Showing papers in "Remedial and Special Education in 2005"
TL;DR: In this article, a conceptual framework of self-advocacy involving four components: knowledge of self, knowledge of rights, communication, and leadership is developed to serve as a guide for instructional planning, curricular design, and assessment for students with and without disabilities.
Abstract: Based on a review of the literature and input from stakeholders, we developed a conceptual framework of self-advocacy involving four components: knowledge of self, knowledge of rights, communication, and leadership. This article summarizes the definitions and components of self-advocacy found in the literature that were used to develop this conceptual framework. The resulting framework of self-advocacy is designed to serve as a guide for instructional planning, curricular design, and assessment of self-advocacy for students with and without disabilities.
283 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss the state of urban schools in the post-Brown era, and the double jeopardy of disproportionality and urban school failure, the reasons why Brown is not working from the perspectives of urban community leaders, and recommendations for fufilling the p
Abstract: The decision in the Brown v Board of Education (1954) case was one of the most significant events in American history in general and specifically in the educational system Brown is so highly regarded because it held promise of placing America on the path toward equitable treatment of all of its citizens and laid the foundation for the civil rights and disabilities rights movements Fifty years after Brown, however, it is very clear that many of the promises of Brown have not been fulfilled with regard to students of color living in urban settings, students who live in poverty, and students with disabilities This article will discuss (a) the state of urban schools in the post-Brown era, (b) special education in the post-Brown era, (c) disproportionality and resegregation of African American students, (d) the double jeopardy of disproportionality and urban school failure, (e) the reasons why Brown is not working from the perspectives of urban community leaders, and (f) recommendations for fufilling the p
254 citations
TL;DR: The authors used both oral reading and maze measures with EL and non-EL students to predict their performance on the reading portion of a state standards test for third and fifth-grade students.
Abstract: Curriculum-based measurement (CBM) of oral reading has been used to aid in identifying students who are at risk for failing the reading portion of their spring state standards tests. The purpose of this study is to determine whether adding a maze reading measure would aid in predicting the performance of students who are English learners (ELs). The study, conducted in an urban elementary school, used both oral reading and maze measures with EL and non-EL students to predict their performance on the reading portion of a state standards test for third- and fifth-grade students. Moderate to moderately strong correlations were obtained between the state standards test and both oral reading fluency and the maze task. Combining the measures increased the predictive power for non-EL students but not for ELs.
177 citations
TL;DR: The authors examined the research on the effectiveness of retention and other responses, including social promotion, and the growing parental practice of "academic redshirting" of children by delaying their entry into kindergarten.
Abstract: State and district accountability systems are increasingly including retention in grade for young students who do not demonstrate adequate reading achievement levels. This article examines the research on the effectiveness of retention and other responses, including social promotion, and the growing parental practice of “academic redshirting” of children by delaying their entry into kindergarten. Recommendations for future research are discussed.
170 citations
TL;DR: This paper examined the effect of students' ethnicity on teachers' educational decision-making and found that the student's ethnicity did not make a difference in the teachers' referral decisions, but did not have a significant effect on the teacher's evaluation of a student's academic performance.
Abstract: This study examines the effect of students' ethnicity on teachers' educational decision making. A total of 207 elementary school teachers from a large midwestern city participated in this study. All participants were randomly assigned to one of three treatment conditions. Each group was provided with a short case vignette describing a gifted child. One third of the teachers read a vignette describing a European American student, one third read a vignette describing an African American student, and one third served as a control group and received no information about the student's ethnicity. After reading the vignette, all participants were asked to respond to two questions. The results of this study indicated that the student's ethnicity did make a difference in the teachers' referral decisions.
167 citations
TL;DR: The reauthorized Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a school-reform law closely aligned with the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB); a civil rights law; and a “cousin” of the 1996 welfare reform law.
Abstract: The reauthorized Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a school-reform law closely aligned with the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB); a civil rights law; and a “cousin” of the 1996 welfare reform law. By imposing new or strengthened accountability expectations on students with disabilities and their parents, the reauthorized IDEA conveys a message about personal responsibilities. In that respect, it makes accountability—the hallmark of NCLB, and one of the core concepts in the original (1975) and all subsequent authorizations of IDEA—a bilateral concept: Congress, the SEAs, and the LEAs will assume shared responsibilities for educating students with disabilities and benefiting their parents, but the students and their parents must take on more responsibilities for their own behavior and for their relationships with the SEAs and LEAs.
161 citations
TL;DR: This paper traced the origins of the current problem of overrepresentation by tracing the tangled relationship of special education and resegregation in the first years of the 50th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education decision.
Abstract: In this first decade of the 21st century, we mark two milestones in education history: the 50th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education decision in 2004, and the 30th anniversary of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ( IDEA) in 2005. Both Brown and IDEA asserted the need for increased educational opportunities for once excluded groups of students and asserted that segregation was inherently harmful and unequal. However, although we might wish to celebrate, there is also a need to critically examine the unfulfilled promise of both these efforts toward integrated education. In this article, we focus on one of the most long-standing critiques of special education practice: the disproportionate placement of students of color in special education programs, referred to in the education literature as overrepresentation. We then trace some of the origins of the current problem of overrepresentation by tracing the tangled relationship of special education and resegregation in the first years fo...
158 citations
TL;DR: The authors focused on the discrepancy between school personnel's negative stereotyping of African American families and the family information gleaned by ethnographic research, using findings from a 3-year ethnographic study of the special education placement process in a culturally diverse urban school district.
Abstract: This article focuses on the discrepancy between school personnel's negative stereotyping of African American families and the family information gleaned by ethnographic research. Using findings from a 3-year ethnographic study of the special education placement process in a culturally diverse urban school district, we describe the general atmosphere of negativity that prevailed among school personnel with regard to African American families living in poverty. The article focuses on the families of three case study students who were referred to special education. Home visits and ethnographic interviews with caregivers revealed family strengths that were neither known nor tapped by school personnel. We interpret the findings in terms of the power of cultural capital and the discrepancy between the schools' perceptions of such capital and the capital actually possessed by families.
141 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the extent of disproportionate representation for the disability conditions of learning disability (LD), serious emotional disturbance (SED), and mental retardation (MR) at the state, regional, and national levels was investigated.
Abstract: Gender disproportionality in special education has been apparent for many years, reflected in male-to-female ratios that range from about 1.5:1 to 3.5:1. The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent of disproportionate representation for the disability conditions of learning disability (LD), serious emotional disturbance (SED), and mental retardation (MR) at the state, regional, and national levels. Using data collected by the U.S. Office for Civil Rights, we examined the hypothesis that current variations across states in gender disproportionality should be small, and similar to rates for the nation as a whole. Substantial variations in state rates for students with LD and SED were observed. We also examined the hypothesis that states serving relatively fewer students for a given disability are likely to have greater male overrepresentation. This hypothesis was generally supported for students with LD but not for students with MR or SED. We examined factors related to state policies for studen...
132 citations
TL;DR: The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was recently reauthorized as the Individuals with disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 as discussed by the authors, and several significant changes were made in the most recent reauthorization, including requirements for highly qualified special education teachers; a track that will result in full funding; changes in the composition of Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) and committee involvement in the IEP process; transition from school to postschool; identification procedures for students with learning disabilities (LD); due process hearings; expulsion and suspension of students with disabilities; and a host of other
Abstract: The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was recently reauthorized as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004. Several significant changes were made in the most recent reauthorization. These included requirements for “highly qualified” special education teachers; a track that will result in full funding; changes in the composition of Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) and committee involvement in the IEP process; transition from school to postschool; identification procedures for students with learning disabilities (LD); due process hearings; expulsion and suspension of students with disabilities; and a host of other, less significant changes. Although on the surface some of these changes appear to be major, the primary purpose of IDEA—providing a free, appropriate public education for children with disabilities—remains intact.
105 citations
TL;DR: The authors investigated the behaviors of parents and teachers in the United States and Taiwan in fostering the self-determination of elementary and secondary school students, and found that U.S. parents reported significantly higher levels of engagement in selfdetermination.
Abstract: This study investigated the behaviors of parents and teachers in the United States and Taiwan in fostering the self-determination of elementary and secondary school students. Participants were parents and teachers of 203 students from the United States and 90 students from Taiwan. Findings indicated that U.S. teachers reported similar levels of engagement in selfdetermination—fostering behaviors as teachers in Taiwan; U.S. parents reported significantly higher levels of engagement in selfdetermination—fostering behaviors than parents in Taiwan; in both countries, teachers and parents of secondary school students reported higher levels of engagement than teachers and parents of elementary school students; and country differences and teacher—parent differences were related to some specific items. Interpretations of these findings and their implications for parent and teacher education and cultural differences are discussed.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors developed and validated a classroom observation measure to assess the quality of reading instruction provided to first-grade English learners, and reported the internal consistency reliability, interrater reliability, and the development of empirically derived subscales.
Abstract: The first portion of this article describes the development and validation of a classroom observation measure. The goal of the measure was to assess the quality of reading instruction provided to first-grade English learners. We report the internal consistency reliability, interrater reliability, the development of empirically derived subscales, and the criterion-related validity of the subscales. The latter was moderately high for three of the six subscales (range = .62—.65) and moderate for the three others (range = .49—.57). The second portion of this article includes a contrasted groups analysis of the four classes with the lowest and highest growth in reading. We conclude with a presentation of the major themes and issues that emerged in the qualitative field notes.
TL;DR: This paper investigated the differential effects of two direct instruction (DI) reading programs, one with overt decoding strategies and one with more covert decoding strategies, on the reading achievement of struggling seventh graders in an urban middle school.
Abstract: This study investigated the differential effects of two direct instruction (DI) reading programs, one with overt decoding strategies and one with more covert decoding strategies, on the reading achievement of struggling seventh graders in an urban middle school. The students participating in this study (N = 55) were 2 to 4 years behind in reading achievement according to standardized pretests. Results indicate that after a 6-week reading intervention, all students, regardless of overt or covert DI programs, made significant gains in reading, with the only differential effect demonstrated in the area of reading rate. These findings are significant considering that the participants were struggling readers. Implications for increasing the performance of struggling middle school readers are discussed.
TL;DR: In this paper, current pre-reference intervention team (PIT) regulations, prevalence, membership, goals, and intervention information from two national telephone surveys are reported, which indicate that although 69% of states mandate prereferral intervention and 86% require or recommend PITs, states provided little direction about how to implement such services (e.g., only 14% specified or recommended team composition).
Abstract: Current prereferral intervention team (PIT) regulations, prevalence, membership, goals, and intervention information from two national telephone surveys are reported. Survey 1 obtained information about state PIT regulations and recommendations from employees of the 51 state education departments (50 states and Washington, DC). Survey 2 obtained information about elementary schools' PIT prevalence, membership, goals, and common intervention recommendations from employees of 200 elementary schools (4 per state). Survey 1 results indicated that although 69% of states mandate prereferral intervention and 86% require or recommend PITs, states provided little direction about how to implement such services (e.g., only 14% specified or recommended team composition). Survey 2 results indicated that 85% of schools had PITs, which were composed predominantly of multidisciplinary specialists (e.g., administrators and school psychologists). Remedial teachers and parents were sometimes PIT members, but community repre...
TL;DR: This article investigated three questions: Do phonological processes show cross-linguistic transfer, how does the language of instruction influence the relationship between phonological process and decoding, and does performance on Spanish and English phonological processing tasks similarly predict English decoding for the same English learners (ELs).
Abstract: This study investigated three questions: Do phonological processes show cross-linguistic transfer? How does the language of instruction influence the relationship between phonological processes and decoding? Does performance on Spanish and English phonological processing tasks similarly predict English decoding for the same English learners (ELs)? We studied first-grade ELs who had been enrolled for 2 years in two programs that differed by language of instruction (English only and bilingual). Phonological processing skills were examined following a theory of core phonological processing deficits that postulates that three related constructs—phonological awareness, phonological coding, and phonological recoding—are the major components of phonological processing. The results indicate that (a) phonological processes do exhibit cross-linguistic transfer in young ELs; (b) phonological awareness might best be conceptualized as comprising two developmentally overlapping components; (c) language of instruction i...
TL;DR: The 50th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education decision provides a critical opportunity to reflect on Brown's importance, impact, and the lessons it provides on achieving racial desegregation and its relationship to the progressive inclusion of students with disabilities into public schools across the United States as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The 50th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education decision provides a critical opportunity to reflect on Brown's importance, impact, and the lessons it provides on achieving racial desegregation and its relationship to the progressive inclusion of students with disabilities into public schools across the United States. This article explores the parallels and intersections between the racial desegregation of America's public schools and the inclusion of students with disabilities in these schools.
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TL;DR: The 2004 amendments of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) have attempted to reduce the paperwork requirements of the IEP, while simultaneously ensuring that the goal of FAPE is met as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The Individualized Education Program (IEP) is an essential component in providing a free, appropriate public education (FAPE) to individuals with disabilities. The 2004 amendments of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) have attempted to reduce the paperwork requirements of the IEP, while simultaneously ensuring that the goal of FAPE is met. Furthermore, the legislation attempts to bring the requirements of IDEA and NCLB into better alignment. Legislative changes to the IEP are described, and possible implications are discussed.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors surveyed high school special education teachers to investigate their daily work lives and found that participants taught courses in several different content areas, primarily in self-contained settings.
Abstract: Special education teachers in today's workplace must show “competence at teaching everything” (Mastropieri, 2001). They work in different settings, teaching and adapting content across all levels. Added to this complexity are reform efforts that are driving major changes in the entire special education system, including service delivery models and teacher roles. However, without an understanding of teachers' current roles and responsibilities, we cannot know if such recommendations are feasible or how they would change the world of practice. This study surveyed high school special education teachers to investigate their daily work lives. In general, participants taught courses in several different content areas, primarily in self-contained settings. They also held numerous nonteaching roles. All roles and responsibilities were independent of the number of years taught and of teachers' educational backgrounds. Implications for transforming teachers' work lives in an effort to increase student outcomes are ...
TL;DR: The results indicate that leadership style may play a role in the acceptance of students with special needs in private schools as mentioned in this paper, and that more research is needed due to the push for school choice through the No Child Left Behind Act and state voucher programs.
Abstract: Principals of private schools were questioned about the practices of their schools regarding students with special needs. This mixed-design study was a part of a larger study to determine the current state of special education services in private schools in Tennessee. Initial demographic information on schools was gathered and analyzed by a quantitative survey. Open-ended questions regarding the mission of the schools, admissions and continued enrollment policies, and strengths and weaknesses of the schools as they pertained to serving students with special needs were presented in a questionnaire. The results indicate that leadership style may play a role in the acceptance of students with special needs in private schools. More research is needed due to the push for school choice through the No Child Left Behind Act and state voucher programs.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors determine whether differences exist in the availability of instructional options for struggling students and students who did not pass state-required tests based on three school characteristics: retention practices, awards or sanctions, and school level.
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to determine whether differences exist in the availability of instructional options for struggling students and students who did not pass state-required tests based on three school characteristics: retention practices, awards or sanctions, and school level. Participants were 242 teachers and school psychologists from 99 elementary and middle or junior high schools across 19 states that have required exit exams. Participants were asked to complete a survey that addressed the availability of instructional options. Descriptive statistics showed that there was overlap in the instructional options that respondents reported using frequently regardless of school characteristics. For general education teachers' responses, there was a significant main effect of school level. For special education teachers and school psychologists, all other main effects and interactions were not significant.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that the ultimate test of special education should be whether a particular student is receiving good instruction that matches his or her needs, not the student's placement.
Abstract: Diversity of instructional needs requires diversity in instructional groups. Teaching all children well requires that they be grouped homogeneously for instruction. Instruction must not be secondary to placement in special education. The ideology of full inclusion works against good instruction in some cases. The ultimate test of special education should be whether a particular student is receiving good instruction that matches his or her needs, not the student's placement.
TL;DR: In this article, a qualitative study of children's museums' successful inquiry-based learning environments is described, focusing on four students with various exceptional learning needs, and benefits for the students in terms of scaffolded instruction, meaningful and contextualized activities, self-regulated learning, the establishment of learning communities, play, and parental involvement are noted.
Abstract: A qualitative study of children's museums' successful inquiry-based learning environments is described, focusing on four students with various exceptional learning needs. Benefits for the students in terms of scaffolded instruction, meaningful and contextualized activities, self-regulated learning, the establishment of learning communities, play, and parental involvement are noted. A discussion of the generalization of learning to the classroom and of positive attitudes and children's museums as inclusive, supplemental environments is included. Implications for future practice involve school—museum partnerships and individualized programming for all learners.
TL;DR: In this paper, the effects of curriculum-based measurement (CBM) with and without diagnostic feedback on general and special educators' instructional planning in reading were evaluated, and the results showed that teachers in the CBM+D condition targeted fewer objectives than contro...
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of curriculum-based measurement (CBM), with and without diagnostic feedback, on general and special educators' instructional planning in reading. Participants were 19 second-grade teachers with their 309 students without disabilities and 16 resource teachers with their 127 first- through fifth-grade students with mild disabilities. Blocking on background (general vs. special education), teachers were assigned randomly to three conditions: control, CBM, or CBM with diagnostic feedback (CBM+D). CBM data were collected on students for 3 consecutive weeks. Then teachers attended a 2-hour workshop where they completed classwide and individual student instructional planning sheets in accordance with their experimental condition. For the individual plans, one high-, one average-, and one low-performing student was selected from each teacher's class. On the classwide plans, across backgrounds, teachers in the CBM+D condition targeted fewer objectives than contro...
TL;DR: The authors used curriculum-based measurement of reading (CBM-R) to measure oral reading fluency and a nonsense word-reading fluency (NWF) measure, weekly scores during the final 6 weeks of the first grade school year indicated gains of approximately one word per minute each week on ORF and two words per minute on NWF.
Abstract: This study provides descriptive data on first-grade reading proficiency of English learners in multiple-language settings. Using curriculum-based measurement of reading (CBM-R) to measure oral reading fluency (ORF) and a nonsense word— reading fluency (NWF) measure, weekly scores during the final 6 weeks of the first-grade school year indicated gains of approximately one word per minute each week on ORF and two words per minute each week on NWF. The results are very similar to the progress of non—English learners from previously documented studies of first-grade performance using CBM-R. Participating students experienced significant gains in both ORF and NWF in 6 weeks. By the end of the first grade, English learners in this study read a mean of 46 words per minute on the CBM-R. The correlation between the scores for ORF and NWF at the end of first grade was strong (r = .86). Weak correlations of fluency measures with student language proficiency and teacher ratings were found. Educational implications an...
TL;DR: The percentage of male students who complete an undergraduate degree in the field of special education continues to be much lower than that of female graduates as discussed by the authors, and the reasons for the gender disparity in special education are discussed based on the current literature.
Abstract: The percentage of male students who complete an undergraduate degree in the field of special education continues to be much lower than that of female graduates. Low status, low salaries, the perception of teaching as women's work, potential complaints of child abuse and sexual harassment, and a lack of male peer groups factor into this low percentage. Male teachers are needed to be positive role models for all children. The need for male teachers as special educators is paramount. The reasons for the gender disparity in special education are discussed based on the current literature, as is the need for possible strategies to encourage more male special educators.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors track the evolution of psycho-educational assessment in the context of three eras: (a) prior to Brown, or old schools; (b) post Brown, an era of hope for new schools; and (c) the situation in today's schools.
Abstract: Despite the promise of Brown v. Board of Education, segregation is alive and well in today's schools. African American students are overrepresented in special education, have higher dropout rates, are suspended and expelled at higher rates, and are subject to persistent educational inequity. The role of psychoeducational assessment at the intersection of difference and disability has contributed to the persistent misidentification and overrepresentation of African American students in special education. However, paradigms for assessment hold promise for fulfilling the hope of Brown in tomorrow's schools. In order to describe the impact of past and present psychoeducational assessment practices on African American learners, we track the evolution of psychoeducational assessment in the context of three eras: (a) prior to Brown, or “old schools”; (b) post Brown, an era of hope for “new schools”; and (c) the situation in today's schools. The education of African American students and students with disabilitie...
TL;DR: The results indicated that TELE-Web was effective in improving sight-word recognition and that these improvements transferred to a standardized measure of reading achievement.
Abstract: Two design experiments were conducted to improve the word recognition performance of students at risk of school failure. In Study 1, an Internet-based software from the TELE-Web project was used to remediate the word recognition performance of 4 students at risk of retention and reading disabilities in first grade. In Study 2, the Internet-based software was used with an entire classroom of first-grade students in an effort to prevent reading difficulties and to accelerate reading performance. The results indicated that TELE-Web was effective in improving sight-word recognition and that these improvements transferred to a standardized measure of reading achievement. These findings suggest the promise of Internet-based software in supporting the reading programs of young readers at risk for retention or referral.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the provision of special education services in faith-based schools, especially as compared to public schools, and they found that most faith based schools provided some level of support to students with mild disabilities and used some of the services provided by public schools.
Abstract: This descriptive study examined the provision of special education services in faith-based schools, especially as compared to public schools. A survey was used to collect information about the special education services typically provided to students with mild disabilities in faith-based schools. Information was also gathered about teacher qualifications and instructional activities of special education teachers in faith-based schools. The same information was gathered on a matched sample of public schools. The results indicated that for this sample, most faith-based schools provided some level of special education services to students with mild disabilities and used some special education services provided by public schools. There were clear differences between the public and faith-based schools in this study, including (a) fewer students with identified disabilities in faith-based schools, (b) less special education training for the special education teachers in faith-based schools, and (c) less use of ...
TL;DR: The authors compared the effects of two oral reading feedback strategies in improving the reading comprehension of eight school-age children with low reading ability, and participants were assigned to one of two intervention groups matched on age, grade, gender, and general reading performance.
Abstract: This study compared the effects of two oral reading feedback strategies in improving the reading comprehension of eight school-age children with low reading ability. Participants were assigned to one of two intervention groups matched on age, grade, gender, and general reading performance. Intervention 1 (I1) used traditional decoding-based feedback, and Intervention 2 (I2) used communicative reading strategies (CRS), meaning-based feedback. After 10 hours of reading intervention, participants in I2 performed significantly better than the I1 group on a formal measure of reading comprehension and on story-related comprehension questions. Moreover, the I2 group retained comprehension of story details over a longer period of time than did the I1 group. No significant differences were found between I1 and I2 in the ability to answer story-related locative, descriptive, or inferential detail questions.