Ann-Bailey Lipsett, MetLife Fellow
Ann-Bailey Lipsett is a special education teacher at an elementary school in Virginia.
Formerly a first grade classroom teacher, she supports kindergarten and first grade students with special needs.
Ann-Bailey graduated in 2003 from Washington and Lee University with a Bachelor of Arts in Religion, where she was the first recipient the Sarah G. Ball Education Award.
She earned her Master of Education in Special Education from the University of Virginia in 2009.
She presented her previous research on the use of sound-field systems in inclusion classrooms with MetLife Fellow Kimberly Dupont at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association’s (ASHA) national conference in 2007 and at the Speech Language-Hearing-Association of Virginia’s state conference in 2008.
Previous Research Includes:
Research Title: How can special education teachers support general education teachers with individual behavior modification plans in inclusive classrooms? Research Year: 2009 Research Classification: Professional Development, Student Support/Enrichment Research Summary: This study examines how special education teachers can positively assist general education teachers when developing behavior modification plans for students with behavior challenges. Previous research shows that the success of these plans depends on a number of factors including teacher collaboration, the use of research-based practices, and the monitoring of the teacher’s own emotions when reacting to a situation. Twenty two general education teachers participated in this study. All 22 taught in a full-inclusion school outside of Washington, D.C., with 785 students, including 71 students in the special education program. Forty teachers from the school received an online survey asking about their use of a current individual behavior management plan. The study found that teachers were slightly more likely to find the behavior plans successful if they collaborated with another teacher to develop the plan. If teachers collaborated to develop a plan they were more likely to change the way they viewed the student’s needs.
Research Title: Morphological Marker and Verb Tense Acquisition with Use of a Sound-Field System Research Year: 2008 Research Classification: Support Services to Schools Research Summary: This year we continued our 2006-2007 research on using a sound-field system in an inclusion classroom. Our past research focused primarily on the impact a sound-field system has on behavior and overall achievement in the classroom. While conducting this research we made anecdotal observations on how the sound-field system improved some children’s development of morphological markers and verb tense acquisition. Students just beginning to learn English seemed to be acquiring these language skills faster than students who do not use a sound-field system. The same observations were made for students in a special education program. We choose to specifically focus our research on the acquisition of these skills by comparing a primary inclusion classroom that was using the sound-field system and one that was not using the sound-field system. Before placing a sound-field system in a classroom we took writing samples from students in each class to obtain baseline data. We also took anecdotal data on student use of morphological markers and verb tenses. We were unable to continue our research this year as we did not have a teacher willing to use the sound-field system in the classroom. We hope to continue the project next year and are also writing grants to acquire more advanced sound-field systems.
Research Title: Meeting the Inclusive Classroom Challenge Research Year: 2007 Research Classification: Student Support/Enrichment Research Summary: An Elementary School Teacher Research Team comprised of a Speech-Language Pathologist and general education classroom teacher monitored student behavior and success in a classroom with 17-19 students with a range of learning abilities, English language development, and socio-economic status. We examined the current research in the field and applied what we learned to the classroom environment. We recorded student behavior at times when the teacher was using the FM sound system, and when the teacher was not. We interviewed the students to find their preference for the system. We visited another elementary school to observe other classrooms with a sound system installed. We have consulted with and obtained information about a variety of sound field systems. We learned: Has a positive influence on the student behavior in the classroom, particularly for students who struggle to maintain attention. Has a positive influence on classroom community due to allowing the teacher to remain calm and maintain control. Reduces vocally abusive behaviors of educators. Infrared sound systems have a superior quality and performance than the FM system used in our study. Supports the early phonological awareness of students, particularly those learning English for the first time.
