Secondary Special Education Research Articles

Demographic accounting for special education

Project MAP (Model Accounting Plan) attempts to improve upon current systems for monitoring special education programs and documenting their effectiveness. MAP is a demographic accounting system for monitoring the transitions of special education students as they progress through the school system and for the year after they graduate. Eleven hundred secondary level special education students participated in a pilot test of the MAP. Transition probabilities and expectancy measures were calculated to indicate the likelihood with which students of different ages and handicaps move through various instructional settings in special education. Examples of specific analyses and observations about the findings are presented to illustrate the MAP methodology and to indicate its potential for providing useful information regarding resource allocation and program effectiveness to special educators and decisionmakers at all levels.

Teachers’ Beliefs About Administrators and Parents of Handicapped and Nonhandicapped Students

AbstractThis investigation assessed elementary and secondary level regular classroom and special education teachers’ beliefs about administrators, parents of handicapped and nonhandicapped students, and parental perceptions of educators. This was accomplished by administering the Teachers’ Beliefs About Parents, Teachers’ Beliefs About Administrators, and Perceptions of Parental Beliefs Concerning Teachers scales to 462 experienced educators. The major finding was that teachers, across demographic variables, held significantly more positive beliefs about parents of nonhandicapped students than parents of handicapped students. Three approaches to influence teacher beliefs about parents of handicapped students are presented.

Microcomputer Implementation In Secondary Special Education Programs: A Study Of Special Educators; Mildly Handicapped Adolescents; And Administrators' Perspectives

The purpose of this study was to examine the implementation and utilization of microcomputers in secondary special education programs. Twenty-two high school special education teachers, 24 mildly handicapped adolescents, and 8 administrators from six high schools in an urban school district were interviewed. Results indicated that, despite the district's considerable investment in hardware, software, and technical assistance, almost half of the teachers were not using microcomputers. Teachers who had at least one computer in their classroom were significantly more likely to use computers and to have positive attitudes toward computers. However, the predominant uses of microcomputers were limited to mathematics, drill-and-practice, and games. Special educators, administrators, and students did not view microcomputers as having a significant impact on instructional practices and programs. Lack of access to microcomputers and dissatisfaction with existing software were cited as major barriers to more extensive and varied microcomputer use.

Resources Available In School Districts Serving Secondary Special Education Students: Implications For Transition

Survey data were gathered from 1,450 school districts to determine the extent to which vocational and transition-oriented services were available to secondary-age special education students. Extensive variation between districts was found in the types of students served and in the configuration of agencies serving them. Most districts reported cooperating with other districts or agencies to find appropriate instructional settings and related services. District size was strongly related to number and variety of services, with larger districts providing more services to more secondary special education students with a wider range of disabilities compared to smaller districts. In most districts, vocational training was available and accessed by special education students, but special transition-oriented arrangements, such as assisting special education students to find jobs, were less evident.

An Analysis of the Impact of Microcomputers on the Secondary Special Education Classroom Ecology

The purpose of this research was to examine the effects of microcomputers on the ecology of secondary special education classrooms. Observational data were collected in twenty-six secondary school special education classes located in an urban midwestern school system. The data indicated that despite the ready availability of computers, only approximately 60 percent of the teachers chose to use them for instruction and they were in use only 25.3 percent of the time. The infrequent use was attributed to the lack of appropriate software, logistical problems in scheduling the microcomputer, and lack of training and support for teachers. The use of microcomputers was found to be related to increased student active engagement and decreased off-task behaviors. Unfortunately, teachers who used computers spent less time engaged in direct instructional activities and did not integrate the computer-based instruction with the teacher-based instruction.

Research Priorities in Secondary Special Education and Transitional Services

Research Priorities in Secondary Special Education and Transitional Services

The Role of Special Education in LD Adolescents' Transition from School to Work

Despite increasing interest in the transition of handicapped youth from school to postsecondary training and employment, available data indicate that few secondary-school special education programs provide relevant services. This article gives a rationale for and a delineation of the types of services which can facilitate the transition process for learning disabled (LD) adolescents. First, the authors review recent studies of LD individuals' vocational adjustment and identify the skills needed for successful transition to the world of work. Current practices in secondary special education and vocational education are then discussed. The authors conclude that secondary special education programs should provide six types of vocationally relevant activities: (a) occupational awareness, exploration, and basic work experience; (b) indepth career/vocational assessment; (c) instruction in job-related academic skills; (d) instruction in job-related interpersonal skills; (e) support services to other disciplines involved in vocational programming; and (f) post-school placement and follow-up. Finally, recommendations for personnel preparation and future research are suggested.

Preparing School-Based Employment Specialists

A rationale is presented for the development of specialized personnel preparation programs to train secondary special educators as employment training specialists. A philosophical and theoretical base for this position is outlined, along with the roles and responsibilities these individuals will need to assume in their schools and communities. Finally, details are provided of a graduate-level program at the University of Vermont to train employment training specialists.

Organizational Identification and Perceived Intra-School Conflict Among Secondary Special Education and General Education Teachers

The relationships between the organizational variables-teacher assignment (general education or special education) and primary organizational identification (teachers' individual schools or respective district-level departments) and perceived organizational conflict were investigated. Four-hundred and fifty-four high school teachers—382 general education and 72 special education—responded to a three-part questionnaire. Both general education and special education teachers identified with both the school and the district-level departments to a greater than neutral level; the general education teachers identified more with their local schools than their district-level departments and the special education teachers identified equally with both their local school and the district-level department. Significant correlations between teacher organizational identification and perceived conflict were found for both groups of teachers—as the identification increased, the perception of conflict decreased. No significant differences were found in comparisons of general education and special education teachers on the identification or perceived conflict variables. Conclusions, with alternative causative factors, and recommendations for enhancing relationships between general educators and special educators are provided.

Transition in the 1990s: A Reply to Knowlton and Clark

Transition in the 1990s: A Reply to Knowlton and Clark The April issue of Exceptional Children (1987, Vol. 53, No. 6) addressed transition from school to adult life, which marks an important point in the history of special education. The issues raised by contributing authors signaled the shift in professional focus from accessibility concerns to the examination of outcomes associated with special education services. In little more than a decade, special educators have become advocates not only for the right of students with handicaps to educational services, but also for their right to lead productive and dignified lives as a result of attending our nation's public schools. The special issue of Exceptional Children concluded with a discussion of the future of transition efforts. Knowlton and Clark (1987) raised several important issues that practitioners will undoubtedly confront in the next decade and beyond. These issues include how the increase in national attention on academic excellence will affect programs serving secondary students with handicaps and the importance of preparing secondary special educators to deal effectively with the transition of these students. Knowlton and Clark pointed out that implementation of effective transition programs will require changing much more than recognition of the problem. We agree with Knowlton and Clark that system-wide change will be required, but we are concerned about two of their recommendations concerning the future of transition efforts. Specifically, we believe that ignoring an excellent body of literature because subjects were labeled is unwarranted. Moreover, refocusing the goals of transition programs to include independent living and social outcomes clashes with what we believe are important trends in special education. LABELING IN THE LITERATURE Knowlton and Clark suggested that severely handicapped persons have been overrepresented in the transition literature--and that the focus on these persons may alienate many potential consumers of transition services. Knowlton and Clark suggested that professionals may find that the existing literature is not relevant to their efforts to serve persons with or moderate handicaps. Nevertheless, pointing out the irony in this situation, the authors indicated that many of the severely handicapped subjects referred to in the literature could very well drift into a more moderately handicapped category with more careful assessment of their disability. We agree with Knowlton and Clark that the possible exclusion of some professionals and the clients they serve from the progress made in the field of transition would be unfortunate and unproductive. We do not believe, however, that changing the subject descriptors used by researchers will necessarily make the transition literature more palatable. Increasingly, special education is examining the outcomes of its efforts, including the provision of secondary special education and transitional services. We believe that the focus on outcomes should remain the basis for evaluating the relevance of special education and transitional services. Consumers must address the effectiveness of the procedures reported in research studies and examine the utility of the recommendations made by investigators. The results of transitional services research based on sound experimental designs are likely to be replicated at all levels. All professionals should be encouraged to judge research results on their technical merit rather than on the labels chosen by the investigators to describe their subjects. In this way, the large body of excellent work already existing on transition can be used for the benefit of all. It is our contention that, since its inception, transition has been a program targeted to all persons with handicaps who need services (Will, 1984). Knowlton and Clark's lament about the focus on persons with severe as opposed to mild handicaps seems out of place. …

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GENERAL SECONDARY EDUCATION, VOCATIONAL EDUCATION, SPECIALIZED SECONDARY EDUCATION, AND HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE UKRAINIAN SOVIAT SOCIALIST REPUBLIC

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GENERAL SECONDARY EDUCATION, VOCATIONAL EDUCATION, SPECIALIZED SECONDARY EDUCATION, AND HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE UKRAINIAN SOVIAT SOCIALIST REPUBLIC

A MODEL ACCOUNTING PLAN FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION

Current systems for monitoring the enrollments and status of special education programs do not meet current demands for increased accountability. Project MAP (Model Accounting Plan) attempts to meet this demand. MAP is a demographic accounting model for monitoring the transitions of special education students as they progress through the school system and for the year after they graduate. The MAP was pilot tested with 1,100 secondary level special education students in one Northern California school district. Using existing pupil count data and a follow-up one year later, the MAP describes and predicts the paths special education students follow, taking into account the student's age, handicap, and instructional setting assignment. The MAP provides previously unavailable data to special educators and decision makers at all levels regarding program effectiveness and resource allocation and poses useful questions for further study.

The pronunciation of a number of English words by Dutch hearing impaired and normal hearing students in Dutch special and ordinary secondary education: Preliminary results

In 1986, a research project was started in the Institute of Phonetic Sciences of Groningen University to investigate the pronunciation of English by hearing-impaired students in Dutch special secondary education. With the help of a tailor-made articulation test, we compare the pronunciation of English by these students to the pronunciation of English by students with normal hearing in ordinary secondary education. This article presents the results of 11 normal hearing and 11 hearing-impaired students on one of the items of our test: pronouncing a number of isolated words. Group I consists of five normal hearing and five hearing-impaired speakers in their first year at secondary school. Group II consists of three normal hearing and three hearing-impaired speakers from the second year intermediate level. Group III consists of three normal hearing and three hearing-impaired speakers from the second year lower level. It can be seen that more or less the same English sounds are regarded as difficult by both the hearing-impaired students and the normal hearing students, but that there is a much wider range of realizations within the groups of hearing-impaired students.

A statewide examination of secondary special education for students with mild disabilities: implications for the high school curriculum.

This article reports the partial findings of a statewide survey of high school special education programs for students with mild disabilities. The focus of this article is on the curriculum. Three sources of information were tapped for this study: (a) special education administrators, (b) high school special education teachers, and (c) parents of high school students with mild disabilities. The return rates were very high: 91%, 89%, and 45% of the three groups, respectively. Four basic topics concerning the curriculum were investigated: (a) its focus and content, (b) discrepancies between availability and utilization, (c) barriers to mainstreaming, and (d) conditions required for improvement. Both data and recommendations with respect to these topics are presented.

A Descriptive Study of Health Locus of Control and Health Status in Secondary Special Education Students

A Descriptive Study of Health Locus of Control and Health Status in Secondary Special Education Students

Cadre Instruction and Retraining

Abstract Man is the decisive force in the acceleration of scientific and technological progress. The contemporary production sector needs people with enterprising minds, who are educated and have superior technical cultivation and occupational expertise. Our country has achieved a high level of public education. About 87 percent of those employed in the national economy have had a higher or secondary (complete or incomplete) education. In comparison with 1959, the number of those with this kind of education has doubled (per 1000 inhabitants), while the number of individuals with higher education has grown by a factor of 3.5. For every 1,000 workers, 825 have had a higher or [complete or incomplete] secondary education (over twice as many as in 1959); the equivalent number for collective farmers is 695. The difference in the educational levels of town and country dwellers and between those doing physical and mental work is lessening, and the number of specialists with higher or secondary specialized education is growing (see diagrams).

The Life-Centered Career Education (LCCE) Inventory: A Curriculum-Based, Criterion-Related Assessment instrument

This article describes the development of a Knowledge Battery to assess the competency level of secondary special education students receiving instruction in the Life-Centered Career Education (LCCE) Curriculum (Brolin, in press-a). The LCCE Knowledge Battery is one of two batteries developed by Brolin and associates that resulted in a comprehensive curriculum-based assessment instrument called the LCCE Inventory. The other battey, being completed at the time of this writing, is a Performance Battery. The LCCE Knowledge Battery consists of 89 subcompetency tests, each comprising 20 true-false and multiple-choice items. The battery was developed with the assistance of expert special education item writers and field tested extensively throughout the United States. Test development consisted of the building of an item pool, conducting a pilot and two field tests to identify good items, and a final field test to standardize the battery and determine cutting scores, reliability, and validity. The Inventory, including the Knowledge Battery, should be available from The Council for Exceptional Children in late 1988.

An Analysis of the Secondary Special Education Classroom Ecology with Implications for Teacher Training

This study was designed to describe the instructional ecology of secondary school resource room programs for mildly handicapped students. The data and implications for teacher preparation programs are discussed. The data indicate that teachers were required to teach a broad spectrum of curriculum areas, which suggests that preparation programs should provide training in a series of instructional content areas. Student engagement rates were high, though the instructional ecology observed in this study was less than optimal. Teachers provided much of the instruction, but depended substantially upon individual seatwork activities, with minimal teacher monitoring or feedback given to students. The instructional approaches seem to be more attuned to instructional approaches commonly associated with regular high school classrooms. Instructional practices associated with high achievement in other studies were not typically employed by special education teachers in this study. Other research suggests, however, that though teachers can learn to employ these practices, training programs must specifically prepare teachers to use them.

The Effects of Microcomputers on the Secondary Special Education Classroom Ecology

This study was designed to investigate the impact of the microcomputer upon the curricular content, curricular format, student behavior, teacher behavior, and teacher focus employed in secondary special education resource room programs. These behaviors were compared in classes in which a microcomputer was used with classes in which no computer was used. Overall, the data suggested different effects associated with computer use The most important benefits appear to be increased active task engagement and increased individually focused instruction. In many key categories of teacher behavior, however, there were no significant differences between the computer-use and noncomputer-use classes. The data strongly suggest that teachers will need training and support if they are to integrate computers into their instructional programs.

Statewide survey of vocational educators: Attitudes, training, and involvement with handicapped learners

Current legislation (PL 94-142; PL 98-199; Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act, 1984) identifies as a priority the inclusion of handicapped learners in vocational education. Some studies (Benson, 1981; President's Commission on Employment of the Handicapped, 1983) indicate that only about 2% of the students enrolled in vocational education programs are considered mildly handicapped, although 10% of the school population has been classified as such. More recent figures indicate, however, that between 30 and 35 percent of secondary special education students are enrolled in vocational education programs, with 70 to 75 percent of this group in mainstreamed vocational education and that this enrollment increased by 135 percent between 1971 and 1982 (Conaway, 1985; Phelps, 1985). A number of barriers have been identified which contribute to the underutilization of vocational education in the transition process (D'Alonzo and Barrett, 1977; Minner and Beane, 1983; Okolo and Sitlington, 1986). One such barrier is that of the attitudes of vocational education teachers toward handicapped students. Three recent studies were located which directly surveyed vocational educators regarding their training and attitudes toward the handicapped (McDaniel, 1982; Moorman, 1980; Claxton, 1986). Moorman and Claxton both found that over 70% of their respondents had positive attitudes toward inclu-