are addressed.

Applying the classroom assessment scoring system in classrooms serving students with emotional and behavioural disorders

ABSTRACTStudents with Emotional and Behavioural Disorders (EBD) have the poorest academic and social outcomes across the general and special education student populations, and are among the most likely to receive instruction in self-contained special education classrooms hallmarked by small teacher-student ratios, frequent transitions, extreme student behaviours, and the regular presence of multiple adults in the room. These characteristics differentiate the interactions between adults and students occurring in self-contained versus inclusive or general education settings. With the goal of improving outcomes for students with EBD in self-contained classrooms, this study used mixed-methods to examine the psychometric properties of the widely used Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS). Results suggest limitations in the applicability of the CLASS for self-contained classrooms.

Teacher Talk in General and Special Education Elementary Classrooms

Teachers’ oral language use may be an important factor in student achievement, particularly for students who struggle with language, learning, and behavior. This study examined features of teacher talk during whole-class instruction in 14 general education (GE) and 14 self-contained special education (SE) elementary classrooms that included students with or at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders. Across settings, 74% of teachers’ utterances contained vagueness markers that may hinder comprehension. Within teachers, the quantity, complexity, and clarity of oral language tended to remain stable across lessons, regardless of lesson content. Teacher-rated severity of behavior did not differ by setting, but students in self-contained SE classrooms had significantly lower language and reading skills than their counterparts in GE settings. Analyses of multilevel models revealed no significant differences in form or content of teacher talk between groups of teachers across settings (GE or SE) or grade levels (K–2, 3–4).

Integrating social studies and social skills for students with emotional and behavioral disabilities: A mixed methods study

Research indicates that academic growth and student behavior are inextricably linked. Schools that systematically address both academic and social/emotional learning (SEL) have shown increased student achievement when compared to schools that do not address both factors (Elliott, Huai & Roach, 2007; Hawken, Vincent & Schumann, 2008). Even with this understanding, outcomes for students with emotional and behavioral disabilities (EBD) continue to be of concern (Bradley, Doolittle & Bartolotta, 2008). This study explores the effectiveness of integrating SEL and social studies learning in the self-contained special education classroom for students with EBD using Storypath, an inquiry-based social studies curriculum. We hypothesized that the systematic integration of SEL opportunities into meaningful, well-planned and engaging academic instruction could provide students with an opportunity to authentically learn and practice key social and academic skills. Quantitative findings via an online survey and qualitative findings via interviews and observations indicate that students with EBD can successfully engage in less structured and more cognitively challenging academic activities and use SEL skills effectively in the context of these lessons.

Telehealth consultation in a self-contained classroom for behavior: A pilot study

ABSTRACTStudents with challenging behavior severe enough to warrant placement in a self-contained special education classroom statistically have poor school and post-school outcomes compared to typical peers. Teachers in these classrooms often lack sufficient training to meet student needs. This pilot study investigated the use of a telehealth consultation model to increase selected teaching behaviors (i.e., praise, prompts/precorrections, and student opportunities to respond) and reduce the presence of challenging child behaviors in a self-contained special education classroom. Overall results demonstrated increased targeted positive teaching behaviors and a substantial decrease of student challenging behavior upon the introduction of the first intervention phase. Although findings in phase two and three were less conclusive, challenging behavior remained low throughout the intervention. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.

The Impact of Placement in the US on Social Opportunities for Students with Multiple Disabilities:An Analysis of the SEELS Database

<p><em>The authors of this study examined data from the Special Education Elementary Longitudinal Study (SEELS) regarding school settings, time students spent in each setting, and opportunities for social interactions experienced by students with multiple disabilities. Findings suggest that over a span of six years, students in the US spent an increasing amount of time in resource or pull-out settings. This resulted in students spending less time with their general education peers but also less time in self-contained special education classrooms. Results also indicated that the opportunities for social interactions experienced by students with multiple disabilities increased in all settings and typical students are now spending more time with students with multiple disabilities. The data also revealed that social interactions increased for all students but when students spent a majority of their day in the general education setting, the increase was at a significantly higher rate. This leads us to understand the need to prepare all students to be prepared to exit school into adult life. Interacting with typical students will increase their ability to interact and understand the need for socially acceptable behavior. </em></p>

Location Matters

Despite decades of advocacy, most students with developmental disabilities continue to spend the majority of the school day in self-contained special education classrooms. However, there is tremendous variability of educational placement across the United States. Identification of geographic trends that explain this variability could provide opportunities for targeted advocacy. Using state-level data in Ohio, we tested the hypothesis that urbanicity predicts educational placement. Through mapping and multivariate analysis of variance, we found that students in urban districts tended to spend less time in general education classrooms, and students in rural districts tended to spend more time in general education classrooms. Furthermore, the urban districts with the largest enrollments tended to place an even lower proportion of students in general education classrooms. Given their disproportionate influence on state trends and propensity toward more self-contained and segregated placements, large urban districts offer a unique opportunity for targeted advocacy and change.

The Influence of Teacher Epistemology and Practice on Student Engagement in Literacy Learning

Learning to read with comprehension requires that students acquire and integrate an increasingly complex set of skills. Students with severe disabilities are often seen as incapable of mastering and integrating the skills required for reading with fluency and comprehension, a presumption that results in decreased access to comprehensive reading instruction. This article reports on one effort to provide comprehensive literacy instruction for students with severe disabilities. Specifically, it reports results of a qualitative exploration of instructional practices and student engagement in two self-contained special education classrooms as teachers implemented a comprehensive literacy program. The MEville to WEville Start-to-Finish Literacy Starters program reflects a research-based instructional framework that balances skills-focused instruction with meaning-focused instruction, focuses on interaction and communication, and emphasizes the application of new skills and understandings. As the two teachers in this study implemented the program, their instruction became increasingly student-centered, interactive, comprehensive, and balanced. The results of this study illustrate how students’ interest, enjoyment, contributions, and cognitive engagement increased as teachers differentially embraced and became more comfortable over time with MeVille’s comprehensive literacy framework.

The Effects of an iPad® Multimedia Shared Story Intervention on Vocabulary Acquisition for an English Language Learner

The current research explored the use of a multimedia shared story to increase the number of correct English and Spanish vocabulary words used by an English language learner with a moderate intellectual disability. A 10-year-old elementary student in a self-contained special education classroom participated in this research. Utilizing the iBooks Author software, personalized shared stories were created on an iPad® for the participant in both English and Spanish. Each story incorporated pictures of items for which the student could not provide a corresponding vocabulary word in either language. The multimedia shared stories were then used to teach these vocabulary words in both English and Spanish. Results showed that the student initially acquired Spanish vocabulary words more quickly, but his English vocabulary words accelerated at a faster rate over the course of the investigation. To support the quantitative data, the students' teacher and paraprofessional were interviewed to determine their experiences and to discuss nuances that occurred over the course of the intervention. Results and implications for future research are discussed.

Selective Appropriation and Historical Documentary Making in a Special Education Classroom

We describe a special education teacher and a history teacher who, together, gave specific learning disabled (SLD) and emotionally disabled (ED) students the opportunity to make historical documentaries in a self-contained special education classroom. Students were diverse in race, gender and disability. Findings indicated documentary making yielded positive outcomes for students as well as for the teachers. By selectively appropriating desktop documentary making technology, teachers engaged students in a technology-based project. Documentary making also opened opportunities for teachers’ close interaction with students, while still managing a potentially disruptive classroom. Students, who struggled with reading and writing, completed an engaging, lengthy, complex history project and exercised historical thinking skills. This study has implications for using documentary making technologies for engaging and refining students’ historical thinking skills.

Relationships of Aggression Subtypes and Peer Status Among Aggressive Boys in General Education and Emotional/Behavioral Disorder (EBD) Classrooms

This study examines the concurrent and longitudinal relationships between reactive and proactive aggression and children's peer status. Participants were 94 Dutch elementary school-aged boys in self-contained special education classrooms for students with emotional/behavioral disorders (EBD) and 47 boys with no disabilities in general education classrooms. Hierarchical and logistic regression analyses were conducted to test how aggression, context, and their interactions predicted participants' peer status, which encompassed social preference and social impact as indicated by classroom peers. Descriptive analyses show that both reactive and proactive aggression were more common in EBD classrooms. Classroom type moderated the concurrent and longitudinal relationships between subtypes of aggression and social preference. The results indicate that to understand the relationship between aggression and children's peer status, it is important to analyze the specific type of aggressive behavior and the context in which it occurs. These findings also suggest the importance of students and teachers' responses to aggression in reducing aggressive behavior.

A play and joint attention intervention for teachers of young children with autism: A randomized controlled pilot study

The aim of this study was to pilot test a classroom-based intervention focused on facilitating play and joint attention for young children with autism in self-contained special education classrooms. Thirty-three children with autism between the ages of 3 and 6 years participated in the study with their classroom teachers (n = 14). The 14 preschool special education teachers were randomly assigned to one of three groups: (1) symbolic play then joint attention intervention, (2) joint attention then symbolic intervention, and (3) wait-list control period then further randomized to either group 1 or group 2. In the intervention, teachers participated in eight weekly individualized 1-h sessions with a researcher that emphasized embedding strategies targeting symbolic play and joint attention into their everyday classroom routines and activities. The main child outcome variables of interest were collected through direct classroom observations. Findings indicate that teachers can implement an intervention to significantly improve joint engagement of young children with autism in their classrooms. Furthermore, multilevel analyses showed significant increases in joint attention and symbolic play skills. Thus, these pilot data emphasize the need for further research and implementation of classroom-based interventions targeting play and joint attention skills for young children with autism.

Dynamic Duo Forges Smooth Relationship

Dynamic Duo Forges Smooth Relationship

The Effects of Using Handwriting without Tears® Procedures and Worksheets to Teach Two Preschool Students with Severe Disabilities to Write their First Names

The purpose of this study was to shape letters using tracing procedures based from Handwriting Without Tears ® program (1). This writing program was implemented to teach two preschool students with disabilities to write their first name. The participants were enrolled in a self-contained special education classroom and each participant had little or no skills in handwriting. Since both students are moving into kindergarten next year, this was as am important goal to teach each participant to write their names. The outcomes indicated that during baseline, neither student could legibly write the letters in their first name. During the first intervention, the students traced one specific letter in their name using Handwriting without Tears worksheets. In the second intervention, the students traced the specific letter and traced their name over a yellow marker. In the third intervention, the students continued to trace their specific letter and traced their name over a yellow marker with starting dots. The results suggested that tracing letters using Handwriting without Tears ® worksheets and tracing name over yellow marker was beneficial to teach to preschool students with disabilities to write their name.

The Effects of Model, Lead, and Test Technique with Visual Prompts Paired with a Fading Procedure to Teach “Where” to a 13-Year-Old Echolalic Boy with Autism

The purpose of this case study was to determine the effectiveness of using visual prompts with a model, lead, and test technique paired with a fading procedure. This was implemented to teach a student how to appropriately answer “Where are you?” The participant in this study was a 13-year-old boy, with low functioning autism who was also echolalic. This study took place in the participant’s self-contained special education classroom and at nine various locations at his school. The participant was taught to answer correctly when prompted to nine different places throughout his school. The participant was able to maintain this skill, when visual prompts were systematically reduced during the fading and no longer provided during the two no prompts conditions. Other personnel in the school were very satisfied with the outcomes.

Late intellectual and academic outcomes following traumatic brain injury sustained during early childhood

Although long-term neurological outcomes after traumatic brain injury (TBI) sustained early in life are generally unfavorable, the effect of TBI on the development of academic competencies is unknown. The present study characterizes intelligence quotient (IQ) and academic outcomes an average of 5.7 years after injury in children who sustained moderate to severe TBI prior to 6 years of age. Twenty-three children who suffered inflicted or noninflicted TBI between the ages of 4 and 71 months were enrolled in a prospective, longitudinal cohort study. Their mean age at injury was 21 months; their mean age at assessment was 89 months. The authors used general linear modeling approaches to compare IQ and standardized academic achievement test scores from the TBI group and a community comparison group (21 children). Children who sustained early TBI scored significantly lower than children in the comparison group on intelligence tests and in the reading, mathematical, and language domains of achievement tests. Forty-eight percent of the TBI group had IQs below the 10th percentile. During the approximately 5-year follow-up period, longitudinal IQ testing revealed continuing deficits and no recovery of function. Both IQ and academic achievement test scores were significantly related to the number of intracranial lesions and the lowest postresuscitation Glasgow Coma Scale score but not to age at the time of injury. Nearly 50% of the TBI group failed a school grade and/or required placement in self-contained special education classrooms; the odds of unfavorable academic performance were 18 times higher for the TBI group than the comparison group. Traumatic brain injury sustained early in life has significant and persistent consequences for the development of intellectual and academic functions and deleterious effects on academic performance.

Toilet Training an Adolescent with Severe Mental Retardation in the Classroom: A Case Study

In the current case report, we implemented a treatment that improved the toileting skills at school for a 19-year-old-female diagnosed with mental retardation. The treatment program was implemented in a self-contained special education classroom. An ABAB single subject replication design was employed to evaluate the effects of the in class toilet training program. The number of occasions that the student was observed wet declined and the number of times she successfully used the bathroom for urination increased. There were significant treatment differences found for both behaviors. The overall outcomes demonstrate that a toilet training treatment program could be successfully instituted in the school setting. The positive and negative aspects of toilet training in the classroom are discussed.

The Effects of Reading Fluency Instruction on the Academic and Behavioral Success of Middle School Students in a Self-Contained EBD Classroom

The students with the most serious emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) often are confined to self-contained special education classrooms where they typically exhibit chronic and pervasive problems with both academic and social behavior. These students fail more often than any other group of students and are subjected to more exclusionary practices as a reaction to these problems. Without intervention, these students are far more likely to fail their way out of school and continue to fail throughout their lives. This study takes place in a self-contained classroom for students with EBD and examines both academic and social behavior. At issue is whether effective instruction, designed to facilitate high rates of student success, will have an effect on academic and social success rates. A multiple baseline design across students is used to implement two different teacher-directed reading programs. Results indicate that when instruction sets students up to succeed on a daily basis and monitor their progress, positive academic and social outcomes are more likely. Single subject research results and qualitative descriptions of student outcomes are included for each student. A discussion of the reading programs used and the implications for future research is also included.