Academic Engagement of Students With Learning Disabilities in Mainstream Classrooms: Challenging Conventional Wisdom

The articles written for this series, Consultation Models Revisited, are primarily about the practice of consultation in schools. We found many areas of commonality across the artides and have delineated 7 areas as critical to the understanding of school consultation. We also highlight some ideas presented in individual articles that contribute significantly to school consultation. The last part of this article addresses issues that were not discussed in the series but that we feel are important considerations for consultation in schools today.     

Using Social Stories with Students with Social,Emotional, And Behavioral Disabilities: The Promise and the Perils

Social skills are necessary for success in school as they facilitate peer acceptance and student-teacher relationships and promote academic achievement. One social skills intervention that has received significant attention from researchers and has been endorsed by special education teachers is Social Stories. However, the extant research on this intervention has methodological flaws that limit the conclusions about its effectiveness. Although several literature reviews and meta-analyses of the Social Stories literature have been conducted, the findings have been inconsistent and sometimes contradictory, and the bodies of literature reviewed have been varied. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to (a) review the existing Social Stories literature reviews and meta-analyses, and all of the studies they represent, (b) summarize the existing knowledge on the use of Social Stories for students with disabilities, and (c) propose guidelines for practitioners and for empirical research. Results from 16 literature reviews and meta-analyses representing 55 studies do not support the use of Social Stories to improve students’ social skills and behavior. Future directions are discussed.     

Parent Choice in the Education of Students with Disabilities

This study investigated the factors influencing parents of students with disabilities in choosing either an integrated setting or a special school for the education of their children. A questionnaire mailed to members of a parent support group in Victoria, Australia, sought responses to questions about current school setting, changes of school, parent preferences for school setting, and parent satisfaction with the current setting. Parents also rated 30 factors, including specialist resources, curriculum, socialisation, normalisation aspects, school environment, and professional consultation and advice, for their importance in selecting a school. Responses were received from 193 parents. Some differences were identified between parents of students in different settings, with mainstream parents giving high ratings to normalisation and academic aspects, and special school parents emphasising special programs, teacher‐student ratios, and the child's self‐esteem. All parents rated school climate variables as highly important. The majority of parents expressed satisfaction with the current school setting. However, a trend was noted for students to move from the mainstream to special schools as secondary education approached, with the need for curriculum focusing on independent living skills playing an important part in this decision.     

College Students with Disabilities: Factors Influencing Growth in Academic Ability and Confidence

Research in Higher Education - Using large-scale longitudinal data, this study sought to examine factors influencing two important student development outcomes in students with disabilities...     

正念训练对学习困难学生注意力及学业情绪的影响

为探讨正念训练对学习困难学生的影响,本研究对28名学习困难学生进行了8周的实验干预,并用注意力测验及学业情绪量表评估了干预效果。结果表明:1)正念训练能显著提升学习困难学生的注意稳定性和转移,在注意分配及注意广度上的效果不显著;2)正念训练能显著提升学习困难学生积极高唤醒及积极低唤醒学业情绪,并显著降低了消极高唤醒及消极低唤醒学业情绪。结论:通过正念训练能改善学习困难学生的注意力及学业情绪,正念训练可以作为干预学习困难学生的有效途径之一。     

Academic Intrinsic Motivation and Perceived Academic Competence in Greek Elementary Students with and without Learning Disabilities

The aim of this study was to examine differences in intrinsic motivation and perceived academic competence as well as in their association between 5th‐ and 6th‐grade students with learning disabilities (LD) (n= 40) and their typically achieving peers. Participants were 980 Greek elementary students from the metropolitan area of Athens. As predicted, students with LD showed lower intrinsic motivation and perceived academic competence than students without LD almost across all subscales. Exceptions were noticed in intrinsic motivation concerning curiosity/interest and history subscales as well as perceptions of academic competence in the subjects of history and science. Support was found that among typically achieving students intrinsic motivation was positively and significantly related at a moderate level to perceived academic competence across all subscales, as opposed to students with LD, for whom few correlations were found.     

Teaching Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders to Self-advocate through Persuasive Writing

We examined the effectiveness of the Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) model of writing instruction with a self-determination training component for middle school-age students with emotional and behavioral disorders. We randomly assigned students to experimental or comparison treatments during which special education teachers provided the intervention. Students in the experimental groups received instruction on how to plan and write persuasive essays, were trained on self-determination skills, and were taught how to use persuasive writing to self-advocate. Students in the comparison condition received writing instruction with the established school writing curriculum. Instruction for both groups lasted 33 days, four days a week during 30-minute sessions. Experimental students significantly outperformed comparison students at posttest in all the persuasive essay-writing components assessed, in their ability to recall the parts of a persuasive essay, in the self-efficacy measure, and on self-determination knowledge. Experimental students were able to maintain gains in almost all writing measures and were able to generalize to content areas, although comparison students slightly increased in number of words. Student and teacher interviews revealed an overall satisfaction with SRSD procedures and the results.     

Working With Students With Psychiatric Disabilities or Other Emotional Problems

The professional literature on gatekeeping in social work education has grown; however, there remains a dearth in the literature regarding how educators truly work to engage students who are experiencing a psychiatric disability or other emotional problem. This qualitative study explored the experiences of 26 social work educators from 22 colleges and universities in the United States. Practice wisdoms emerged as interwoven strategies which encourage proactive interventions that accentuate students’ strengths through socially just opportunities. Identified strategies include having an awareness of psychosocial and environmental stressors that students may be experiencing, recognizing warning signs, approaching students, and building appropriate faculty–student relationships.     

关于后进生学习英语的不良心理及其转化策略

如何改进中学英语教学,做好后进生的转化工作,大面积提高英语教学质量?这是当前中学英语教学亟待解决的重要课题。在长期的英语教学实践中,笔者认识到,要做好后进生转化工作,就必须研究和分析这类学生的心理,据此有的放矢地采取一些有效     

优化评价机制促进学业不良学生进步

在学校教育中,学生学业不良问题总是客观存在的.在不同时期,人们对学业不良问题的关注程度大不相同.当前,我国中学教育正迎来一个大发展、大改革的新时期,如何评价学业不良中学生,促使其获得学业成功,是学校关心的大问题.     

Conservatism and the Underidentification of Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders in Special Education

Underidentification of students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD; emotional disturbance or ED in federal language) is a critical issue, perhaps explainable in part by causal attributions of problem behavior associated with conservatism. Conservatism in 58 counties in the state of California was measured by finding the percentage of voters in the county voting in favor or Proposition 8, a state constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, under the assumption that opposition to gay marriage is an indicator of conservatism. We conducted a series of hierarchical regression analyses in which conservatism, ethnicity, free/reduced lunch, and suspension/expulsion were used to explain county rates of ED, intellectual disability, and learning disability identification. The model for county identification of ED accounted for 45% of the variance from county to county, with conservatism being the strongest predictor (β = ?0.78, p < 0.001). More conservative counties had lower rates of ED identification. Other variables may contribute to under-identification, but causal attributions associated with conservatism may play a significant role.     

地方院校师范生课程学习投入的影响因素

地方院校师范生的课程学习投入直接决定了教师教育的质量,探索师范生课程学习投入的影响因素成为研究的关注点。本研究通过对165名师范生的问卷调查,从个体层面和机构层面,分析了师范生的课程学习经历感知和对课程教学的满意度对其学习投入的影响作用。结果发现:(1)在个体层面,师范生课程学习经历中感知的"通用技能培养"和"恰当的评价"对其学习投入具有显著影响,而感知的"良好的教学"、"清晰的目标"、"适当的负担"和"强调自主性"等因素对学习投入的影响不显著;(2)师范生对机构层面的课程内容、教学活动、教师素质、教学质量的满意度与其学习投入之间存在显著正相关关系。     

大学生学业情绪与学习投入的关系:学业自我效能感的中介作用

为探讨大学生学业情绪与学习投入之间的关系,以及学业自我效能感在其中的中介作用,采用学习投入量表(UWES-S)、大学生学业情绪量表和学业自我效能感量表对1030名在校大学生进行问卷调查。结果发现:(1)大学生学习投入普遍处于中等水平;(2)学习投入与积极活动定向学业情绪、积极结果定向学业情绪、消极结果定向学业情绪以及学业自我效能感均呈显著正相关,与消极活动定向学业情绪呈显著负相关。(3)学业自我效能感在积极活动定向学业情绪、积极结果定向学业情绪、消极活动定向学业情绪与学习投入之间起部分中介作用,在消极结果定向学业情绪与学习投入之间不存在中介作用。     

Politics,Civil Rights,and Disproportional Identification of Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

The civil rights movements involving skin tone, gender or gender orientation, disability, and other physiognomic features remain important in securing the legal rights of individuals to equal treatment and equal opportunities regardless of their personal characteristics of color, origin, gender, and so on. Unfortunately, these welcome civil rights movements have led to a misunderstanding of unfairness in another group of individuals whose rights and opportunities have often been abridged—students with disabilities. Individual rights and opportunities must be insured, but doing so requires the discrimination of differences among differences. That is, not all differences require the same remedy to insure equal rights and opportunities. Misunderstanding of differences and their implications have led to political concerns about disproportional representation, particularly of students with emotional or behavioral disorders, which place unwarranted constraints on special education services.     

小学生数学学习投入水平的测评与提升

数学学习投入是指学生在数学学习过程中,采取深度学习策略和元认知策略,积极参与课内外数学学业活动,与他人结成深度交往关系,并伴随着积极的情感体验的一种学习活动。以"认知投入—情感投入—行为投入"结构为数学学习投入的测量框架,采取已有的成熟量表调查武汉市两所小学四、五年级共424名小学生的数学学习投入状况,研究发现:小学生数学学习投入总体状况较好,但在各维度和指标上的发展水平不均衡;数学学习行为投入得分最高,认知投入得分最低;性别和年级上差异显著,男生的数学学习投入度高于女生;家庭、学校、班级、教师、同伴等社会性因素影响小学生的数学学习投入水平。为此,学校、家长、教师应协作支持学生的数学学习,认识学习投入各维度和指标的重要性,消弭男女生数学学习的性别偏见、性别定势和班级差异,判定和反思小学生目前数学学习投入的类别,弥补学习投入类别的短板。     

Students with Disabilities on Fine Art Degrees

The Arts Council and Skill: National Bureau for Students with Disabilities were concerned that disabled students were not gaining access to professional training in the arts. As part of a project to encourage institutions to improve access, the Arts Council funded Skill to conduct a survey of existing provision for students with disabilities on fine art degree courses. Forty institutions were surveyed. Respondents were asked both about the facilities available to students with disabilities within their own college, and about their own view of the feasibility of disabled people studying fine art. The picture that emerged varied greatly between colleges; most colleges had responded to the needs of individual students, but few had taken any systematic approach to widening access. There was also a discrepancy between respondents who felt certain disabilities would debar students studying fine art, and others who had had practical experience of teaching students with those disabilities. The survey forms part of a wider project by Skill and the Arts Council.