The purpose of this study is to set up, by reading, observing, and discussing the different phases of Special Education, a proposed plan for administering a more adequate educational program for the exceptional children of the Allen Public School.

In 1928, Dr. E. K. Wickman published the results of a study of the attitudes of 511 Cleveland teachers to students’ behaviour problems. Wickman's results indicated that the attitudes of the teachers were almost in complete opposition to the attitudes of the thirty clinicians to whom the questionnaire was also administered. The chief objective of the B. C. study was to obtain a quantitative measurement of the average B. C. teacher's attitude toward the fifty behaviour problems on Wickman's questionnaire in order to compare the rank-order ratings of certain B. C. groups (male, female, city, rural; high, elementary) with one another and with the rank-order ratings obtained by Wickman’s teachers and Wickman's clinicians. The procedures utilized in the study in attaining the above objectives were: the construction of a fifty-four item B. C. questionnaire including the fifty original problems studied by Wickman in his investigation of teachers' attitudes to children's behaviour problems, the administering of the B. C. questionnaire to 838 B. C. school teachers and the use of 400 of the returns as a B. C. sampling. A comparison of the rank-order of the various groups of B. C. teachers indicates that there is a very close agreement in ratings. This fact is verified by the coefficients of correlation of the rank order arrangements between the various groups. These range from +.95 to +.97. The only significant differences in the rating of the fifty-four problems by the B. C. high school and elementary school teachers is found in the item dealing with: "Silliness, smartness, attracting attention", to which the average high school teacher assigns greater importance than does the average elementary school teacher. In general, the average B. C. high school teacher considers the list of problems to be slightly more serious, in an absolute sense, than does the average B. C. elementary school teacher. In the case of the B. C. male and B. C. female teachers the only significant differences in the rating of the fifty-four problems are found in items dealing with: "Untruthfulness" and "Heterosexual activity". In both cases the average female teacher assigns greater importance to the items than does the average male teacher. In an absolute sense, however, the average B. C. female teacher generally rates the list of problems as being considerably more serious than does the average male teacher. In the city and rural returns the only significant difference in the rating of the fifty-four problems is found in the item dealing with: "Carelessness", to which the average rural teacher assigns greater importance than does the average city teacher. In these two categories the rural teachers generally rate the list of problems as being slightly more serious, in an absolute sense, than do their city colleagues. A rank-order comparison of the final B. C. scores with those of the Wickman teachers indicates a positive correlation of .82. Although only fifteen of the fifty problems do not show a significant difference in rating, the B. C. teachers tend to fall into the typical teacher-attitude-pattern of the Wickman teachers in the seriousness- grouping of the problems. The comparison of the average B. C. teacher's rank-order scores with the rank-order of the Wickman clinicians indicates a positive correlation of .29. In all there are thirty-two items in which there are statistical differences between the two groups. In spite of this great variation in attitudes, the ratings of the B. C. teachers are much more closely in harmony with those of the clinicians that were the ratings of the Wickman teachers which showed a negative correlation. The four most important conclusions reached from the investigation were: (1) That there is a measurable movement towards the clinician’s ratings in the average B. C. teacher's attitude toward children's behaviour problems when the ratings of the 400 B. C. teachers are compared with the ratings of the 511 Wickman teachers. (2) That the average B. C. teacher generally rates as most serious those problems of an overt nature which transgress the teacher's moral sensibilities or frustrate her control over the learning situation and that the average B. C. teacher generally rates as less serious those problems of a recessive nature which affect only the welfare of the individual child. (3) That the average B. C. teacher has a better understanding of the relative importance of behaviour problems and a greater recognition of potential problem-behaviour than had the Wickman teachers. (4) That there is evidence that a much greater application of the principles of Child Psychology must be employed by the B. C. teachers in order to approach the standards advocated by mental hygienists. / Arts, Faculty of / Philosophy, Department of / Graduate

The problem of this study is to make an analysis of some democratic procedures for planning and conducting special education for exceptional children.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the educational program for the exceptional child in Port Arthur, Texas, and in light of the findings to make recommendations for an improvement of that program.

Ways to train and to aid the mentally deficient child to reach his maximum potential are now important problems that must be answered, for this atypical child is finding an increased acceptance into this world of the normal. The belief that all children should have guided and creative musical experience and that the mentally deficient child should be considered as a child first initiated this study. This thesis is a report of the work of the investigator and of the observations and findings which developed out of the project.

M.S.

M.S.

This study examined the experiences of five Korean American mothers in Oregon and California who have children with disabilities using qualitative research analysis. The mothers' adaptation processes were individually analyzed, and these mothers' overarching experiences were discussed with three major themes: (a) caring for family cohesiveness, (b) needs for social and professional support, and (c) positive transformation of life through religion Adaptation to the children's disabilities was a process for these participants. All mothers had their own demands, resources, and subjective interpretations of their situations. Analysis of the qualitative data disclosed that these five Korean American mothers transformed the negative life events of having children with disabilities into meaningful opportunities to grow personally and spiritually. These immigrant mothers' care-commitment for their families' cohesiveness strengthened their life long coping process. Several married mothers perceived emotional support from their husbands. Most of the mothers expressed the need for social support due to their immigrant status. These five Korean American mothers tried to adapt to their situation of raising a child with a disability within their intact family members. Two mothers from California utilized emotional and informational support from Korean parent support groups, which are more readily available in that state due to the large number of Korean American families with children with disabilities. Despite the lack of social and professional support, many of the mothers perceived their experiences of having children with disabilities positively through their religious beliefs. Raising a child with a disability reportedly strengthened the mothers' religious faith, and their strong religious beliefs gave them courage to successfully adapt to their situations. Several of the mothers stated that their worldviews were also changed. Although this study was limited to five participants, it yielded an enhanced understanding of Korean American mothers who have children with disabilities and provided direction for future research and practice. The findings suggest that special education providers should emphasize and support the strengths of a child's major caregiver. / Graduation date: 2004

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Work

The research reported in this thesis examines the impact that Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCOs) have on the practices of their teacher colleagues. Since SENCOs are central to supporting children’s inclusion and achievement, the research centres around three research questions: whether SENCOs are able to motivate teachers to take the initiative in addressing the needs of children with SEN in their classrooms; whether SENCOs enhance teachers’ abilities to become effective teachers of children with SEN; and how the impact of SENCOs is currently being assessed within primary schools. The project was conducted within an interpretivist framework, and applied a mixed methods approach consisting of two phases: an exploratory questionnaire survey of 223 (responses n=42) primary school SENCOs from the ‘National Award for SEN Coordination’ Course; and semi-structured interviews of 18 SENCOs and 18 teachers, including head teachers. Document scrutiny of school SEN policies and other related documentation was also undertaken. Data triangulation aimed at ensuring the trustworthiness of data was accomplished through a multi-pronged methodological approach. The research was conducted in accordance with an Ethical Code informed by the British Educational Research Association (BERA) and University of Northampton guidelines. Results indicated that SENCOs have a complex role, impacting upon teachers’ practices by utilising a wide range of skills, knowledge and expertise across different contexts. This is influenced by whether or not they are members of their School Leadership Teams. Further, SENCOs’ time management is a constant concern in balancing competing priorities and demands, which include liaising with external agencies and keeping up to date with legislative changes which impact the requirements of the role. There is evidence that the degree to which SENCOs have a positive impact on teachers’ inclusive skills varies, as the SENCO-teacher dynamic is influenced by SENCOs’ training and skills and the dissemination to teachers; SENCOs’ and teachers’ professional identity; SENCO-teacher engagement and perceptions of inclusion; and the interventions and provision made for children with SEN. Implications for further possible research that were identified included the use of contact and non-contact time by SENCOs, the impact of the mandatory SENCO training and also the role of the SEN Governor as a crucial advocate for SEN at management level.