Responding to pupils with severe learning disabilities, who present challenging behaviour

John Harris, Chief Executive of the British Institute of Learning Disabilities, desctribes work carried out with teachers and classroom assistants in special schools to establish effective ways of responding to challenging behaviours presented by pupils with severe learning disabilities. He suggests a range of strategies which may be helpful to teachers, their assistants and other professionals.     

学习不良儿童的心理问题及其干预措施

学习不良儿童作为一个异质群体,存在着严重的心理问题。学习不良儿童的心理问题既表现为心理障碍(如抑郁、自杀等),又表现为发展性心理问题(如违纪、焦虑、攻击性、说谎、逃学等)。文章列举了学习不良儿童心理问题的主要表现,并针对这些心理问题提出了干预措施(主要有学校教育干预、家庭干预及心理辅导与治疗等)。     

Development of a student perception inventory

Students learn new or difficult information most effectively when the classroom environment is compatible with their learning style preferences. Determining learning style preferences can be accomplished by administering the Learning Style Inventory (LSI). However, to understand compatibility with the classroom, an instrument that quantifies student perceptions of elements within the environment is essential. This paper describes development and field‐testing of such an instrument‐the Student Perception Inventory (SPI). The SPI was administered to 80 gifted middle school students and was found to provide useful student perception data. Information needed to improve learning environments for gifted learners, especially underachieving gifted students, was found when using the LSI in conjunction with the SPI.     

Count us in: the role of schools and colleges in meeting the mental health needs of young people with learning disabilities

In December 2002, the Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities' Committee of Inquiry into the mental health needs of young people with learning disabilities produced its report.
Barry Carpenter, Chief Executive at Sunfield and Chair of the committee, and Hazel Morgan, head of the Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities, take this opportunity to share some insights into the workings of the committee and summarise the key findings. The committee drew evidence from a range of sources, but placed the voices and experiences of young people with learning disabilities at the centre of their proceedings. The committee's findings and recommendations were wide ranging and will have far-reaching implications, but there are immediate messages that schools and colleges should hear. It is upon these messages, taking account of pastoral provision, the curriculum, transition and inter-agency work, that Barry Carpenter and Hazel Morgan focus in this article.     

Documenting support needs and adjustment gaps for students with disabilities: teacher practices in Australian classrooms and on national tests

Accommodations or adjustments for students with disabilities (SWDs) who need them are required in Australian education law and policy for classroom instruction and assessment, and external educational accountability tests. Drawing upon the structure of the Assessment Accommodations Checklist and more than a decade of accessibility research, the Checklist of Learning and Assessment Adjustments for Students (CLAAS) was developed to help teachers select and document adjustments that support SWDs and students with additional needs in classroom instruction and assessment, and external tests. The CLAAS was trialled with 21 primary school teachers documenting adjustments for 89 students with diverse needs. Teachers indicated that the CLAAS provided a comprehensive list of adjustments, was useful for recording adjustments across classroom instruction and assessment, and external tests, and provided guidance about potential adjustments for SWDs or with additional learning needs. The documented adjustments also indicated some considerable gaps between supports provided in classrooms compared with the Australian educational accountability tests. Findings also provided initial evidence for the reliability and validity of use of the CLAAS for its intended purposes. The CLAAS is a promising tool for helping both researchers and teachers systematically document and provide equitable and inclusive adjustments for SWDs and additional learning needs given their needs for classroom learning, assessment and external testing and examination requirements.     

Perceptions of Classroom Environment,School Types,Gender and Learning Styles of Secondary School Students

Assessment of students’ perceptions of classroom environment and their learning styles provided a framework within which to study factors related to perceptions of students in learning. Two instruments, the Individualized Classroom Environment Questionnaire (ICEQ) and the Learning Style Inventory 1985 (LSI), were administered in Singapore to a stratified random sample of 1733 Secondary 4 students (equivalent to Grade 10) from nine secondary schools (good, average and below average schools). The study showed that school type (the category of schools that the students come from), had the most influence on the students’ perceptions of both actual and preferred classroom environment. Gender had an influence too, but mainly on perceptions of actual classroom environment. Learning styles of students had the least influence.     

Supporting computer-mediated learning: A case study in online staff development and classroom learning environment assessment

The rapid growth of online learning has led to the development of staff inservice evaluation models that are geared towards improving degree programs. Based on best practices in student online assessment, the Online Faculty Development and Classroom Learning Environment Assessment course was designed to serve the dual purpose of staff development and classroom learning environment assessment. Results of analyses showed that the course maximised the potential of online staff development for encouraging staff to reflect on Curriculum and Teaching Capacities (CTC). Implications are discussed in terms of emphasising the process of online CTC learning and incorporating perspectives to capture a comprehensive view of staff teaching attitudes and their association with student perceptions of the classroom learning environment.     

Grouping for reading instruction: does one size fit all?

Twenty-nine third-grade teachers and selected students from their classes participated. Study 1 used teacher interviews and classroom observations to examine teachers' perceptions and practices for grouping for reading instruction; Study 2 examined the impact of these grouping practices on the academic progress, social progress, and attitudes about reading of students representing a range of achievement levels, including students with learning disabilities. Results indicated that, overall, teachers used whole class instruction for reading and the same materials for all students, including students with learning disabilities. Students with learning disabilities made little academic progress and their attitudes about reading did not improve over time.     

Learning disabilities in New Zealand: where kiwis and kids with LD can't fly.

Learning disabilities (LD) has never been officially recognized as a category of special education in New Zealand. This article discusses the main reasons for the rejection of the LD category. The education system in New Zealand is described, and the nature of special education is outlined to provide a context for considering LD. Attempts by the parent group SPELD (New Zealand Federation of Specific Learning Disabilities Associations) to have "specific learning disabilities" (SLD) recognized in legislation are discussed, along with reasons for the rejection of these attempts by state education officials. It is concluded that LD/SLD will never be recognized as such in New Zealand. The needs of students with LD may potentially be met by new policies for "high incidence" special needs. But teachers' lack of skills and strategies for working with a range of learning difficulties is seen as an impediment to students with LD being adequately helped in the foreseeable future.     

Locus of control of children with learning disabilities and perceived locus of control by significant others

The perceptions of parents and teachers of 24 children with learning disabilities regarding their children's or students' locus of control (LC) orientation were compared to the LC orientation held by the children themselves. While no significant differences were found between parents and children, teachers were found to perceive in their students with learning disabilities significantly more internally oriented success experiences than the students perceived in themselves. Significant differences in LC orientation were also found between the children with learning disabilities and a comparable group of nondisabled subjects. Implications for both preservice and inservice teacher education are presented.     

Social skills deficits as a primary learning disability

Advances in the definition of social skills deficits in children and youth with learning disabilities are presented and critiqued. The proposed modified definition of learning disability by the Interagency Committee on Learning Disabilities, which includes social skills deficits as a specific learning disability, is presented and discussed. This definition is analyzed from primary, secondary, and social learning theory causative hypotheses. Development of an adequate assessment technology is viewed as critical to the identification and classification of social skills deficits in children and youth with learning disabilities.     

Eligibility and classification decisions in educational settings: Issuing “Passports” in a state of confusion

Eligibility and classification decisions have become an integral part of the American educational system, but the process of making these decisions remains poorly understood. Subjects for this investigation of this decision-making process were 223 educational professionals. Each was given referral and assessment information reflecting average performance for a hypothetical student and asked to make decisions about that student. In their decisions, 51% declared the student eligible for special services; 61% indicated the presence of mental retardation, learning disabilities, and/or emotional disturbance. Several subjects indicated eligibility for services, but did not classify, or indicated ineligibility for services, but classified the student. Learning disabilities was the most popular classification. Student characteristics and the subjects' professional roles and knowledge of assessment/ measurement principles affected decisions made; however, greater training and knowledge did not lead to significantly better decisions. It is apparent that more care must be taken by decision makers in the use and interpretation of assessment information.     

The self-perception of a learning disability and its relationship to academic self-concept and self-esteem

Eighty-seven children with learning disabilities, aged 9 through 11 years 11 months, completed measures of self-esteem, academic self-concept, and self-perception of their learning disability. The Self-Perception of Learning Disability (SPLD) instrument measures the extent to which children with learning disabilities perceive their disability as (a) delimited rather than global, (b) modifiable rather than permanently limiting, and (c) not stigmatizing. It was hypothesized that self-perception of one's learning disability would be related positively to both academic self-concept and self-esteem, and that each of these relationships would remain significant when controlling for sex, ethnicity, age, reading and math achievement, self-contained versus mainstreamed classroom setting, and age at diagnosis. Correlations and multiple regression analyses confirmed these hypotheses. Results were discussed in terms of helping children to develop less negative self-perceptions of their disabilities.     

MAKING CONNECTIONS: FROM THE COLLEGE CLASSROOM TO THE EARLY CHILDHOOD SETTING

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to examine the beliefs, attitudes, and knowledge of early childhood teacher candidates within the state of Texas about the inclusion of students with disabilities in the general education classroom. The “Inventory of Opinions About Persons with Disabilities” (IOPD) was utilized to collect self‐report data from preservice educators in their last semester of practical experience (i.e., student teaching or final intern semester) in 10 Texas universities. The return rate of the inventories was 70.85%, with data from 172 useable inventories reported in this study.

The research questions indicated early childhood teacher candidates held positive self‐perceptions (mean = 2.0388) about their beliefs, attitudes, and knowledge related to inclusion and students with disabilities. However, the participants reported less positive attitudes about training (mean = .09884).     

Conversational engagement of children with learning disabilities

This study was designed to characterize the conversational engagement techniques employed by children with and without learning disabilities while in a dyadic interaction. Engagement was defined and measured in terms of the degree to which utterances provided information and evidenced responsiveness to one's conversational partner. Sixty (30 with learning disabilities and 30 nondisabled) 9- to 13-year-old subjects participated. Analyses indicated that the subjects with learning disabilities (LD) could and did employ engagement-related techniques similar in levels of sophistication to those of their nondisabled peers, although they did so less consistently and frequently. Further, the relationship between affective measures and the engagement-related techniques used by the subjects with LD differed markedly from those of the nondisabled subjects. The results are interpreted from a motivational standpoint and suggest that future research should focus on the knowledge and application of engagement-related techniques of the children with LD, across settings and conversational partners.     

Classroom Environment Instruments: Development,Validity and Applications

Few fields of educational research have such a rich diversity of valid, economical and widely-applicable assessment instruments as does the field of learning environments. This article describes nine major questionnaires for assessing student perceptions of classroom psychosocial environment (the Learning Environment Inventory, Classroom Environment Scale, Individualised Classroom Environment Questionnaire, My Class Inventory, College and University Classroom Environment Inventory, Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction, Science Laboratory Environment Inventory, Constructivist Learning Environment Survey and What Is Happening In This Class) and reviews the application of these instruments in 12 lines of past research (focusing on associations between outcomes and environment, evaluating educational innovation, differences between student and teacher perceptions, whether students achieve better in their preferred environment, teachers' use of learning environment perceptions in guiding improvements in classrooms, combining quantitative and qualitative methods, links between different educational environments, cross-national studies, the transition from primary to high school, and incorporating educational environment ideas into school psychology, teacher education and teacher assessment).     

Science Learning Outcomes in Alignment with Learning Environment Preferences

This study investigated students’ learning environment preferences and compared the relative effectiveness of instructional approaches on students’ learning outcomes in achievement and attitude among 10th grade earth science classes in Taiwan. Data collection instruments include the Earth Science Classroom Learning Environment Inventory and Earth Science Learning Outcomes Inventory. The results showed that most students preferred learning in a classroom environment where student-centered and teacher-centered instructional approaches coexisted over a teacher-centered learning environment. A multivariate analysis of covariance also revealed that the STBIM students’ cognitive achievement and attitude toward earth science were enhanced when the learning environment was congruent with their learning environment preference.     

Efficacy of a Reading Intervention for Middle School Students Identified with Learning Disabilities

This experimental study reports findings on the effects from a year-long reading intervention providing daily, 50-minute sessions to middle-school students with identified learning disabilities (n = 65) compared with similar students who did not receive the reading intervention (n = 55). All students continued to receive their special education services as provided by the school. Results indicated statistically significant findings favoring the treatment group for sight word reading fluency following intervention. Small effects were found for phonemic decoding fluency and passage comprehension. No other statistically significant differences were noted between groups. The findings suggest that while gains on word reading fluency resulted from the additional reading treatment, accelerating the reading performance of students identified with learning disabilities may be unlikely to result from a one-year, daily intervention provided to students in groups of 10-15.