No description available.

No description available.

Video-Based Instruction (VBI) is an evidence-based practice that has been used for teaching new skills to individuals with disabilities for over two decades. VBI involves the use of pre-recorded videos to teach new skills. Benefits of VBI include flexibility in when the instruction is provided to students and allows students to receive instruction while the teacher is working with another person. A multiple baseline across participants design was used to evaluate the impact of the independent variable of VBI, upon the dependent variables of (a) the percentage of steps completed correctly to make novel calendar entries; (b) the timeliness of arriving for scheduled meetings; and (c) timeliness of completing the scheduled tasks (sending text messages). Three female students aged 25 to 31 with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) living at a residential transition program for adults with ASD and Learning Disabilities participated in the study. One of three participants met criteria (80% accuracy) to correctly make novel calendar entries. Two of the three participants needed an additional prompt to meet criteria (80% accuracy) to correctly make novel calendar entries. One of three participants increased and maintained timeliness for arriving for scheduled meetings. Each participant improved the timeliness of completing the scheduled tasks (sending text messages). This study supports the effectiveness of VBI for the instruction of daily living skills to individuals with ASD. Implications for practitioners, limitations and suggestions for future research are also discussed.

Through secondary analyses of quantitative data obtained from the Transition and Postsecondary Programs for Students with Intellectual Disabilities (TPSID) National Coordinating Center database from the first cohort (2010-2015) of model demonstration sites in Florida, this study examined components of the postsecondary education programs for students with intellectual disabilities that are correlated with employment upon program exit. This study adds to the emergent knowledge base on inclusive higher education by identifying the programmatic components of the postsecondary education programs for students with intellectual disability most correlated with successful transition from college to employment. This information can be used to inform program development and refinement to foster employment upon exit, a worthy outcome that leads to greater quality of life. The academic access program component of inclusive coursework was found to have the strongest correlation with the post-school outcome of paid, competitive employment upon exit. This program component aligns with the established predictors of post-school success for students with disabilities (Mazzotti et al., 2016) and employment for people with intellectual disabilities (Southward & Kyzar, 2017). Areas of agreement are discussed as well as implications for a number of stakeholders.

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This sandwich dissertation examines physical disorder as a type of ‘neighbourhood effect’ on education. My research takes a mixed-methods approach to understanding how physical disorder in areas surrounding schools might affect their educational outcomes, such as achievement, climate and discipline, over and above the demographic characteristics of their students. It also points to two possible mechanisms to therefore determine how these net effects might arise. This original contribution to the neighbourhood effects literature combines citywide, systematic data on physical disorder, neighbourhood demographics and school outcomes, with qualitative data on the views of stakeholders and repeated observations of select neighbourhoods. Through a quantitative and method-intensive paper, Chapter two discusses the procedures for collecting data on disorder, developing different scales of disorder, and how disorder relates to a variety of census measures and other neighbourhood and school measures. This research presents evidence that Systematic Social Observation (SSO) can provide a reliable and cost effective means of neighbourhood assessment. The results show that observed disorder is statistically related to neighbourhood socio-demographics, collective efficacy, and various academic outcomes. What is surprising, however, was that school exterior disorder had little to no explanatory power compared to observed disorder and graffiti in the face blocks surrounding schools. These findings highlight how beyond the recognized effects of socio-demographics, additional mechanisms in neighbourhoods, such as disorder and graffiti, can directly and indirectly influence school outcomes like achievement, discipline, and safety. My third chapter directly studies the impact of characteristics of neighbourhoods by examining the direct and additive effect(s) of observed disorder on academic achievement, discipline, and safety. Two sets of findings were reported. First, ordinary least squares (OLS) regression models showed that neighbourhood disorder but not school disorder was strongly associated with neighbourhood poverty. While the former effect was expected, the latter finding is interpreted as demonstrating how institutional processes in education can detach school physical plants from their immediate surroundings. Second, net of neighbourhood poverty and school size and type, higher levels of neighbourhood disorder were associated with lower school achievement, higher suspension rates, and larger proportions of students reporting to feel unsafe, though school disorder had far weaker effects. These findings are interpreted as demonstrating the power of neighbourhood disorder to trigger either student deviance or family self-selection processes, but also demonstrating how institutional processes can weaken the signalling power of disorder on school grounds and property. The fourth chapter provides an in-depth examination of two purported mechanisms to uncover the social processes that generated the broad relationships established in chapters 2 and 3. This research demonstrates that self-selection and reputational processes are likely generators of the net effects that were demonstrated in previous chapters. My qualitative evidence suggests that nearby disorder likely sends negative signals to would-be choosers of schools, creating (and perpetuating) long-lasting perceptions and reputations amongst aspiring, ambitious and achievement-oriented families. Schools with lots of nearby disorder are regarded to have deep-rooted problems, connected to their local populations and building conditions. As a result, aspiring families were recognized to self-select out of these disorderly schools, and re-locate elsewhere. This sandwich dissertation has found an intriguing pattern of effects and non-effects of disorder on schooling. It also highlights how neighbourhood disorder can send strong signals that ultimately shape school processes. Though many neighbourhood researchers have applied hypotheses of disorder to a variety of human capital outcomes there has been little recognition of disorder as a physical ‘neighbourhood effect’ on schooling. From this perspective, it is not only helpful to recognize that disorder in nearby areas seems to affect schooling, but that self-selection and reputation processes can explain how this specific neighbourhood effect might arise. Since a shortcoming of existing work is that neighbourhood attributes are measured primarily using census data, the contribution of this dissertation to sociology is that researchers are now better equipped methodologically to design their own standardized approaches and disorder scales that directly measure neighbourhood conditions. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

“Linking Functional Skills to Educational Goals for Students with Significant Disabilities: A Professional Development Series” is an occupational therapist-developed multi-disciplinary professional development and mentorship series that helps special educators link educational standards to functional life skills to support improved post-school outcomes. The evidence-based and theoretically-grounded professional development series addresses the need for ongoing professional development for educators working with students with significant disabilities and in so doing also attempts to improve the long-standing poor post-school outcomes of this student population. A review of the literature indicated that overall, post-school outcomes continue to be poor for students with significant disabilities as they remain dependent upon their caregivers for daily living activities and are consistently under-employed, if employed at all. Content of the program will help educational staff integrate functional life skills into academic curriculum thereby supporting functional as well as academic outcomes using Alwell and Cobb’s (2009) five domains of life skills. Structure of the program will entail collaborative sessions using matrices that guide goal and curriculum development based on assessment protocols. Monthly job-embedded coaching and mentorship opportunities will align with recommendations in the literature. Local and national grant opportunities will fund the project and dissemination of program results will occur via local, state, and national conference opportunities. Such an occupation- and performance-based curriculum serves to develop young adults whose education truly results in participating and active members of their community, with decreased caregiver burden, as well as increased student self-concept and established and continuously emerging identities and roles.

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No description available.

How do the Catholic Schools Consultants through their leadership and relationship with Principals influence the outcomes of Catholic systemic schools in New South Wales (NSW)? This research question has been of considerable interest to the professional communities of Catholic educators. Throughout NSW there are eleven diocesan Catholic school systems, each led by a Director assisted by senior field officers called Consultants, the equivalent position of Area superintendents or inspectors in other school systems. The leadership of these Consultants is considered critical for the effectiveness of the school systems especially through their influence on and with Principals. Within this survey research study, the total population of Consultants and Principals was invited to participate, and 45 Consultants (90%) and 365 Principals (76%) responded. The research study was based on the assumption that a ‘classical’ view of leadership should be augmented by a more complex, interactive view of leadership as relationship that influenced outcomes in school systems. The study was operationalized in three dimensions. Leadership was described by ten variables, derived from Sashkin’s (1998) Visionary Leadership Theory. The relationship between Consultant and Principals was posited as a composite of two variables, Interpersonal Relation and Shared Catholic Leadership Mindset, that are viewed as explanatory, mediating variables. Three selected outcome variables are posited – Educational Outcomes, School Outcomes and Spiritual Outcomes. The fifteen variables so described were developed and/or validated for this study using confirmatory factor analysis. Additionally, the impact of three demographic background factors of gender, school type, and years of networking association between Consultant and Principals on the main variables in the study was examined. A mediated – effects survey research design was used. Survey questionnaires were sent from the local Catholic Education Office to each volunteer Consultant and to her/his associated network of Principals on a confidential basis and returned directly to the researcher. At no stage did the researcher know the identity of the respondents. Data analysis methods included comparative means analysis of Consultants’ and Principals’ perceptions of the variables; multiple regression analysis and structural equation modelling to examine the associations between variables; MANOVA analysis to examine demographic background factors; and finally some descriptive analysis of survey data to provide validation or further insights. The study results showed that both Consultants and Principals agreed that the Consultants demonstrated visionary leadership as defined by Sashkin (1998) although there were significant differences on seven leadership factors. There was high level agreement that Consultants and Principals exhibited a shared mindset, described as Shared Catholic Leadership Mindset, and outstanding interpersonal relationships. Findings about the associations between variables showed different results for Principals and Consultants. The ‘Principals’ model suggested that the two relationship variables acted as mediators between some of the ten leadership variables and the three outcome variables. On the other hand, the ‘Consultants’ model suggested that neither of the two relationship variables acted as mediators, but that only two leadership variables, Capable Management and Creative Leadership, had any influence on Outcomes. There were no significant differences on results due to gender, school type or years of networking association for either Principals or Consultants. These results, supplemented by qualitative findings, led to the conclusion that there was a need for system policy makers to reconceptualise the leadership of such Consultants to emphasise the importance of the shared mindset, and the synergistic element in the relationship between Consultant and Principals. There was a recommendation that further research replicate this study with other Catholic, Government and independent education systems. The use of structural equation modelling analysis in similar future research was also recommended.