Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Kentucky, 2002. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains xix, 175 p. : ill. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 160-173).

This study examines the differential patterns of access to higher education of students from rural areas in transition from a planned to a market economy. In respect to college access, the research argues that market reforms have reproduced the advantages for students from the cadre’s and the professional’s families while simultaneously creating new opportunities for the children of the new arising economic elite. Yet, it has performed less for traditional peasant families whose children still fail to gain access to college in proportions higher than the size of the population. Based on the literature, this research places a special emphasis on how economic and cultural resources become the main influence on rural students? college access. The process dimension -- how families from different social backgrounds within rural society involve themselves in the schooling of their children and how this contributes to inequality of college access within rural society, are investigated. This research unpacks this process by examining the school involvement experiences of parents in Zong, a county located in the province of Anhui. Parental involvement is conceptualized in terms of how economic and cultural resources are converted to social capital as part of family strategies within the increasingly stratified social context of rural China. The research identifies the consequences of activating different types of social networks within family and community, and also between family and school to facilitate this process by gaining advantages in access to college. Household interviews and field notes were used as the main methods of data collection with a range of parents and teachers involved in this ethnographic study. The data analysis suggests that state, schools and teachers provide few formal and routine channels for rural parents to become involved in schooling. This raises the importance of family strategic initiatives to employ interpersonal social networks (guanxi) within family, community and between school and family. Parents from cadres and professional backgrounds are capable of maintaining these social networks that are useful for their children’s chances of entering higher education. Their counterparts from the new economic elites? backgrounds have developed the means to capitalize upon their families economic and cultural resources by converting them into social capital that creates advantages in college access for their children. Peasants, however, rely heavily on teachers and relatives in education and are substantially marginalized from those important interpersonal social networks of capital conversion. Although this research found the structure constrains interpersonal social network of peasant families, it also highlights the agency of parents from different families. For example, in some cases it found, that peasants actively use their kinships to create chances for school involvement to potentially improve the chances of their children’s college access. This research is one of the first empirical studies to inquire about the mechanism of capital conversion in affecting higher education opportunities in the post-socialist era, which will help to re-evaluate the influence of market reforms over rural education system in China. / published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

This study utilized a mail questionnaire to survey the views of parents residing in Texas regarding the educational needs of their adolescent (ages 14-18) with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Of the 233 parents of adolescents who were reported by hospitals as recently acquitting a TBI (in 1997, 1998, or 1999) of any level severity, 79 (34%) parents responded from across the state. Surprisingly, over half (N=41) of the parents responded by indicating that their adolescent did not have a TBI. This would suggest that the attending medical professionals might not have informed the parents of the long-term effects of a mild TBI. Twenty-five parents responded to the survey and rated psychology-related and transition-related services as the most needed special education and related services for their adolescent. Services were received by 40% of the adolescents, many under categories other than TBI, and the services most frequently received as a result of the TBI were: individualized academic instruction, homebound educational services, and occupational therapy. Of the parents whose adolescent did not receive services, and occupational therapy. OF the parents whose adolescent did not receive services, 44% felt their adolescent had unmet educational needs. Parents rated the following factors as the most critical to their adolescents’ educational needs being met: level of communication between the parent and the school, the school’s flexibility with the adolescent’s rapidly changing abilities and educational needs, the sensitivity of the educator to changes int eh adolescent and family’s daily lives stemming from the TBI, the educator taking an active role in helping the child socially re-adjust, and level of communication among the educators. The findings of this study illuminate the parents’ view of special education and related service needs for adolescents with TBI. In 1990, TBI became recognized as a category under which students may be eligible to receive special education and related services as stated in the individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA). However, this study’s findings reflect that, at least in the parents’ perspective, many adolescents still have unmet educational needs and the needed services are lacking. / text

Not available / text

Not available / text

No description available.

No description available.

The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of particular Asperger’s learners in inclusive education settings. Five learners who had all been diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome (AS) and who were between the ages of eight and 13 years were interviewed for this research. Each of the participants was interviewed once using a semi-structured interview schedule and was also asked to participate in three projective drawing tasks. Results indicated that the AS learners’ experiences of inclusion were dependant on four main factors: the pervasiveness of their special interests; their social experiences; the support that they received; and their academic self-concept. These findings were discussed in terms of the existing literature and policies on inclusive education. The implications of this research for the inclusion of AS learners and other special needs learners in inclusive education settings was also discussed.

No description available.

No description available.