This study explored potential patterns of association among the demographic characteristics, identification practices, educational interventions, and educational outcomes for students with serious emotional disturbance (SED) as well as specifically investigated the impact of age at identification with SED and the presence of co-occurring disabilities. Data was gathered from the educational records of students with SED in seven rural to semi-rural districts in Texas. Demographic information included gender, ethnicity, age at identification with SED, and identification with co-occurring disabilities. Identification variables that were investigated include the five federal qualifying criteria for SED, IQ score, and BASC and/or CBCL scores. Intervention variables that were explored included placement setting, restrictiveness of placement setting, type of related services provided, parental attendance at multidisciplinary team meetings, number of multidisciplinary team meetings, and total time spent in special education as a student with SED. Outcome variables that were examined included achievement levels in reading and math, attendance, special education status, and grade retention. Results suggested that earlier identification with SED is related to placement in less restrictive settings, achievement within two years of grade level in reading, and lower average number of absences. The presence of co-occurring disabilities in addition to SED is associated with placement in more restrictive settings and with achievement that is two or more years below grade level in reading and math. Additional findings and implications for future research as well as for current practice are discussed.

Public schools traditionally have been held accountable for educating the majority of the nation’s school children, and through the years, these schools have been evaluated in a variety of ways. Currently, evaluation measures for accountability purposes consist solely of standardized test scores. In the past, only test scores of general education students were analyzed. Laws governing the education of students with disabilities, however, have extended accountability measures not only to include those students, but to report their scores in a disaggregated form (No Child Left Behind Act, 2002). The recent emphasis on accountability and compliance has resulted in the need for schools to carefully examine how programs, services, and policies impact student achievement (Bowers & Figgers, 2003). Standard-based school reform and accountability systems have raised expectations about student learning outcomes for all students, including those with disabilities and minority students. Yet, overall, racial/ethnic minority students are performing well below their White non-Hispanic peers in most academic areas. Additionally, with respect to special education, there exists an enduring problem of disproportionate representation of racial/ethnic minority students (National Research Council, 2000). This study examined classroom placement (inclusive versus non-inclusive) relative to academic performance of urban, low socioeconomic Hispanic students with and without disabilities in secondary content area classrooms. A mixed method research design was used to investigate this important issue using data from a local school district and results from field observations. The study compared performance levels of four middle school Hispanic student subgroups (students with disabilities in inclusive settings, students without disabilities in inclusive settings, students with disabilities in resource settings, and student without disabilities in general education settings) each in their respective placements for two consecutive years, exploring existing practices within authentic settings. Significant differences were found in the relationship of educational placement and achievement between grade level and disability in the areas of math and reading. Additionally, clear and important differences were observed in student-teacher interactions. Recommendations for further researchers and stakeholders include soliciting responses from teams at the schools composed of general education and special education teachers, administrative personnel, and students as well as broadening the study across grade levels and exceptionalities.

No description available.

Background: Many hearing impaired children present with one or more health-related conditions, in addition to hearing loss. Families and professionals are therefore faced with numerous challenges when a child presents with co-morbidities of hearing loss. The implications for assessment, management and educational placement of these children are numerous. Appropriate plans for holistic intervention and education are essential for the development of the child as well as improved life quality. This study therefore aimed to describe the co-morbidities that pre-school children with hearing loss present with at the Centre for Language and Hearing Impaired Children (CLAHIC), and its implications for management. Method: A descriptive, retrospective research design was employed for the purpose of this study. A non-probability, purposive sampling strategy was implemented to select the records of children diagnosed with a hearing loss, and who have attended CLAHIC from 1999 to 2010. The records of 62 children were reviewed. Results: The more prevalent co-morbidities identified in this study were fine motor delay, gross motor delay, visual motor integration disorder, bilateral integration disorder , apraxia of speech and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Further findings of the study indicated that the co-morbidities of hearing loss are independent of the degree of the hearing loss. It was however found that there is an increased risk for fine-motor difficulties across the sample. Implications: The findings of this research suggest that pre-school children with hearing loss, irrespective of degree of hearing loss, should be screened and or monitored for the risk of prevalent co-morbidities, such as fine and gross motor difficulties. A collaborative, holistic and multi-disciplinary team approach should be implemented to ensure that services are provided to improve the life quality and development of the hearing impaired child.

Due to the social uncertainties caused by Taiwan¡¦s economic recession and rapid social changes, many people try to seek solace in fortune telling, which they believe can bring them peace of mind. Therefore, how to provide a high quality and high credibility fortune-telling environment lest people should be swindled by ill-intentioned fortune tellers is a public policy and a social responsibility that the government shouldn¡¦t evade. In terms of the great influence of Chinese Numerology on Taiwanese people and its great demand, I suggest in my research paper that an environment suitable for the development of Chinese Numerology be provided in Taiwan society. In this way, the mid-term quality control and long-term academic development of Chinese Numerology can be assured. This thesis aims at exploring the theory and technique of Chinese Numerology, an ancient Chinese science and culture. Through the related courses offered by the technological and vocational education system, internationally top-notch Chinese Numerology professionals and Feng Shui experts can thus be cultivated. Due to the limitation of time, human resources and money, the field of my research paper focuses mainly on the influence Chinese Numerology has exerted on Taiwanese people and what expectations the have had of it. As National Kaohsiung Hospitality College can educate outstanding restaurant and hotel personnel, so can vocational technological universities offering Chinese Numerology courses cultivate excellent experts in this field. By absorbing Chinese and Western traditional cultural ideas, these experts will create Taiwan¡¦s Chinese Numerology industry and make themselves become internationally acclaimed. Questionaires are distributed asking people in Kaohsiung what they think of the implementation of Chinese Numerology in technological and vocational education system. It is hoped that the cultivation of internationally top-notch Chinese Numerology professionals and Feng Shui experts will consolidate Taiwan¡¦s leading status in the field of Chinese Numerology, which will become Taiwan¡¦s unique cultural feature in the future. At the end of my thesis, three suggestions are made. First, for the development of Chinese Numerology, related courses should be incorporated into the curricula of technological and vocational universities. Second, the Chinese Numerology certificate system should be established. Third, academic research centers of Chinese Numerology should be set up to cultivate more high-quality experts in this field.

Black students, in general, are underserved academically (Darling-Hammond, 2000; Townsend, 2002) and overrepresented in special education (Donovan & Cross, 2002). Black students with disabilities are further overrepresented in more restrictive educational environments (Skiba, Poloni-Staudinger, Gallini, Simmons & Feggins-Azziz, 2006). Although the National Longitudinal Transition Study 2 (NLTS2) revealed that the academic performance of students with learning disabilities is positively related to the percentage of courses taken in the general education setting (Newman, 2006), the research specifically on placement of Black students with disabilities, particularly at the secondary level, as it relates to academic achievement is lacking. While previous studies have sought to determine which placement is better for students with disabilities, no study was found that specifically examined the impact of placement specific to Black students with specific learning disabilities (SLD) in urban settings (Fore, III, Hagan-Burke, Burke, Boon & Smith, 2008; Rea, McLaughlin & Walther-Thomas, 2002). This study examined educational placement, instructional best practices, and achievement gains of Black students with SLD in urban secondary settings using an ex post facto research design. Achievement, placement, and demographic data were collected and analyzed on approximately 314 Black eighth grade students with SLD. The Teacher Instructional Practices Survey was developed and used to collect and analyze data from the teachers of 78 of these students as it relates to instructional best practices. Results indicate no significant difference in reading but a significant difference in math gains of students served in inclusive settings as compared to resource settings with a small effect size. Also, no significant relationship was found between achievement gains and the reported use of instructional best practices. However, there was a relationship between educational placement and the use of instructional best practices. The results implied that there is a need for training with both general and special education teachers on instructional best practices for SWD and that there should be certain IEP team considerations when making placement decisions for this population of students with disabilities. It is recommended that future research in this area include classroom observations and factors other than test scores to measure growth in achievement.

In comparison to school age special education practices, preschool special education practices have received far less attention in the research community. Each year in the United States, over 250,000 preschool age children are determined to exhibit developmental delay. It is unknown how many of them exhibit developmental delay in the area of social emotional functioning and what is the educational placement in which they received special education services. In this study, a national sample of school psychologists (n=119) who practice in early childhood settings was surveyed with regard to their assessment and educational placement practices. Results indicated that more school psychologists chose the regular education setting as opposed to separate classroom for placement of children with social and developmental delays. However, when placement options were grouped by settings it became evident that overall more preschoolers with social and emotional delays receive services in non-inclusive settings. Assessment factors as opposed to program factors were most influential on placement decisions. Observation in the educational setting was found to be the primary assessment tool in both assessment of social emotional competencies and in contributing to placement decisions. School psychologists reported annual monitoring of placement decisions and no correlation between the frequency of monitoring and the psychologists' perceived quality and efficacy of programming was found. Possible explanations and the associated implications of the study's findings are discussed. / School Psychology

One of the most controversial issues in the field of education is the determination of the educational placement of deaf K-12 students. Although school psychologists are involved in the determination process, little is known about their specific role in decision-making. School psychologists (n=357) with varying degrees of specialization in this area were surveyed with regard to their experience and perceptions. Results indicated that student audiological status predicts the types of assessment data that school psychologists collect and report in order to inform educational placement decisions. Participants who responded to the survey on the basis of their experience making placement decisions for deaf students (n=54) perceived themselves as less influential over the decisions than participants who responded on the basis of their experience making placement decisions for hearing students (n=303). Additionally, there was a relationship between school psychologists' specialization in the area of deafness and the interpretation of the phrase, the "least restrictive environment." Possible explanations and the associated implications of these findings are discussed. / School Psychology

In der vorliegenden Dissertation wird untersucht, wie die Beschulungsart mit den schulischen Kompetenzen und der schulischen Motivation von Schülerinnen und Schülern mit sonderpädagogischem Förderbedarf (SPF) in der vierten Jahrgangsstufe zusammenhängt. In der ersten Teilstudie wurde geprüft, ob die Kompetenztests im IQB-Ländervergleich 2011 geeignet sind, die schulischen Kompetenzen von Kindern mit SPF in Förderschulen und allgemeinen Schulen reliabel und valide zu erfassen. Die Messeigenschaften der Kompetenztests waren zwischen den Schülergruppen mit SPF in Förderschulen und allgemeinen Schulen vergleichbar. Jedoch zeigten sich Einschränkungen in der Testgüte für die Kompetenztests im Fach Mathematik für Kinder mit SPF in Förderschulen. In der zweiten Teilstudie wurden die schulischen Kompetenzen in den Fächern Deutsch und Mathematik zwischen Kindern mit SPF in Förderschulen und allgemeinen Schulen miteinander verglichen. Kinder mit SPF in allgemeinen Schulen erzielten in beiden Fächern höhere schulische Kompetenzen als Kinder mit SPF in Förderschulen mit vergleichbaren Lernvoraussetzungen und Hintergrundmerkmalen. Insbesondere Kinder mit dem Förderschwerpunkt Lernen profitierten von einer Beschulung in allgemeinen Schulen. In der dritten Teilstudie zeigte sich, dass die fähigkeitsbezogene Klassenkomposition unter Berücksichtigung individueller Hintergrundmerkmale und Schulart positiv mit den schulischen Kompetenzen von Kindern mit SPF zusammenhing. In der vierten Teilstudie wurden Zusammenhänge zwischen der Beschulungsart und Merkmalen der schulischen Motivation untersucht. Kinder mit SPF in Förderschulen wiesen ein höheres akademisches Selbstkonzept in den Fächern Deutsch und Mathematik sowie fächerübergreifend eine höhere Lernfreude auf als Kinder mit SPF in allgemeinen Schulen. Diese motivationalen Unterschiede konnten auf die geringere Leistungsstärke in Förderschulen im Vergleich zu allgemeinen Schulen zurückgeführt werden. / The present dissertation examines the relation between the educational placement of students with special educational needs (SEN) in special education schools or regular schools and their school achievement and achievement motivation at the end of fourth grade. In the first study, we investigated if the achievement tests in German and mathematics assess SEN students’ proficiencies reliably and validly. Overall, the interpretation of the test scores was comparable between students with SEN in special education schools and regular schools. Comparability of the achievement tests in mathematics, however, was constrained for SEN students in special education schools compared to students without SEN. In the second study, we compared SEN students’ school achievement in German and mathematics between special education schools and regular schools. SEN students in regular schools had significantly higher test scores across both domains than comparable SEN students in special education schools. In particular, students with special needs in learning benefitted from an education in regular schools. In the third study, we found a significant positive relationship between the average cognitive abilities at the class level and SEN students’ individual school achievement in German and mathematics after accounting for students’ achievement-related characteristics and educational placement in special education schools or regular schools. The fourth study focused on the relation between SEN students’ educational placement and their achievement motivation. SEN students in special education schools reported higher academic self-concepts in German and mathematics as well as more enjoyment of learning than SEN students in regular schools. Placement differences could be explained by the lower class-average achievement in special education schools compared to regular schools.