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Queens of Slippery Rock
Queens of Slippery Rock
SLAB Issue #13
Rose Xavier, Brenna Waugaman
The essay "Queens of Slippery Rock" from issue #13 of the SLAB literary magazine.
2017
2018
The effects of staff training in blocking techniques and trauma informed care on the number of student restraints in a special education setting at a suburban public-school district
The effects of staff training in blocking techniques and trauma informed care on the number of student restraints in a special education setting at a suburban public-school district
Edward G. Nientimp
The purpose of this study was to determine if the implementation of a staff development program that included instruction in trauma informed care, de-escalation, and the use of soft blocking pads (Ukeru ™) would influence the number of times students attending public...
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The purpose of this study was to determine if the implementation of a staff development program that included instruction in trauma informed care, de-escalation, and the use of soft blocking pads (Ukeru ™) would influence the number of times students attending public-school special education programs were physically restrained. Restraint reduction/elimination efforts have been documented at psychiatric hospitals and residential treatment facilities for individuals with disabilities but not in public-school settings. There are many peer reviewed studies in the professional literature that detail the potential negative effects of restraint which include injury, trauma, negative perceptions, and sometimes death. This quasi-experimental design employed a retrospective data analysis to determine the usage of restraint across multiple school district supported programs. In this study data that was submitted to the Pennsylvania Department of Education's Restraint Information System of Collection (RISC) by one school district was analyzed over a three-year period. State wide data reports were also analyzed. Restraints per student, total restraints, mean number of restraints, and injuries to students or staff were rep01ied and analyzed to dete1mine trends over the three-year study. The nomandom sample was dete1mined by program assignment. Students attended either a public-school special education program, a residential treatment facility program, a partial hospitalization classroom, or an approved private school. The public-school students (all identified as eligible and in need of special education) were exposed to the Ukeru™ intervention during pmi of year two, and all of year three. All other groups served as comparison groups where the use of restraint continued to be used as a crisis management intervention. The use of restraint was eliminated in year three in the public-school special education setting. The Ukeru™ intervention was employed with the same number of students that had been traditionally restrained, suggesting that use of the trauma informed care, de-escalation, and soft blocking pads (Ukeru™) replaced the need for restraint. All comparison groups continued to regularly utilize restraint, with a substantial increase in restraints occurring at the residential treatment facility and overall across the state of Pennsylvania. There was no reduction in injuries associated with the utilization of the Ukeru™ intervention. Three years of data review supports that student and staff injuries occurred at very low rates at all school district supported programs prior to the implementation of Ukeru™ (year one), during the trial school year (year two), and during full implementation (year three).
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2018
Teachers' attitudes towards inclusion and the effect on professional development
Teachers' attitudes towards inclusion and the effect on professional development
Joyce A. Carr
Inclusive education has increased for students with disabilities within our public schools since the reauthorization of IDEA ( 1997). This change has resulted in a paradigm shift for both general and special education teachers. Research has shown the success of inclu...
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Inclusive education has increased for students with disabilities within our public schools since the reauthorization of IDEA ( 1997). This change has resulted in a paradigm shift for both general and special education teachers. Research has shown the success of inclusive education is impacted by many factors, one being the attitude of the teachers. Attitude is comprised of three components, Behavioral, Cognitive and Affective (Gregory & Noto, 2012). Understanding what component is a strength or an area that could use improvement will enable educational leaders to develop professional development and training opportunities to address their educators' gaps in attitude in regards to inclusive education. This study identified whether there was a relationship between teacher attitude about inclusion and their teaching assignment, level at which they teach and/or years of teaching experience. A survey was conducted resulting in 219 participants completing the necessary information to be included in the research, which included three demographic questions, as well as a nine item Likert scale questionnaire. General education teachers made up 69.90% of the participants, special education teachers made up 30.10%. Elementary educators were 58% of the respondents, secondary were 42%. Regarding years of teaching experiences for the participants, 7.3% had 0-3 years, 11.9% had 4-9 years and the largest majority of respondents, 80.80%, had ten years or more. After receiving the survey for this quantitative study, responses were analyzed using SPSS, descriptive statistics, Cronbach a, t-Tests, ANOVA and multiple linear regression. Findings of this study indicated general education teachers have a lower level of agreement than their special education colleagues in both the cognitive and affective components of attitude towards inclusion for students with disabilities. Results also indicated that teachers with more than ten years of teaching experience have lower cognitive agreement than those who have taught for fewer years. Lastly, the study showed there was no significant difference in regards to the three components based on the grade level teachers taught. From this study, recommendations for professional development and trainings, as well as future research, were addressed.
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2018
Identifying salient factors in the retention of special education teachers :
Identifying salient factors in the retention of special education teachers :
what makes them stay?
Mary P. Nientimp
The purpose of this study was to determine the reasons why special education teachers continue to teach in their present special education positions for five years or longer. The factors that influence special education teachers to remain were identified and analyzed...
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The purpose of this study was to determine the reasons why special education teachers continue to teach in their present special education positions for five years or longer. The factors that influence special education teachers to remain were identified and analyzed. The study was a quantitative design including a survey and one open-ended question. Relational support factors and organizational factors were categorized into the survey questions from Billingley’s (2004) research. The participants included 90 special education teachers from Erie, Crawford and Warren counties. The survey and the open-ended question data were analyzed. The quantitative results indicated that there was a significant difference at a .05% probability level from the response data modes for relational support factors as compared to the organizational support factors. The three most common retention factors included enjoyment gained from job, ability to make a difference in the lives of students, and support of fellow special education teachers. Three themes emerged from the open-ended question: administrative support, helping students succeed and colleague support. The responses were more influential with the relational support factors than the organizational factors. This study should help administrators identify strategies to help retain special education teachers in their current special education teaching positions.
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2018
Teachers' Attitudes Towards Inclusion and the Effect on Professional Development
Teachers' Attitudes Towards Inclusion and the Effect on Professional Development
Sub-Title test field.
Joyce A. Carr
Inclusive education has increased for students with disabilities within our public schools since the reauthorization of IDEA ( 1997). This change has resulted in a paradigm shift for both general and special education teachers. Research has shown the success of inclu...
Show more
Inclusive education has increased for students with disabilities within our public schools since the reauthorization of IDEA ( 1997). This change has resulted in a paradigm shift for both general and special education teachers. Research has shown the success of inclusive education is impacted by many factors, one being the attitude of the teachers. Attitude is comprised of three components, Behavioral, Cognitive and Affective (Gregory & Noto, 2012). Understanding what component is a strength or an area that could use improvement will enable educational leaders to develop professional development and training opportunities to address their educators' gaps in attitude in regards to inclusive education. This study identified whether there was a relationship between teacher attitude about inclusion and their teaching assignment, level at which they teach and/or years of teaching experience. A survey was conducted resulting in 219 participants completing the necessary information to be included in the research, which included three demographic questions, as well as a nine item Likert scale questionnaire. General education teachers made up 69.90% of the participants, special education teachers made up 30.10%. Elementary educators were 58% of the respondents, secondary were 42%. Regarding years of teaching experiences for the participants, 7.3% had 0-3 years, 11.9% had 4-9 years and the largest majority of respondents, 80.80%, had ten years or more. After receiving the survey for this quantitative study, responses were analyzed using SPSS, descriptive statistics, Cronbach a, t-Tests, ANOVA and multiple linear regression. Findings of this study indicated general education teachers have a lower level of agreement than their special education colleagues in both the cognitive and affective components of attitude towards inclusion for students with disabilities. Results also indicated that teachers with more than ten years of teaching experience have lower cognitive agreement than those who have taught for fewer years. Lastly, the study showed there was no significant difference in regards to the three components based on the grade level teachers taught. From this study, recommendations for professional development and trainings, as well as future research, were addressed.
Show less
2018