Austin Degenhardt

A Case Study of Accountability in Special Education Service Delivery: Longitudinal Evaluation of Inclusion in Rural Saskatchewan with Standardized ... Accountability Rubric, and Coefficient Alpha. Austin Degenhardt

The five main purposes of the current thesis were: (1) to address the need for more quantitative studies to evaluate student success within the inclusive classroom setting; (2) to apply a 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. Results were intended to provide information on assessment instruments employed in the measurement of program effectiveness. The first assessment indicated that students scored significantly higher on standardized academic achievement measures while in an inclusive setting as opposed to scores while in a pullout setting. A variety of general measurement issues, including small sample size and use of historical data, in relation to the current study design, were discussed.