This study was undertaken to examine how female adolescents with visual impairment perceive their own sexuality. How they express and experience intimacy. their attitudes and knowledge on sex and how sexuality education is being taught in a special school to provide ample and appropriate sexual information they need.

This mixed-methods research was conducted among twenty-seven (27) female adolescents with visual impairment from a special school. A descriptive survey questionnaire was used to gather data. Findings revealed that most of the female
adolescents feel moderately beautiful and most prefer a low-vision man for a potential mate. Their ideal men were similar to what sighted people envision, except that physical desirability was not completely important. Dating was simply spending time together on the school premises because of their limitation to mobility. Public display of affection was inappropriate, and most preferred to engage in sex within the sacrament of marriage. Most of the participants had already dated and experienced, and expressed intimacy with the opposite sex. None of the female adolescents divulged experience of sexual activity. They are least informed about sexually transmitted diseases and contraception and most knowledgeable on anatomy. menstruation and pregnancy. The special school implements a Gender and Development (GAD) Program that focuses in teaching sexual hygiene and uses a Comprehensive sexuality education approach.

The Philippine special education sector utilizes various practices to ensure that children with special needs (CSN) are included in the general education classrooms. One of these practices is called Shadow Teaching, an instructional scheme conceptualized to include a shadow teacher inside the general education classroom to assist the CSN. Despite being utilized by inclusive schools, shadow teaching as a practice has yet to be formally adopted. Its identity and characteristics, how it is practiced and implemented, and the challenges of its implementation are yet to be defined. Using phenomenology, this study sought to contextualize the practice of shadow teaching through the lived experiences of six shadow teachers from therapy centers and schools in Metro Manila. The data was gathered using interviews and teacher observation, analyzed using thematic analysis, and compared the processed data with the existing literature on shadow teaching. The results highlighted the commonalities and differences that the data contained in relation to the literature. Three major components surrounding shadow teaching were found, namely: definition, practices, and challenges. Integral themes were found to be subsumed under these components, illustrating the current scenario specific to shadow teaching practices and their role in attaining inclusive education. The results indicate that the shadow teaching phenomenon evolved through the years. The definition, practices, and challenges garnered suggest that shadow teaching has assumed enriched roles compared to what is stated in the literature, implying that it is a job placement and opportunity for special education professionals.

Decentralization states that regions, divisions, schools and learning centers are where the policy and principle for the governance of basic education shall be translated into interventions that fit local needs. This study looked into the locally initiated School Based Management (SBM) interventions in different settings and how they were developed, the challenges to their development, and how schools coped with these challenges. The differences in the implementation of these interventions were also discussed. Six cases were analyzed for the theoretical replication of multiple case studies method. Five themes for the SBM interventions developed by schools, ten ways of developing these interventions, twenty-one challenges to their development, and ten coping mechanisms were found. The study also found that improvement of learning outcomes was NOT the topmost priority in all cases. Instead, the topmost priority is partnership with stakeholders to procure school facilities, and tools and equipment projects. The study elucidates the need to re-align the priorities of the schools in developing SBM interventions to improve learning outcomes; improve teachers’ professional development, and the level of stakeholder involvement to collaborative or empowered levels; gradually build the capacity of schools and communities; look into the actual learning outcomes vis-a-vis current learner levels; examine teacher workload; and evaluate the responsiveness of DepEd policies to the different locales.

The study focused on teaching requesting skills to non-verbal children with Down Syndrome (NVCDS) through a picture-based intervention (PBI). The PBI was developed by the researcher as an alternate and functional method for requesting that is not limited to gestures and that would allow the NVCDS to request for specific objects in a more intelligible manner.

The participants were comprised of five NVCDS with a developmental age of 7-10 years old. The picture-tool which consisted of 12 pictures: (1) three pictures of coloring tools; (2) three pictures of snack items; (3) three pictures of drinks, (4) three pictures of toys. Sets of selected pictures were presented using teaching strategies that were proven to be effective in teaching concepts. The NVCDS were taught to choose and pick-up the picture of his or her desired item and exchange the picture for the corresponding item with a communicative partner. Each participant underwent 14 intervention sessions.

The findings of the study were presented using a case study method. The study found that prior to the intervention, the five NVCDS made use of pointing and reaching gestures when requesting. During the intervention, it was noted that the NVCDS responded positively to the PBI. Three NVCDS responded consistently as the sessions have progressed, whereas two NVCDS needed more practice and training. The type of activity, the materials, and the process of teaching were found to have positive contribution to the response of the NVCDS during the PBI. Further, the parents and guardian of the NVCDS reported that the picture- tool was helpful in [facilitating the requesting skills of the NVCDS. However, the long-term effect of the PBI was not established. It was found that the parents and guardian were not able to use the picture-tool as natural as possible in the home setting.

To contribute to the limited body of knowledge on the methodological and analytical procedures in the application of longitudinal Cognitive Diagnosis Models (CDMs), this study was conducted to develop and evaluate cognitively diagnostic assessment and adaptive intervention for tracking learning trajectories in fraction addition and subtraction. A recursive multiphase mixed methods learning tracking was employed as the overarching design that subsumed the sub-designs in each of the five phases of the study, namely (1) cognitive model development, (2) cognitively diagnostic assessment development. (3) attribute mastery and non-mastery diagnosis, (4) adaptive intervention development and implementation, and (5) tracking learning trajectories. Results showed that the cognitive model that can describe students’ mastery of fraction addition and subtraction tasks consists of seven attributes. These attributes were measured using the developed Cognitively Diagnostic Fraction Addition and Subtraction Test (CDFAST), a 30-item test consisting of items that measure a single or combination of identified attributes. The subsequent attribute mastery and non-mastery diagnosis performed showed that most of the respondents had a limited number of mastered attributes crucial for performing fraction addition and subtraction. With this, an adaptive intervention targeting the unmastered attributes of the respondents was developed and was called Fraction DRIVE. This intervention was given to the experimental group, while the comparison group was given a separate set of instructions. The analysis of the learning trajectories of the respondents showed the effectiveness of the intervention at the group- level growth for the experimental group and at the individual-level growth for the comparison group. The lessons gained from the implementation of longitudinal CDM showed the intricacy and complexity of the procedure, but they provided insights as to its plausibility in tracking the learning trajectories of students not only in the context of fraction addition and subtraction but also in other domains.