Influence of a school task force on school reform efforts to educate students with severe disabilities in general education settings PDF
Preview Influence of a school task force on school reform efforts to educate students with severe disabilities in general education settings
INFLUENCEOFASCHOOLTASKFORCEONSCHOOLREFORMEFFORTS TOEDUCATESTUDENTSWITHSEVEREDISABILITIESIN GENERALEDUCATIONSETTINGS DENISEM.CLARK ADISSERTATIONPRESENTEDTOTHEGRADUATESCHOOL OFTHEUNIVERSITYOFFLORIDAINPARTIALFULFILLMENT OFTHEREQUIREMENTSFORTHEDEGREEOF DOCTOROFPHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITYOFFLORIDA 2001 581 " i, TABLEOFCONTENTS / ' . Page ABSTRACT v CHAPTERS 1 INTRODUCTIONTOTHEPROBLEM 1 Introduction 1 CharacteristicsofStudentswithSevereDisabilities 3 SupportforStudentswithSevereDisabilitiesIncludedinGeneralEducation...5 StudentTeams 5 CollaborativeSupportSystem 7 StatementoftheProblem 7 ContextualSupports 9 RationaleandPurposeoftheStudy 10 ResearchQuestions 11 MainResearchQuestion 11 SecondaryResearchQuestion 11 DefinitionofTerms 11 DelimitationsoftheStudy 13 LimitationsoftheStudy 13 OverviewofRemainingChapters 13 2 REVIEWOFRELEVANTLITERATURE 14 Introduction 14 ConceptualFramework 1 DevelopmentandOperationoftheSTF 1 DevelopingOvraership 18 FacilitatingOngoingSTFAction 23 CommunicatingwiththeSchoolCommunity 25 KeyContextualVariables 26 SharingPowerThroughFacilitativeLeadership 27 DevelopingaCollaborativeCommunity 29 CreatingaCommonVision 3 FosteringOngoingInnovation 32 Summary 37 ii 3 METHODOLOGY 39 QualitativeResearchMethods 39 Context 40 CountyLevelContextualVariables 40 SchoolLevelContext 41 HistoricalContextfortheTaskForce 44 Participants 46 ResearcherRole 47 MethodsandProcedures 48 DataCollection 48 DataAnalysis 51 Limitations 52 InvestigatorBiasesandAssumptions 52 EthicalIssues 53 4 RESULTS 55 Introduction 55 DevelopingProcessesforReform 57 ProfessionalDialogueRegardingStudentNeeds 57 DevelopingProfessionalRelationships 58 MovingTowardaSharedVisionofTeachingandLearning 61 DevelopingSharedDecisionMaking 65 ConditionsInfluencingtheDevelopmentoftheSTF 71 TimetoCollaborate 72 ParametersforMembership 72 STFLeadershipStructure 73 InvolvementofaCriticalFriend 75 CommitmenttoQualityInclusion 76 ProfessionalCultureoftheSchool 77 AdministrativeSupport 78 ThePresenceofExpertConsultants 78 StepsTowardReform 79 ProvidingSupportsforInclusion 80 EducatingStudentsinTheirHomeZoneSchools 81 5 CONCLUSIONSANDIMPLICATIONS 84 Findings 86 HowDidtheSchoolTaskForeDevelopasaDiscussionForum? 86 WhatSupportsandBarriersDidtheSchoolTaskForceEncounter? 87 WhatEffectDidtheSchoolTaskForceHaveonIncluding StudentswithSevereDisabilities? 88 RelationshipofFindingstoPreviousStudies 89 UseofFindingstoResearchersandChangeFacilitators 93 iii FurtherResearch ImplicationsforChangeFacilitators 95 APPENDICES A UNIVERSITYOFFLORIDAINSTITUTIONALREVIEWBOARD 96 B INTERVIEWS 99 REFERENCES 101 BIOGRAPHICALSKETCH 107 iv AbstractofDissertationPresentedtotheGraduateSchool oftheUniversityofFloridainPartialFulfillmentofthe RequirementsfortheDegreeofDoctorofPhilosophy INFLUENCEOFASCHOOLTASKFORCEONSCHOOLREFORMEFFORTS TOEDUCATESTUDENTSWITHSEVEREDISABILITIESIN GENERALEDUCATIONSETTINGS By DeniseM.Clark December2001 Chair:MaryT.Brownell,Ph.D. Co-Chair:ElizabethBondy,Ph.D. MajorDepartment:SpecialEducation Supportingstudentswithseveredisabilitiesininclusivegeneraleducationsettings requiresthatacollaborativesupportsystembecreated.Althoughdescriptionsof collaborativesupportsystemsexistintheliterature,descriptionsarenotavailableofthe reformeffortsthatcreatethesesystems.However,schoolreformliteratureprovides insightsthatcanhelpschoolsdevelopacollaborativesupportsystem.Theliterature describesreformastheresultofinteractionamongprofessionals.Inschoolsthathave successfullyreformed,specificstructureshavebeenconstructedtosupportthis collaboration.Theseforumsfordiscussionarethecenterofcollaborationandschool reform.Adiscussionforumisasettinginwhichagroupofindividualsthatrepresent eachconstituencyinaschoolcommunitymeets,withthesupportoftheentire community,toplan,implement,andassessactivitiesrelatedtoreform.Oneexampleofa discussionforumisaschooltaskforce. V Thisqualitativestudyexaminedtiieinitialoperatingyearofoneschooltaskforce astheschoolcommunityworkedtocreateacollaborativesupportsystem.Thestudy occurredinanelementaryschoolinruralcentralFlorida.Theresearcherusedparticipant observationand26semi-structuredinterviewstoinvestigatethedevelopmentofthe schooltaskforce. Theresearcheridentifiedfourkeycontextualvariablescreatedwithintheschool taskforcethatsupportongoingreform.Thesevariablesincludeongoingprofessional dialogue,developmentofprofessionalrelationships,facilitativeleadership,thecreation ofacommonvisionofteachingandlearning,andshareddecisionmaking.Thecreation ofthekeycontextualvariableswasinfluencedbyavarietyofconditionsbothinternal andexternaltotheschooltaskforce.Oncethekeycontextualvariableswereinplace,the schooltaskforcewasabletotakestepstowardtwochangesinschoolpracticethathad thepotentialtoaffectsignificantlytheeducationofchildrenwithseveredisabilities. vi CHAPTER1 INTRODUCTIONTOTHEPROBLEM Introduction Childrenadoptattitudesandunderstandingsofdiversityatanearlyage(Minow, 1990).Theseattitudesandunderstandingsdevelopbasedoninteractionstheyhavewith people,andthedegreetowhichthosepeoplerepresentdiverseperspectives.Topromote positiveattitudestowarddiversityinoursociety,itisnecessarytobringchildrenfrom diversebackgroundstogethertolearn,work,andplaytogether.Oneaspectofdiversity forwhichchildrenshoulddevelopunderstandingisdisability.Childrencandevelop positiveattitudesaboutandrelationshipswithpeoplewhohavedisabilitiesthrough interactionsthatoccurduringcommonexperiencesandactivities. Studentswithandwithoutdisabilitieswhohavebeeneducatedtogetherhavehad commonexperiences.Thesecommonexperiencesbecomeafoundationuponwhich relationshipscanbebuilt.Theinclusionofstudentswithseveredisabilitiesingeneral educationsettingsallowsstudentswithandwithoutdisabilitiestohavecommon experiencesthatformthefoundationforrelationshipsbetweenstudentswithdisabilities andtheirpeers(i.e.,chronologicallysame-agedchildrenwhodonothavedisabilities).In additiontoincreasingknowledgeaboutdiversity,thesecommonexperiencesassistall students,astheybecomeadults,assumeavarietyofroles(e.g.,employers,teachers, neighbors,doctors,familymembers)inwhichtheywillinteractandmayevenhave influenceonthelivesofindividualswithdisabilities(Minow,1990). 1 2 Studentswithseveredisabilitiesmusthaveaccesstothenecessaryeducationand supportthatwillallowthemtolive,work,andrecreateinaheterogeneousadultsociety (Sontag&Haring,1996).Statedsimply,thegoalofeducationisthatstudentswithsevere disabilitieswillbecomefullyparticipatingmembersofsociety.Thisgoalcannotbe accomplishedunlessstudentswithseveredisabilitiesareeducatedwiththeirpeers.For studentswithseveredisabilitiestodevelopandsustainrelationshipsintheircommunities, studentswithseveredisabilitiesandtheirpeersmustformconnectionswitheachother earlyinlife((Brown,Long,Udvari-Solner,Davis,VanDeventer,Ahlgren,Johnson, Gruenewald,&Jorgensen,1989).Theonlywaytohelpstudentswithseveredisabilities formtheseconnectionsistoteachthemwiththeirpeersingeneraleducationsettings (Lipsky&Gartner,1995;Logan,Bakeman,&Keefe,1997).Generaleducationsettings aretheprimaryplaceswherestudentswithseveredisabilitiescanpracticethesocialand communicationskillsnecessaryforsurvivalandwheretheirnon-disabledpeerscanlearn toacceptthemandbeawareoftheirneeds(Fryxell&Kermedy,1995;Staub,Spaulding, Peck,Galluci,&Schwartz,1996). Itiswelldocumentedthatinclusionofstudentswithseveredisabilitiesingeneral educationsettingswiththeirsame-agepeersresultsinpositivebenefitsforbothpeersand studentswithseveredisabilities(Gartner&Lipsky,1987;Giangrecoetal.,1989;Meyer, Peck,&Brown,1991;Snell,1993;Stainback&Stainback,1990;Villa&Thousand, 1995).First,peersgainsocialskillsbyinteractingwithstudentswhoaredifferentfrom themselves(Helmstetter,Peck,&Giangreco,1994;Kishi&Meyer,1994).Theygainan understandingofandappreciationfordifferenttalentsandcharacteristicsofpeople (Voeltz,1982).Peerslearntheimportanceofpatience,astheyworkandplaywitha studentwhoneedsadditionaltimetocompletetasks.Peershaveopportunitiestoimprove theirproblem-solvingskillsastheyhelpstudentswithseveredisabilitiesparticipatein classactivities(Bemabe&Block,1994).Beyondthebenefitsgainedbyinteractingwith studentswithseveredisabilities,peersalsobenefitfromadaptationsandmodifications thataremadetoaccommodateastudentwithseveredisabilitiesingeneraleducation, particularlythosestudentswhoareatriskforschoolfailure.Forexample,atriskstudents canbenefitfromalternativemodesofinstruction,increasedcuesandprompts,or alternativemeansofassessmentthatarecommonmodificationsusedforstudentswith severedisabilities(Janney,Snell,Beers,&,Raynes,1995). ^ Thebenefitsthatpeersreceivefromincludingstudentswithseveredisabilitiesin generaleducationsettingsareclear.Tohaveafullunderstandingofthebenefitsfor studentswithseveredisabilities,however,itisfirstnecessarytounderstandthelearning characteristicsofstudentswithseveredisabilitiesandthegoalofeducationforthem. CharacteristicsofStudentswithSevereDisabilities Studentswithseveredisabilitiesfrequentlypossessacommonsetoflearning characteristicsthatimpacthowteachersshoulddevelopcurriculumandimplement instruction.Forinstance,studentswithseveredisabilitieslearnmoreslowlythanother students,andthuslearnlessthanotherstudentsoveracomparableperiodoftime. Additionally,thesestudentsshowdifficulties(a)puttingtogethercomponentsofan activity;(b)maintainingknowledgeorskillsthattheydonotuseonaregularbasis;and (c)generalizingskills,activities,orsocialexpectationsacrosssettings,persons,or materials(Jorgenson,1997;Ryndak&Alper,1996;Westling&Fox,1995). Duetotheirdifficulties,itisimperativethatthecurriculumcentersaroundthe applicationofskillsmostimportanttotheirdailylifeinnaturallyoccurringactivities (Hunt&Farron-Davis,1992;Stokes&Baer,1977).Forexample,teachingastudentwith severedisabilitiestowritehisnamewillbemoresuccessfulifhepracticeswritinghis namewhenheneedstouseit,ratherthanpracticinginisolationeachletterinhisname (e.g.,writingMarkinlieuofwritingMMM,aaa,etc.),orwritinghisnamerepeatedlyout ofcontext.Studentswithseveredisabilitiesshouldalsobetaughtskillsinnatural settings.Instructionshouldbeembeddedwithinnaturaldailyroutines,thecontextsin whichtheskillswillultimatelyberequired(Hunt,Farron-Davis,Beckstead,Curtis,& Goetz,1994).Forexample,studentsmustlearnsocialskillsingeneraleducationsettings withtheirsameagepeers.Iftheylearntheseskillsinanisolatedpull-outspeechtherapy sessionoraspecialeducationclassroomwithotherstudentswhohaveidentical communicationproblems,theymostlikelywillnotbeabletogeneralizetheseskillsand willneedtoreleamappropriatesocialskillswithnon-disabledpeersinothersettings (Janney&Snell,1996). Thecharacteristicsofstudentswithseveredisabilitiesalsooftenindicatetheneed forcurriculumandinstructionthataredifferentfromtheirpeers.Theneedfordifferent curriculumandmstructionmayatfirstsuggestanalternateeducationalsetting,butasthe characteristicsofstudentswithseveredisabilitiesandtheirgoalsforeducationare considered,theimportanceofprovidingeducationininclusivegeneraleducationsettings becomesclear.
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