A case study of accountability for special education service delivery : a mixed model analysis

There were five main purposes for the current thesis: (1) to address the need for more quantitative studies to evaluate student academic success within the inclusive classroom setting; (2) to apply a recently released program assessment rubric for special education services to determine the level of special education service delivery in the specified location; (3) to evaluate the reliability of the results of the rubric mandated by the Saskatchewan Ministry of Education (2008); (4) to compare the results of the standardized student achievement tests with the rubric results in relation to program effectiveness; and (5) to investigate potential confounding factors related to the current study design. The goal of this thesis was to provide information to the Living Sky School Division and to the Saskatchewan Ministry of Education on the implementation and success of the inclusion model in a rural Saskatchewan setting. In addition, results were intended to provide information on assessment instruments employed in the measurement of program effectiveness. The analysis was conducted as a mixed-methods case study that included two parts: (1) the first assessment indicated that students with learning difficulties scored significantly higher on standardized academic achievement measures while in an inclusive setting as opposed to scores while in a pullout setting; and (2) the second assessment determined that special education service delivery was emerging/developing to evident. The correlation coefficient of rubric results was calculated at á = .69. A variety of general measurement issues, including small sample size and use of historical data, in relation to the current study design, were discussed