Date of Award
2012
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Abraham S. Fischler College of Education
Advisor
Robert Scheidet
Committee Member
Isolda Levina
Committee Member
Ronald P. Kern
Keywords
academic accommodations, academic achievement, English language arts, Georgia High School Graduation Test, high school students, inclusion, mainstreaming, regular and special education relationship, special education, students with disabilities
Abstract
This applied dissertation proposal was designed to evaluate whether the current inclusion program contributed to the development of skills needed by 11th-grade students with disabilities (SWD) in meeting the Georgia High School Graduation Test (GHSGT) by the time they graduated. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the present inclusion model had any impact on SWD achievement in English Language Arts (ELA). This study had 2 foci: (a) to explore affects of inclusion on special education students at the 1st administration of the GHSGT and (b) to explore the effects of inclusion on SWD passing the GHSGT by the time they graduated from high school. The main problem was that students at the target high school were failing in high numbers in English Language Arts on the GHSGT by graduation.
This study added to the body of data available to researchers that are used to assess and determine whether the inclusion program caused an increase in the percentage of 11th-grade students passing the GHSGT in ELA before graduation. Three research questions were analyzed using independent-samples t tests to determine whether a significant relationship existed between the instruction provided by general education and special education teachers and ability of SWD to meet standards on the GHSGT for graduation requirements. Historical data from 2005-2010 were compared to GHSGT results during the 2010-2011 school year to ascertain the effectiveness of the inclusion model within the target high school. Data from common formative assessments and teacher surveys were utilized in a process of triangulation of information.
Results of chi-square frequencies for Research Question 1 revealed statistical differences for 3 out of 13 variables to the extent academic knowledge and skills (AKS) were needed by SWD to pass the ELA portion of the GHSGT actually taught by general and special education teachers. No statistical significance was found for Student Comprehension, Instructional Plan, and Execution of AKS, Success of the Overall Effort From the Inclusion Program, and 9 out of 11 variables were found significant in the General Survey Questions portion of the survey. Statistical significance was found for common formative assessment Scores 1, 2 and 3. For Research Question 2, significant differences were found in 4 of the 13 variables regarding the degree to which the Instructional Plan organized the teaching of AKS to SWD executed competently by general and special education teachers. For Research Question 3, the overall effort from the inclusion program provided for student success. The results helped in getting a qualitative perspective from the teachers on whether they believed the inclusion program provided the necessary AKS for student success by the time they graduated from high school. Two of the 11 variables were found to be significant for this part of the teacher survey.