Secondary Special Education Research Articles

What Affects Academic Functioning in Secondary Special Education Students with Serious Emotional and/or Behavioral Problems?

Concern is growing over the limited academic progress in special education students with emotional and/or behavioral disorders (EBD).We know little about how academic and behavioral factors interact in these students to affect their academic functioning. Therefore, potential associations were investigated over the course of one school year for 196 secondary students with EBD in a self-contained public school (SCS). Demographics, IQ and achievement testing, teacher checklist ratings for emotional/behavioral problems, and standard measures of school function were gathered. First, academic achievement was studied, and regression analyses showed that both reading and math achievement were significantly increased by higher verbal IQ and lower ADHD-inattentive symptoms (ADHD-I), and math also by higher performance IQ and younger age. Next, general academic performance was examined, and regression analysis demonstrated that major-subject GPA was significantly increased by lower ADHD-I teacher ratings, higher math achievement, and younger age. In comparison, out-of-school suspensions were significantly increased by higher conduct disorder and lower social phobia ratings. Thus, in these students with EBD in an SCS, academic functioning was primarily affected by academic parameters, and by ADHD-I but not by other emotional/behavioral problems. These results can further inform the planning of academic interventions for many students with EBD.

Automatic Processes and the Drinking Behavior in Early Adolescence: A Prospective Study

This study examined the bi-directional prospective link between automatic alcohol-approach tendencies and alcohol use in a group of young adolescents (mean age = 13.6 years). The adolescents in the present study were assumed to be at-risk of early alcohol use and later problem drinking. It was hypothesized that alcohol use and automatic approach tendencies would reinforce one another particularly in the absence of well-developed inhibition skills. A total of 347 adolescents (N = 279 at follow-up) from special secondary education, a risk group for the development of substance use problems, participated in the study. Automatic approach tendencies were assessed with the alcohol-approach avoidance task, inhibition skills were assessed with the Stroop task, and alcohol used was measured using a self-report measure. Zero-inflated Poisson analysis revealed a significant effect of automatic approach tendencies predicting alcohol use 6 months later, although only for adolescents with weaker inhibition skills. Automatic approach tendencies predict future drinking behavior of young adolescents with relatively weak inhibition skills. The findings of the present study have important implications for alcohol interventions for adolescents. Results are discussed in terms of risk factors for the development of problematic alcohol use in young adolescents.

중등 특수교육 교사들의 전환교육 및 서비스 수행에 대한 인식 조사

중등 특수교육 교사들의 전환교육 및 서비스 수행에 대한 인식 조사

Reflections on the Past and Thoughts About the Future of the Transition Field

This article describes the author’s personal view of the secondary special education and transition field, its shortcomings, and its future within the context of our modern society.

Teacher Training Matters

This study examined critical features of secondary special educator’s experiences with transition professional development to predict variables most likely to influence performance of transition planning and services. Results included the extent to which secondary special educators are prepared to perform transition practices, the relationship between preparation and the frequency of performance, and specific variables predictive of higher levels of implementation. The results confirm that training matters if special educators are to implement transition interventions and services. Professionals with formal transition coursework and high rates of professional development were more likely to implement transition practices. Implications are offered for establishing specialized professional development originating from established course content sustained and supported with ongoing professional development.

THE FORMATION OF READINESS FOR PERSONAL SELFDETERMINATION WITH DEVIANT TEENAGERS UNDER THE CONDITIONS OF AN EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION

The paper presents the results of introduction of a practice-oriented model of a pedagogical system into the educational process of a school and a vocational school. The system stimulates the process of the formation of readiness for personal self-determination of a modern teenager as an integration of external influences on a forming personality and his or her active internal self-development. The result of the research can be used in the work of psychologists, pedagogue-psychologists, social pedagogues in institutions of general, primary professional and specialized secondary education. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.12731/2218-7405-2013-2-21

Secondary Special Education Teachers’ Perceptions of Preparation for and Satisfaction with Transition Education and Services

Secondary Special Education Teachers’ Perceptions of Preparation for and Satisfaction with Transition Education and Services

An Exploratory Survey of Transition Teaching Practices

This study used multilevel modeling to examine the extent to which secondary special educators promoted nonacademic behaviors that were positively linked to postschool outcomes for students with disabilities, including self-advocacy, goal setting and attainment, disability awareness, employment, and utilization of supports. Respondents were 248 special educators in 20 states. Results showed that between-state factors accounted for significant variance in transition practices and that teachers reported teaching skills related to disability awareness, self-advocacy, goal setting and attainment, and utilization of supports more frequently than those related to employment. Limitations of the study, suggestions for future research, and implications for practice are discussed.

Perceptions of Supportive Leadership Behaviors of School Site Administrators for Secondary Special Education Teachers

Perceptions of Supportive Leadership Behaviors of School Site Administrators for Secondary Special Education Teachers

Automatic processes in at‐risk adolescents: the role of alcohol‐approach tendencies and response inhibition in drinking behavior

This study examined the association between automatic processes and drinking behavior in relation to individual differences in response inhibition in young adolescents who had just started drinking. It was hypothesized that strong automatic behavioral tendencies toward alcohol-related stimuli (alcohol-approach bias) were associated with higher levels of alcohol use, especially amongst adolescents with relatively weak inhibition skills. To test this hypothesis structural equation analyses (standard error of mean) were performed using a zero inflated Poisson (ZIP) model. A well-known problem in studying risk behavior is the low incidence rate resulting in a zero dominated distribution. A ZIP-model accounts for non-normality of the data. Adolescents were selected from secondary Special Education schools (a risk group for the development of substance use problems). Participants were 374 adolescents (mean age of M = 13.6 years). Adolescents completed the alcohol approach avoidance task (a-AAT), the Stroop colour naming task (Stroop) and a questionnaire that assessed alcohol use. The ZIP-model established stronger alcohol-approach tendencies for adolescent drinkers (P < 0.01) and the interaction revealed a stronger effect of alcohol-approach tendencies on alcohol use in the absence of good inhibition skills (P < 0.05). Automatically-activated cognitive processes are associated with the drinking behavior of young, at-risk adolescents. It appears that alcohol-approach tendencies are formed shortly after the initiation of drinking and particularly affect the drinking behavior of adolescents with relatively weak inhibition skills. Implications for the prevention of problem drinking in adolescents are discussed.

Effectiveness of Online Professional Development for Rural Special Educators

Retaining teachers and accessing professional development have been long-standing struggles for rural school districts, particularly with respect to teachers with special education endorsements. This study examined the effect of asynchronous online professional development in secondary special education and transition for 86 rural special education teachers. In addition, the study compared results of teachers in rural and non-rural settings. Results indicated that rural special education teachers who participated in the online professional development gained knowledge, increased personal capacity to apply research-based practices, and implemented research-based transition practices within their classrooms. Furthermore, participants developed meaningful, collaborative relationships with rural colleagues across the country. While rural and non-rural educators both experienced gains as a result of the professional development, rural educators initially rated their competency in providing transition services much lower than their non-rural peers; however, both groups rated their competency at the same levels at the conclusion of the online professional development.

COLLABORATION BY DESIGN: INTEGRATING CORE PEDAGOGICAL CONTENT AND SPECIAL EDUCATION METHODS COURSES IN A PRESERVICE SECONDARY EDUCATION PROGRAM

In this article the authors describe a collaboratively designed secondary teacher education program focused on the preparation of preservice general education teachers to work effectively with children who have diverse learning needs in inclusive classrooms. The focus of the article is on the collaborative development and initial evaluation of the program by secondary teacher education faculty and special education faculty. The instructional design emphasized a co-teaching model where principles of Universal Design for Learning and instructional adaptation were integrated and assessed in multiple courses by collaborating university faculty. Data from the initial evaluation included student teaching portfolios, formal teacher observations, and 6th- through 12th-grade student assessments. The data suggest that preservice teachers appropriately used strategies for adapting their instruction to meet the needs of students with exceptionalities.

Preparing Secondary Educators to Support Adolescent Struggling Readers

The authors examined 3 secondary special education teachers’ implementation of reading knowledge and strategies acquired during a 2-year preparation program. They collected and qualitatively analyzed interview and observation data to ascertain what strategies teachers used and why. Findings indicated that contextual factors (e.g., school-adopted curriculum, students’ abilities) were important influences on the extent to which teachers could situate reading knowledge acquired during the preparation program. Implications for teacher educators and school personnel involved with the design and delivery of secondary reading instruction and teacher education are provided.

Qualitative Inquiry about Teaching Culture On Secondary Special Education Teachers' in Public School of Special Education

Qualitative Inquiry about Teaching Culture On Secondary Special Education Teachers' in Public School of Special Education

When Social Workers Meet Special Education Teachers: Action Research to Implement Curricular Changes in Taiwanese Special Education Systems

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) offering supported employment services in Taiwan recently have identified a missing link between their programs and the vocational programs students with disabilities received in secondary special education system. Sponsored by a national initiative aimed to enhance public education through crossover trials and social inclusion under the umbrella of “HighScope Taiwan”, academics and mainly senior social workers devoted to supported employment for persons with intellectual disabilities started a two-way outreach program through action engagement in 2007. Action research became the common focus of the joint task forces across social work, public education systems, and academia. The article provides field-based reflections of the action research project and suggests ways in which practice of action research may increase social impact in the professional development of individuals.

Specialized Reading Instruction for Adolescents with Learning Disabilities: What Special Education Co-Teachers Say

In this exploratory study, secondary special education co-teachers report about specialized reading instruction for students with learning disabilities in co-taught classes. Almost half of the respondents were concerned that reading instruction was not occurring in co-taught classes. One-third were concerned reading instruction was not occurring any time during the school day.

Sarita Freedman: Developing College Skills in Students with Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome

Children born in the early 1990s who were diagnosed with an ASD and received early intervention are now coming of age and entering college. The transition from a secondary special education environment to the less structured and more social post secondary environment of our nation’s colleges is particularly difficult for higher functioning students on the autism spectrum. Freedman has written a practical book identifying seven critical skill sets for success which are: self-awareness, environmental, self-advocacy, organizational, asking for help, self-care and social skill sets. Each skill set has its own chapter that is further subdivided into sub-skills or problem areas that a person with an ASD must be able to navigate successfully in college. What is particularly helpful is that each of these subsections is further subdivided into early preparation and later preparation steps. This allows the parents, educators and therapists working with younger children to develop building block steps to more complicated behaviors that the student with the ASD will need to master. Later chapters are directed toward deciding whether or not to go to college and how to make this decision. This decision is not simply a yes or no decision, but as Freedman aptly points out, there are many other dimensions to consider (e.g., commuter school vs. living away from home; 4-year college vs. a 2-year community or junior college; size of the college; staffing ratios, etc.). A young adult on the autism spectrum also needs to be familiar with basic laws protecting their rights in college settings (e.g. the Americans with Disabilities Act; Family Education Rights Privacy Act) as well as entitlements (Social Security Act; The Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973). Freedman covers this legislation in a clear and concise manner. Most readers forgo reading appendices and resource sections of books. However, Freedman provides valuable information in these often overlooked portions. She provides an overview chart that summarizes the seven critical skill sets along the dimensions of personal, daily living, academic and executive functioning lines. The resources section is also rich in information including government assistance, preparing for college web sites, transition planning resources, and scholarship sections among many other valuable sections. In future additions of this book, both in the resources and the legal sections, should be a paragraph on the latest amendments to the Higher Education Opportunities Act (2008) which will allow students with intellectual disabilities (broadly defined) to be able to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) if the student is in a Comprehensive Transition Program (CTP) approved by the US Department of Education. The revised edition will need to define what an approved CTP is as well as how families completing the FAFSA form for students with intellectual disabilities will answer questions differently from neurotypical college students. Currently, students with intellectual disabilities are only eligible for grants and student work study programs if their CTP is approved by the US Department of Education. The second edition of this book should also revise its section on sexuality. Freedman offers excellent advice to young adults on the spectrum on how to avoid sexual violence and avoid having one’s romantic interest in a peer being perceived as stalking. However, Freedman’s advice is inadvertently heterosexist in its orientation. Young adults on the autism spectrum may not be aware of the societal E. VanBergeijk (&) New York Institute of Technology, Vocational Independence Program, 300 Carleton Avenue, Room 112 Independence Hall, Central Islip, NY 11722, USA e-mail: evanberg@nyit.edu

Perceptions of American Secondary Special Education Teachers on Family Partnership during Transition

Perceptions of American Secondary Special Education Teachers on Family Partnership during Transition

Autism &amp; the Transition to Adulthood: Success Beyond the Classroom

Autism &amp; the Transition to Adulthood: Success Beyond the Classroom

The Case Study about Secondary Special Education Teachers' Adjustment to Teaching Profession

The Case Study about Secondary Special Education Teachers' Adjustment to Teaching Profession