The use of consultation as a means of delivering educational instruction to students with disabilities in the general physical education setting is becoming increasingly prevalent in the United States and is most frequently operationalized in a triadic model. In this model the adapted physical educator serves as the consultant, the general physical educator serves as the consultee, and the student serves as the target, or the one who receives the intervention. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to answer the following questions. What are adapted physical education specialists' perceptions about consultation as a delivery model for individuals with disabilities? How do adapted physical education specialists define an effective consultation model for adapted physical education? How do adapted physical education specialists define their role in the consultation process? Six adapted physical education specialists participated in this study. Analysis included two in-depth individual interviews, a one-day field observation with each participant, researcher notes, and a final focus group including, definition, situational context factors, effectiveness, skills, training, consultation model preferences and roles. It was apparent from these participants that consultation interactions on behalf of students with disabilities varied greatly based on the multidimensional and dynamic nature of the educational environment. Results showed that the use of consultation was more prevalent with middle and high school students. It was also found that adapted physical education (APE) consultation could be presented on a continuum from proximal to distal, dependent on the degree of interaction between the APE specialist, the general education teacher and the student. The effectiveness of consultation was dependent upon the general education teacher's attitude, the APE specialist's skills, and the degree of administrative support. Finally, five roles of the APE consultant were delineated from the participants' descriptions of their job-related interactions. These roles were; advocate, educator, courier, supporter/helper, and resource coordinator. / Graduation date: 1999

The purpose of this study was to explore some of the factors White educators need to teach Black students effectively. It examined what role the race of the teachers may play in Black students' academic success and whether White teachers are able and willing to meet the educational needs of Black students. Eight White teachers were interviewed. In this study, race is defined as a grouping of individuals who display the same phenotypic skin color by which people in the United States identify themselves and are identified by others. Today's reality is that more and more Black students are being taught by White teachers in public schools even where Black students are a majority. There are still marked disparities in the academic achievement between Black and White students. The gap between the academic achievement of White and Black students in public secondary schools is increasing. White teachers have not been properly prepared by their pre-service education programs and in-service training to teach Black students effectively. White teachers recognized that their preparation and training for teaching came out of their own cultural background for the traditional students, either White students or students who conform to mainstream Eurocentric standards, and that they are not being held responsible and accountable for the productive academic achievement of the Black students they teach. White teachers did not identify with their Black students, and they dealt with Black students from their "White privilege" perspective. This study revealed the presence of racism in the public school and that the race of the teacher did affect the achievement of Black students. It pointed out that White teachers fear the Black students they teach. White teachers need to be antiracist educators. They must understand racism and how different forms of racism affect their belief systems and their philosophies of teaching. Also they should know and understand how these forms of racism affect the academic achievement of the Black students they teach. The concept of "customer" being applied to teaching Black students might encourage White teachers to be more responsive, accountable and productive in teaching Black students. / Graduation date: 1997

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The primary purpose of this study was to examine educators’ perceptions of how students’ social and emotional needs impact the educational environment and to determine if participating educators felt prepared to meet their students’ social and emotional needs. The research was conducted in two Midwestern states using an online survey instrument. The study participants included in-service teachers, former educators, college faculty, and graduate-education students, all of whom were solicited using a convenience sample method. Participants were solicited from graduate-level education classes and from a public school system. The participants varied in numerous ways including age, gender, educational training and teaching experiences. Data gathered in the study was used to examine the relationships between the educators’ initial teacher training and the educators’ perceptions concerning the importance of meeting students' social and emotional needs in the classroom. The majority of educators (93%) ranked meeting students’ social and emotional needs in their classrooms as either important or very important. Many educators reported that they believed meeting students’ social and emotional needs impacted the students’ learning. Most educators (81%) indicated that their initial teacher did not properly prepare them to meet their students’ social and emotional needs. Additionally, 75% of the educators reported that they would be interested in receiving more training in this area. Some of the educators’ responses appeared to be related to their education, experience and training. Special education teachers were most likely to suggest that meeting students’ social and emotional needs would improve their students’ learning. Early childhood educators ranked the importance of meeting students’ social and emotional needs significantly higher than did their colleagues who were working with older students. Educators trained during or after 2002 felt better prepared in areas concerning social and emotional needs than those trained before 2002. The results of this survey indicate that educators perceive social and emotional learning to be an important topic and are interested in receiving more training in this area. More research is needed to solicit opinions from educators across the United States on how to best prepare and support classroom teachers in the area of meeting students’ social and emotional needs. / Department of Elementary Education