With the advent of recent federal mandates, special educators have been inundated with a plethora of intervening strategies, conceptual models, and theories for use in the classroom. The result is manifest in a strong bias among special educators that is not conducive to the student's learning style. Educators, today, are not only being called upon to teach functional academics to emotionally disturbed youth, they are also asked to ameliorate the debilitating effects of emotional disturbance. Thus, educators are presented with unparalleled change from the world of traditional public school education. Unfortunately, teachers of the emotionally disturbed are not meeting that challenge, and often are providing a confused environment for the student. Students perhaps need a synthesis between directive and nondirective teaching styles. The problem under investigation in this study is the effect of a learning condition in which the teacher determines the limits of the classroom in a directive setting and the degree to which the student sets the limits of the classroom in a nondirective setting. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effects of a directive and nondirective learning environment on the student's acquisition of academic behaviors.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of the Preparation for Adult Living skills training program by measuring the learning gains and learning outcomes of students participating in the training. The quasi-experimental posttest control group design was used. A treatment sample of twelve students received the Preparation for Adult Living training. A nontreatment sample was selected by matching the characteristics of educational and reading level and the gender of twelve students with no previous independent living skills training with those of the treatment sample. Students in the treatment sample were tested for learning gains using the Preparation for Adult Living Test. Both the treatment and nontreatment sample were tested using the post-training Preparation for Adult Living Scale to determine the level of their learning outcomes. The Preparation for Adult Living Test results were analyzed using the t-test for correlated samples of pretests and posttests. The t-test for independent samples was used to analyze the Preparation for Adult Living Scale results to determine the students' learning outcomes. A Pearson r correlation coefficient was calculated for Preparation for Adult Living Scale scores to determine if a relationship existed between employment and the life coping skills of the treatment sample. The findings indicated that no learning gains were made during the training, but that the training had an impact on the students' post-training life-coping skills. A strong relationship was found between the specific life-coping and employment skills of the treatment sample. Investigation of the reliability and validity of the Preparation for Adult Living Test and Scale instruments was recommended.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) mandated that each child who qualifies for special education must have an individualized education program (IEP). Disciplinary issues and procedures under IDEA have been a source of concern among parents, schools, and advocates from disability groups. At issue are fundamental concerns about the protection of rights for students with disabilities, which must be balanced with the ability of school personnel to maintain safe school environments that benefits all students. This research examined the four survey questions related to discipline from a state-wide survey conducted by Education Service Center (ESC) Region 9 through a comparison of selected disability categories as they compare to the responses received from parents of students with the disability category of emotional/behavioral disorders (E/BD). In addition, the research examined the open-ended questions from surveys to determine the types of concerns reported by parents. Data accrued from a focus group of parents receiving special education services are also reported. Parents of students identified as having an E/BD rated their understanding of the school's discipline policy lower than parents of students from other eligibility categories. Almost 67% of parents of students identified as having E/BD stated that they knew that their child might be eligible for alternative discipline procedures. Parents of students identified as E/BD reported at a much higher percentage that they were aware that services must be continued if the child was removed from the instructional setting for discipline problems. In a focus group discussion, a majority of the parent's (67%) responded that they felt like they understood the school's discipline policies. When given a chance to respond through an open-ended questionnaire, parents addressed a variety of problems, such as children being continually suspended for behaviors related to their disability or the behavior intervention plan not being implemented.

This study compared a task analytic versus a traditional approach to teaching a musical instrument to emotionally disturbed children. Students' musical performance and attitude toward the instruction were compared between conditions. Six severely emotionally disturbed boys, 8-11 years of age, participated in the study. Each student learned to play a one, two, and three chord song accompaniment on an omnichord under the two experimental conditions. At the end of each condition and two weeks following the termination of the study, each student was asked to perform the three-chord songs. Their performances were videotaped for future analyses by two independent observers. In addition to the performance ratings, the students completed a questionnaire concerning their attitudes toward the instruction. This questionnaire also served as a dependent measure. No statistically significant differences were found among the performance ratings and student attitudes between conditions. Implications for music therapy practice and future research are given.

A continuum of services model exists which reflects the least and most restrictive special education environments available to provide services to all handicapping conditions. Associated costs increase significantly as the special education student requires more structure and intense services to benefit from individualized instruction. Per student cost to local education agencies (LEAs) and program variables in the areas of social skills curriculum and parental involvement for students identified as seriously emotionally disturbed (SED) and served in (1) self-contained classrooms operated by LEAs; and (2) regional (separate day school) programs operated cooperatively by the LEAs in Virginia are examined in this study. Costs to the LEAs for self-contained instruction were determined by using the Larson Model (1985), as revised by Kienas (1986). In Virginia, costs to the LEAs for placement of SED students in the regional programs were determined by the tuition rate approved by the Virginia Department of Education. State reimbursements for placement of SED students in both environments were considered in final cost calculations. The existence of certain program components in the areas of social skills curriculum and parental involvement were examined by a survey developed and distributed to Special Education Directors in the two described environments. A study of special education placements was conducted in Montgomery County, Maryland in 1982 to compare the costs and characteristics of programs used by that school division for school-aged handicapped students. Montgomery County was concerned over the cost of private placements and wanted to determine if alternative programming should be explored. It was concluded that the regional day program was cost effective when compared to other more restrictive environments, i.e., more costly residential treatment programs. Additionally, that special education program variables were similar in both environments. Other special education finance studies have also concluded that special education costs vary considerably within a given category of handicapping condition and that this cost may not reflect the service levels within programs. LEA expenditures for SED programs and selected program variables in LEA self-contained and regional programs in six LEAs located in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia are described in this. study. The research question to be considered was: Are program administrators’ perceptions of program quality, as measured by the existence of certain social skills curriculum and parental involvement program components, related to LEA costs for self-contained and regional (separate day school) programs for seriously emotionally disturbed students? While findings indicated a slight difference in net expenditures in favor of regional programs, this difference may not be significant based on quality of cost data and consideration for placement in the least restrictive environment. Net expenditures are based on reimbursements to LEAs from the Virginia Department of Education for SED students placed in these two environments. Survey results indicate that regional program administrators perceive higher incidences of quality descriptors in their social skills curriculums and parental involvement programs than the LEA self-contained program administrators perceived in their programs. / Ed. D.

The Ecologically-Based Activity Plan (EBAP) is proposed as a method to create a transition between special education and general education. It serves as a tool to help classroom teachers assess the environment of the class and as a method for embedding instruction within the naturally occurring context of the endogenous constructivist classroom. In this study the EBAP was used to reduce aggressive behavior and increase prosocial behavior among five children who displayed developmental delays in the social and emotional domains.

MPM / Oliver Tambo Institute of Governance and Policy Studies

Historical documentation of the impact of PL 88-164 on the field of emotional and behavioral disorders (E/BD) and the development and implementation of teacher-training programs for children and youth identified as E/BD is limited. This study was designed to document the historical significance and professional contributions of Dr. Richard J. Whelan, Professor Emeritus, University of Kansas and his work in the development of teacher preparation training programs in the field of E/BD in institutions of higher education (IHE). The second purpose of this study was to document the legislative and program initiatives that have impacted the services, education, teaching, and research initiatives in the field of E/BD as interpreted by Dr. Whelan. The final purpose of this study was to examine the views of Dr. Whelan regarding the need for future developments in the field of E/BD. Legislative and policy efforts continue to change the climate in which children are educated. The field of special education relies on the efficacy of the training programs in IHE to provide appropriate teaching and research efforts in a manner that is consistent with the current needs of students with E/BD, their families, and the schools in which they seek to be educated. As this study revealed, understanding the history of the field, the foundational framework from which research and evidence-based practices have emerged, is paramount to forward movement in the field and necessary to the measurement of effective interventions and strategies in support of the students, their families, and those who choose this field as their lifework. It is the foundation from which educational theory is developed, researched, revised, and reflected.