Differences in Educational professionals' knowledge and development of knowledge relating to the supplemental security income (SSI) program

169 Pages·2003·6.7 MB·English

by  Stuart, Christy Holthaus

DIFFERENCESINEDUCATIONALPROFESSIONALS’KNOWLEDGEAND
DEVELOPMENTOFKNOWLEDGERELATINGTOTHESUPPLEMENTAL
SECURITYINCOME(SSI)PROGRAM
By
CHRISTYHOLTHAUSSTUART
ADISSERTATIONPRESENTEDTOTHEGRADUATESCHOOLOFTHE
UNIVERSITYOFFLORIDAINPARTIALFULFILLMENTOFTHE
REQUIREMENTSFORTHEDEGREEOFDOCTOROFEDUCATION
UNIVERSITYOFFLORIDA
2003
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Theprocessofdoctoraltraining,doctoralcandidacy,anddefendingthisresearch
projecthasencompassedmanyemotions.Ithaschallengedmyabilitytopersevere.1
mustbeginbythankingmyfamily.Mymotherhasproventomeinmorewaysthanone
whatittakestobecourageousandtolivelifewithdignityandgrace.1thankherfor
alwaysbeingoneofmybiggestfans.Myfatherhasalwaysinstilledinmethateducation
ismyfoundationtosuccess.Forhisbeliefinme,1mustthankhim.Inadditiontomy
parents,AldenandBethStuarthavegivenmesuchstrengthandsupportduringmy
doctoraltraining.Theirappreciationandrespectforeducationhasalwaysbeenasource
ofstrengthformewhileIcompletedmystudy.
IwouldliketothankStephanieLevine,whosecourageanddrivetoleada
beautifullifedespitethechallengesofherdisabilityhavealwaysbeenaninspiration.Itis
becauseofherthatIpursuedspecialeducationandstrivetocontributetothelivesof
youngadultswithdisabilities.Ithankherforherbeautifulsoulandfriendship.Special
thanksgotoDr.MeredithDelk-Pruiettforherwisdom,support,andbeliefthatI,too,
couldsuccessfullydefendmydissertation.Itreasureherfriendship.
IwouldliketothankDr.DavidMillerandDr.PaulSindelarforservingonmy
doctoralcommittee.Manythanksgotomychair.Dr.StuartSchwartz.Hispresenceearly
inmydoctoralprogramwaslife-changing.Iwillalwaysbegratefulforhissteadfastfaith
inmethatI,too,wouldsuccessfullyfinish.Additionalthanksgotomycochair.Dr.
DianeRyndak.Iwillalwaysbethankfulforherunyieldingpushtogetthebestoutofme
11
andtofeedmypassion.Iwillalwaysfeelfortunatetohavehadtheopportimitytowork
withsuchwonderfulmentors.Inadditiontomychairandcochair,1wouldliketothank
Dr.BillHalloran,whoseexpertise,support,andfaiththat1wouldsucceedandmakea
contributiontothepublicpolicyfieldhasmeantsomuchtome.1thankhimforhis
friendshipandsupportandhopethatourfriendshipwillbelifelong.1couldnothave
finishedwithouttheexpertiseofDr.HughBerry.Asidefromhisunderstandingof
statistics,heprovidedmewiththefinestfederalinternship.Thatsummertruly“changed
mylife”andmademeenvisionmyprofessionalpath.
Finally,1mustthankmyhusband,Mark,whohasgivenmesuchunconditional
love,support,andencouragementduringthemostchallengingofdays.Hegaveme
confidencewhendefendingmydissertationseemedlike“theimpossibledream”and1
thankmyson,Ryan,whohasshownmeinmanydifferentwayswhatitfeelsliketolove
beyondreason.Hisexistenceneverceasestoamazeandhumbleme.Lastly,Iwouldlike
tothankSara,mysweetangelinHeaven,who1knowisproudofhermommy.Ithinkof
hereveryday.
1
TABLEOFCONTENTS
Page
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
ii
ABSTRACT vii
CHAPTER
INTRODUCTION
1 1
IntroductiontotheProblem:PostschoolOutcomesHaveNotImproved 1
LegislativeInvolvement 2
SecondaryTransitionProgramsandPractices 4
FederalFundingInitiatives 6
PostschoolOutcomes 7
SectionSummary 9
StatementoftheProblem 10
PrimaryResearchQuestions 11
RationalefortheStudy 12
DefinitionofTerms 13
DelimitationsoftheStudy 15
LimitationsoftheStudy 15
ChapterSummary' 16
2 REVIEWOFTHELITERATURE 18
Introduction 18
SelectionofRelevantLiterature 19
SecondaryTransitionProgramsforSecondary-AgeStudentswith
Disabilities 19
LegislativeMandatesforStudentswithDisabilities 19
OverviewofSecondaryTransitionProgrammingModels 24
PostschoolOutcomesforStudentswithSignificantDisabilities 25
ComponentsofTransitionProgramsforSecondary-AgeStudents
withSignificantDisabilities 28
HistoricalOverviewofFederalCashAssistancePrograms 30
RoleofVocationalRehabilitationandWorkersCompensation
Programs 3
IV
SocialSecurityActandtheEstablishmentoftheSocialSecurity
Administration 33
SupplementalSecurityIncomeProgramandItsEffectson
Secondary-AgeStudentswithDisabilities 35
ImpactoftheTicketWorkandWorkIncentiveImprovementsAct 41
EffectivePracticesoftheHomeCommunity-BasedWaiver 42
HowEducationalProfessionalsDevelopTheirKnowledge 45
Summary 49
3 METHODSANDPROCEDURES 52
Introduction 52
ResearchQuestions 52
Subjects 53
SubjectIdentification 53
ParticipationintheStudy 58
AssignmentofEducationalProfessionalstoGroups 58
ResearchInstrumentation 59
InstrumentDevelopment 60
FieldTesting 61
CodingofSurveyInstruments 61
ExpertValidation 62
ResearchProcedures 62
TreatmentofData 63
4 RESULTS 66
DataEntryandCleaning 66
SurveyResponseRate 66
DemographicInformationonGroupsofEducationalProfessionals 69
GenderofParticipants 69
RaceofParticipants 70
AgeofParticipants 71
ParticipantsByAverageHouseholdEarningsofSchoolDistrict 71
ParticipantsBySchoolDistrictDemography 73
ParticipantsByProfessionalRole 73
ParticipantsByYearsofEmploymentinSpecialEducationand
CurrentRole 75
ParticipantsByEducationLevel 75
ParticipantsByNumberofStudentsDirectlyorIndirectlyServed 77
FindingsforResearchQuestions 80
Summary 89
V
5 DISCUSSIONANDIMPLICATIONS 91
GeneralReviewoftheStudy 91
ReviewofthePurposeoftheStudy 91
ReviewoftheResearchQuestions 94
ReviewoftheMethodology 94
ReviewoftheResearchFindings 95
DiscussionoftheFindings 99
ImplicationsoftheStudy 104
SummaryoftheLimitationsoftheStudy 107
ConclusionsandRecommendationsforFutureResearch 109
APPENDIX
A MODELSOFTRANSITIONPROGRAMS 113
B TAXONOMYFORTRANSITIONPROGRAMMING 118
C SELECTIONOFBESTPRACTICES 120
D WRITTENREQUESTFORPARTICIPATIONOFDISTRICT
TRANSITIONCONTACTPERSON 121
E INFORMEDCONSENT/COVERLETTERFOROTHER
DISTRICT-LEVELPROFESSIONALS 124
F INFORMEDCONSENT/COVERLETTERFORSCHOOL
PRINCIPALS 126
G INFORMEDCONSENT/COVERLETTERFORDIRECTSERVICE
PROFESSIONALS 128
H SURVEYINSTRUMENT 130
I SURVEYMATRIX 139
J LISTOFREVIEWERSANDREVIEWERVALIDATIONPROBES 144
K EXPERTVALIDATIONQUESTIONSANDPROBES 145
REFERENCES 147
BIOGRAPHICALSKETCH 159
VI
AbstractofDissertationPresentedtotheGraduateSchooloftheUniversityofFlorida
inPartialFulfillmentoftheRequirementsforthe
DegreeofDoctorofEducation
STUDYOFTHEDIFFERENCESINEDUCATIONALPROFESSIONALS’
KNOWLEDGEANDDEVELOPMENTOFKNOWLEDGERELATINGTOTHE
SUPPLEMENTALSECURITYINCOME(SSI)PROGRAM
By
ChristyHolthausStuart
August2003
Chair: StuartE.Schwartz
Cochair:DianeLeaRyndak
MajorDepartment:SpecialEducation
Effectivetransitionplanningthatleadstoasuceessfiiltransitiontopostschool
environmentsforsecondary-agestudentswithsignificantdisabilitiesisofutmost
importance.Forsecondary-agestudentswithsignificantdisabilities,accessingthe
supportandservices(e.g.,personaleareattendant,specializedtransportationneeds,
communicationdevice)necessaryforasuccessfultransitionisespeciallychallenging.
Becauseoftheseneeds,secondary-agestudentswithsignificantdisabilitiesoften
areexeludedfromtransitionprogramsthatfocusonemployment,community
experiences,andindependentliving.Exclusionfromappropriatetransitionprograms
oftenleavesecondary-agestudentswithsignificantdisabilitiesfacingableakfuture.One
waytoachievethisisthroughenrollmentintheSupplementalSecurityIncome(SSI)
programduringthesecondaryschoolyears.Untilnow,investigatorshaveneglectedto
focusresearchonwhateducationalprofessionalswhoservesecondary-agestudentswith
vii
significantdisabilitiesknowabouttheSSIprogramandhowtheydeveloptheir
knowledge.Therefore,themajorassumptionofthestudywasthatinformationabout
educationalprofessionals’knowledgerelatedtotheSSIprogramforsecondary-age
studentswithsignificantdisabilities,andhowthatknowledgewasdeveloped,would
allowthefieldtoimprovetheknowledgeoffutureeducationalprofessionalsby
modifyingpersonnelpreparationefforts.Asampleof71educationalprofessionalswho
directlyorindirectlyservesecondary-agestudentswithsignificantdisabilitiesfromthe
stateofFloridarespondedtomailsurveys.
Resultsincludeddescriptiveanalysesforthreegroupsofeducational
professionals(districtprofessionals,schoolprincipals,schoolprofessionals)andanalysis
ofvariancetoexploredifferencesbetweengroupsofeducationalprofessionalsandtheir
responsestosurveyitems.Alargenumberofparticipantsinthisstudydidnothave
sufficientknowledgeoftheSSIprogram.Knowledgewasdevelopedinthisstudybytwo
methods(workshop/inservice,accesstoInternet)outoftheoptionsprovided.Therewere
differencesdetectedfromgroupsofeducationalprofessionalsthathadsomeknowledge
oftheSSIprogramanddevelopedtheirknowledgethroughaworkshop/inservice.There
werenodifferencesamonggroupsofeducationalprofessionalswhohadsomeknowledge
anddevelopedtheirknowledgethroughaccesstoInternet.Implicationsand
recommendationsforfutureresearcharemade.
Vlll
CHAPTER
1
INTRODUCTIONTOTHEPROBLEM
Thischapterisdividedintosevensections.Thefirstmainsectionincludesthe
introductiontotheproblemthatpostschooloutcomesforindividualswithsignificant
disabilitieshavenotimprovedoverthepastdecade.Thisinitialmainsectionis
subdividedinto(a)legislativeinvolvement,(b)secondarytransitionprogramsand
practices,(c)federalfundinginitiatives,(d)postschooioutcomes,and(e)asection
summary.Thesecondmainsectionisthestatementoftheproblemandthethirdmain
sectionstatestheprimaryresearchquestionsforthisstudy.Thefourthmainsectionisthe
rationaleofthestudyandthefifthsectiondefinestermsusedthroughoutthestudy.The
finalthreemainsectionsdescribethedelimitationsandlimitationsandthensummarize
thechapter.
IntroductiontotheProblem:
PostschoolOutcomesHaveNotImproved
Inthepastdecadeanumberofscholarshavediscussedtheneedtoimpact
positivelypostschooloutcomesforstudentswithdisabilities(Gartner&Lipsky,1987;
Reynolds&Wang,1985;Sailor,1991;Will,1986),especiallythosewiththemost
significantdisabilities(Brown,2000;Bruininks,McGrew,&Johnson,1995;Chadsey-
Rusch&Heal,1995;Chadsey-Rusch&Rusch,1996;Hughes,Rusch&Wood,1989;
Ward&Halloran,1989).Anemphasisonoutcomesisveryimportantforstudentswith
disabilitiesbecausemanyofthemleaveschoolunemployed,arelivingwithparents,and
arenotverysatisfiedwiththeirlivesandnetworkofsupport(Chadsey-Rusch&Rusch,
1
2
1996).Thesescholarssuggestedthatoutcomescanbeimprovedthroughprogramsand
practicesthatfacilitatetheinclusionofstudentswithdisabilitiesintypicalschooland
communityenvironmentsduringtheirsecondarytransitionyearsandthroughenrollment
infederallyfundedinitiativesthatsupporttransitiontoadultlife.Infact,manyeffective
practices(i.e.,community-basedinstructionandemploymentpreparation)havebeen
identifiedasbestpracticesforprovidingsecondarytransitionactivitiestoyouthwith
disabilities(Hasazi,2000;Kohler,1998;Lehman,Hyatt,&Sample,1997;Steere,1993;
Laymans,Corbey,&Dodge,1995;Williams&O’Leary,2001).Inspiteofthese
practices,postschooloutcomesforstudentswithsignificantdisabilitieshavenot
improved.Manystudentsarestillleavingschoolunemployed,lackingcommunityliving
opportunities,andexperiencingsocialisolation(Williams&O’Leary,2001).
Thefollowingsectionsdescribe(a)theinvolvementofthefederalgovernment
throughlegislationthataddressestransition;(b)secondarytransitionprogramsand
practices;(c)federalfundinginitiativesthatassistindividualsintheareaoftransitionto
adultlife,employment,andpostschooladultliving;and(d)postschooloutcomesfor
individualswithsignificantdisabilities.Followingtheseisasectionsummary.These
sectionsprovideaframeworkforthelegislationthathasshapedhowsecondarytransition
programsareimplementedaswellasaframeworkforconceptualizingdesiredoutcomes
forindividualswithdisabilitiesoncetheyexitschool.
LegislativeInvolvement
Since1990,theIndividualswithDisabilitiesEducationAct(IDEA)requiredthat
transitionobjectivesbedevelopedintheIndividualizedEducationProgram(lEP)forall
adolescentsreceivingspecialeducationservices.Basedontheindividual’spreferences