Research Statement

My goal in pursuing a doctoral degree in education is to develop an effective special education program in a country where such a system is practically nonexistent. There is a great lack of understanding of learning disabilities and special needs in Egypt. My aim is to create an effective special education program in Egypt where students who have special needs are protected and supported and where teachers are sufficiently trained in order to provide them with the best opportunities possible. This would entail researching special education laws and policies, how such policies affect individuals, and how such policies can be adapted to be culturally relevant. Furthermore, it would include the best-fit approach regarding the different strategies for the various disabilities as well as the creation of a diagnostic tool that is culturally and linguistically relevant to Egypt. This would be done using an international and comparative paradigm, which would include researching and developing reading comprehension strategies that are also culturally relevant to Egypt and Egypt’s unique and cultural education context, be it the public or private system. In order to properly create such a system, the knowledge gained from the research would be used as a means to create the necessary polices, diagnostic tools, in order to be effective in enhancing and if necessary, changing, teaching methods in Egypt when it comes to special education.

Egypt is a work in progress when it comes to the opportunities provided for students diagnosed with special needs, as they tend to be perceived as a burden. Even though there are schools, and special needs units in mainstream schools, for those who have been diagnosed with special needs, they are lacking in facilities, training, knowledge, and understanding regarding the best way to interact with the students. According to the Egyptian Ministry of Education’s Ministerial Degree 422 (2014), schools can have special needs classes & become mainstream, which is vague. It does not provide the means for accommodation or inclusion. It is imperative that more awareness is created in Egypt regarding learning disabilities and special needs, especially in private international schools. Even though they tend to have special needs policies, they are often not implemented properly. This goes back to the lack of understanding of special needs and the best way to approach such a sensitive subject.

The international school system in Egypt offers a unique and interesting dilemma. Curricula from other countries, such as the United States and the United Kingdom are brought in and taught to Egyptian students without taking into account that they were tailored for native speakers of the language (Hayden & Thompson, 2008). It is no surprise that Egyptian students often struggle in the international systems, as they are expected to start learning in a language that is not necessarily their native language. Some of the students in the international system speak English at home and off campus with their friends and family, and thus have a better grasp of the language and are less likely to struggle. For the rest, however, this is not the case. They are suddenly exposed to a new language where their vocabulary is still limited and inadequate, which hinders their comprehension of what they are being taught. In addition to this, the way they are expected to write also changes. Consequently, it does not come as a surprise that some of them struggle with the written aspect of the English language. This is often easily mistaken for a learning disability, when in reality, they are just not ready for that change. It is important to note that it should not be considered a learning disability if it only occurs within a specific language and not in all languages the student is learning.

This leads to a major concern within the area of assessment for learning disabilities. All of the tools associated with assessing learning disabilities are not tailored for Egyptians, be it the language or culture. The tools used are imported from abroad and are implemented in Egypt. They are created for those who are native English language speakers (DSM-IV-TR, 2000). Thus, how can Egyptian students be assessed in a language that is not their native language? Keeping that in mind, how can students in the governmental education system be properly assessed for learning disabilities? In order to adequately and effectively assess students for any learning disabilities they may have, be it in the governmental system or in international schools, the tools used must be tailored specifically for their needs and language skills.

My interest in this topic was developed during my school years when I volunteered to work with students with special needs. I worked mostly with students who had Down Syndrome and were not placed in mainstream classes. They had their own classes, which were believed to be more equipped to better meet their needs. Upon graduating high school and beginning my higher education, I decided to major in psychology. This stemmed from my interest in special education. Upon the completion of my bachelor of arts in psychology, I began teaching at an international school in Egypt. I was also assigned a counselor role, while teaching, because of my psychology background. Consequently, I became increasingly aware of the problems that students with special needs face. Many times special needs students who were removed from their own classes, would attend my class merely because I was the counselor and they had no where else to go. While the school had a special needs policy, it was no where near as comprehensive as I knew it should have been. The policy simplified special needs and did not include clear guidelines for teachers to abide by during their interactions with special needs students. Such interactions were mostly based on the professional reports that parents delivered to the school regarding their child’s needs. Furthermore, most teachers and staff members were unaware of the policy’s existence. This experience led me to pursue further research into special education policy and its implementation.

I worked few research projects led by Dr. Lori Severino, as well as a project with Dr. Jane Greenberg, Dr. Xi Lin, and Dr. Penny Hammrich. With Dr. Severino and Dr. DeCarlo I worked on the development and piloting of a reading comprehension app for middle school students, especially those diagnosed with learning disabilities. This app allows us, and eventually teachers, to have a more in-depth understanding of the errors students make in order to better plan their targeted intervention. Another research project I am working on with Drs. Severino and DeCarlo was the Summer Literacy Program with the Free Library of Philadelphia. This project targets students that struggle with reading, particularly those who need direct instruction and/or additional instruction. This aim was to close the gap between students who struggle with reading and their peers. The other project I worked on with Dr. Severino and Dr. DeCarlo was the Summer Reading Program. During its' first year, this program ran for a month over the summer term and targeted students who struggle as readers. During the second year, the program was run by Dr. DeCarlo and Dr. Vera Lee for two weeks, while also targeting struggling readers. The project I worked on with Dr. Hammrich is the Camp Play with Data. It is a pilot study of a big data project, which targets college-bound high school girls from Philadelphia’s Promise Zone. The project focused on the open data movement as well as the basics of data driven science and aims to create data savvy citizens.

Currently, I am working with Dr. Toni Sondergeld on a few program evaluation projects, along with fellow PhD students Alysha Meloche and Amanda Reinsburrow. At the moment, we are working on three different evaluation projects: OBGYN Program Evaluation, a Thomas R. Kline Law School Program Evaluation, and the LeBow BRIDGE Program Evaluation.

Alia A. Ammar