Exceptional Children最新文献

The Classroom Environment Scale (CES), originally developed for use in traditional public school classrooms, was revised for use in special education classrooms. The scale, which assesses students' perceptions of various aspects of the classroom, was administered to students in 79 special education classrooms in 16 residential and day treatment schools serving special education students with behavior disorders and emotional disturbance. Psychometric analyses showed that only seven of the nine aspects of the classroom found in the original CES were reliably reported in special education classrooms. The revised scale was found reliable for use in special education classes in residential and day treatment settings.

This study investigated the effectiveness of an explicit strategy as a means of linking facts, concepts, and problem solving in an unfamiliar domain of learning. Participants were 37 secondary students with learning disabilities. All students were taught health facts and concepts, which they then applied to problem-solving exercises presented through computer-simulation games. Students in the experimental group were taught an explicit strategy for solving the problems; the comparison group was given supportive feedback and encouraged to induce their own strategies. The explicit strategy group performed significantly better on two transfer measures, including videotaped problem-solving exercises.

College and university students with disabilities were surveyed to determine their levels of satisfaction with accessibility, special services, and accommodations at their schools. In addition, students were requested to identify barriers to postsecondary education, improvements in services, and other concerns. Respondents generally expressed satisfaction with the services that they had received. However, the majority indicated that they had encountered barriers to their education, including a lack of understanding and cooperation from administrators, faculty, staff, and other students; lack of adaptive aids and other resources; and inaccessibility of buildings and grounds. Recommendations were made for improving the delivery of services and self-advocacy of students with disabilities.

Tennessee data were analyzed longitudinally from 1979-80 to 1987-88 in terms of numbers of children placed in a variety of service options. In 1983-84, the Tennessee funding formula was changed from a "flat" rate to a "weighted" formula. The weighted formula was associated with a statistically significant decrease in less restrictive placements and a reliable increase in more restrictive placements. A statewide survey of district special education directors suggested that service needs may have been more likely than monetary incentives to explain the observed changes.

This article presents "20/20 Analysis" as an experimental, output-oriented, noncategorical alternative to traditional approaches to identification of students for special education. 20/20 Analysis identifies students showing least (below 20th percentile) and most (above 80th percentile) progress toward important objectives of education in a school. The situation of each student in low 20% and high 20% groups is then examined as a basis for broad (noncategorical) approaches to improvement of learning opportunities. Case studies of two schools are present. Policy implications are considered briefly.

The purpose of this study was to describe the experiences of general education teachers who have had a student with severe disabilities in their class. Interviews of 19 general education teachers, kindergarten through Grade 9, as well as questionnaires completed by 18 teachers, were analyzed using categorical coding procedures to identify themes related to the teachers' experiences. Results showed that despite teachers' initial negative reactions to the placement of a child with severe disabilities in their classrooms, 17 teachers described transforming experiences of a more positive nature and related many benefits to the students with disabilities, their classmates, and the teachers themselves. Respondents also characterized what support services they found helpful and not helpful.

This study examined the effects on reading achievement of variation in program design and tested the hypothesis this Distar Reading Mastery's (Engelmann & Bruner, 1988b) demonstrated effects with disadvantaged children in Project Follow Through can be generalized to children with disabilities. We compared the effects of two synthetic phonics reading programs, Direct Instruction (DI) Reading Mastery I and II and Addison Wesley's Meet the Superkids and The Superkids' Club, (Rowland, 1982a, 1982b) for 81 children in transitional kindergarten special education classes. No significant achievement differences were evident for the instructional program either at the end of the treatment year, or on follow-up testing 1 year later. However, among children who made advanced progress, the DI group showed larger reading gains.

In-depth, structured interviews were conducted over a 2-year period with four young adults previously identified as having learning disabilities during their school years. All four had dropped out of high school; but overall, they reported that their early withdrawal was an important and affirming choice in their transition from youth to young adulthood. Themes emerging as noteworthy include their lack of involvement in formal vocational assessment, their own individualized education programs, and adult services. The personal stories and experiences cast doubt on the prevailing opinion that school dropouts are "losers" and "failures." In contrast, their stories reveal a serious shortfall in their secondary special education programming and in the overall transition planning process.

An investigation was conducted to determine the effectiveness of a constant-time-delay procedure used in combination with multiple exemplars of strangers, lures, and sites to teach a generalized response to the lures of strangers to four preschool children with disabilities. Although the correct response was quickly acquired in the training site, the response failed to generalize to the probe sites until training was conducted in vivo. Instruction in vivo resulted in acquisition, maintenance, and generalization of the response to strangers' lures. Generalization occurred across probes with novel exemplars of lures, strangers, and sites.