Social support needs have neither been formally addressed nor assessed in prior research with parents of children of special needs. Typically, behavioral management skills, specific knowledge about the disorder/illness/handicap, parents' self-perception, and participants' evaluation of program effectiveness have been measured. Research information collected to date supports the exploration of social support as a treatment intervention. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to examine perceived social support for parents of children with ADHD who completed a parent training program. The program, entitled "ADHD Parent Training," included information about ADHD, behavior management strategies, child advocacy, and a social support component. Upon completing the ADHD Parent Training program, parents were expected to perceive a significantly greater amount of social support than they did prior to treatment. In addition, the relationship between change in perceived social support and the more traditionally assessed outcomes of parent training was examined (parent's satisfaction with treatment, parent's perception of child's progress, and teacher's perception of child's progress).

This study was designed to ascertain whether group achievement test data can determine special education referral accuracy. One hundred eighty-nine special education referrals from four school districts in Texas were examined. The demographics were limited to group achievement test data: grade equivalents and percentiles in the subject areas of reading, spelling, language arts, and mathematics. Also examined were referral and eligibility outcomes to special education.

No description available.

The focus of this research study is upon the possible benefits research can offer special needs education (SNE) teachers. The project has been based upon a ‘study of a study’ with a piece of small-scale personal research - an observational study of the play of children with severe learning difficulties — being used as the starting point for examining the opportunities for learning about professional practice research can present teachers working in SNE. This project has linked two professional interests: a desire to systematically investigate a teaching and learning issue whilst reflecting upon the process of conducting that investigation. This reflection upon the process of conducting research was both personal and also involved asking other researchers — teacher researchers and professional researchers who support teacher researchers — about their experiences of conducting research. The project has involved using a reflective diary on personal research as well as semi-structured interviews with teacher researchers and professional researchers as a means of collecting data about the possible benefits of teacher research. The analysis of this data then led to the generation of a series of hypotheses and recommendations about possible future SNE teachers’ research. It is hoped this small-scale research project will be of interest to other teachers who are either engaged in or considering becoming involved in research, as well as the school managers, professional researchers and policy makers who support these teacher researchers in different aspects of their professional learning and development

There has been growing interest in forest school’s utility as an intervention for building social skills, self-confidence and self-esteem. Given the diverse array of research regarding the benefits of nature contact and that the effects of forest school are under-researched, the present research investigated the relationship between forest school participation, wellbeing, resilience and nature connectedness. A mixed methods crossover design, involving 130 participants, was employed with measures of wellbeing, resilience and connectedness to nature administered pre- and post-forest school. Qualitative data was also collected. Results indicated significant improvements over time for resilience scores following forest school. Gender effects were found, with male participants showing significant improvements in their levels of wellbeing, resilience and connectedness to nature. Early environmental experiences, resilience and connectedness to nature were found to predict mental wellbeing. The findings provide initial evidence for the potential of forest school in providing beneficial outcomes for resiliency in young people.

This thesis is about change, and the impact of change on the restructuring of special educational needs provision. The impetus for my research came from my work with the National Association of Head Teachers, supporting school leaders in managing the education of a more diverse pupil population. The research relates to the Labour Government's policy to increase the number of children with more complex needs in mainstream schools. Following Baroness Warnock's (2005) call for a review of special educational needs, the House of Commons Education and Skills Committee carried out an ‘Inquiry'. Their final report (SEN: Third Report of Session 2005-06), identified high levels of dissatisfaction amongst parents and teachers, and it concluded that the Special Educational Needs framework was no longer fit for purpose. In response, the Labour Government stated that it was too early to carry out a review because their ‘Every Child Matters' initiative was still developing. However, they stated that, in future, local authorities would be required to demonstrate improved special educational needs provision when restructuring their overall educational provision. This significant response prompted me to explore the implementation of the restructuring of provision as several authorities were putting forward proposals for change during 2007-08. The research began in 2008. It is a piece of small-scale educational research which explores the perspectives of school leaders in one local authority and the local authority's documented evidence. The concepts of ‘inclusion' and ‘change' provided the foundation to develop my research study within a broad ‘constructivist interpretative' paradigm and, the direction to review relevant literature on inclusive education and on strategies for implementing change. It discusses the qualitative methods used to investigate my overarching research question: What is the nature and impact of change, in the restructuring of special educational needs provision? I set out to explore two aspects of the nature of change: the first objective was to investigate the process and the second was to investigate the impact of change. My intention was to tease out whether school leaders in mainstream schools, subject to competing government policies (‘inclusion' and ‘market' ideologies) would choose to increase their provision and the impact of proposed change on the individuals and schools involved. My fieldwork was carried out during 2008-09, and follow-up interviews were carried out with those respondents, who were directly involved in the restructuring of provision, during 2010-11. The findings illustrate the influence of individual values and attitudes and the importance of effective school leaders in driving forward reform. It describes the actions of the local authority during the process of implementing change and highlights the improvements that could be made during the stages of transition. Importantly, the significance is considered of internal and external influences that impact on the actions of school leaders and how they influenced the policies of the local authority. Each individual's, or body's, interaction within and between each level (i.e. national, local, school and individual levels), created an impact on the other levels, a process that was far from straightforward. A significant finding of the research was the importance of the interrelationship between these four dimensions, building on Fullan's (2003) tri-level reform. Although the findings demonstrated that to implement progressive change requires motivated school leaders, it also depends on the collaborative effort of all stakeholders involved. However, even with a concerted effort other unexpected events may alter its course: change may be influenced but it cannot be controlled. It is therefore important to develop and understand those strategies and dimensions that contribute to the effective implementation of ‘change' because, in the world of education, change is on going.

The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of selected characteristics on the outcomes of those special education due process hearings brought forth in the state of Texas from September 1, 1983, to September 1, 1992. A further purpose was to determine if district characteristics of size or location affect the likelihood of a district's becoming involved in a special education due process hearing. Data for the study was collected for all special education due process hearings conducted in the State of Texas from September 1, 1983, to September 1, 1992. A coding system was used to record the data for the study and the Chi-square test of independence was used to determine whether a relationship existed between the selected variable (hearing issue, disability classifications and restrictiveness of placement) and hearing outcome. The frequency of involvement in hearings for districts of various size and urban characteristics was displayed as a percentage.

The process of transition to school for children with special needs is a complex one. There is a range of stakeholders involved in the process - the child, their family and a range of professionals. The process involves a change from one set of service providers to another, and may include shifts in philosophies, models of service delivery and qualifications and practices of staff. If the process is to be effective and efficient continuity is essential, including continuity between services the child is leaving and the school; of teaching and learning; of relationships with families; and of planning and management of the transition process. During the transition process the attitudes and views of families and professionals are enmeshed within a framework of policies, management procedures and the decision making required within each. This thesis includes an outline of best practice and investigates the issue of continuity during the transition from early intervention services to school. Research was carried out in Western Sydney with a group of early childhood teachers who described their current beliefs and practices related to transition. The results are outlined and discussed and recommendations made for the delivery of more effective transitions to school for children with special needs and their families / Master of Education (Hons) / YES/NO

This field study report is concerned with the development, implementation and evaluation of a Diploma of Special Education (UG2) teacher training program. In March, 1974, the Advanced Education Beard of Mew South Wales requested that Nepean College of Advanced Education, Westmead, implement a one year training course for Generalist (Resource) Teachers in Special Education to begin in February, 1975. The lecturers in special education, Mr. Richard Fee and Mr. George Comino, proceed to design a training program which departed radically from the approach adopted by the other colleges of advanced education in New South Wales (Mitchell, Newcastle, Kuring-gai, Alexander Mackie). Instead of following the noncategorical/ commonality approach used at these colleges, Nepean chose the categorical method. With this method, the education of a number of different handicapped children is studied separately (i.e. mentally retarded, orthopaedically handicapped, etc.) rather than by studying the various disorders collectively (i.e. Exceptional Children in Society, Exceptional Children in School, etc.). In order to evaluate the effectiveness of Nepean's approach to training special education teachers, on-going and summative evaluation in a variety of forms was carried out during the first semester. This evaluation which included the administration of a pilot Teacher Competency in Special Education Self-Rating Scale clearly demonstrated that the first intake of 29 students made significant increases in their ability to teach exceptional children. The results of the evaluation also assisted the lecturers in determining areas of course weakness which could be alleviated during the second semester.

Thesis (M.S.W.)--University of Hong Kong, 1988.