The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of parental intervention on the self-esteem, degree of coping, and stress levels of parents of developmentally delayed or handicapped infants involved in an infant intervention program.;The research design for this study was a posttest-only control group design. The samples consisted of 48 parents who had infants enrolled in an infant intervention program. Sixteen subjects were assigned to each of the following treatment groups: Support, Counseling, and Control. The Support groups were structured as self-help groups. The Counseling groups were primarily affective, but also included a didactic component based on the Systematic Training for Effective Parenting (STEP) model. Three self-report instruments: The Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory, The Parenting Stress Index, and the Coping with Loss Scale were used to assess changes in the dependent variables (self-esteem, stress, and coping.).;The results of the research revealed that there were significant differences noted between the self-esteem scores of the support group parents and the counseling group parents, with self-esteem scores higher in the support group. Similarly, a significant difference was found between the stress indexes of support group parents and counseling group parents with the support group parents experiencing less stress. No significant difference was noted between any of the groups in respect to the degree of coping, nor were any significant differences noted between treatment groups and the control group on any of the variables. The subscales on the Coping with Loss Scale proved to significantly discriminate between each other.;In conclusion, support groups may be more effective than counseling groups for this population due to the lack of cohesiveness in groups as a result of absenteeism. Measures to eliminate absenteeism were offered. Replication of this study with a larger sample was recommended along with some possible design changes. Further research on the Coping with Loss Scale was suggested.

The purpose of this study was to examine the interrelatedness of cognitive, role-taking, and moral judgment abilities. The problem of this study was to determine whether there was a significant difference between the cognitive, role-taking and moral judgment skills of emotionally disturbed adolescents when compared with their normal peers.;While studies investigating this relationship have been few in number, there is an apparent positive relationship among the three variables with cognitive development providing the foundation for the role-taking and moral judgment development. Role-taking abilities also seem to be necessary for the development of one's moral judgment skills.;A sample of nine emotionally disturbed adolescents and their matched normal peers were drawn from the pupil population of two school systems in the Tidewater area of Virginia. Each subject was assessed on four measures: The Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test to obtain a near IQ; the Binet-Simon Absurd Sentences Test to obtain a cognitive level of functioning; Flavell's Picture Story Role-taking Task to determine each subject's level of role-taking abilities; and Kohlberg's Moral Judgment Interview Form A to assess the level of moral judgment development.;The general hypothesis is emotionally disturbed adolescents, when matched to normal adolescents for age, sex, race and intelligence, will score significantly lower on tests of cognitive, role-taking and moral judgment development.;Results of this study indicated no difference between the two samples for mental and chronological ages or for intellectual abilities. A notable difference was present between the groups for level of cognitive functioning. A significant difference was found between the role-taking abilities of each sample and only a slight difference noted between the moral judgment skills of both groups with the emotionally disturbed adolescents being the weaker in each category.;In pointing out the strong relationship among the cognitive, role-taking and moral judgment skills of adolescents in general and of emotionally disturbed adolescents in particular, this study points out the need for education and treatment programs for emotionally disturbed adolescents to provide some intervention strategy that would include training in the cognitive and role-taking areas.

This ethnography examines many different components of my coming to the teaching profession as well as my first year within the field. Through research and an in depth analysis of my students and their environment, my teacher effectiveness and abilities have also been defined. This ethnography is composed of four cohesive parts, each detailing a different part of my teaching practice. Part A explains the reason why I chose to become an educator, Part B follows the journey of three focus students within my first classroom and the action plan I created for them to find success, Part C details the different communities in which I work and my students live, and Part D is a final comprehensive analysis of my teacher effectiveness within my first year of teaching. The purpose of this ethnography is to clarify my teacher’s ambition as well as provide research and data on my students as a whole as well as three focus students. In addition, by examining these students and their growth throughout the year, another purpose of this ethnography is to provide an analysis of my effectiveness as a first year teacher as well as create a goal and plan for my future in the education field.

The purpose of the study was to determine if training in social skills in a classroom setting would lead to greater achievement in writing. Fifty-seven children in grades six through eight (ages 11-14) from a predominantly middle-class school in a largely urban school district in South Florida participated in this study. Participation in the study was limited to students who had been evaluated, met diagnostic criteria for learning disabilities and were placed in a learning disabilities language arts class. Seven dependent variables were measured to evaluate the effects of social skills training (independent variable) on the writing skills of children with learning disabilities. The four writing variables were thematic maturity, syntactic maturity, fluency, and quality of expression. Three social skills measures were parent rating, student rating, and teacher rating of social skills behavior in the classroom. Three tests designed to measure changes in written language development and social skills acquisition and performance were used for pre-testing and post-testing. To assess the writing skills, two assessment instruments were selected: Test of Written Language-2 (TOWL-2) (Hammill & Larsen, 1988) and the Woodcock Psychoeducational Battery Achievement and Supplemental Tests (Woodcock & Johnson, 1990). To assess social skills, Social Skills Rating System (Gresham & Elliott, 1990) was selected. Areas of significant improvement in the writing measures were syntactic maturity and quality of expression in the experimental group. In the control group, syntactic maturity improved significantly more than in the experimental group. When pre and post test differences were examined for both groups, only syntactic maturity was significant. However, the gain score was greater for the control group than for the experimental group. The students' home language had a significant effect on syntactic maturity but not on any other variable. Thematic maturity approached significance and should be considered when practical applications are discussed. Examination of the results of the social skills measures revealed that no significant differences were evident in any area. There were no significant effects on the parent, student or teacher rating measures either by the social skills training or the writing instruction. The home language of the students had no effect on the social skills measures.

There has been some speculation that abuse/neglect may lead to later antisocial behavior by the abused/neglected child. It was the vi purpose of this project to determine the frequency of abuse/neglect in the population at the State Industrial School and to compare the types of crimes committed by abused/neglected delinquents with those delinquents not abused/neglected. The subjects consisted of all the adolescents committed to the State Industrial School. During the research project, 159 adolescents were at the State Industrial School. Of those, 63 had data in their files indicating some form of abuse or neglect. The findings of the study showed that significantly more abused/neglected delinquents commit authority protest crimes than other categories of crimes. Also, significantly more abused/neglected adolescents are found at the State Industrial School than those not abused/ neglected.

Customized employment for individuals with significant disabilities is becoming a focus of job placement. Customized employment is defined in the Workforce Innovation and Opportunities Act of 2014 as “Competitive integrated employment, for an individual with a significant disability, that is based on an individualized determination of the strengths, needs, and interests of the individual with a significant disability that is designed to meet the specific abilities of the individual with a significant disability and the business needs of the employer, and is carried out through flexible strategies.” Despite its status in federal legislation, no research exists on the employer’s perspective on customized employment. This study surveyed 53 employers and a focus group of 10 employers to identify perceived barriers and facilitators to customized employment. The researcher found that the highest-rated barriers employers identified with regards to customized employment were their lack of experience with customized employment, cost and responsibility of accommodations. The highest-rated facilitators included support was available from other agencies, financial incentives, and increased productivity. Limitations of this research and implications for further research are discussed.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to gain an understanding of the experiences of parents as they transitioned their children from an early intervention program to an early childhood special education program. This study was conducted in a rural area of Virginia and participants included thirty parents from several school divisions. Four primary themes were derived through individual interviews and focus groups, and included: parents received information and services from programs; parents experienced barriers (lack of knowledge and experience with schools, differences in programs and services, communication issues among parties, dealing with own emotions, and fears for children); parents received benefits (emotional support from early intervention professionals, and developed rapport and new relationships with school personnel); and parents offered suggestions and advice for future transitions (improve communication and coordination, expand information and services for parents, advocate for “parent to parent’ networking, develop strength and coping skills, and consider options for preparing children for transitions).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 320-333). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

The purpose of this research study was to determine if teachers responsible for implementing Response to Intervention (RTI) in elementary schools within the district of the study contributed to a disproportionate amount of students being referred for special education testing through the Response to Intervention process. The researcher examined teacher understanding of Response to Intervention and the implementation of the process. The method used involved a qualitative study that included three data collections methods to measure the teacher's perceptions: individual face-to-face interview sessions, written surveys, and a focus group interview. Participants in the study included 12 classroom teachers for independent interviews from six schools across three clusters of a school district 20 miles outside of Atlanta, Georgia. The focus group included eight teachers from two additional schools. In addition, each teacher was asked to complete a Teacher Interest Inventory Survey. The data produced from this study provided information to contribute to the understanding of factors that impact the number of children referred for special education testing through the Response to Intervention process. This study created an awareness and overall perception of teachers throughout the district regarding the RTI process. Limitations of this study include the limited number of people involved in the study. However, findings from a study such as this one can increase awareness of how children are referred for special education testing within a district studied that contribute to creating a disproportionate number of children referred for special education testing and could lead to similar studies in other school districts. Suggestions for further research are included within the study.

The purpose of this study was to examine the extent of the relationship of the Criterion-Referenced Competency Test (CRCT) scores in Reading and Math for students with disabilities and purposefully selected independent variables in selected Title I schools. It was the goal of this study to disclose some of the variables that directly impact the performance of students with disabilities (SWDs) on the CRCT in order to improve instructional practices of classroom teachers, the quality of educational leadership programs, the awareness of school leaders on the needs of SWDs and the teachers that provide instruction to them, and to give stakeholders that influence educational policy suggestions on implementation for polices that directly effect SWD student achievement. The study used a QUAN-QUAL research design to triangulate the n data through standardized assessment results, teacher surveys, and teacher interviews. The researcher concluded that parental involvement, special education setting, gender, and disability category directly effect SWD performance on the CRCT.