Empowering Transition-Age Students to Use Self-Determination Assessment to Lead IEP Goal Development

Self-determination is a predictor of positive in- and post-school outcomes, including access to general education, competitive employment, and community participation. Emerging research has focused on promoting self-determination for all students given alignments with college and career readiness frameworks and equity-based education. However, it is also important to enhance self-determination as students participate in the Individualized Education Program (IEP) goal development process. Empowering transition-age students to lead the IEP goal development process with support from school personnel has the potential to enhance the alignment of IEP goals based on students’ strengths, preferences, values, and needs and enhance transition planning and college and career readiness. In this article, we provide an example of how to use a self-determination assessment, the Self-Determination Inventory: Student Report (SDI:SR), and an intervention, the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI), in the IEP goal development and implementation process to enhance transition planning and college and career readiness.

An Evaluation of Whole-School Trauma-Informed Training Intervention Among Post-Primary School Personnel: A Mixed Methods Study

Students’ ability to reach their potential in school—both behaviourally and academically – is linked to their educator’s knowledge of child and adolescent development, childhood adversity and trauma, and how these impact learning and behaviour. However, teacher pre-service training programmes often offer inadequate instruction to meet the needs of trauma-impacted students. The purpose of the study was to investigate the benefits of professional development training in trauma-informed approaches on school personnel attitudes and compassion fatigue. There is a paucity of research on whole-school trauma-informed approaches and most have methodological limitations via the absence of a control group. In addressing this gap, the study is one of the first to utilise a control group in the research design to ensure findings are robust. The study utilised a quasi-experimental wait-list control pre-post intervention design to evaluate the efficacy of trauma-informed professional development training. We compared attitudes and compassion fatigue among 216 school personnel (n = 98 intervention, n = 118 comparison) utilising the Attitudes Related to Trauma-Informed Care (ARTIC) scale and the Professional Quality of Life scale (Pro-QoL). Quantitative data was supplemented by qualitative focus group data. Findings demonstrated that school-personnel within the intervention group reported significant improvements in attitudes related to trauma-informed care, and a significant decrease in burnout at 6-month follow-up. Our findings demonstrate that with minimum training on the dynamics of trauma, personnel attached to a school can become more trauma-informed and have more favourable attitudes towards trauma-impacted students and consequently be less likely to experience burnout.

It Takes a Well-Organized Village

Response to intervention (RTI) and multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) are educational initiatives designed to increase the success of all students in general education and reduce the number of students referred for special education services. RTI and MTSS have resulted in improved outcomes for students. Successful implementation of RTI and MTSS relies upon collaboration between teachers and other school personnel. Lack of collaboration and consistency between members of MTSS teams can compromise the fidelity of the interventions, which can lead to poor student outcomes. Secondary RTI and MTSS models are difficult to implement due to several factors, including student diversity, curriculum complexity, and high student-staff ratios. This chapter investigates recent research on the implementation of RTI and MTSS models in secondary schools and focuses on the interdisciplinary efforts required to implement these models with fidelity and with student success.

Social/Emotional Trauma and Trauma-Informed Strategies for Exceptional Students

This chapter is a case study about a 4th grade student who has some exceptionalities. His mother has requested he be tested for many years, but school personnel will not agree to provide any screenings because Ethan is not a problem child, and his work is average. Ethan complains of a stomachache often, and his mother notes that she struggles to get him to do his work. There are multiple key statements in the scenarios that should provide data for preservice teachers to use when making an informed decision about the needs of Ethan. There are also questions and activities to aid the preservice teacher in recognizing and avoiding bias, finding resources to support Ethan's exceptionalities, and advocating for his/her students.

Studying and Addressing Listening Levels of Children in a Rural Poverty-Stricken Area

This chapter reports the work of a teacher educator/researcher as she supported teacher candidates to assess and tutor struggling readers in a public school in a rural, economically depressed, yet diverse, area. Alerted by the scores for listening comprehension the candidates were finding over several semesters that indicated little reading potential for the students being assessed, she worked with the school's principal to reassess one group of students at the end of the year to determine growth, and therefore potential success, of the school's new intervention program in raising listening levels. No significant results were found, yet school personnel made no change in their program to address it. The teacher educator/researcher subsequently followed the implications of the research to provide instruction in listening skills to students in two other schools. The chapter closes with a discussion of what may truly make a difference in developing listening skills for the children in this community beyond a commercial program.

IMPROVING LOYALTY OF SCHOOL MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL THROUGH ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS APPROACH

<p>Teachers and employees are the driving force in the management of school institutions. Successfully managing a school depends on the flow of information from each level. Communication as a human need plays a crucial role in increasing the loyalty of school residents. Leadership communication to subordinates and vice versa and communication between members is also expected to create a harmonious working atmosphere. This study aims to determine the efforts to increase the loyalty of school personnel through an organizational communication approach by school principals by applying qualitative research methods that describe in-depth what was obtained from the informant. The study results indicate that the form of organizational communication in increasing the loyalty of school residents takes place vertically and horizontally. The principal communicates openly or directly at ceremonies and meetings and personally to teachers and employees in instructing all kinds of policies and providing encouragement to improve the performance of teachers and employees. Likewise, between teachers and employees, there is horizontal communication that creates a harmonious and pleasant work environment to increase employee loyalty and motivation.</p><p> </p>

Elementary Schools’ Response to Student Wellness Needs during the COVID-19 Shutdown: A Qualitative Exploration Using the R = MC2 Readiness Heuristic

During spring of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic and accompanying public health advisories forced K-12 schools throughout the United States to suspend in-person instruction. School personnel rapidly transitioned to remote provision of academic instruction and wellness services such as school meals and counseling services. The aim of this study was to investigate how schools responded to the transition to remote supports, including assessment of what readiness characteristics schools leveraged or developed to facilitate those transitions. Semi-structured interviews informed by school wellness implementation literature were conducted in the spring of 2020. Personnel (n = 50) from 39 urban and rural elementary schools nationwide participated. The readiness = motivation capacity2 (R = MC2) heuristic, developed by Scaccia and colleagues, guided coding to determine themes related to schools’ readiness to support student wellness in innovative ways during the pandemic closure. Two distinct code sets emerged, defined according to the R = MC2 heuristic (1) Innovations: roles that schools took on during the pandemic response, and (2) Readiness: factors influencing schools’ motivation and capacity to carry out those roles. Schools demonstrated unprecedented capacity and motivation to provide crucial wellness support to students and families early in the COVID-19 pandemic. These efforts can inform future resource allocation and new strategies to implement school wellness practices when schools resume normal operations.

Development and primary validation of the School Health Assessment Tool for Primary Schools (SHAT-PS)

Background School health programs need to target all aspects of physical, psychological, and social well-being. Using a slightly modified version of the COSMIN Risk of Bias checklist, we developed and conducted the first validation of the School Health Assessment Tool for Primary Schools (SHAT-PS). Method The exploratory sequential mixed method was used in this study. In the first phase, scientific databases were systematically searched to find school health models and instruments and 65 interviews were conducted with school stakeholders. The Colaizzi’s method was used to code the qualitative data into themes. Then, a pool of items was created for each theme, rechecked by psychometric experts and then validated for content (i.e., relevance, clarity, and comprehensiveness) by psychometric experts and individuals of the target population (i.e., school personnel). In the second phase, classical test theory was utilized to analyze the validity and reliability of the resulting items from phase 1 among 400 individuals working at primary schools. Results The coding of the interviews resulted in ten themes that we labeled based on the theoretical literature: school health policies, community connections, health education, physical activity, health services, nutrition, psychological services, physical environment, equipment and facilities, and school staff’s health. The items created for each theme ended up in an initial pool of 76 items. In the final stage of phase 1, 69 items remained after the content validity assessment by experts and school personnel. In phase 2, the SHAT-PS items were tested using maximum likelihood exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. Of the 69 items from phase 1, 22 items were removed due to low factor loadings. The results showed that the 8-factor model was the best solution (chi-square/df = 2.41, CFI = .98, TLI = .97, RMSEA = .06). The discriminant and convergent validity of the SHAT-PS were evaluated as satisfactory and the scale had high internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha for all subscales > .93). The test-retest reliability was satisfactory—the intraclass correlation coefficient pooled was .95 (99% CI [.91–.98]). Moreover, the standard error of measurement resulted in an SEM pooled equal to 4.4. No discrepancy was found between subgroups of gender and subgroups of staffs’ positions at schools. Conclusion The SHAT-PS is a valid and reliable tool that may facilitate school staff, stakeholders and researchers to evaluate the presence of the factors that promote health at primary schools. Nevertheless, in the process of validation, many of the items related to staff’s health were eliminated due to poor factor loadings. Obviously, staff health is an important factor in the measurement of school health. Hence, we recommend that the validity and reliability of the SHAT-PS in other cultures should be done using the original 76-item version.

Assessment of the Risks and Needs of Middle School Students: Invariance Properties Related to Gender and Ethnicity

The middle school version of the Washington Assessment of Risks and Needs of Students (msWARNS) is a self-report instrument designed for use by school personnel to identify barriers to school attendance and school success for sixth- to eighth-grade students. It measures six domains relevant to improving school outcomes that include aggression-defiance, depression-anxiety, substance use, peer deviance, home environment, and school engagement. In the present study, a bifactor S − 1 model, for which the aggression-defiance domain was the reference factor for the general factor and the other domains constituted the subfactors, had good fit and better fit than several other alternative models. Results of multigroup confirmatory factor analysis revealed invariance across different groups defined by gender and race/ethnicity (Native American, African American, Hispanic, and White), with a sample of referred middle school students ( N = 2,356; ages 10–15 years). Reliability analyses support the use of the general factor to guide decision-making, the reliable use of the depression-anxiety factor for providing additional insights, and the remaining factors for guiding communication, as part of an assessment and intervention program for middle school students.

Advocacy Experiences Among Rural Parents of Children With Disabilities

Parent advocacy is an essential component to help children with disabilities receive appropriate school services. However, there are limited studies about parent advocacy for children with disabilities living in rural areas. To address this issue, semistructured interviews were conducted with 12 parents of children with disabilities. The purpose of the study was to identify and define unique barriers and facilitators to advocacy among families of children with disabilities living in rural areas. Constant comparative analysis was used to analyze the interview data. The findings suggest that families living in rural areas lack the necessary resources to advocate successfully for their children with disabilities. Notably, participants expressed that advocating and maintaining relationships with school personnel took an emotional toll. Participants also reported that relationships with school personnel outside of school impacted their experiences with advocacy. Implications for research and practice are discussed.