Date of Conferral

2016

Degree

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

School

Education

Advisor

Kathryn Swetnam

Abstract

Since leaders of a Central New York school implemented integrated cotaught (ICT) classrooms, no local investigation of ICT has taken place, leaving district administrators without empirical evidence of the value and effectiveness of the ICT services. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between ICT services and student academic achievement in English language arts (ELA) and mathematics, as measured by the New York State ELA and mathematics assessments for 4th and 5th graders. Vygotsky's paradigm of cognitive development, which states that learners acquire knowledge through collaborative interactions with other students, guided this study because ICT classrooms emphasize social learning for students of all abilities. Research questions were used to determine the differences in ELA and mathematics performance between students with disabilities (SWD) in ICT and non-ICT classroom settings. An analysis of covariance compared math and ELA achievement of 4th and 5th grade classes from the 2008-2009 academic year (AY), 1 year prior to ICT implementation, to 4th and 5th grade classes from the 2009-2010 AY, 1 year after ICT implementation. With a census sample of 103 students, both 4th and 5th grade ICT classes scored significantly higher on the ELA than the non-ICT classes, p = .011 and p = .001, respectively. Also, both 4th and 5th grade ICT classes outperformed their non-ICT counterparts significantly in mathematics, p < .001 and p < .001, respectively. This study contributes to social change by informing administrators, teachers, and the educational community that the provision of special education services (ICT) in general education classrooms is associated with increased academic achievement for SWD.

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