Which variables relate to the attitudes of teachers,parents and peers towards students with special educational needs in regular education?

While there is an increased interest in describing attitudes of teachers, parents and peers towards students with special educational needs in regular education, there is a lack of knowledge about various variables relating to the attitudes of these three groups. The aims of this study are: (1) to examine which variables relate to the attitudes of teachers (N?=?44), parents (N?=?508) and peers (N?=?1113) towards students with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Autistic Spectrum Syndrome or a cognitive disability in regular primary education and (2) to examine whether teachers and parents’ attitudes affect the attitudes of peers. An attitude survey was used to assess attitudes and data were analysed by means of multilevel analyses. The variables found in this study relating to attitudes can be used as a foundation to develop interventions to change attitudes.     

The relation of disparity in student and faculty educational attitudes to early student transfer from college

Educational attitudes of entering students (N=236) and full-time faculty (N = 48) at a liberal-arts college for women were measured by the Student Orientations Survey (SOS) and the Faculty Orientations Survey (FOS). Attitudes of students who transferred from the college prior to the sophomore year were similar to those who remained on dimensions of educational purpose, peer relationships, and public position. Attitudes of transfers differed significantly from those of remaining students on dimensions concerned with the process of education and faculty-student power relationships. The absolute disparity between faculty and student attitudes on these same dimensions of process and power was greater for students who transferred than for students who remained. Implications for adapting the curricular-instructional process to reduce attrition and for utilizing such an assessment of student and faculty educational orientations in academic counseling are discussed. Suggestions are made for extending the study to identify possible relationships between disparity in faculty-student educational attitudes and attrition at other institutions.     

Differentiated Curriculum Design: Responding to the Individual and Group Needs of Students with Learning Difficulties with Self‐regulated Learning Strategies

The purpose of this study was to explore special educational curriculum design at senior secondary school level and whether this helps to enhance the academic attainment and self‐confidence of students with learning difficulties. An in‐depth discussion focuses on lesson planning for the individual needs and group needs of students by implementation of self‐regulated learning strategies, based on a case study in a special school in Hong Kong. A multiple methods research design was envisaged for the implementation phase of this participatory action research. Lesson observations, video recordings, teachers’ diaries and students’ interviews were collected during one academic year in a form 5 (equal to year 12 in the UK) classroom. It is suggested that curriculum design should include various elements: learning knowledge, values and attitudes, and generic skills. This differentiated curriculum design showed how subject learning targets could be responsive to both the individual and the group needs of students with learning difficulties. Conclusions also indicate that assisting students to become aware of their individual needs is beneficial both for learning and for curriculum design.     

Intercultural learning in graduate studies at an Israeli college of education: Attitudes toward multiculturalism among Jewish and Arab students

The purpose of the present study is to investigate the factors which affect attitudes towards multiculturalism among Jewish and Arab graduate students who experience intercultural learning in an Israeli-Jewish academic college of education. In Israeli society, it is in higher education institutions where young people from different ethnic groups first encounter the ‘others’. This is due to the structure of the Israeli elementary and secondary education system, which is divided into Jewish and Arab segregated sub-systems. In contrast, the country’s higher education institutions are open to everyone. The research population was composed of first and second year graduate students, all of whom were practicing teachers or involved in other educational work. Participants completed questionnaires and a smaller sample was also interviewed. All of the students are practicing teachers or involved in other educational work. Everyone perceived the college’s socio-cultural climate as an open and multicultural one in both years of study. However, these positive feelings characterized Jewish students to a larger extent than Arab students, while the socio-cultural aspect as well as the quality of the academic experience had a positive impact on multicultural attitudes primarily among Arab students. Thus, a multicultural climate is not enough to effect a positive change in entrenched attitudes toward multiculturalism. Multicultural education policy should also be reinforced through a formal academic curriculum, so as to set an example for ongoing social change which will further encourage graduate students—majority and minority alike—to implement their multicultural positive experiences in their own schools in the future.     

Am I That Talented? The experiences of gifted individuals from diverse educational backgrounds at the postsecondary level

The experiences of gifted students at the postsecondary level have not been studied widely. The goal of the present study was to explore and describe gifted students’ perceptions of their first year after high school regarding experiences of success and failure. Two focus groups were conducted with 12 students (8 males, 4 females) from different educational backgrounds, who had participated in a university-based enrichment program, to discuss topics related to their academic and socio-emotional experiences at a postsecondary level. Many students who attended vocational high schools experienced high levels of discomfort with their academic preparedness to face postsecondary education. Other initial problems were adapting socially to a new environment and perceiving themselves as “less” gifted than their peers. However, after these initial adjustment problems, students revealed high perseverance to face difficulties and a strong motivation for continuing the academic path they had outlined for themselves. Conducting longitudinal research and rethinking college services offered for gifted students are some of the implications discussed in this study.     

Engaging youth of color in applied science education and public health promotion

Participation in inquiry-based science education, which focuses on student-constructed learning, has been linked to academic success. Whereas the benefits of this type of science education are evident, access to such high-quality science curriculum and programming is not equitable. Black and Latino students in particular have less access to supplementary science programming, and fewer opportunities to engage in inquiry-based education. This paper describes outcomes associated with an inquiry-based out-of-school time science education program, Nuestro Futuro: Applied Science Education to Engage Black and Latino Youth (NFASE), which sought to build the capacity of middle school students of color to ‘think’ like health scientists from diverse disciplinary perspectives. The program was designed with the intent of (1) improving student attitudes toward and motivation for science and (2) increasing active and engaged citizenship (AEC). NFASE students explored health inequity and the social determinants of health locally and engaged in developing health promotion, outreach and education efforts targeted to their peers, parents/families, and community. Interest in the program was high overall, but implementation was not without challenges. Although evaluation outcomes indicate that there were no statistically significant changes in science-related attitudes or motivation, students reported significant increases in neighborhood social connection, as well as overall AEC.     

The Academic Achievement of Adolescents from Immigrant Families: The Role of Family Background, Attitudes, and Behavior

The goal of this study was to determine the relative impact of family background, parental attitudes, peer support, and adolescents' won attitudes and behaviors on the academic achievement of students from immigrant families. Approximately 1,100 adolescents with Latino, East Asian, Filipino, and European backgrounds reported on their own academic attitudes and behaviors as well as those of their parents and peers. In addition, students' course grades were obtained from their official school records. Results indicated that first and second generation students received higher grades in mathematics and English than their peers from native families. Only a small portion of their success could be attributed to their socioeconomic background; a more significant correlate of their achievement was a strong emphasis on education that was shared by the students, their parents, and their peers. These demographic and psychosocial factors were also important in understanding the variation in academic performance among the immigrant students themselves.     

A comparison among three experimental education programs

The primary characteristics of the three programs are used to compare participants to each other and to a group of students in the regular curriculum: (1) development of logical thought, (2) broader educational development, and, (3) career development, as well as selected academic characteristics (grades academic aptitude). The programs and their evaluations are described. The outcomes claimed for each program occurred more frequently in that program than in the comparison groups. The absence of differences in grades, despite differences in academic ability and in extent of program involvement, is interpreted as further evidence of the insensitivity of grades. The question of generality of the results is explored briefly.     

Comparability of Self‐concept among Normal Achievers,Low Achievers and Children with Learning Difficulties

Self‐concept ratings of normally and low achieving students in regular classes were compared with those of children facing academic difficulties and attending special education classes. Children's perceptions of scholastic competence and feelings of global self‐worth were measured using the Perceived Competence Scale for Children (Harter, 1982). Participants in the study were 424 children enrolled in the third to sixth primary school grades. Results indicated that special class children rated themselves more negatively than their normally achieving peers on both academic self‐concept and global self‐worth. They also rated themselves more negatively than their low achieving peers on academic self‐concept; no differences existed between these two groups on global self‐worth. The results are discussed in the light of the nature of the Greed educational system and the pressure put on children for academic excellence.     

体育管理学课程案例教学研究

为了解体育管理课程案例教学对学生学习兴趣及分析问题、解决问题能力的影响,在2年教学时间内,在体育管理学教学中安排了40％课时比重的案例教学,对295名学生的调查发现学生对案例教学很重视,但对案例教学的效果满意度不高。学生对案例质量的实用性和时效性要求较高,对教师收集业界第一手案例的期望较高。学生希望对案例教学的分组做到公平合理。     

Initiations of social interactions by young hearing impaired preschoolers

This study examined strategies for initiating social interactions with peers, among 4 children with hearing impairment, aged 33 to 36 months, attending a special early education center or a regular kindergarten. The study investigated initiation type (related to partner's hearing status) and rates of initiation success/failure vis-a-vis hearing and deaf partners. Results revealed (a) more initiations in the regular program than in the special program; (b) in the special program, much more successful initiations toward children with hearing impairment than toward hearing children; (c) vocalization as the most frequent strategy used with both hearing and hearing-impaired partners; and (d) referential decisions about their initiations even among young children with hearing impairment (made by changing frequencies of various strategies according to partner's hearing status). The discussion addressed implications regarding integration of children with hearing impairment into regular educational settings.     

The effectiveness of structured co-operative teaching and learning in Greek primary school classrooms

This study focuses upon the effectiveness of structured co-operative group work on primary school students, aged between 8.5 and 9.5 years old, regarding their content knowledge, attitudes towards co-operative group work, experiential learning and open-ended curriculum as well as students' social and learning behaviour during co-operative group work. A cross-curricular educational programme was implemented within the curriculum area of environmental studies entitled ‘traffic education'. The methodology applied in this study was the experimental and the case study research designs. The findings of the present study support the view that pupils can gain benefits through structured group work co-operation in obtaining content knowledge and group work skills, as well as in developing positive attitudes towards group work, experiential learning, open-ended curriculum and the co-operation with their peers with learning difficulties (LDs). Changes in the relationships with the peers were not affected after the implementation of the educational programme.     

Comparative analysis of the impact of traditional versus innovative learning environment on student attitudes and learning outcomes

This study explored the claim that different classroom layouts can affect teaching and learning. At the time of the study, there were few robust evaluative frameworks able to isolate and then measure the impact of different educational layouts. In response, this study employed a quasi-experimental approached facilitated by a Single Subject Research Design (SSRD) to compare two different classroom layouts - a traditional classroom layout and ‘Innovative Learning Environment’ (ILE) in an Australian secondary schooling context. The study compared students’ attitudes to their learning experiences, motivation, engagement and academic outcomes in each layout over a school year. Comparative analyses highlighted how students’ attitudes to their learning experiences and engagement differed in the two designs. A correlation was identified between enhanced student attitudes in an ILE and higher English, Humanities and Mathematics academic achievement when compared with cognitively matched peers who occupied a traditional classroom for the same period. This initial empirical evidence, even though restricted to a single site, was able to discern a measurable link between the occupation of different learning spaces and an impact on student learning experiences, engagement and academic outcomes in secondary schooling context.     

Preservice teachers’ attitudes,attributions, and stereotypes: Exploring the disadvantages of students from families with low socioeconomic status

In many educational systems, students from families with low socioeconomic status (SES) often score lower in academic achievement than their high SES peers. Even though this effect is well-documented and research on teachers’ stereotypical beliefs and attitudes is steadily increasing, the studies so far did not specifically focus on students’ SES. In the current study, we explored preservice teachers’ implicit attitudes and their stereotypical and prejudiced beliefs toward low SES students as well as their causal attributions for the low educational success of low SES students. Results showed that teachers had negative implicit attitudes toward low SES students and that they more strongly associated competences and good learning and working habits with high SES students. The correlations highlighted the role that stereotypes play in causal attributions. Participants who more strongly associated low SES with competence and good working and learning behaviors were less likely to endorse internal attributions but were more likely to emphasize external attributions. Hence, when preservice teachers see low SES students as having high ability, they also strongly view the educational system as a source of the disadvantages that low SES students experience in school.     

Access to academic curriculum in Australian secondary schools: a case study of a highly marketised education system

This study examines how access to academic curriculum differs between secondary schools in Australia, a country whose education system is marked by high levels of choice, privatisation and competition. Equitable access to academic curriculum is important for both individual students and their families as well as the larger society. Previous research has shown that students from lower socio-economic backgrounds are less likely to study academic curriculum than their more advantaged peers. Less is known, however, about the extent to which this pattern is related to differential provision of curriculum between schools. We found that low socio-economic schools offer students less access to the core academic curriculum subjects that are important for university entry. We also found that the breadth and depth of courses offered is related to school sector (private or public) and socio-economic context. Previous research has shown that choice and competition are inequitable because they frequently increase school social segregation and ‘cream-skimming’. Our findings show another inequitable consequence, namely that choice and competition limit access to high-status academic curriculum in working-class communities.     

Evaluating a Tutorial Program Containing Volunteer Subjects

Student teachers enrolled at Kansas State University and Northeastern State College (Oklahoma) in the spring of 1967 were compared on (1) maintenance of philosophic orientation, (2) adherence to teaching attitudes, (3) reaction to student-teaching, and (4) performance on related criteria. The GNC Scale of Logical Consistency in Educational Ideas determined their philosophic orientation. The Minnesota Teacher Attitude Inventory determined their attitudes toward potential teaching situations. Comparisons were made before and after student teaching by institution, teaching level, and sex. GNC, MTAI, and ACT levels, methods and student-teaching grades, and grade point averages were tested for intercorrelation.

K. S. U. students were more logically consistent and empirically oriented in their ideas about education before and after teaching participation. Teaching attitudes were best maintained by the elementary students in both institutions. N. S. C. students showed greater intercorrelation among all the criteria. Low logical consistency by N. S. C. students may signify disagreement between theoretical and practical educational views. Maintenance of teaching attitudes by K. S. U. elementary students suggests variable effects of professional courses. Agreement among academic and educational criteria by N. S. C. students suggests a greater unaminity of educational ends and means.     

Study-group diversity and early college academic outcomes: Experimental evidence from a higher education inclusion program in Peru

Beca18 is a Peruvian social inclusion program for higher education. It provides full scholarships to economically disadvantaged public high school graduates who have been admitted to eligible universities. We exploit the random assignment of first-year students to small study groups at an elite university in Peru to evaluate how the interactions between relatively wealthy non-Beca18 students, who predominate at this institution, and Beca18 fellows affect early academic outcomes. We find that assignment to mixed study groups, composed of Beca18 and non-Beca18 students, on average improves performance on individual weekly/biweekly quizzes. In the case of Beca18 fellows, the positive effect of mixed-study environments is greater among fellows that possess relatively high academic ability as incoming students (that is, among those with higher pre-college academic ability). Interestingly, the opposite holds for non-Beca18 students. We identify two potential underlying mechanisms behind these results: (i) peers’ incoming (pre-college) academic ability and (ii) peer's attitudes towards effort and cooperation. Beca18 students in mixed study groups seem to benefit more from the relatively higher academic ability their non-Beca18 peers possess upon entrance. Non-Beca18 students appear to benefit from experiencing the higher effort and cooperation levels displayed by Beca18 fellows. Our evidence also suggests that some individuals may be adversely affected. These include Beca18 students who are toward the bottom of their socioeconomic group and non-Beca18 students who are at the top of their socioeconomic group in terms of pre-college ability distribution.     

Maternal Attitudes and Parent Education: How Immigrant Mothers Support Their Child’s Education Despite Their Own Low Levels of Education

A study of Mexican immigrant mothers of young children in the AVANCE-Dallas early childhood intervention program demonstrates that low-educational parents often exhibit ambitious attitudes about educational achievement for their children. Though they lack an extensive academic background, which places their children at risk for low education, their positive attitude manifested in daily pro-educational behaviors overcomes their low education level because they both motivate their children to pursue academic success and participate in their children’s learning. The best way to capitalize on immigrant parents’ educational drive for their children is to partner with them—either through an intervention program or through early childhood educators’ interaction with parents—by showing them how their participation in their children’s learning through concrete activities (such as regular mother–child conversation, daily reading, and playtime activities that teach developmental skills) may increase their chances of achieving academic success.     

Democratization of secondary education in Malaysia: attitudes towards schooling and educational aspirations

As a consequence of the democratization of secondary education in Malaysia beginning in the 1990s, many students who do not have academic credentials are allowed to progress to upper secondary education. This study examines the attitudes of these students towards two important aspects of schooling – namely, learning and examinations, as well as their educational aspirations – to assess the extent to which they have fulfilled the aims of the democratization of secondary education, among which is to produce more highly trained and well-educated manpower. A questionnaire survey and in-depth interviews were conducted in five sampled schools to explore the issues from various perspectives. The attitudes of the students towards learning and examinations as well as their levels of educational aspirations were generally found to be wanting regardless of their background. This study has revealed the internal contradiction of the democratization of secondary education in Malaysia. The democratization of secondary education within the ambit of a highly academic and examination-oriented education system has not served the needs of academically weak students. This study has also revealed the lack of alternative educational opportunities available to these students. The lack of resolve among teachers to handle these students and enough counsellors to guide them through the schooling process further complicate their problems.     

Are regular education classes equipped to accommodate students with learning disabilities?

This study examined educational practices in regular education classes in grades K-5 to determine changes required to facilitate a full-time mainstreaming program for students with learning disabilities. Data collected during the planning year of a mainstreaming project permitted a detailed analysis of the elementary school and the extent to which it accommodated individual differences. Data from informal and structured observations, interviews, and surveys of students, parents, and teachers suggested that fundamental changes in instruction are necessary for the regular education initiative to work in this school.