This single-case experimental study examined the effectiveness of the colour-coded paragraph-writing intervention (CCPWI) with three fifth-grade students attending a German lower-secondary school that provides inclusive special education. All participants demonstrated adequate spelling and grammar but persistent difficulties in organizing written text. A multiple-baseline-across-participants design was employed, featuring concurrent baselines and staggered intervention onsets. Instruction followed the gradual-release model (“I do, we do, you do”) and utilized a colour-coded graphic organizer to support topic, detail, explanation, and conclusion sentences. Paragraph quality served as the dependent variable. Visual analysis revealed consistent phase changes across all three cases. Effect-size indices indicated strong improvements, with nonoverlap of all pairs (NAP) values of 94%, 89%, and 94% and Tau-U coefficients of .62, .63, and .87 for the three participants, respectively; Hedges’ g ranged from 1.20 to 1.53. Hierarchical piecewise regression showed a significant positive intervention slope, suggesting progressive growth rather than an abrupt level shift. End-of-study, one-on-one interviews reflected high social validity. Overall, findings support CCPWI as a feasible, acceptable, and effective approach for enhancing expository-paragraph structure among at-risk learners who, despite adequate foundational skills, exhibit pronounced and persistent difficulties in higher-order writing.
Teachers play a critical role in the identification and intervention of students with learning challenges. The decision to request support from the in-school team or recommend a student for psychoeducational assessments is subjective. If teachers are unaware of the warning signs and potential causes of difficulties, the student may not receive necessary support. This study examined elementary teachers’ knowledge of the characteristics of Late-emerging Reading Disabilities (LERDs). 63 teachers from Ontario, Canada, completed a questionnaire that included items about fictional students with unexpected comprehension difficulties in Grade 4. Results found that only 29% of teachers reported prior knowledge of a LERD and only 55% expressed some degree of confidence in identifying a LERD profile. When provided cases, more teachers requested additional information about physical conditions (e.g., vision) and social-emotional status in the monolingual context. In contrast, more information about language ability and home language support was requested in the French Immersion context. Only 20 to 30 percent of teachers indicated that they would consult the in-school team to get additional information. Teachers were able to rate identifying the main idea, inferencing ability and vocabulary knowledge as key concerns when a student has comprehension difficulties. However, only a third of teachers proposed teaching approaches that directly targeted comprehension difficulties when asked about supporting the scenario students. These results suggest that there is need for more professional development opportunities to learning about LERDs and how to support students with comprehension difficulties in the classroom.
Probability is a field of mathematics that is directly related to people’s daily lives, as probabilities are associated with the ability to make decisions under uncertainty, a functional skill related to independence and integration into society. The aim of this study was to examine the ability of students with moderate intellectual disability (ID) to understand fundamental probabilistic concepts. Data collection was carried out using the structured-interview method. According to the results of the study, students with moderate ID were able to identify the most probable outcome of a random experiment and also identify, between two probabilistic situations, which one was most likely to have the desired outcome, justifying their choices quantitatively. The findings of the study can form the basis for the integration of probability into their education and also the starting point for the construction of appropriate teaching activities to promote their probabilistic reasoning.
The Supports Intensity Scale – Adult Version (SIS-A) is a standardized assessment developed by the American Association of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities that is designed to measure the support needs of persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). The province of Manitoba, Canada, has adopted this assessment and administers it when persons with IDD reach the age of majority to measure individual support needs and to determine the allocation of public resources. As a part of a larger study examining the transition from school to adult life for young adults with disabilities in Manitoba, we investigated multiple participants’ satisfaction with, and perspectives about, the SIS-A. An online, anonymous survey was administered with persons with disabilities between the ages of 18 and 27, caregivers of persons with disabilities, educators, and service providers. A subset of participants (n = 143) indicated that they had participated in an SIS-A and were asked to rate their satisfaction with the SIS-A using a Likert scale and to “please explain” their response. Overall, satisfaction rates were low, with approximately one quarter of caregivers, and one third of persons with disabilities and service providers reporting that they were satisfied or very satisfied. Educators reported the highest level of satisfaction at slightly over 50%. A thematic analysis of the open-ended survey responses (n = 98) regarding the participants’ satisfaction with the SIS-A revealed the following: (a) concerns about the accuracy of assessments, (b) inconsistent facilitation of the process, (c) potential for respondent-level factors to influence the outcome, (d) insufficient allocation of support using the seven-level supports budget framework and limited resources, (e) results not being used to enhance person-centred planning, and (f) the dehumanizing nature of the process. Based on these findings, a formal evaluation of the SIS-A in Manitoba is recommended, and suggestions for policy and practice are provided.
In this study, we examined the perceptions of students with disabilities of the effectiveness of assessment accommodations in one major university in Tanzania using a case-study design. Data were collected from 113 students with disabilities by using questionnaires and focus-group discussions, as well as from eight staff members through interviews. Data were then analyzed thematically and descriptively. The findings indicated that the most prevalent assessment accommodations offered to students with disabilities were special examination rooms, extended time during examinations, and assistive technologies such as computers and Braille. Although instructors offered assessment accommodations, there were instances of unfit test formats, delayed feedback to students whose examinations were in Braille, and a lack of awareness about assessment accommodations among instructors. The findings call for enhanced capacity building among faculty members in universities on appropriate assessment accommodations and on inclusive practices.
