Pamela Lepage

San Francisco State University | SFSU · Department of Special Education

The Dynabook research project was a collaborative effort aimed at developing and evaluating a new interactive Web-based resource for use in teacher education to improve how teachers learn to teach middle-school mathematics. This paper describes the outcomes of research during a three-year project to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of the "Dy...

Efficient lesson planning with universal design for learning (UDL) enables teachers to more effectively meet students’ individual needs. In this study, a comparison of lesson plans by teacher candidates in a teacher preparation program before and after UDL training is presented. After training, teachers (n = 45) incorporated more differentiated opt...

Teaching Children with High-Level Autism combines the perspectives of families and children with disabilities and frames these personal experiences in the context of evidence-based practice, providing pre- and in-service teachers and professionals with vital information on how they can help children with high-level autism reach their full potential...

In a most surprising way, it has come to our attention that our graduate students, who are diligently studying to become special education teachers, had a limited understanding of human rights, but a significant interest in learning about the topic. We teach at a California State University in one of this nation’s most liberal cities.

In this study, the researchers examined how K-8 teachers approach morality, moral education, and the moral development of children in Turkey and in the United States. Both countries have diverse cultures and long histories with secular education systems. Surveys were sent to teachers in nine cities in both countries. Results suggest that Turkish te...

When graduate students enter special education programs, they arrive with dispositional knowledge that can assist or hinder them in their professional development. Over the course of two years, the researchers in this study assessed the dispositions of beginning teachers in a special education program at a west coast state university. The researche...

If educational theory is to have a greater impact on practice, researchers need not frame educational problems as oppositions, but instead seek out similarities and common ground. In this article we argue that reconciling the aims of education is not only possible, but also an important part of the teaching and learning process. We further argue th...

In this paper, we explore teachers’ use of moral language in their descriptions and interpretations of their K-12 classroom and graduate school experiences. We analyze student products that were developed by practicing K-12 teachers who graduated from a nontraditional master's program. We focused on their end of program exit portfolios and reflecti...

In this collaborative research project, we used qualitative methods to explore the complexities of the relationship between K-12 and college faculty, both in the context of graduate school (to improve professional development), and as colleagues whose goal it is to improve education for children through collaborative partnership. Ultimately, we wan...

This article reports findings from a qualitative study that explored the educational experiences of women who were academic high achievers and who were disadvantaged as children. An interesting result was that most participants, if not all, believed that one reason they were successful was because they never revealed their personal histories to edu...

In a mixed methods study, the educational experiences of 21 women who were academically successful and disadvantaged as children were explored. The participants' achievement and development patterns are described, and information about encouraging resiliency among students from disadvantaged backgrounds is provided. It was concluded from this study...

This article describes how robots are currently being used in education. First, the limitations of robotics technology are discussed and the current research aimed at addressing these limitations is described. Next, we explore three ways that robots are being used in the classroom. They can be used to teach basic concepts (especially in math and ph...

This article describes the current capabilities and future potential of robots designed as supplements or replacements for human assistants or as tools for education and rehabilitation. A number of researchers have developed and tested a variety of robot assistants for individuals with disabilities. These robots can usually be classified as educati...

This paper describes the results of the program-development phase of the Vocational Training Facility (VTF) taking place at the Palo Alto Veterans Affairs Medical Center Rehabilitation Research and Development Center. The VTF staff has developed a self-paced, multimedia curriculum comprised of adapted training packages, interactive videos, and addi...

Tested the hypothesis that picture symbol prereading activities would improve a child's attitude toward books, using a pre–posttest control group design with a control group of 15 4- and 5-yr-old students and an experimental group of 25 students. The groups had similar attitudes toward reading at the beginning of the experiment. Experimental Ss wer...

This article introduces two innovative teacher preparation programs that emphasize inclusive education at San Francisco State University. The Combined Elementary and Special Education program has as its main goal to provide specialized cross training for special and general educators who work in highly diverse inclusive public school settings. The...