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teaching in each program for five years. One<br />
teacher, Paula, had been a n<strong>on</strong>-traditi<strong>on</strong>al<br />
teacher educati<strong>on</strong> student, returning to college<br />
for her teaching certificate after 25 years<br />
in <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> business world. The o<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>r teacher, Katie,<br />
had been a traditi<strong>on</strong>al teacher educati<strong>on</strong><br />
c<strong>and</strong>idate. Katie had focused her preparati<strong>on</strong><br />
<strong>on</strong> sec<strong>on</strong>dary special educati<strong>on</strong> while Paula<br />
had prepared herself for elementary special<br />
educati<strong>on</strong>.<br />
Teachers were selected because <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>y both<br />
stated <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>y taught a functi<strong>on</strong>al curriculum to<br />
students educated in a cross-categorical selfc<strong>on</strong>tained<br />
sec<strong>on</strong>dary program, <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> study’s target<br />
populati<strong>on</strong>. Both teachers <strong>and</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>ir<br />
schools were also located in <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> same county,<br />
which was an intenti<strong>on</strong>al decisi<strong>on</strong> to minimize<br />
factors related to county services as well as<br />
geographical variables. Finally, <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> schools<br />
were selected because <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>y were comparable<br />
in characteristics <strong>and</strong> each teacher was <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
<strong>on</strong>ly teacher in <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> school teaching a selfc<strong>on</strong>tained<br />
classroom, which differed from <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
resource room program at each school.<br />
Students. Seven of Katie’s 14 students participated<br />
in <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> study (i.e., observati<strong>on</strong>s, interviews,<br />
<strong>and</strong> file reviews): <strong>on</strong>e senior, two juniors,<br />
two sophomores, <strong>and</strong> two freshmen.<br />
Three of <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> students were diagnosed as having<br />
a learning disability, two as having a cognitive<br />
impairment (mild), <strong>on</strong>e as Autistically<br />
impaired, <strong>and</strong> <strong>on</strong>e as o<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>rwise health impaired.<br />
The average IQ across <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> participating<br />
students was 77.6. One of Katie’s students<br />
was female, <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> o<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>r six were male. Paula had<br />
eight of her nine students participate: <strong>on</strong>e<br />
senior, three juniors, <strong>and</strong> four freshmen. Four<br />
of her students were female <strong>and</strong> four male.<br />
The average IQ of Paula’s students was 68.5,<br />
<strong>and</strong> her students’ were diagnosed as a learning<br />
disability (3), having mild mental impairment<br />
(3), moderate mental impairment (1)<br />
<strong>and</strong> emoti<strong>on</strong>al impairment (1). All students in<br />
both classes had utilized special educati<strong>on</strong> services<br />
since early elementary; <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> majority attended<br />
each district’s pre-primary program<br />
(PPI, now known as early childhood developmental<br />
delay program).<br />
Paraprofessi<strong>on</strong>als. Each school had two<br />
paraprofessi<strong>on</strong>als that worked with students in<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> program, although <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>y were not necessarily<br />
in <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> room simultaneously. In River<br />
Bend High School, <strong>on</strong>e paraprofessi<strong>on</strong>al<br />
worked in <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> morning <strong>and</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> o<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>r worked<br />
in <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> afterno<strong>on</strong>. In <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> sec<strong>on</strong>d school, Harborville,<br />
<strong>on</strong>e paraprofessi<strong>on</strong>al was assigned to<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> program while <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> o<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>r was assigned to<br />
two students in <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> program with <strong>Autism</strong> <strong>and</strong><br />
followed <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>m into general educati<strong>on</strong> classes.<br />
Each program also had a transiti<strong>on</strong>/job coach<br />
that served all of <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> students.<br />
Setting<br />
Two high schools in <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> state of Michigan<br />
were utilized for this project. One high school,<br />
Harborville, had a student count of 622 <strong>and</strong><br />
was located in a rural community. The school<br />
had a special educati<strong>on</strong> rate of 14.1% <strong>and</strong><br />
10.3% of its students were c<strong>on</strong>sidered ec<strong>on</strong>omically<br />
disadvantaged. The school was relatively<br />
racially <strong>and</strong> ethnically homogeneous<br />
(97.1% Caucasian) (St<strong>and</strong>ard & Poor’s,<br />
2004). Purposeful sampling was used to select<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> sec<strong>on</strong>d school, a rural school within <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
same county that also utilized a functi<strong>on</strong>al<br />
curriculum within <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>ir high school self-c<strong>on</strong>tained<br />
cross-categorical program. River Bend<br />
High School had a student count of 807,<br />
11.8% special educati<strong>on</strong> rate, <strong>and</strong> 16.9% of its<br />
populati<strong>on</strong> c<strong>on</strong>sidered ec<strong>on</strong>omically disadvantaged.<br />
It was also a relatively racially <strong>and</strong><br />
ethnically homogeneous school district (96%<br />
Caucasian) (St<strong>and</strong>ard & Poor’s).<br />
Procedure<br />
Data were collected through multiple means<br />
in an effort to triangulate (Stake, 1995). Classroom<br />
observati<strong>on</strong>s were performed <strong>and</strong> each<br />
site was observed for an entire school day two<br />
days a week for three m<strong>on</strong>ths (see Bogdan &<br />
Biklen, 2003). A total of 85 hours was spent at<br />
Harborville <strong>and</strong> 70 hours spent at River Bend.<br />
During <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> classroom observati<strong>on</strong>s <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> researcher<br />
took fieldnotes <strong>and</strong> observed <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
events within <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> classroom. Decisi<strong>on</strong>s about<br />
what to observe <strong>and</strong> when were based <strong>on</strong> purposeful<br />
sampling (Patt<strong>on</strong>, 1980), such that<br />
observati<strong>on</strong>s were selected to present <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> most<br />
likely opportunity to underst<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> gain insight<br />
into <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> case. For example, Fridays at<br />
River Bend were game or movie day. Thus,<br />
Friday was not selected as a c<strong>on</strong>sistent day to<br />
observe at River Bend High School. The researcher<br />
also worked with both teachers to<br />
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