Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Title: Teacher preparedness for educating students with emotional disturbances within the inclusive setting
Year Issued: 2022

Abstract: Approximately fourteen percent or 6.7 million school age children in the United States have a disability. Of those fourteen percent of students, it is estimated that 335,000 or five percent of those students qualify under the criteria of emotional disturbance (Nation...
Show moreApproximately fourteen percent or 6.7 million school age children in the United States have a disability. Of those fourteen percent of students, it is estimated that 335,000 or five percent of those students qualify under the criteria of emotional disturbance (National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), 2020). Many of these students are included with general education peers and taught by general education teachers. While the teachers strive to implement supports and services to provide an equitable education, it appears that teachers do not enter the field with foundational knowledge or practice. Research has focused on pre-service teacher programs as well as preparedness of teachers to work with students of specific disabilities such as autism spectrum disorder and students who are deaf or hard of hearing. Other research has focused on teacher's literacy in the field of mental health and awareness around mental health needs of students. This study aims to bridge the gap between these areas of research. The study design utilized an interview of twelve current general education teachers to gain information regarding teacher’s pre-service training and experience in supporting students with emotional disturbance within the inclusive setting. Information gained from this study can inform future programming for general educators to best support students with emotional disturbance in the inclusive setting.
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Author: Susan Stegman

Title: Teachers' attitudes towards inclusion and the effect on professional development
Year Issued: 2018

Abstract: Inclusive education has increased for students with disabilities within our public schools since the reauthorization of IDEA ( 1997). This change has resulted in a paradigm shift for both general and special education teachers. Research has shown the success of inclu...
Show moreInclusive education has increased for students with disabilities within our public schools since the reauthorization of IDEA ( 1997). This change has resulted in a paradigm shift for both general and special education teachers. Research has shown the success of inclusive education is impacted by many factors, one being the attitude of the teachers. Attitude is comprised of three components, Behavioral, Cognitive and Affective (Gregory & Noto, 2012). Understanding what component is a strength or an area that could use improvement will enable educational leaders to develop professional development and training opportunities to address their educators' gaps in attitude in regards to inclusive education. This study identified whether there was a relationship between teacher attitude about inclusion and their teaching assignment, level at which they teach and/or years of teaching experience. A survey was conducted resulting in 219 participants completing the necessary information to be included in the research, which included three demographic questions, as well as a nine item Likert scale questionnaire. General education teachers made up 69.90% of the participants, special education teachers made up 30.10%. Elementary educators were 58% of the respondents, secondary were 42%. Regarding years of teaching experiences for the participants, 7.3% had 0-3 years, 11.9% had 4-9 years and the largest majority of respondents, 80.80%, had ten years or more. After receiving the survey for this quantitative study, responses were analyzed using SPSS, descriptive statistics, Cronbach a, t-Tests, ANOVA and multiple linear regression. Findings of this study indicated general education teachers have a lower level of agreement than their special education colleagues in both the cognitive and affective components of attitude towards inclusion for students with disabilities. Results also indicated that teachers with more than ten years of teaching experience have lower cognitive agreement than those who have taught for fewer years. Lastly, the study showed there was no significant difference in regards to the three components based on the grade level teachers taught. From this study, recommendations for professional development and trainings, as well as future research, were addressed.
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Author: Joyce A. Carr

Title: Teachers' perceptions of successfully sustained PBIS programs
Year Issued: 2022

Abstract: Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is a system of support that includes proactive interventions for defining, teaching, and supporting student behaviors to ensure a positive school atmosphere. PBIS programs are being implemented more and more and t...
Show morePositive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is a system of support that includes proactive interventions for defining, teaching, and supporting student behaviors to ensure a positive school atmosphere. PBIS programs are being implemented more and more and there is a large amount of research and literature about best practices when implementing these programs, but not as much on sustaining these programs. The purpose of this mixed methods study is to look at successfully sustained PBIS programs and to find commonalities from teacher perspectives on these programs. Finding these common trends will help other schools and districts being able to maintain their PBIS program after implementation. The data for this study was collected through teacher responses to open-ended questions on PBIS programs and ratings based on Likert-type questions on the importance and effectiveness of key PBIS program components. The school used for this study had been identified by the state of Pennsylvania as having sustained fidelity with their PBIS program. Themes that emerged from this research were the importance of adapting programs, staff buy-in, the use of data, teacher training and professional development, administrative support, and the token economy. These findings show the need to continually make changes to programs over time, the proper use of data, continued professional development, and the importance of funding to sustain PBIS programs.
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Author: Pfeiffer, Nathan

Title: Transition experiences of college students with disabilities between high school graduation and enrollment in postsecondary education and its correlation with student self-determination, college readiness, and registration for disability services during the freshman year of college
Year Issued: 2022

Abstract: Students with disabilities who do not receive effective transition planning during their high school years may lack self-determination skills and be ill equipped to advocate or conjure up the skills necessary to independently self-disclose for the receipt of accommod...
Show moreStudents with disabilities who do not receive effective transition planning during their high school years may lack self-determination skills and be ill equipped to advocate or conjure up the skills necessary to independently self-disclose for the receipt of accommodative support services at the post-secondary level. This study sought to identify the relationship between these variables.
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Author: Phillips, Melinda

Title: Trauma-informed care
Abstract: Trauma exposure during adolescence is common and has dramatically increased nationally. Trauma exposure is associated with emotional, mental, and behavioral problems, such as, depression, anxiety, delinquency, substance abuse, suicidality, and posttraumatic stress di...
Show moreTrauma exposure during adolescence is common and has dramatically increased nationally. Trauma exposure is associated with emotional, mental, and behavioral problems, such as, depression, anxiety, delinquency, substance abuse, suicidality, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Darnell et al., 2019). While new legislation, programs, and school leadership have sought to address these problems, no significant changes have been documented. At the forefront, teachers witness students’ mental health needs, in conjunction with declining academic performance, behavior, socialization, and emotional state. Further studies must be conducted to gain the teachers’ perspective on trauma-informed care (TIC) in order to provide critical information to educational leadership and policymakers in hopes of solving or at least reducing these problems. Such information was gathered in this phenomenological research study, where interviews were conducted with five secondary general education teachers within public school systems in Southwestern Pennsylvania. Data was collected by asking the participants open-ended questions about their perceptions of trauma-informed care and students with a trauma background. The research questions focused on teacher’s knowledge of TIC, school policies on TIC, the vital components, and critical issues of providing TIC to students, the importance of addressing trauma-based mental health needs, and ways districts can provide more support for teachers. Next, the data, via transcribed interviews, was hand coded to ensure a rich and in-depth description is obtained through analyzing data for nuance and phraseology. Using the hand coding through the iterative approach, the investigator explored the major themes and subthemes within the data by analyzing the frequency of the word or phrases used most often, comparing participant responses, while using guiding theories and research questions. Based upon the results of this study, the following respective themes emerged: secondary general education teachers’ understanding of trauma-informed care is varied; communication, differentiation, and flexibility are current supports implemented to address students’ with a trauma background; overall professional development related to trauma-informed care is lacking; and barriers to addressing and supporting students exposed trauma are lack of professional development, training, confidentiality, retraumatization, and lack of communication. Ultimately, these research findings may enhance forthcoming professional development, trainings, best practices, and established literature pertaining to trauma-informed care.
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Year Issued: 2022

Author: Nicole Burson-Belcher
Sub-title: exploring the perceptions of secondary general education teachers

Title: Unhoused Veterans’ Experiences of Song Sharing in Music Therapy
Year Issued: 2023

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of adult male veterans experiencing homelessness or poverty participating in group music therapy in a medium intensity residential treatment program. The intent was to gather service users’ perspectives about h...
Show moreThe purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of adult male veterans experiencing homelessness or poverty participating in group music therapy in a medium intensity residential treatment program. The intent was to gather service users’ perspectives about how music therapy, and the effectiveness of song sharing in particular, is useful to them in this context and what about it has been helpful. The study utilized thematic analysis with the intention of highlighting the voices of unhoused male veterans as limited research exists on song sharing within this group context, and particularly less that highlights the voices of the participants. Through qualitative analytic procedures, 4 overarching themes encapsulated the experiences of the participants: song sharing (1) is a positive experience, (2) integrates client choices to build community and connection, (3) supports relationship with music, and music (4) elicits a variety of responses. Each theme and 18 preliminary subthemes are outlined and discussed in detail, along with implications for music therapy practice and future research.
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Author: Webster, Brianna

Title: Unmasking Alienation in the Lived Experiences of Songwriters
Year Issued: 2023

Abstract: This critical narrative inquiry explores autobiographical narratives of songwriters, calling attention to experiences of alienation. Silver’s (2018) “wheel of alienation” is the conceptual framework for alienation used in this study: a sociological model synthesizing...
Show moreThis critical narrative inquiry explores autobiographical narratives of songwriters, calling attention to experiences of alienation. Silver’s (2018) “wheel of alienation” is the conceptual framework for alienation used in this study: a sociological model synthesizing critical theory (Benjamin, 1935/2008; Brookfield, 2004; Fromm, 1941; Horkheimer & Adorno, 1944/2020), existentialism (Howie, 2014; Jaeggi, 2014; Rae, 2010) and interpretivist sociology broadly (McIntyre, 2008, 2011, 2019; Scarborough, 2017; Silver, 2018). The author provides this multi-factor scaffolding both to identify non-dominant narratives by applying multiple theoretical perspectives (Bruner, 1991; Hadley, 2013b; Morgan, 2002; White, 2007), and to put forth alienation, the “cutting off” of the ability to act on one’s own accord within a given social context, as a useful concept in understanding experiences of agency, authenticity, growth and integration–or lack thereof–in our current pluralistic world (Jaeggi, 2014; Kalekin-Fishman & Langman, 2015; Rae, 2010; Silver, 2018). The author interviewed four songwriters about experiences of alienation that emerge within their process of inspiration, drafting, collaboration, performance, recording, touring, marketing, and so on (Cobb, 2016; Long & Barber, 2017; McIntyre, 2008, 2011, 2019). Four themes emerged as salient in the narrative data: interaction with normative expectations, agentic actions, alienation experiences, and communal experiences, which were then separated into subthemes such as discovery of creative agency, split identity, alienation from family, and external/internal ego fixations. Considerations for community music therapy are discussed, as well as how institutions and individuals might foster ecological conditions for more meaningful and sustainable songwriting experiences.
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Author: Schachner, Kay

Title: The untapped superpower of comics
Abstract: The purpose of this mixed methods action research case study was to determine if the use of a researcher-created comic reading curriculum would improve students’ knowledge of Tier Two academic vocabulary, increase oral reading fluency rates, and lead to increased lev...
Show moreThe purpose of this mixed methods action research case study was to determine if the use of a researcher-created comic reading curriculum would improve students’ knowledge of Tier Two academic vocabulary, increase oral reading fluency rates, and lead to increased levels of student engagement in a pull-out special education classroom. A multiple-choice vocabulary pretest was administered at the start of the study, followed by a nine-week intervention period in which students were instructed with a researcher designed comic curriculum. The vocabulary test was administered again at the conclusion of the study. A running record was used as the assessment to determine student reading fluency growth. The data (scores) collected from the running record examined any effects in student oral reading fluency from the first day of research to the ninth week of research. The researcher, acting as a participant observer, took daily notes in a field log with attention to behaviors of student engagement. The four student participants were selected by the researcher. The researcher taught for nine weeks, thirty minutes a day. The data from the pre and posttest was analyzed using a paired sample t-test to determine if the scores of participants showed a significant improvement. The data collected from the running records of reading rates for each student were analyzed using linear regression analysis to determine if improved reading rates were statistically significant. Observational data was entered into Dedoose qualitative data analysis software and analyzed using a Grounded Theory (Glaser et. al. 1968) approach in which new theories emerged through a deductive process. The results of the t-test showed that all students made significant improvements in knowledge of the targeted Tier Two vocabulary. Analysis of running records showed that only one student had a significant increase in their rate of oral reading fluency. All students exhibited increased behaviors of engagement as demonstrated by their abilities to complete three tasks in a session and to contribute to a positive learning environment. The results imply that practitioners could use a comic curriculum with similar components to achieve positive academic outcomes for students receiving special education support. Future research of a similar curriculum might focus on its potential uses for English Language Learners.
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Year Issued: 2022

Author: Nolan, Peter
Sub-title: the positive effects of a comic reading curriculum in a special education classroom

Title: Why parents choose or do not choose cyberschools for their children
Year Issued: 2023

Abstract: Parents and guardians have many options regarding the type of educational institution that their child can attend. The two most common options for school-aged children are a traditional brick-and-mortar school or a cyberschool. Since children come from diverse backgr...
Show moreParents and guardians have many options regarding the type of educational institution that their child can attend. The two most common options for school-aged children are a traditional brick-and-mortar school or a cyberschool. Since children come from diverse backgrounds, have individual needs, and learn differently, it is important for children and their parents and guardians to understand what each type of school has to offer so they can make an informed decision. This study aimed to understand the specific reasons why parents and guardians choose cyberschools for their children. Ten participants were asked to complete a survey and answer open-ended interview questions; answers were analyzed using Weiss’s 4 I’s framework to determine key factors of school choice. Furthermore, participant responses and collected enrollment data were analyzed to determine student enrollment trends over the past five years at six cyberschools in Pennsylvania. The findings of this study indicated that there are specific, but different, characteristics that both cyberschools and brick-and-mortar schools possess that influence parents and guardians choices regarding educational institutions. Based on this study some parents and guardians prefer the safety and teacher communication that cyberschools offer, and some parents and guardians prefer the extracurricular activities that brick-and-mortar schools offer. Additionally, this study analyzes if the Covid-19 pandemic persuaded parents and guardians to choose one type of school over the other. The data collected from this study can help parents and guardians make informed decisions, based on their children’s needs, to which type of schooling would be most beneficial to them. Additionally, data can help school administrators make changes within their school to help maintain or increase student enrollment by meeting a larger range of student needs.
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Author: Furka, David

Title: Workload manageability
Abstract: Legal reform measures and evidence-based referral processes significantly expanded speech-language pathologists’ scope of practice; however, contemporary research initiatives fail to directly address perceived challenges that arise as a result of workload inequities....
Show moreLegal reform measures and evidence-based referral processes significantly expanded speech-language pathologists’ scope of practice; however, contemporary research initiatives fail to directly address perceived challenges that arise as a result of workload inequities. Therefore, the purpose of this qualitative research study was to investigate speech-language pathologists’ perceptions of workload management within the public-school setting. The contents of this narrative systematically describe federal and state legislative actions pertaining to professional responsibilities and the conceptual frameworks that are often used to evaluate personal and job-related workload implications. A purposeful sampling approach allowed the co-investigator to assemble a team of eight school-based speech-language pathologists, currently employed in public-school districts located in Southwestern Pennsylvania, who met an explicit set of criteria relevant to the premise of the investigation. Participants were interviewed and data was analyzed utilizing descriptive coding followed by NVivo coding in order to identify major themes and patterns in regard to the following research questions: What workload responsibilities do school-based speech-language pathologists perceive as the most demanding? How do school-based speech-language pathologists describe the relationship between perceived workload demands and job performance? How do school-based speech-language pathologists view the impact of perceived workload demands on their body, mood, and/or behavior? Four major themes emerged from the data and indicate the following: SLPs have a clear understanding of the terms caseload and workload in regard to school-based speech and language support services; Workload obligations perceivably cause SLPs to encounter psychological and physical implications, including stress, anxiety, and frustration; Workload obligations perceivably impact SLPs’ ability to meaningfully provide therapeutic services; and the roles and responsibilities of school-based SLPs are perceivably misinterpreted and/or misunderstood by educational stakeholders, including administrators, teachers, and parents. Findings from this study may contribute to future professional development initiatives, caseload dissemination methods, and the growing body of literature related to the topic.
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Year Issued: 2021

Author: Pringle, Kerry McLaughlin
Sub-title: exploring the perceptions of school-based speech-language pathologists