2023 Doctoral Capstone Projects

Each year, early intervention programs across Pennsylvania support the transition of thousands of children with special needs into school-age programming through collaborative efforts with school districts. While special education leaders may understand the legal requirements associated with the transition from early intervention into kindergarten, very little is definitively known about the perceptions and priorities of the parents of children with complex special needs during this time. This study utilized a mixed methods approach to examine the priorities of parents of children, who were age-eligible to transition to kindergarten in the fall of 2023 and who were receiving more than one service from the early intervention program in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. Data was collected through the administration of the Family Experiences and Involvement in Transition (FEIT) – Modified survey and the Special Education Leader Transition Survey – Kindergarten (SELTS-K) as well as semi-structured interviews. A significant difference between how concerned parents are about their child’s behavior during kindergarten transition and how school leaders perceived parental concern in this area was discovered. Significant differences between participant groups were found in the importance of the following supports: having the early intervention program host a meeting to prepare parents for the child’s transition meeting with the school district, receiving monthly contact from the child’s early intervention teacher, and receiving a home visit from the child’s kindergarten teacher. Notable differences on the topic of kindergarten readiness in children were also detected between participant groups.

Building Administrators and Algebra I teachers in Westmoreland County have worked hard to determine the root causes of students’ historically low achievement scores on the Algebra I Keystone Exam over the past decade. Through intensive data analysis, they have investigated the alignment of their curriculum to Pennsylvania Core State Standards, their instructional practices, and the alignment of their in-class assessments to Eligible Content Items covered on the Algebra I Keystone Exam. Yet one area that has not been intensively investigated is the impact of culturally responsive instructional materials on student achievement scores. This research study focused on building administrator and teacher perceptions of their primary instructional materials used in Algebra I classrooms, as well as the amount of time and money dedicated to support educator professional development to successfully implement those resources in their classrooms. Participants completed perception surveys to share their thoughts about their instructional material, supplemental materials, Open Educational Resources, professional development, and time and funding spent by their district to support teachers. They also completed the Culturally Responsive STEAM Scorecard to evaluate the cultural responsiveness of their primary instructional materials. In addition, the researcher evaluated the presence of Eligible Content Items present on the Algebra I Keystone Exam on primary Algebra I instructional materials used by three case study districts representing Westmoreland County. While there was not a strong correlation between the culturally responsive nature of instructional materials and student achievement scores, there was evidence that shows that the lack of Eligible Content Items present in primary instructional materials negatively impacts student achievement scores.