The Desegregation of America's Special Schools: Strategies for Change

1989 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 68-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea P. McDonnell ◽  
Michael L. Hardman
Keyword(s):  
Change Process ◽  
School Administrators ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Severe Disabilities ◽  
Leadership Roles ◽  
Special Schools ◽  
Racial Desegregation ◽  
Severe Handicaps ◽  
Students With Severe Disabilities ◽  
Strategies For Change

There is strong philosophical, legal, and empirical support for integrated educational programs for students with severe disabilities. In spite of this support, significant numbers of students with severe handicaps continue to be educated in segregated special schools. This article briefly reviews the support for integration and presents a framework for planned educational change, based on the extant racial desegregation literature. This report includes a discussion of the logistical issues facing school administrators and an analysis of effective leadership roles in the change process.

Maximizing Social Contact for Secondary Students with Severe Handicaps

1986 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 118-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregg Chin-Perez ◽  
Dan Hartman ◽  
Hyun Sook Park ◽  
Sharon Sacks ◽  
Alice Wershing ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Skills ◽  
Secondary Students ◽  
Social Contact ◽  
Skills Training ◽  
Severe Disabilities ◽  
Training Project ◽  
The Social ◽  
Severe Handicaps ◽  
Students With Severe Disabilities ◽  
Research Assistants

This article describes a secondary program for students with severe handicaps which attempts to maximize the social contact between handicapped and nonhandicapped persons. The program selectively integrates students into academic and other regular education courses. Nonhandicapped peers are used for tutoring purposes as well as research assistants in a social skills training project. A survey completed by a variety of important others indicated substantial improvements in the behavioral repertoires of the students with severe disabilities, particularly in the area of social skills.

Using Pretask Requests to Increase the Probability of Compliance for Students with Severe Disabilities

1987 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 287-291 ◽  
Author(s):  
George H. S. Singer ◽  
Joanne Singer ◽  
Robert H. Horner
Keyword(s):  
Behavioral Treatment ◽  
Severe Disabilities ◽  
Severe Handicaps ◽  
Reversal Design ◽  
Students With Severe Disabilities ◽  
Probability Of Compliance

This article describes a nonaversive procedure to increase the probability that students with moderate and severe handicapping conditions will follow a directive to begin to work. Pretask requesting was evaluated using an ABA and BAB reversal design across four students with moderate and severe handicaps. The study suggests that familiar, rapidly paced, verbal directions with reinforcement can effectively mediate transitions from one activity to another. The theoretical implications of the procedure for a nonaversive technology of preemptive behavioral treatment are discussed.

Philadelphia's Urban Model Project: A System-Wide Effort to Integrate Students with Severe Handicaps

1986 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gail McGregor ◽  
Cynthia M. Janssen ◽  
Lawrence A. Larsen ◽  
Winifred L. Tillery
Keyword(s):  
School District ◽  
Severe Disabilities ◽  
Chronological Age ◽  
Federally Funded ◽  
Demonstration Program ◽  
Urban Model ◽  
Settlement Agreement ◽  
Model Project ◽  
Severe Handicaps ◽  
Students With Severe Disabilities

School systems across the country are at different stages in the integration of students with severe handicaps into regular schools. As part of a settlement agreement arising from a lawsuit filed against the School District of Philadelphia, placement of students with severe handicaps was among a list of conditions ordered to improve the services provided to this population. This report describes the activities and accomplishments of Philadelphia's Urban Model Project, a federally funded model demonstration program designed to effect changes in services for students with severe disabilities. As a result of this project, a majority of these students are currently attending regular schools along with their chronological age peers.

Perceptions Matter: Administrators’ Vision of Instruction for Students with Severe Disabilities

2017 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carly A. Roberts ◽  
Andrea L. Ruppar ◽  
Amy J. Olson
Keyword(s):  
Instructional Practices ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
School Administrators ◽  
Severe Disabilities ◽  
Educational Settings ◽  
Semistructured Interviews ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
Students With Severe Disabilities

School administrators play an important role in shaping teaching and learning. However, very little is known regarding how school administrators perceive instruction for students with severe disabilities and how those perceptions shape expectations and visions for instruction. Semistructured interviews were used to interview 12 administrators responsible for evaluating teachers of students with severe disabilities across a variety of educational settings. The interviews were designed to ascertain administrators’ perceptions about teachers’ expertise and their ideal vision of instruction for students with severe disabilities. Findings highlight administrators’ varying visions of instruction, which reveal the ways these visions might influence their expectations for teachers and students. Implications for inclusion and instructional practices are discussed.

Efficacy of Peer-Network Interventions for High School Students with Severe Disabilities and Complex Communication Needs

2020 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 98-114
Author(s):  
Morgan E. Herbert ◽  
Matthew E. Brock ◽  
Mary A. Barczak ◽  
Eric J. Anderson
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
High School Students ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Severe Disabilities ◽  
School Students ◽  
Complex Communication Needs ◽  
Peer Network ◽  
Network Intervention ◽  
Communication Needs ◽  
Students With Severe Disabilities

Peer networks are a promising intervention for increasing social interactions between students with severe disabilities and their peers. However, this approach has not been well studied with high school students who have complex communication needs and use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). In this study, we used a multiple probe across participants design to evaluate the effectiveness of a lunchtime peer-network intervention for three high school students with autism and/or multiple disabilities who had complex communication needs. The intervention involved recruiting peers, sharing practical background information and modeling how to communicate with the student, and then providing support as needed. A functional relation was established between the introduction of the peer-network intervention and both social interactions and social engagement. Interactions increased substantially across communication modalities. This study builds on the peer-network literature by demonstrating how this approach can be tailored for high school students with complex communication needs.

scholarly journals An Assessment of the Feasibility and Effectiveness of Distance Learning for Students With Severe Developmental Disabilities and High Behavioral Needs

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melaura Andree Erickson Tomaino ◽  
Alissa L. Greenberg ◽  
Sarah Ann Kagawa-Purohit ◽  
Sagui A. Doering ◽  
Edward Steven Miguel
Keyword(s):  
Distance Learning ◽  
Developmental Disabilities ◽  
Severe Disabilities ◽  
Technology Study ◽  
Educational Benefits ◽  
Additional Information ◽  
Behavioral Needs ◽  
Severe Developmental Disabilities ◽  
Learning Programs ◽  
Students With Severe Disabilities

AbstractSchools across the country closed their doors during the COVID-19 pandemic. These measures impacted all students, as schools, educators, and families grappled with the realities of transitioning to distance-learning platforms. The research on distance learning is still in its early phases. However, almost no research exists on educating students with severe disabilities and high behavioral needs using this technology. Study 1 collected survey data from students’ families and their educators on the feasibility and effectiveness of distance-learning programs when working with students with severe developmental disabilities and high behavioral needs. Results indicated that parents and educators had generally neutral attitudes toward distance learning, although educators agreed that their students were obtaining educational benefits during distance learning. Study 2 further examined the effects of a transition to distance learning on students’ Individualized Education Plan (IEP) goal progress. Analyses revealed that students maintained about half of the skills addressed in their IEPs and made progress on an additional quarter of their IEP goals. Findings contribute to a much-needed literature base on distance learning and provide additional information as to the feasibility and effectiveness of distance learning with students with severe developmental disabilities and high behavioral needs. Future work is needed to determine best practices for distance learning with this population.

Impact of Alternate Assessment on Curricula for Students With Severe Disabilities

2007 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 244-253 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Alisa Lowrey ◽  
Erik Drasgow ◽  
Adelle Renzaglia ◽  
Laura Chezan
Keyword(s):  
Severe Disabilities ◽  
Alternate Assessment ◽  
Students With Severe Disabilities
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