Supported eText: Effects of Text-to-Speech on access and Achievement for High School Students with Disabilities

2009 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 9-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margo Vreeburg Izzo ◽  
Amanda Yurick ◽  
Bianca McArrell

Students with disabilities often lack the skills required to access the general education curriculum and achieve success in school and postschool environments. Evidence suggests that using assistive technologies such as digital texts and translational supports enhances outcomes for these students (Anderson-Inman & Horney, 2007). The purpose of the current study was to examine the effects of a text-to-speech screen reader program on the academic achievement of high school students with disabilities in an online transition curriculum emphasizing information literacy. The text-to-speech support was introduced and withdrawn in a reversal design across 10 curriculum units. Findings suggest that the text-to-speech support increased unit quiz and reading comprehension performance with large effect sizes. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.

2019 ◽  
Vol 54 (3) ◽  
pp. 146-156
Author(s):  
Nancy J. Lopez ◽  
Nicole M. Uphold ◽  
Karen H. Douglas ◽  
Shaqwana Freeman-Green

One factor that may contribute to the success of students with disabilities in postsecondary educational settings may be their ability to advocate for academic accommodations. By incorporating self-determination practices into the curriculum and transition process during high school, students with disabilities may acquire the self-advocacy skills for postsecondary settings. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a modified Self-Advocacy and Conflict Resolution (mSACR) training program on the ability of five high school students with high-incidence disabilities to request academic accommodations in a high school general education course. A multiple-probe-across-participants design was employed to evaluate the effects of the intervention on 14 targeted behaviors. Results indicated a functional relation between the mSACR and the ability of students to request accommodations. Findings from this study are discussed along with limitations, suggestions for future research, and implications for educational practice.


2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (4) ◽  
pp. 307-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yun-Ching Chung ◽  
Karen H. Douglas ◽  
Virginia L. Walker ◽  
Rachel L. Wells

Abstract As inclusive opportunities increase for students with disabilities, additional research is needed to examine high school students' classroom interactions. This descriptive study explores the nature of the social interactions of 10 high school students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) in the general education classroom. Findings from our observations indicated that students with IDD interacted with peers during approximately one out of every four minutes and interacted with the general educator during one out of every 10 minutes, less than their peer comparisons' interactions with peers and teachers. Students with IDD were present (M = 89.9%) and in proximity to peers (M = 71.7%) during the majority of the class period. We discuss additional results along with practical implications, limitations, and future research directions.


2002 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 17-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michele E. Capella ◽  
Richard T. Roessler ◽  
Karl M. Hemmerla

This study investigated the work-related skills awareness levels of high school students with disabilities by comparing expert ratings and student self-report ratings. This issue is considered important because (a) evidence indicates that lack of awareness is associated with poor employment outcomes and (b) young persons with disabilities are known to experience employment difficulties. Substantial deficits in awareness were found, with the majority of students overestimating their abilities, as hypothesized. In addition, students perceived by adult raters as having greater employability assets tended to be more accurate in their work-related skills awareness. Suggestions for interventions and future research needed in this area are included.


2000 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 142-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keli Mu ◽  
Ellin B. Siegel ◽  
Rose M. Allinder

We examined the social status of six high school students with moderate or severe disabilities in general education cooking classes and compared their social interaction behaviors with those of peers without disabilities. The peers without disabilities who participated were selected from an “average” group based on peer nomination sociometric assessments. Results showed that the social status of the students with disabilities varied. Although no participating students with disabilities were classified as “popular” among their peers, the majority of the participating students with disabilities obtained “average” social status ratings. Results also indicated that students with disabilities were involved in fewer social interactions, interacted with peers without disabilities slightly more often than with adults, and were more often passive participants in interactions. Future studies should examine peer interactions and peer acceptance of students with moderate or severe disabilities in more academic classes, as well as factors that impact their social status and social relationships in inclusive environments.


1996 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jo M. Hendrickson ◽  
Mohsen Shokoohi-Yekta ◽  
Susan Hamre-Nietupski ◽  
Robert A. Gable

A survey on friendships with peers with severe disabilities of 1,137 middle and high school students was conducted across three states. Students indicated that they should try to make friends with peers with severe disabilities and that friendships are most likely to develop when students with disabilities are educated in general education classes, for all or part of the school day. Students perceived themselves, special education teachers, and youth organizations as primarily responsible for facilitating these friendships, and that effective strategies involve learning situations in which students work together, teachers present information on disabilities, and teachers and parents arrange social events for all students.


1996 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 70-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valerie Sawyer ◽  
Janet S. Nelson ◽  
Madhavi Jayanthi ◽  
William D. Bursuck ◽  
Michael H. Epstein

This study examined the experiences and views of students with learning disabilities regarding the homework they receive in their general education classes and identified ways that teachers and parents might positively affect students' performance. Subjects were 10 high school students identified as having learning disabilities. Individual interviews were conducted to elicit information from each student. An analysis of the interviews resulted in the emergence of three themes: (a) factors that make homework easy, (b) factors that make homework difficult, and (c) recommendations for teachers, students, and parents. The results, limitations of the study, and future research needs are discussed.


2000 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 114-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith A. Presley ◽  
Carolyn Hughes

We investigated the use of a peer-delivered social skills instructional package to teach four high school students with behavioral disorders to express anger appropriately. In contrast to previous studies, instruction was presented individually to the students by their general education peers. The instructional package, which combined peer instruction, self-instruction, and a traditional anger control program, was effective in improving the way these adolescents expressed anger in role-play situations with general education peers. In addition, generalization data indicated that some of the students decreased the rate at which they responded inappropriately to naturally occurring anger-provoking situations at school outside the instructional setting. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.


2021 ◽  
pp. 088626052110283
Author(s):  
Cara Herbitter ◽  
Alyssa L. Norris ◽  
Kimberly M. Nelson ◽  
Lindsay M. Orchowski

Previous research indicates that teen dating violence (TDV) is more common among sexual minority than heterosexual adolescents, with approximately half of female sexual minority adolescents (SMA) endorsing TDV victimization in the last year. In samples of adolescents without regard to sexual orientation, exposure to violent pornography is associated with TDV, but this relationship has not been assessed in female SMA. The current study sample consisted of 10th-grade high school students aged 14–17 who identified as cisgender females ( N = 1,276). Data were collected from a baseline survey prior to the delivery of a sexual assault prevention intervention. Female SMA had 2.54 times the odds (95%CI [1.75, 3.69]) of being exposed to violent pornography and 2.53 times the odds (95%CI [1.72, 3.70)]) of TDV exposure compared to heterosexual girls. Exposure to violent pornography was not associated with involvement in TDV among female SMA, controlling for episodic heavy drinking ( aOR = 2.25, 95%CI [0.88,6.22]). Given the relatively higher rates of violent pornography and TDV exposure among female SMA compared to heterosexual girls, it is critical that sex education curricula address these experiences and meet the needs of adolescents of all sexual orientations. Future research can assess how these TDV interventions might be tailored for female SMA. Although we did not find that exposure to violent pornography was associated with TDV among female SMA, these investigations should be replicated with larger data sets, given that the association between exposure to violent pornography and engagement in TDV was in the expected direction.


2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Talida M. State ◽  
Judith R. Harrison ◽  
Lee Kern ◽  
Timothy J. Lewis

Little is known about the feasibility and acceptability of interventions designed to address the needs of high school students with emotional and behavioral challenges and adopted by their teachers. In this study, 336 general and special education teachers rated classwide interventions (e.g., expectations, routines, positive student–teacher interactions [PSTI]) and individual student interventions (e.g., study skills, organizational skills) in terms of priority, feasibility, and acceptability before implementation. Teachers who implemented the interventions rated their acceptability post-implementation. Results indicated that acceptability ratings varied across interventions, and it appeared that teachers rated interventions that required the least amount of time to implement (e.g., PSTI) most acceptable and those that required the most time for implementation (e.g., study skills) least acceptable. Lack of time, perceived lack of effectiveness, and poor environmental fit were often cited as reasons for lack of feasibility. Regression analyses revealed that teacher characteristics (e.g., years of experience) and type of intervention (e.g., classwide vs. individualized) contributed to teacher ratings of intervention acceptability. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 331-342
Author(s):  
Esther Nartey ◽  
◽  
Ruby Hanson ◽  

The purpose of the study was to determine the perceptions that senior high school (SHS) chemistry students and teachers have about organic chemistry as well as to compare organic chemistry topics that are difficult for students and teachers. Simple random sampling (lottery) and purposive sampling methods were used to select a sample of one hundred (100) SHS students who studied elective chemistry and ten (10) chemistry teachers. The research instruments used to collect data for this study were the ‘organic chemistry perceptions questionnaire for students’ (OCPQS) and ‘organic chemistry perceptions questionnaire for teachers’ (OCPQT). Descriptive statistics (frequencies and percentages) were used to analyze the data collected. The findings revealed that these SHS students have a fairly positive perception of organic chemistry while their teachers had a highly positive perception of organic chemistry. Preparation and chemical reactions of alkenes, preparation and chemical reactions of alkynes, structure and stability of benzene, reactions of benzene, comparison of reactions of benzene and alkenes, petroleum, polymers and naming of alkanes and structural isomerism were perceived by students as difficult to understand. The rest of the Ghanaian SHS organic chemistry topics (26 out of 34 topics) were perceived as easy to understand by students. Also, the teachers perceived all the SHS organic chemistry topics as easy to teach with the exception of reactions of benzene. The insights gained about teachers’ and students’ perceived difficult organic chemistry topics in this study imply that teachers’ perceptions and how these are communicated to students can have significant effects on learning. The authors believe that both teachers and learners could benefit from this increased awareness of perceptions about difficulties in teaching and learning organic chemistry. They therefore suggest that further studies into how teachers’ perceptions influence their teaching and consequently their students’ experiences be carried out. In addition, in future research, a diagnostic test based on the topics in the SHS organic chemistry syllabus could be added to ascertain whether the perceived difficult topics are actually difficult for students to answer questions on. This would help teachers to separate perceived difficulties from the actual difficulties (realities) and be able to address them in their lessons.


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