Thesis (EdD)-Open University.

This research presents a theoretical and descriptive case study in which I investigate the nature of literacy competence in the life of Stuart Carter, an English speaking man who at the early age of thirty-six, suffered from a left cerebral hemorrhage resulting in expressive aphasia and right side hemiplegia. By using a qualitative data set, including videotaped interactions, documents, interviews and fieldnotes, and qualitative data analysis strategies, I trace the evolution of Stuart's literacy practices and literacy process after the stroke that took place in April of 1994, identifying issues that shaped his literacy experiences over a lapse of seven years. The present study grew out of my concerns regarding the capricious ways in which portraits of competence get created, based on reduced and clinical images of performance. Three landscapes of competence emerged from the analysis: (a) Sociocultural landscapes; (b) Transactional socio-psycholinguistic (TSP) landscapes, and (c) Affective and personal landscapes. I use the metaphor of 'landscapes' as an interpretative construct that makes it possible to describe literacy competence as multidimensional, as dynamic, and as closely tied to the overall structure of everyday literacy contexts. The first landscape presents Stuart's perceptions of his literacy practices after the stroke, and offers a description of Stuart's uses of literacy as a window into his literacy practices. The second landscape describes his reading and writing processes. I explore the contextual features that hinder/support his participation in literacy events, and elaborate on the mediational purposes of his writing process. The third landscape relates to the significant personal and affective tensions that frame Stuart's literacy experiences as a reader and writer with aphasia. I describe the underlying strategies, inventions and coping mechanism he developed to deal with the transformations in his life after aphasia. What I illustrate throughout this study is that an alternative theoretical framework, one based on understanding literacy as both social practice and sociopsycholinguistic process, and an alternative research methodology within the field of aphasiology, based on qualitative and ethnographic principles, provide a wealth of unexplored territory into the nature of literacy, language and learning in aphasia.

During the past two decades, major advances in the field of HIV/AIDS research have occurred. With advances in medications and treatments, children born with HIV/AIDS are experiencing greater life expectancies and beginning to enter the school systems. However, this new population of children with HIV/AIDS has a variety of new and unique needs that must be addressed by schools. Given the new needs, schools may have to re-examine present policies by eliciting the views of the people most affected by the policies. The purpose of the present study was to provide a preliminary opportunity for the families of children with HIV/AIDS to express their expectations and reservations in regard to school systems and policies related to disclosure. A multi-case study research design was used to learn more about the perspectives of four parents/guardians of school-aged children with HIV/AIDS. This study was intended to challenge the assumption that the issues facing families affected by HIV/AIDS today are the same as they were in the late 1980's and early 1990's by providing a voice to families of children with HIV/AIDS and recommendations for new policies.

Four-year colleges and universities in the US have a lengthy history of educating traditional students from privileged backgrounds. Such students usually arrive on campus with behaviors, beliefs, and learning strategies designed to help them succeed in classes that depend upon lectures as the primary mode of instruction. As increased numbers of nontraditional students have gained admission to four-year schools, college instructors have struggled to accommodate the diverse learning styles of this burgeoning student population. Unlike traditional students, nontraditional students generally lack a large repertoire of effective behaviors, beliefs, and learning strategies needed to succeed in college. Poor learning practices mean less learning and less learning transferred across assignments and courses. Although college composition classes tend to provide student-centered instruction designed to facilitate learning, nontraditional students continue to struggle to learn. In response to the learning challenges and failures that nontraditional students encounter at college, some four-year schools have chosen to redirect these students to two-year colleges. This dissertation argues in favor of equipping nontraditional students at four-year schools with effective learning practices via instruction in student self-regulation and self-efficacy inside the college classroom.

General education teachers are largely responsible for the education of students with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). This is partially due to the educational movement toward inclusion for students with disabilities, and partially due to the ability of about 50% of students with ADHD to progress normally in school when given classroom accommodations and/or instructional modifications. General educators are teaching students with ADHD, yet limited information about teacher attitudes and knowledge about ADHD exists. This study is an initial exploratory investigation that examined the attitudes and knowledge about ADHD of preservice general education teachers at the elementary and secondary levels. Preservice elementary and secondary teachers completed an instrument designed to assess their attitudes and knowledge regarding ADHD. Two scales were created: one scale for items related to attitudes, and the second scale related to basic knowledge about ADHD. Research questions addressed preservice teachers' overall attitude and knowledge about ADHD, and whether grade level, gender, or perceived experience with ADHD influenced their attitude and/or knowledge about ADHD. Findings demonstrated that preservice teachers were in general agreement with positive attitude statements about ADHD. Differences in attitude ratings by grade level were significant, with elementary preservice teachers in stronger agreement with statements about ADHD than secondary preservice teachers. No significant differences in attitude were evident for gender. There was, however, a significant difference in attitude based on teachers' reported experience with ADHD. Teachers with basic or moderate/extensive experience had significantly more positive attitudes than teachers with no experience. Preservice teachers answered slightly more than half of the 11 knowledge items correctly. Elementary preservice teachers correctly answered more knowledge items about ADHD than secondary preservice teachers. No differences in knowledge were identified based on preservice teachers' gender or experience with ADHD. The findings are discussed in relation to other research on teacher attitudes and knowledge for ADHD. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate WISC-III Verbal short forms for school-age children identified as visually impaired. The rationale for use of WISC-III Verbal short forms is to provide a time saving and technically sound measure for the screening and/or periodical re-evaluation of children with visual impairments who may require special education services. The total sample consisted of the WISC-III test scores of 78 children identified with the handicapping condition of either partial sightedness or legal blindness, who had been given the regularly administered Verbal subtests. The mean age level of the total sample was 11 years, 4 months. Three additional groups were obtained from the test records of the original data which included, children identified as either partially sighted or legally blind (n=62) who were given the regularly administered Verbal subtests and supplementary Digit Span subtest (referred to as the Digit Span group), and children identified as partially sighted (n=47), and legally blind (n=31), who were given only the regularly administered Verbal subtests. Ninety-seven percent of the data were obtained from existing test records, and the remaining data from the actual administration of the WISC-III Verbal subtests for the purpose of collecting data for the study. Children identified with the handicapping conditions of multiple disabilities or mental retardation were not included in the sample. For the total sample and additional groups, the mean Verbal IQ score and mean scaled score of the individual subtests fell in the average range. The WISC-III Verbal short form combinations were identified by utilizing the formulas of Tellegen and Briggs (1967) for determining the reliability and validity coefficients of short form combinations. High reliability and validity coefficients were obtained for all two-, three-, and four-subtest combinations of the total sample and additional groups. The study results suggest WISC-III Verbal short forms offer a time efficient and technically sound measure to be utilized in assessment of the verbal intellectual development of school-age children with visual impairments.

The performance of children with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) or Learning Disability (LD) were compared to "typical" children using the Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Experimental Assessment Battery (AEAB). The AEAB is a battery of assessment instruments that have been used individually and in various combinations in research to either (1) measure attention or other ADHD characteristics in research participants or (2) discriminate LD characteristics from the characteristics of typical participants. The present study examined whether these assessment instruments differentiated ADHD and LD from typical children. The two hypotheses that were addressed were (1) the combined scores on the Child Behavior Checklist - Attention Problems Scale, the Stroop Color - Word Test, the Hand Movements Test, and the Audiovisual Checking Task will discriminate ADHD from typical participants and (2) the combined scores on the Minnesota Percepto-Diagnostic Test - Revised and the Trail Making Test will discriminate LD from typical participants. The instruments used to measure attention characteristics were the Child Behavior Checklist - Attention Problems Scale (Achenbach & Edelbrock, 1983), the Stroop Color - Word Test (Golden, 1978), The Hand Movements Test from the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (Kaufman & Kaufman, 1983) and the Audiovisual Checking Task (Margolis, 1973). Two instruments were used to measure and discriminate LD characteristics. They were the Minnesota Percepto-Diagnostic Test - Revised (Fuller, 1983) and the Trail Making Test from the Halstead - Reitan Neuropsychological Test Battery (Reitan & Wolfson, 1985). A Kruskal - Wallis Analysis of Variance by Ranks (Hays, 1973) was calculated for the groups. The results showed that the groups were significantly different for the analyzed combined scores. These findings were discussed in regard to the research literature in this area.

The primary purpose of this study was to assess certain aspects of the internal structure of the DISCOVER assessment checklist to determine its construct validity. A secondary purpose was to assess gender differences in identifying giftedness using the assessment. The sample of this study consisted of 368 participants from kindergarten, fourth, fifth, and sixth grade levels divided into three subsamples. Participants were from two culturally diverse populations: Navajo Indians and Mexican-Americans. The methodology consisted of correlational analyses and chi-square tests. Separate, but identical analyses were conducted on each subsample. Three questions guided this study: (a) What is the relationship between observers' ratings of participants' problem-solving ability in one activity and their rating of participants in the other activities? (b) What items characterize each of the four rating categories? and (c) What are the gender differences occurring when using the assessment? The results of this study showed low and non significant inter-rating correlations, indicating high discriminant validity of the checklist. Significant, but low to moderately high inter-rating correlations were found between the Storytelling and Storywriting activities across subsamples. R-squared analyses revealed low percentages of variance accounted for, indicating low convergent validity of the checklist. Moreover, a pattern of higher percentages of item checks was found for higher ratings, indicating that observers checked items at a higher frequency rate for participants given higher ratings. Only items characterizing the "Definitely" category were possible to identify because all items represent superior problem-solving skills, thus were mostly checked for participants who demonstrated superior problem-solving processes or products. Items with zero frequencies were identified as well. Chi-square tests for gender by activity revealed significant gender differences in two activities. In Pablo°ler, a significantly higher number of sixth grade boys were rated "Definitely" and in Storytelling, a significantly higher number of fourth and fifth grade girls were rated "Definitely". No significant gender differences were found for any other activity across subsamples. Similarly, no significant overall gender differences were found across subsamples for gifted participants, indicating that equal proportions of males and females are identified through the use of the DISCOVER assessment.

First, a description of the Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) field is developed through: an historical overview, a discussion of the unique features of the ECSE field, and a review of ECSE leadership preparation. Secondly, this study expands the currently limited knowledge base about ECSE leadership preparation. Based on data collected across the United States for the 1995-1996 and 1996-1997 school years, this dissertation identified IHEs that offered doctoral preparation in ECSE, described the characteristics and components of ECSE doctoral preparation, described ECSE faculty and doctoral students, and identified trends. Qualitative data revealed that IHEs characterized their doctoral programs as committed to promoting quality services to infants and young children with disabilities and their families and to producing interdisciplinary leaders. Data was presented to describe program characteristics, required components, curriculum opportunities, and implementation of interdisciplinary focus. Evidence was presented that confirmed strong structural supports for an interdisciplinary focus. Varied interdisciplinary curriculum opportunities included ECSE course work, internships, and research options. IHEs were found to have relatively stable faculties and student enrollments. ECSE leadership preparation appeared to be both established and dynamic in its responsiveness to the rapid changes in the field. A major finding of this study was that there were few descriptions of the standards or competencies used for ECSE leadership preparation. The major recommendations included: establishing a national comprehensive database system, a joint effort to conceptualize ECSE leadership and develop strategies to promote ECSE leadership preparation, and, specific research topics to address the information needs of ECSE leadership preparation. Finally, initial guidelines for developing ECSE leadership preparation programs were presented.

This experimental study investigated three components of the lexical-acquisition process: fast mapping, word learning, and word extension. Thirty preschool-age children with specific language impairment (SLI) and 30 age- and gender-matched normal language (NL) controls participated. Two types of low-frequency words were used to name objects: phonologically simple and phonologically complex. Two types of objects were used: semantically familiar and semantically unfamiliar. Comprehension and production were probed across components, with trials to criterion calculated for word learning. During the word-extension task, recognition was also assessed. In addition, norm-referenced receptive and expressive vocabulary tests were administered. On tasks where group differences were found, many children with SLI performed as well as controls. The fast-mapping task revealed no group differences (p On this and the word-learning task, comprehension exceeded production for both groups. On the word-learning task, the SLI group comprehended and produced fewer words than did controls. In contrast to the NL group, the SLI group produced more words for semantically unfamiliar than familiar objects. Overall, the SLI learned more phonologically simple than complex words, but the NL group showed no difference. Although the SLI group required more trials than controls to comprehend words, no group differences were found in trials to production. On the word-extension task, the SLI group scored lower than controls only for production. Vocabulary-test scores did not accurately identify children with SLI or predict number of words learned; but these scores did predict a small amount of variance for fast-mapping and word-extension performance. Fast mapping performance accounted for 25% of word-learning variance; fast-mapping performance and word-learning performance combined accounted for 54% of word-extension variance. Different predictor variables were found for each language group. Findings suggest that some, but not all, children with SLI demonstrate poor word-learning and word-extension performance. Overall, the SLI group had greater difficulty than controls on production measures and required more trials to achieve learning criterion for comprehension of words than the NL group. The semantic familiarity of the target objects affected productive word learning by the NL group but did not appear to have a similar effect on the SLI group.