Nondisabled Students Research Articles

Semantic Organisation of Adults with Cerebral Palsy

Symbols on augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems are frequently organised according to semantic categories, yet little is known about the semantic categorisation of individuals who have no functional speech. Fifty adults with cerebral palsy who have little or no functional speech and use AAC participated in a study to explore how they ranked exemplars of the superordinate categories fruit, clothing, furniture, and transport. The rankings were correlated with the results of a study of the rankings of nondisabled college students on a similar task. Overall, the concordance between the two groups was good. Examination of individual results suggested that some participants used different semantic associations. This variance may be explained by the life experiences of the participants. To design optimally accessible communication systems, AAC professionals may need to consider how each individual organises semantic information.

Strengths-Based Assessment Differences Across Students with LD and EBD

Current assessment techniques for children with learning disabilities (LD) and emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) are typically focused on identifying deficits. In this study we investigated the use of an alternative strength-based perspective, using the Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale (BERS). Results showed that the BERS discriminated among students with LD and EBD and those who were nondisabled. The use of the BERS improved significantly over chance in classifying students with EBD and nondisabled students, but not in classifying students with LD. This suggests that the BERS may be useful in the EBD assessment process. Implications for future research are discussed.

ATTITUDES TOWARD READING EXPRESSED BY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS DIAGNOSED WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES

Attitude toward reading affects student's achievement. While conventional wisdom and comparisons with low-skilled, non-disabled students suggest that students with learning disabilities have negative attitudes toward reading, few studies exist to support these inferences. The present study uses the Elementary Reading Attitude Survey (McKenna & Kear, 1990) to describe elementary students' diagnosed with learning disabilities attitudes toward academic and recreational reading and to compare their attitudes with those expressed by their non-disabled peers. The findings show that students with learning disabilities who received reading instruction in special-education, resource rooms expressed reading attitudes that equaled or exceeded those expressed by low and average non-disabled students in a nationwide study conducted by McKenna and Kear (1990). The findings also indicated that the students' diagnosed with learning disabilities attitudes remained more stable across grades 1 through 5 than those expressed by their non-disabled students in the McKenna and Kear (1990) study.

Using Objective Data Sources to Enhance Teacher Judgments about Test Accommodations

One hundred eighty-one students with learning disabilities (LD) and 184 students without LD completed four brief, parallel tests under four conditions (standard, extended time, large print, students reading aloud). We (a) examined whether students with LD benefited from accommodations more than students without LD; (b) estimated “typical” accommodation boosts among nondisabled students; and (c) awarded accommodations to students with LD whose boosts exceeded the “typical” boost. Teachers provided independent accommodation judgments, and students with LD completed a large-scale assessment with and without accommodations. Students with LD, as a group, profited differentially from reading aloud, not from extended time or large print; teachers' decisions did not correspond to benefits students derived; the data-based assessment predicted differential performance on large-scale assessment better than teacher judgments.

Quality and Quantity of Friendship

Few studies have examined the quality and the quantity of friendship as reported by students and teachers. In the present report, the author examined 121 adolescent students with mild mental retardation (MR) studying in special education schools, 189 students studying in self-contained classes in mainstreamed schools, and 265 nondisabled students, compared with 50 teacher reports. Results indicated significant differences in the perception of friendship between the groups. Students with MR in special schools have mentioned fewer definitions of a close friend, tended to have fewer friends, and engage in fewer leisure activities or in activities inappropriate to their age group. Some of them felt isolated, rejected or ignored in the classroom or in school, compared with students in the other groups. The teachers estimate that the students with MR in special education schools are more popular at school but lonelier at home. The two sources of information validated one another and add information to the quality of friendships in the groups' studies.

Rates of Classroom Participation and the Validity of Sociometry

We explored the effects of different rates of classroom participation on the peer ratings of three student groups: (a) students with learning disabilities; (b) low-achieving nondisabled students; and (c) average-and high-achieving students. Sociometric ratings from 14 classrooms with full, or nearly full, student participation (i.e., 92% to 100%) were sampled randomly and repeatedly so that 25%, 50%, and 75% of the students in each of the classes were involved. At each participation level, peer ratings were compared against a “standard” level of 92% to 100% for the three student groups. Results suggested that, as the rate of classroom participation decreased, ratings tended to diverge increasingly from standard-level ratings. This was particularly true for the low-achieving students; less so for students with learning disabilities; and least so for average-and high-achieving students. In addition, across the three student groups, findings indicated 75% and below represented an insufficient participation rate from which to generalize to the whole classroom. Implications for practitioners and researchers are discussed.

Supplementing Teacher Judgments of Mathematics Test Accommodations with Objective Data Sources

This study examined the utility of a data-based assessment process to supplement teacher judgments about test accommodations. One hundred ninety-two students with learning disabilities (LD) and 181 students without LD completed 2 computations curriculum-based measurements (CBMs) (standard; extended time); 4 concepts and applications CBMs (standard, extended time, calculators, reading text aloud); and 5 problem-solving CBMs (standard, extended time, calculators, reading text aloud, encoding). CBM scores were used to examine whether students with LD benefited differentially from accommodations; estimate “typical” accommodation boosts among nondisabled students; and award accommodations to students with LD whose boosts exceeded the “typical” boost. Then, teachers provided independent accommodation judgments and students with LD completed large-scale assessments with and without accommodations. Students with LD, as a group, profited differentially from accommodations on problem-solving CBMs, but not on conventional CBMs; teachers over-awarded accommodations; and CBM accommodation boosts predicted differential performance on large-scale assessments and supplemented teacher judgments in important ways.

Helping Each Other: Relations between disabled and non-disabled students on Access programmes

his article highlights issues concerned with the nature of relationships between disabled students and their non-disabled peers in further education. An investigation of the relationships between disabled and non-disabled students is undertaken within a critical ethnographic framework. The interaction between students is located within a wider societal context, with a particular emphasis upon identifying the impact of oppressive social forces. Deaf students, and students with dyslexia are the particular focus of this article as a case study within a wider disability debate. The findings point to a lack of contact between disabled and non-disabled children in primary and secondary education as being an important factor in relationships between these two groups in tertiary education. A variation in experience is highlighted between the different colleges and also different Access programmes within the same institution, which raises questions about notions of fairness and equality within the Access system. Recommendations are made for the recruitment and induction of disabled and non-disabled students leading to a more integrated approach.

Rural General Education Teachers' Opinions of Adaptations for Inclusive Classrooms: A Renewed Call for Dual Licensure

The process of including students with learning disabilities (LD) into general education classes has afforded these children the opportunity to learn alongside their same-age peers. Often, LD students require accommodations and/or modifications in order to succeed in the general education setting. General education teachers must provide these students with the accommodations/modifications that are recommended on each child's individualized education plan. The current study examined rural teachers' attitudes toward accommodations/modifications in their classrooms. Three questions were asked: 1) How effective are the recommended/implemented accommodations/modifications?, 2) How fair are the recommended/implemented accommodations/modifications to use in the general education classroom?, and 3) How efficient are the recommended/implemented accommodations/modifications to use in the general class setting? The results of this study revealed that rural general education teachers favored accommodations/modifications that are less intrusive to their day-to-day teaching procedures, take the least amount of time to implement, and separate less the learning disabled from non-disabled students.

Considering the Welfare of All Students

Abstract There appears to be a popular perception among educators that students with disabilities have the legal right to be placed in regular education classrooms regardless of the severity of the disability or the negative impact this placement may have on the other students in the classroom. This article will examine legal and ethical issues surrounding this full inclusion concept, with particular emphasis on the rights of nondisabled students. It will be argued that it is ethically and legally appropriate for schools to consider the impact on nondisabled classmates when considering placements for Students with disabilities.

The performance of students with disabilities in a norm-referenced, statewide standardized testing program.

Hawaii uses the Stanford Achievement Test, 8th Edition (Stanford 8), to assess the academic performance of students in Grades 3, 6, 8, and 10. Three longitudinal cohorts were analyzed for achievement performance among Grades 3 to 6, 6 to 8, and 8 to 10. ANOVAs indicated significant differences in overall performance between nondisabled students and three high-incidence categories of students with disabilities (specific learning disability, emotional impairment, and mild mental retardation). Local subgroup norms were developed on the basis of Stanford 8 reading and mathematics results from 1992 to 1996 to supplement the national norms and provide an additional means of comparison to evaluate performance for these categories. The longitudinal cohorts of students with disabilities made greater gains in achievement from third to sixth grade than their national counterparts and cohort of nondisabled students in Hawaii. Between 8th and 10th grade, students with learning disabilities and emotional impairments made gains equal to or greater than their national counterparts'.

?A place where living things affect and depend on each other?: Qualitative and quantitative outcomes associated with inclusive science teaching

This investigation employed qualitative/quasi-experimental methods to describe the school factors associated with inclusive science instruction, and to evaluate the classroom achievement of students with disabilities with respect to nondisabled students in the same class. In addition, achievement and attitude comparisons were made between the inclusive science classroom and two comparison classrooms. Two of the three classroom teachers taught an ecosystems unit using the district-adopted textbook and accompanying materials. A third classroom, which also contained five students with various disabilities, was taught the same unit using an activities-based approach. The accommodations that were necessary to include students with disabilities in the science classroom were documented. All students were pre- and posttested on science content, concepts, and processes. Qualitative findings replicated conclusions regarding variables meaningfully associated with successful inclusion in science. Quantitative findings suggested that students in the activities/inclusion classroom demonstrated superior performance on content recall, higher level thinking, verbal elaboration, and affective measures. Students with disabilities in the activities-based classroom made academic gains equivalent to those of their classroom peers, and superior to most nondisabled students in textbook-based classrooms. Implications for instruction and practice are described. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Sci Ed 82:163–179, 1998.

“A place where living things affect and depend on each other”: Qualitative and quantitative outcomes associated with inclusive science teaching

This investigation employed qualitative/quasi-experimental methods to describe the school factors associated with inclusive science instruction, and to evaluate the classroom achievement of students with disabilities with respect to nondisabled students in the same class. In addition, achievement and attitude comparisons were made between the inclusive science classroom and two comparison classrooms. Two of the three classroom teachers taught an ecosystems unit using the district-adopted textbook and accompanying materials. A third classroom, which also contained five students with various disabilities, was taught the same unit using an activities-based approach. The accommodations that were necessary to include students with disabilities in the science classroom were documented. All students were pre- and posttested on science content, concepts, and processes. Qualitative findings replicated conclusions regarding variables meaningfully associated with successful inclusion in science. Quantitative findings suggested that students in the activities/inclusion classroom demonstrated superior performance on content recall, higher level thinking, verbal elaboration, and affective measures. Students with disabilities in the activities-based classroom made academic gains equivalent to those of their classroom peers, and superior to most nondisabled students in textbook-based classrooms. Implications for instruction and practice are described. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Sci Ed 82:163–179, 1998.

School membership among students with learning disabilities and nondisabled students in a semirural high school

School membership among students with learning disabilities and nondisabled students in a semirural high school

School membership among students with learning disabilities and nondisabled students in a semirural high school

School reform proposals have urged that schools provide students with an enhanced sense of community, especially for at-risk youth belonging, is thought to be crucial. Given their high rate of school drop out, school membership holds special relevance for students with learning disabilities (LD). Thirty-seven mainstreamed students with LD and an equal number of nondisabled (ND) high school students were compared on five dependent variables: grades, time spent on homework, Scholastic Competence, Global Self-Worth, and school membership. School membership was assessed by Goodenow's (1993) Psychological Sense of School Membership (PSSM) scale. ND students reported higher grades and more favorable ratings of Scholastic Competence, while groups did not differ significantly on time on homework or Global Self-Worth. Also, contrary to the author's hypothesis, the groups did not differ on the PSSM. These findings are attributed to either the small size of the school in which the study was conducted or to the supportive nature of special education (i.e., resource room). Future studies are required to understand the development of school membership among students with LD. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Emergent Literacy and Intellectual Disabilities

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of a home-based emergent literacy program for children with intellectual disabilities. Twenty preschool children equally distributed between an experimental and comparison group participated in the study. Children were given a pretest and a posttest 8 months later. Assessment of children's progress included measurement of emergent literacy knowledge, abilities and attitudes. Results show that the only item for which children in the experimental group had higher scores was pretend reading. Treatment effect is modest but promising considering the population studied. Benefits of the program are also discussed. Emergent literacy behaviors in the children in the study are compared with those reported for nondisabled students.

Selective predictive value of rapid automatized naming in poor readers.

This study considers the differential predictive value of rapid naming tests for various aspects of later reading, where the differential is between nondisabled and poor readers. Two large-N longitudinal samples of students who have been evaluated from third through eighth grades are studied: (a) a randomly accessed, normally distributed group including students with varying degrees of reading ability (N = 154), and (b) a group of poor readers whose single-word reading in third grade is at or below the population 10th percentile (N = 64). Outcomes in fifth and eighth grade were measured in both groups. Single-word reading in both grades was strongly predicted from third-grade rapid naming only within the poor readers, even when IQ, socioeconomic status, and third-grade single-word reading were statistically controlled. Although rapid naming had predictive value within the large, normally distributed group, its predictive power was entirely absent in the average-reading nondisabled students who were between the 10th and 90th percentiles (n = 122). The fact that rapid naming has predictive power only for poor readers but not for average readers is interpreted as suggesting that impaired readers are qualitatively different from the normal-reading population and are not simply the "tail" of a normal distribution of reading ability. It also seems that it is the automaticity of retrieval, not the knowledge of names itself (as in confrontational naming tasks), that gives the predictive power in rapid naming. These data are considered in light of the one- and two-factor theories of the underlying processes involved in reading disability or dyslexia.

Helping All Students Achieve to High Standards: A Partnership Between Federal and Secondary School Administrators

The U.S. Department of Education wants to work with principals and assistant principals, teachers, parents, families, and students toward the common goal of creating an environment for all children that will promote continued progress in the achievement of educational equity, equality of educational opportunity, an enhanced educational experi ence for disabled and nondisabled students, and positive results for everyone involved in promoting educational excellence.

Stigma by Association: Perceptions of the Dating Partners of College Students With Physical Disabilities

In an investigation of stigma by association, 179 nondisabled students gave free-response and adjective checklist responses in one of four experimental conditions: stimulus person as dating partner of a disabled male, of a disabled female, of a nondisabled male, or of a nondisabled female college student. Adjective checklist results indicated that, as compared with the partners of nondisabled individuals, the partners of disabled individuals were perceived as significantly more trustworthy and nurturant. Content analysis of the free-response item showed that the partners of disabled individuals were more likely to be described as having nurturant qualities than the partners of nondisabled individuals and were less likely to be described as intelligent, sociable, or athletic. Discussion focuses on the significance of these results for understanding disability stigma by association and on the implications of these findings for interaction between individuals with and without disabilities.

Use of the Structural Analysis Hypothesis Testing Model to Improve Social Interactions via Peer-Mediated Intervention

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of a structural analysis model as a vehicle for improving social interactions via peer-mediated interventions. Nondisabled peers were employed during structural analysis assessments to examine the predictive utility of this process for peer-mediated social interventions for students with disabilities. Five elementary-age students diagnosed with moderate disabilities served as the participants. Five elementary-age general education students were used as assessment and treatment agents in an effort to determine the viability of nondisabled peers in the assessment process. Assessments and treatment protocols were completed in the special education classroom. Generalization probes were then obtained in the general education classroom. Variables identified during assessment as conducive and not conducive to heightened levels of appropriate behavior and social interactions were combined into preferred and nonpreferred treatments. These treatments were evaluated using an alternating treatments design. Data were obtained using partial interval recording. The results of this study demonstrated that structural analysis can be conducted to include nondisabled students to successfully identify antecedents of appropriate social behavior from which effective peer-mediated social interventions can develop. This study supports previous research findings that peer-mediated strategies can serve as a framework from which to fine-tune social skills interventions through the use of structural analysis for students with moderate disabilities.