Charles Dukes

The Effects of Covert Audio Coaching on the Job Performance of Supported Employees

The importance of employment in society is unmistakable, but for many people sustained employment remains elusive. The unemployment rate for individuals with disabilities is staggering, and the consequences of being unemployed affects those individuals, their families, and society. The effects of performance feedback delivered via covert audio coaching on the job performance of supported employees were examined in this investigation. A multiple baseline design across employees and work tasks was used to evaluate the effects of the intervention on work performance. Supported employees made substantial improvements on their work performance, and the improvements maintained for 4 to 5 weeks following the removal of the intervention. The results have implications for the use of covert audio coaching in employment and other settings.

Special Education: An Integral Part of Small Schools in High Schools

In this article, the authors discuss the small learning community or small high schools literature and the issues surrounding the dismantling of large high schools. Next, the authors describe inclusive education and its apparent relationship to the creation of small learning communities. The authors bridge the gap between the intent of small learning communities and secondary inclusive education. Then, the authors delineate the possible benefits of explicitly linking special education (i.e., secondary inclusive education) and small learning communities. Finally, several research implications of making a link between inclusive education and small learning communities are discussed.

Course Delivery Keystones of Effective Special Education Teacher Preparation

In this review of the literature, the authors examined studies investigating course delivery methods for preparing special education teachers. Ultimately, 17 studies were reviewed using a constant comparative qualitative method of analysis. This analysis led to the emergence of five themes: (a) established needs, (b) effectiveness, (c) logistics, (d) instructional methods, and (e) critical factors. The findings from this review are discussed in relation to mechanisms affecting special education teacher education, including (a) technology, (b) diversity, (c) preservice and in-service prerequisite knowledge, (d) skills and dispositions, and (e) program quality. Implications for future research in distance education related to special education teacher preparation, such as need for variability in the courses types are examined, while the necessity for studies utilizing random selection and implications for practice pertaining to instructor and student readiness as well as program infrastructure are suggested.

Using WatchMinder to increase the on-task behavior of students with autism spectrum disorder

This study assessed the use of WatchMinder™, a vibrating prompt watch, and self-graphing on the on-task behavior of students with autism spectrum disorder in an elementary special education setting. Using a multiple baseline across subjects design, results showed an immediate increase in on-task behavior when the intervention was introduced. Participants maintained high levels of on-task behavior during the follow-up phase. Implications for expanded self-monitoring treatment packages are discussed.

Selection Pressures on Special Education Teacher Preparation: Issues Shaping Our Future.

In this introduction to the special issue on evolving changes in our field, we have intentionally chosen to use the power of a vastly different metaphor to promote deep reflection. Specifically, we will introduce the notion of selection pressures and its impact on an evolutionary process, illustrating how special education teacher education has changed or evolved. We discuss these changes in the context of the 21st century and contextualize this explanation by representing special education teacher education as an avatar, thereby borrowing from the virtual world. We borrow concepts from natural science and the virtual world to help promote a new understanding of the nature of special education teacher education. Several selection pressures have been identified as affecting and moving forward special education teacher education such as (a) professional development/course delivery, (b) field experiences/mentoring induction, and (c) performance assessment. Each factor is considered with regard to its influence on the evolving nature of the 21st-century special education teacher education.

Literacy for Children with Moderate to Severe Disabilities: Taking Account of Diversity.

The call for practice on the basis of evidence is slowly impacting the link between research and practice. Accompanying the call for evidence-based practice, concerns have been raised about constructing research questions that address the reality of applied settings, as well as arguments for including additional measures to ensure the internal and external validity of intervention studies. Because intervention research continues to evolve, now may be an appropriate time to begin posing questions about considerations of racial and ethnic diversity in this body of work. Validity is one of the most significant aspects of research and there seem to be few definitive notions about children with moderate to severe disabilities from diverse backgrounds. In an attempt to explore this issue, we chose a small part of the extant literature, specifically, the development of literacy, in an effort to examine how scholars report on diversity (e.g., race, ethnicity, culture). In this article we offer commentary on taking account of diversity in empirical research using the development of literacy in children with moderate to severe disabilities as an example. In addition, we also discuss the implications for future research and offer recommendations for taking account of diversity as a means to push the collective knowledge base forward.

Conceptualizing Special Education Services in Small Learning Communities.

The ills of urban schools are well documented. The challenges of recruiting and retaining quality teachers, student mobility, poor conditions of school facilitates, and lack of parent involvement are only a few of the issues related to urban schools. Large comprehensive high schools are a staple of many urban school districts. This model of educating a large number of students in one school has come into question. The reduction in size of schools, especially large comprehensive high schools is now the focus of many school reform efforts. Lost in this discussion is the consideration of special education services and how special education services can be effectively integrated into any small school or small learning community restructuring efforts. A possible model of how special education services can be integrated into high schools restructured into small learning communities is presented, including considerations of benefits for students with and without disabilities.

Who Among Us May Be Literate? Closing the Gap Between Literacy and Diversity

Who may be literate? The disparities in literacy rates for a number of children are untenable. For years, many students from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds have been systematically denied access to education, resulting in unacceptable illiteracy rates. Additionally, students with disabilities have been assumed incompetent and not worthy of receiving literacy instruction. If social justice includes respect for human rights and dignity, then it must be the case that denying anyone access to adequate education or assuming incompetence is unacceptable. In this chapter, social justice leadership is considered in the context of an expanded agenda that includes literacy as a basic human right and necessary component to school programming. School leaders have always shouldered a great deal of the responsibility to articulate the mission and vision for school-wide programming, and as such, this chapter includes a discussion about considerations for school leaders when creating an informed social justice agenda that specifically includes literacy. The discussion concludes with a description of several recommendations for school leaders who wish to move toward an informed practice, including school-wide efforts that promote literacy.

The Effectiveness of Direct Instruction in Teaching Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder to Answer "Wh-" Questions.

Research on the effects of Direct Instruction (DI) among students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has only recently emerged. A benefit of DI is that it can be implemented with groups of students, which makes it potentially a cost effective method of instruction for some skills. In this study, we examined the effects of DI on teaching secondary students with ASD to answer three “wh-” questions. Using a multiple probe design across behaviors, results indicated the participants mastered two of the three “wh-” question types and made progress with the remaining question type. These results are discussed along with implications for educators instructing students with ASD.

Using modeling and rehearsal to teach fire safety to children with autism

We evaluated the efficacy of an instructional procedure to teach young children with autism to evacuate settings and notify an adult during a fire alarm. A multiple baseline design across children showed that an intervention that included modeling, rehearsal, and praise was effective in teaching fire safety skills. Safety skills generalized to novel settings and maintained during a 5-week follow-up in both training and generalization settings.