Exclusionary Discipline Consequences and Reading Performance of Grades 3 Through 8 Students in Special Education: A Statewide, Multiyear Analysis

In this investigation, the academic performance of students in special education who received between 1 to 30 days, between 31-60, and more than 60 days in a Disciplinary Alternative Education Program placement and had STAAR Reading Level I: Unsatisfactory, STAAR Reading Level II: Satisfactory, STAAR Reading Level II: Phase-In Satisfactory, and STAAR Reading Level III: Advanced standard during the 2012-2013 through 2015-2016 school years were determined. In each of these four school years, the percentage of students in special education who received Disciplinary Alternative Education Program placement and had Unsatisfactory Standard performance on the STAAR Reading exam consistently increased for all grades except for Grade 4. The percentage of students who had Phase-In Satisfactory Standard performance on the STAAR Reading exam consistently decreased for all grades except for Grade 4. The percentages of students who had Satisfactory and Advanced Standard performance remained consistent across the four school years, never varying more than 7%. Recommendations for research and implications are discussed along with suggestions for policy and practice.

STUDENT ATTITUDES TOWARDS PROGRAM PLACEMENT AFTER FIRST YEAR COMMON CORE AT THE SCHULICH SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING

In this paper, we report on a study to quantifystudents’ attitudes towards the common first yearprogram offered at the Schulich School of Engineering. Asurvey of students from all four years of each of theSchool’s seven BSc programs is performed to determine ifthe common first year program is achieving its objectivesfrom a student perspective. More specifically, the surveyfocuses on both student opinion and student behaviourwith respect to the common first year and programselection. Students are asked to provide their input onbenefits of a common first year (i.e., as a foundation forengineering studies and exposure to the range ofengineering disciplines) and its role in the programselection process (i.e., if a different process is preferred,and how their program selection choice was impacted bya common first year).