This study investigated what constitutes a moral development program in Buddhist temple preschools in Thailand. The researcher employed three qualitative methods: structured, in-depth interviews, observations of teachers' instruction, and document analysis of curriculum guides. Four Buddhist temple preschools were selected as the sites. Participants for interview included three abbots and one head nun, four principals, and twelve teachers. Participants for observations included four teachers of third year classes in each preschool. The study concentrated on four research questions: (a) what are the elements of the character education curriculum? (b) How do teachers teach moral development concepts and skills? (c) What are the teachers' perceptions of the moral development of third year preschoolers? (d) How do teachers assess their pupils' moral development? Key findings for the research questions were: character education was not a subject in the National Preschool Curriculum which was implemented in the Buddhist temple preschools. Core morality was integrated into every topic. The moral behaviors emphasized in the curriculum and the lesson plans included discipline, mindfulness, kindness, helpfulness, patience, honesty, respect, thriftiness, and politeness. The Buddhist concept of the process of moral development includes character education and meditation. The preschoolers were trained to pay respect to teachers and parents as an obedience approach to character education. Preparation of teachers included screening for their values and pre-service training. The instruction of meditation was approached gradually and aroused the children's interest. After three years of schooling, the third year preschoolers were well-behaved, helpful, and kind; no aggressive behaviors were reported. The assessment of moral development of preschoolers was based on observation of the teachers throughout the school year. Implications for practice are discussed, including procedures for gathering information on beliefs, attitudes, and culture of the parents before implementation of different models of moral development. Finally, future research directions are proposed.

The behavioral and educational literature illustrate the effectiveness of frequency-based training, a procedure derived from Precision Teaching, in improving the reading skills of students with learning and developmental disabilities. The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of frequency-based training versus accuracy training in the acquisition and retention of Dolch words (sight word vocabulary) in students with emotional/ behavioral disorders. The study accounted for practice effects by yoking the number of timings run in the frequency building condition with the accuracy-only condition by staggering the introduction of each condition. Results indicate that frequency-based training was a more effective and time-efficient approach in teaching reading skills to students with emotional/behavioral disorders.

Through two presented experiments, I investigated the relationship between the development of non-arbitrary relational control on a) degree of incidental acquisition of both the listener and speaker components of naming (Inc-BiN), b) arbitrary derived relations, and 3) joint attention for children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In Experiment I, three preschoolers with ASD or developmental disabilities were selected based on their incidental acquisition of the listener component of naming (Inc-UniN). The study explored the effect of non-arbitrary relational teaching across the frames of coordination, distinction, comparison, opposition, and hierarchy on the degree of Inc-BiN for familiar and novel stimuli under the brief condition (Inc-BiN) and the number of correct responses on taught and novel non-arbitrary relations during the pre- or post-intervention probes using a concurrent multiple probes design. All three participants successfully acquired the discriminative function of contextual cues across the five frames for non-arbitrary relations. However, there was no improvement in the degree of Inc-BiN across all three participants. In Experiment II, three new preschoolers who demonstrated Inc-UniN with familiar and novel stimuli at the onset of the study went through the non-arbitrary listener/speaker MEI procedure across different frames to improve their abilities to derive arbitrary relations for coordination, distinctive, and comparison relations, advance the degree of the Inc-BiN with familiar and novel stimuli, and facilitate joint attention skills through a concurrent multiple probe design. The results showed a functional relationship between the non-arbitrary listener/speaker MEI procedure and the participants’ correct listener and speaker responses during derived arbitrary relational assessments across different frames. However, there was no effect on the degree of Inc-BiN or joint attention responses across all three participants after the intervention.

The purpose of the study was to determine a definitive description of "artistic giftedness." A questionnaire was sent to Texas art teachers to find what characteristics they attribute to the artistically gifted, how they determine this, and what program goals they set. The wide variety of survey responses indicates the diversity of artistically gifted individuals. The high rating on all items indicates that all could be used as identifiers (higher rated characteristics identifying a larger population, lower rated ones, a smaller population). Responses to items dealing with identification indicate nontest methods to be most widely used. No connection was found between goals chosen and either characteristics or methods.

Current research and national studies reflect concerns about the quality of differentiated education that is offered to gifted and talented students. Fairfax County Public Schools, in Virginia, has made a commitment to providing differentiated education to gifted and talented students, as mandated by the Virginia Legislature in the Virginia Standards of Quality. This study investigated differences in selected curriculum and student characteristics in Area I English classes in Fairfax County Public Schools, with a focus on four research questions, as follows: 1. Is there a difference in the instructional objectives of regular and gifted classes? 2. Is there a difference in teacher expectations in regular and gifted classes? 3. Is there a difference in parent expectations in regular and gifted classes? 4. Is there a difference in selected student characteristics and expectations in regular and gifted classes? Classroom observations, using four measures, and surveys of students, teachers, and parents were conducted. In addition, the six subtests of the Biographical Inventory for Creativity, seven subtests of the Scientific Research Associates (SRA) test, two subtests of the Differential Aptitude (DAT) test, and grade point averages (GPA) were used to assess differences. An analysis of twenty-three variables using chi-square, t-tests (one sample and pooled), multivariate tests of significance, and analyses of variance revealed that some differences do exist between regular and gifted English curriculum characteristics and students. Results of classroom observations indicated that there is a difference in two measures of curriculum (content and quality of time spent on content) in gifted and regular English classes. There was no statistical significance in the other two measures, teacher expectation and response to content. Surveys of students, teachers, and parents reflected significant differences in perceptions of the curriculum in regular and gifted classes. Results of the Biographical Inventory indicated that there were differences in five of the six measures: academic performance, creativity, leadership, educational orientation, and vocational maturity. There was no significant difference in the sixth measure, artistic potential. There were statistically significant differences in all seven subtests of the SRA (reading, math, language, reference materials, social studies, science, and ability) and both subtests of the DAT (spatial relations and mechanical reasoning). There were also differences found in GPA. / Ed. D.

The purpose of this study was to examine the provision of physical, occupational and speech therapy services and restrictiveness of settings for programs for children, 3-5 years old, with disabilities by North Carolina school districts. Public and federal school systems in North Carolina were participants in the study. A survey research design was utilized to collect information from school districts. In addition to examining implementation of related service and least restrictive environment requirements in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), possible effects of district size was also explored relative to the provision of preschool services. Also examined was whether differences existed between the public and Department of Defense federal school systems. Data from surveys received from North Carolina Exceptional Children Program Administrators were used to illustrate that not all school districts provided all necessary therapy services to preschoolers with disabilities. Occupational therapy was the most reported therapy not provided to children identified as requiring the service. The primary reason for not providing therapy was a shortage of appropriate personnel. / Ed. D.

Mexican-American children are educationally disadvantaged, are at-risk for academic failure, and have not demonstrated the academic achievement that other immigrant groups have, even after they have lived in the U.S. for many generations. Today, parental involvement is being touted by government officials and the popular press as one mechanism through which academic achievement can be increased. If parental involvement is indeed effective, it may be one mechanism for improving the achievement of Mexican-American students. For this research, causal modeling (path analysis) was used to investigate the influence of parental involvement on overall academic achievement, and the reading, math, science, and social studies achievement on 1,714 eighth grade Mexican-American children. This research utilized the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS 88), the third major national longitudinal survey developed by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Parental involvement, defined as discussing school activities and having high educational aspirations for children, positively affected all academic achievement areas. SES (socioeconomic status) and previous learning also had strong influences on achievement. Interestingly, as parents' language proficiency increased, parental involvement decreased, when controlling for the gender of the student, SES, parents' birth place, and previous learning. Gender differences were evident in all academic areas, and females received more attention than males from their parents. Family rules did not influence academic achievement and may in fact have a negative influence on social studies achievement. Since a good education is necessary for all who live in modern society, educators and policy makers should continue to encourage Mexican-American parents to discuss school activities and have high educational aspirations for their children. Parental involvement is one potentially alterable variable which can positively influence the academic achievement of Mexican-American children. / Ph. D.

M.S.

No description available.

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.