Special Education Services Research Articles

Validation and reliability of teleaudiology approach among deaf or hard of hearing school age children in Malaysia: a preliminary study

ABSTRACT Objective This study investigated the implementation of teleaudiology in Malaysia's Special Education Service Centre (SESC), aiming to optimize audiological services. Design Using a cross-sectional design, the research compared the outcomes of audiological tests conducted via teleaudiology and traditional methods on deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) school-age children. Study Sample The study included 25 students for validation, 5 for reliability, and 5 educational audiologists and facilitators. Results The results demonstrated high validation and reliability values for video otoscopy, tympanometry, acoustic reflexes, and pure tone audiometry. Intra-rater reliability was consistently high. In terms of testing duration, the conventional approach took an average of 3.32 minutes longer than teleaudiology. Conclusion The successful implementation of teleaudiology in the SESC catered to the audiological needs of the DHH population and fostered professional collaboration, potentially benefiting educational audiologists.

Addressing Conflicts and Role Responsibilities in the Special Education Service Delivery Process: Adult Sibling Involvement and Facilitation as Cultural and Linguistic Brokers

This case study explores the role of adult siblings in bridging and brokering cultural and linguistic gaps in special education on behalf of their sibling with a disability. Focusing on the Le family, the study explores how Eunice Le, an adult sibling, is navigating communication between their Vietnamese-speaking family and the school, and advocating for their brother Kai, a culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) student with autism. The case is premised on two key provisions within the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) that center on the Individualized Education Program (IEP) team configuration and parent participation. This case reveals the difficulties that arise when schools and families have divergent approaches to supporting students with disabilities and their extended families from racialized and minoritized communities.

Lifetime History of Head or Traumatic Brain Injury Before Age 9 and School Outcomes: Results From the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study.

Limited information about school outcomes among children (especially early childhood) with lifetime history of head injury, including traumatic brain injury (TBI), may inhibit efforts to support their academics and physical and mental health. Baseline data (2016-2018) from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study were analyzed to describe associations between parent-proxy reported lifetime history of head injury or TBI before age 9 and school outcomes and behavioral challenges among 9- and 10-year-old children. Having a lifetime history of head injury before age 9 was associated with increased odds of parent-perceived poor school performance (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.44, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.14-1.81), a drop in grades (AOR = 1.28, 95%CI = 1.06-1.54), recent receipt of detentions or suspensions (AOR = 1.29, 95%CI = 1.02-1.65), and receipt of special educational services (AOR = 1.23, 95%CI = 1.08-1.41). Of those with a lifetime history of head injury, males displayed poorer school outcomes and greater behavioral challenges than females. Similar associations were observed between lifetime history of TBI before age 9 and worse school outcomes, with males continuing to demonstrate stronger associations. These findings underscore the importance of screening for history of head injury and TBI and providing training for school professionals to help ensure students with a history of head or traumatic brain injury have appropriate supports in place.

Machine learning and propensity score matching for evaluating the effect of special education services on childrens later math performances

The goal of the research is to analyze the effect of special education service brought to childrens later math performance. The dataset is derived from Early Childhood Longitudinal Studies(ECLS) program and the children being studied come from diverse socioeconomic and racial/ethnic backgrounds. We applied PSM and modern machine learning methods including OLS, KNN, BART and MLP on the data in order to calculate the average treatment effect of special education services. It turned out that all the listed machine learning algorithms with comparatively low STD outperformed the traditional propensity score matching. KNN, BART and OLS excelled, offering much more stable calculations. The value of ATE computed through all the methods appeared below zero. By applying linear regression and PCA on all the influencing factors, the analysis revealed that the differences of some factors between the controlled and exposed groups led better math performances to appear usually in the absence of special treatment. Thus, special treatment effect led the trained model to predict lower scores, which finally caused the difference to be negative.

Paraeducator Involvement in Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports: A Brief Report

Paraeducators assume a range of responsibilities to assist school members in supporting students who receive special education services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (2004). These responsibilities often include supporting the behavioral needs of students with extensive support needs. Given the growing adoption of school-wide positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) as a framework for supporting students’ social, emotional, and behavioral needs and increasing reliance on paraeducators among schools in the United States, we conducted an exploratory survey study of 82 paraeducators to explore their involvement and perceived importance of involvement in various PBIS aspects, perceived barriers and facilitators of involvement in PBIS, and their interest in professional development to learn about PBIS. Our findings suggest that, although paraeducators valued involvement in PBIS, their overall level of involvement was low across most aspects. Common barriers included limited training and membership on PBIS teams, and paraeducators viewed in-district workshops and one-on-one coaching and mentoring as the most preferred approaches for learning about PBIS.

Special Education Law and Services for Pediatricians.

Rates of developmental screening have increased, and understanding how to discuss delays with families is imperative. Knowledge of federal and state law regarding special education is needed. Families often need support to understand the complexity of early intervention and school district-based services. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act is the law that mandates services for children from birth to age 21 years who require them. Early intervention provides services for children age 0 to 3 years who have a delay or a condition with a high probability of delay. School-based services for children age 3 to 21 years provide children with disabilities with a free and appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment. While details of the laws are state and location specific, understanding the general principles of the law is important to support children and families navigate this very complex system and receive needed support. [Pediatr Ann. 2024;53(10):e366-e371.].

Self-determination for students with disabilities during challenging times

In the field of special education and transition services, self-determination is understood as a dispositional characteristic whose development can be supported through effective interventions. However, limited research has explored how youth used their self-determination to navigate through the pandemic and barriers they encountered during and after this period. The purpose of this study was to look at self-reported self-determination scores on the Self-Determination Inventory over one year as students with disabilities returned to school after the onset of the COVID-19 public health emergency to inform future research and supports during challenging times. In a sample of 1,128 students with disabilities, we found statistically and practically significant growth in youth self-determination from the Fall of 2020 to the Fall of 2021, overall and particularly on the Decide subscale of the Self-Determination Inventory. Black youth tended to score higher than White youth overall and across all subscales. There were, however, substantial missing data and a lack of information on interventions and supports received. Limitations and implications for future self-determination research to build on student’s strengths and center their strategies to advance their self-determination are discussed.

PRESCHOOL TEACHERS PREPARATION FOR WORKING WITH CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS IN CALIFORNIA

Following the realization of the importance of early development and the low quality of early childhood education programs in the United States the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) were established to develop professional standards for special educators. It was found that the most important factor in providing education for children with special needs is well-trained teaching staff. Principles for ensuring the existence of high-quality programs for kindergartens began to be developed. A new concept of “Developmentally Appropriate Practice” was formed by The National Association for Nursery Education (NANE and seven standards for the professional training of early childhood teachers were proposed. The Education for All Handicapped Children Act was passed by the Congress in 1975. IDEA regulates how states and public agencies provide early intervention, special education, and other services. The state has established grants to improve the quality of school education by attracting and retaining effective teachers. It was found that 7 million, or 14% of all public school received special education services. The California Commission on Teacher Credentialing is revising the Special Education Standards for Children with Disabilities. The commission developed draft teaching, administration, and preparation program guidelines in collaboration with a technical advisory group of early childhood education professionals. It was clarified that there are additional internship programs in California, Completion of the internship program leads to a Certificate of Eligibility to Teach, which is identical to completion of a traditional teacher preparation program. It was concluded that the policy of the Department of Education, the educational laws of the United States are aimed at encouraging participation in formal and informal professional learning, but it should be a continuous process, because adults providing care and education are responsible for the progress of children throughout their lives.

Family and Staff Cooperation in Early Childhood Special Education

Introduction: Early childhood is a critical period for supporting children's development. The role of families and the staff responsible for the services is crucial in supports to be provided in the development of children with special needs. In this study, stakeholders' cooperation processes were examined in the context of family-staff and staff-staff cooperation. Method: The participants are 12 staff and seven parents at a special education center. The data of the study, which was conducted in the phenomenological design of qualitative research methods, were obtained with the semi-structured interview technique and analyzed with content analysis. Findings: Findings were discussed under the titles cooperation experiences, family participation and needs, early childhood special education, staff, institution features, opinion and suggestions. Six main themes and 18 subthemes were reached. Discussion: The findings of the study were consistent with the findings of the studies examining the cooperation process in special education services in the literature. Physical features of the institution, its operation in accordance with legal regulations and the staff's efficiency are effective in meeting families' needs of information and social support. Families need cooperation with staff expert in different fields in the process of starting education of children with special needs after early diagnosis and evaluation. The role of families and the directors and staff of the special education institutions are critical in maintaining the cooperation. Parents' needs such as information, social and psychological support must be met in line with the family participation. Family participation should be supported through accessible digital-based cooperation programs, professional skills of staff must be developed, and the physical features of institutions must be improved.

Do I Belong Yet? The Relationship Between Special Education, In-School Suspension, Belonging, and Engagement

Students receiving special education services are disproportionately subjected to exclusionary discipline compared to their nondisabled peers. They also report feeling less connected and engaged at school, which is associated with exclusionary discipline experiences. Using data from the High School Longitudinal Study (2009), we examined the relationship between special education, in-school suspension, school belonging, and school engagement. In line with past research, we found that students who received special education services were at a higher risk of in-school suspension than their general education peers. Students with higher levels of school engagement were at a lower risk of receiving in-school suspension, regardless of special education services. However, higher levels of school belonging were associated with more suspensions for those receiving special education, while the inverse was true for nonspecial education students. Additional research is needed to understand this unique relationship and its implications for discipline and the school experiences of students with dis/abilities.

Teaching foundational skills using strategic incremental rehearsal: Investigating effectiveness across varying school agents

AbstractStrategic incremental rehearsal (SIR) is an efficacious flashcard intervention shown to improve foundational skill acquisition. However, there is limited research examining the feasibility and effectiveness of SIR when used by school‐based implementers. We present two studies to address this limitation. Study 1 examined the effects of SIR implemented by teachers on the acquisition of grapheme‐phoneme correspondences with three at‐risk kindergarteners. Study 2 examined the effects of SIR implemented by a same‐age peer on the acquisition and fluency of addition math facts with 3 second‐grade students receiving special education services. Overall, both studies point to the effectiveness of using SIR with students requiring intensive intervention in an focused, short timeframe. The effectiveness of SIR is particularly salient given that teachers and peers were able to implement SIR with high treatment integrity and effectively improve outcomes for students with and at risk for disabilities.

Special education services for students with disabilities experiencing houselessness:

Special education services for students with disabilities experiencing houselessness:

Special measures to promote supplementary professional education services: formation and evaluation of effectiveness

Introduction. The problem of promotion of supplementary professional education services is one of the important issues for attracting consumers of professional retraining and advanced development programmes, contributing to marketing attainments and a company’s efficiency in general. The solution largely depends on the developmental level of the market of supplementary professional education services at a regional level, the specifics and quality of training courses, as well as the relevance of promotion tools used by the organisation. Purpose of the research: development and approbation of the methodology for forming and evaluating the effectiveness of a special tool for the promotion of supplementary professional education services. Materials and methods. To determine the format of a special survey, an online questioning of 1,035 potential consumers was carried out; ten marketing and advertising experts were interviewed and selected by the Delphi method modified by J. Fowles; a questioning of 319 participants and 20 organisers of the special survey was undertaken. The expert judgement was arranged using the Hierarchy Analysis Method by T. Saati, including the processing of the data obtained in the course of the experts interviewing and the calculation of eigenvectors of the pairwise comparison matrix. Results. A methodology for forming and evaluating the effectiveness of a special survey was developed. As a result of the approbation, eleven qualitative indicators were evaluated, scoring 7.92 out of nine, totalling 88%. The quantitative indicators, particularly, the engagement index was 56.8%; the key performance indicator was 8.5% and the return on investment was 336.8%. As a result of the special survey, 27 participants acquired the Internet marketing course. Conclusion. The proposed methodology can extend the opportunities of organisations providing supplementary special education services in terms of selecting, planning and realisation of efficient promotion tools. The methodology can be applied to the formation and evaluation of different-format special surveys with regard to their specifics.

The Face of Autism in Israel.

This article seeks to offer a comprehensive perspective on autism in Israel, aligning with global reports. It aims to serve as a foundational resource for policymakers in developing relevant support and point to unmet needs. The data was drawn from publications by Israeli government authorities and academic publications. In 2022, the prevalence of child and adolescent autism in Israel was approximately 1.13%, with a male-to-female ratio of 4:1, and an annual increase of 23%, particularly among young children. In Israel, the diagnosis of autism follows the DSM-5 guidelines and is conducted by a physician and a psychologist specializing in autism. Typically, diagnosis is at age 2. The autism intervention approaches prevalent in Israel are consistent with those that are globally accepted. Children with autism are entitled to special education services adapted to their needs and developmental levels. The legally established package of services for children with autism includes sessions with occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists (SLPs), physical therapists, psychologists, and social workers. Children and adults with autism are eligible for disability allowance along with support regarding residence, educational programs, and employment opportunities. Nonetheless, underdiagnosis and low accessibility to services are common in minority populations and rural areas. Furthermore, in recent years, services for autistic individuals have declined. This decline, particularly considering the ongoing rise in the prevalence of autism, pose significant challenges for Israeli government authorities in ensuring that autistic persons receive appropriate support.

Caregiver and student perspectives on school services for students with traumatic brain injury during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This study aimed to identify unique challenges created by COVID-19 school closures for students with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and their families with relation to special education accommodations, therapy services, social support systems, and mental health complications. Forty-one caregivers and students participated in semi-structured, virtual interviews. Families had students in kindergarten through 12th grade who experienced a TBI prior to spring 2020 and were receiving support services at schools in Pennsylvania (US). Researchers used reflexive thematic analysis to identify themes across interviews. Central themes encompassing the student- and caregiver-reported challenges and advantages of COVID-19 school closures were changes in [1] education delivery, special education services, and accommodations for children with TBI, and [2] social relationships for students with TBI and their caregivers. COVID-19 and the transition to remote learning significantly impacted special education services and education received by students with TBI. Families in this study discussed both perceived obstacles to and advantages of remote learning in this population. As remote and asynchronous learning are now commonly integrated into the curriculum, research should clarify the facilitators and barriers for successful service provision for students with TBI.

Service Delivery Models and Outcomes for Students With Disabilities

In this systematic literature review, we examine the corpus of empirical studies in education that use administrative data (i.e., population-level data) to describe and estimate the impacts of service delivery models for specially designed instruction on outcomes for students identified with special education needs. We focus on studies that use quantitative data analysis—either descriptive or causal—to answer questions about the relationship between special education service delivery models and student outcomes. We analyze seven studies, each of which finds a positive relationship between more time spent in general education classrooms and outcomes for students with disabilities (SWDs). In our analysis, we discuss the affordances and limitations of this type of analysis and opportunities for the field to expand data collection and analysis of population-level data in a way that better illuminates the state of special education services, both in the present and longitudinally, for SWDs.

Exploring the Impact of School-Based Interprofessional Parent Education

ABSTRACT This study evaluated an educational program designed to enhance parents’ understanding of related services provided within a school-based setting. The program sought to empower parents of children receiving special education services by fostering an understanding of interprofessional team roles of school-based related service providers. This one-time, two-hour program was developed using the comprehensive and client-centered Person-Environment-Occupation-Performance model to ensure that relevant topics were covered. A pretest-posttest design, utilizing Parent Knowledge and Parent Confidence Assessments, was employed to evaluate the program. Additionally, three open-ended questions collected qualitative information on the program’s impact. Quantitative analysis showed a statistically significant improvement in parent knowledge (p < .001). Additionally, after the program, parents reported an average confidence rating of 4.62 out of 5 on a 5-point Likert scale. Analysis of the qualitative data supported an increase in caregiver’s advocacy capacity. Based on preliminary results, the educational program significantly improved caregiver understanding and confidence. This enhancement is expected to positively impact future interactions with the interprofessional team during Individualized Education Program meetings.

The Critical Nature of Collaboration in Special Education: An Analysis of the IDEA

ABSTRACT A critical requirement of the Individuals with Disabilities Education is that school personnel and parents collaborate in the development and implementation of students’ special education programs. Collaboration has been a crucial requirement of the IDEA since 1975. Collaboration is necessary in formulating student’s special education services and implementing programs that meet students’ needs. In this article, we examine the critical importance collaboration plays in special education law. To do so we examine (a) the history, evolution, and language of the IDEA; (b) rulings of the U.S. Supreme Court and other courts addressing issues in collaboration; and (c) regulations and policies from the U.S. Department of Education. To meet the mandates of the IDEA, school districts need to employ general education teachers, special education teachers, and building-level and district-level administrators with skills in collaborating to support the education of all students and to meet the requirements of the IDEA.

Polysomnogram Findings and Psychosocial and Academic Concerns in Children With Cleft Palate With or Without Cleft Lip.

Children born with a cleft palate with or without a cleft lip (CP±L) are at risk for sleep-disordered breathing, particularly obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). While OSA and CP±L have both been associated with higher risk for psychosocial and academic concerns, their combined risk has been understudied. This paper aimed to describe polysomnography findings and psychosocial and academic concerns among children with isolated (iCP±L) and syndrome-associated (sCP±L) clefts who had undergone primary palatoplasty. Medical records were reviewed from 2004 to 2022 for demographics, medical history, polysomnography results, and family-reported psychosocial and academic variables. Of the 694 patients with CP±L who had a palatoplasty, 147 had a polysomnogram and 82 had at least one follow-up polysomnogram. Across time points, only 19% to 27% of participants had normal polysomnograms and the most frequent finding was mild OSA for 30% to 35% of patients. For children with iCP±L, more frequent oxygen desaturations were significantly associated with receiving special education services and family-reported academic concerns and OSA was associated with a history of receiving mental health services. Children with sCP±L had a significantly higher Obstructive Apnea-Hypopnea Index and a greater proportion of all-day special education classroom placements relative to youth with iCP±L. Study results suggest that cleft providers should monitor for OSA and sleep-disordered breathing symptoms, collaborate with pulmonologists for evaluation and treatment of sleep concerns, and address possible sleep-associated psychosocial and academic issues.

Exploring Differences in Spanish- and English-Speaking Parents’ Experiences With Individualized Education Program Meetings

This study aimed to explore the experiences of parents ( N = 177; Spanish-speaking and English-speaking parents) of children with disabilities navigating the special education process. This descriptive study collected quantitative and qualitative data through an electronic survey. Results describe Spanish- and English-speaking parent’s experience during Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings, challenges in attending IEP meetings, special education knowledge, participation during IEP meetings, feelings of discrimination, parental stress, and dissatisfaction with special education services. Spanish-speaking parents reported less special education rights knowledge and feeling more discrimination at IEP meetings in comparison to English speakers and reported language barriers and inadequate interpretation services as challenges to attending an IEP meeting. Findings highlight the need for equitable parent-school partnerships to support and empower all families. Awareness of the unique experiences of Spanish-speaking families may further equitable school efforts to serve this population and other linguistically diverse parents.