Deborah T. Carran

Attainment of personal outcomes by people with developmental disabilities.

In 1993, The Council on Quality and Leadership in Supports for People With Disabilities (The Council) developed a person-centered outcome assessment instrument, Personal Outcome Measures (1997). The Council has maintained a database (N = 3,630) of Personal Outcome Measures interviews conducted during accreditation reviews. Our purpose in this article is to report findings on (a) the relationships between and among the Personal Outcome Measures (The Council, 1997) and patterns of individual outcome attainment and (b) to examine the impact of characteristic variables (disability, organizational size, residential type, or source of program funding) on the individual attainment of personal outcomes. Alternatives are suggested for examining the dimensions of both quality of service and quality of life for people with disabilities.

Cross‐generational knowledge flows in edge organizations

Purpose – This paper seeks to investigate how cross‐generational biases affect tacit knowledge transfer and resulting knowledge flows in edge organizations.Design/methodology/approach – The paper applied hypothesis testing χ2s, as well as ethnographic analysis.Findings – Cross‐generational biases affect tacit knowledge transfer and resulting knowledge flows in edge‐like organizations. Other factors, such as trust, loyalty, work ethics, and family values, also affect knowledge flows.Research limitations/implications – Sample size should be increased for future work, as well as applying the results in a defense/military environment.Practical implications – The results of the paper should influence succession planning, human capital strategy, and knowledge management efforts in edge‐like organizations.Originality/value – The work is quite novel as it integrates inter‐generational differences, tacit knowledge transfer, and knowledge flows in edge organizations.

Risk Assessment in Preschool Children: Research Implications for the Early Detection of Educational Handicaps.

Epidemiological techniques were used to reanalyze selected published studies that had screened preschool or kindergarten children. Subjects had been longitudinally tracked to determine results of the screens through the identification of educationally at-risk children. Using published results, a reanalysis of the studies was performed to include sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, relative risk ratio, and odds ratio. A comparison of these values was used to discuss and compare the predictive validity and risk indices of the studies. Further interpretation suggested a paradigm shift away from longitudinal studies for screening instrument testing. Methodological considerations emphasizing risk analysis and design modifications are discussed.

Changes in HIV Risk Behaviors among Counseled Injecting Drug Users

A community sample of ninety-one HIV seronegative IDUs were randomly assigned to either a one-hour, one-on-one, intensive educational intervention or a fifteen-minute “standard” educational session. Risk behaviors for the prior six months were assessed by interview before the intervention and six months later. Self-reported injecting drug use decreased from 100% to 70% at the six-month follow-up and the proportion injecting daily dropped from 42% to 18%. The proportion who used someone elses injection equipment dropped from 65% to 34%. Nearly all IDUs who continued to inject reported using bleach to clean their equipment. There was no significant additional benefit from the intensive intervention. Variables hypothesized to mediate reduction in HIV risk behavior (personal distress, perceived personal risk, and intention to reduce risky behavior) were not associated with reduction of activities with high-risk for HIV infection. These data suggest that individualized, short-term educational interventions probably have limited impact on lowering frequency of risky behaviors.

Risk of Unsuccessful Program Completion for Students with Serious Emotional/Behavioral Disorders: An Epidemiologic Risk Analysis.

The purpose of this study was to identify risk factors associated with unsuccessful discharge status of students with serious emotional/behavioral disorders (E/BD) from a secondary-level, therapeutic, day-treatment program. In addition, this article describes and demonstrates the effective use of epidemiologic analysis as a program-evaluation method by comparing risks associated with identified characteristics of the E/BD population to program completion status. Results indicated significant differences in successful program completion related to individual variables, specifically (a) student substance abuse, (b) involvement with juvenile services, and (c) family-living status. Further, we found that additive effects of several variable pairs greatly increased the risk of unsuccessful program outcomes. Implications for E/BD program development and ongoing program evaluation with epidemiologic analysis are discussed.

The Effects of Tape-Recorded Self-Instruction Cues on the Mathematics Performance of Students with Learning Disabilities

The effects of tape-recorded self-instruction cues on the mathematics performance of students with learning disabilities (LD) were investigated. Nine students were assigned to one of three conditions: an experimental condition, in which students attended two training sessions in self-instruction (SIT); an observer condition, wherein students observed SIT but did not participate; and a control condition, wherein students received neither training nor the opportunity to observe. Using a multiple probe design, data (problems attempted, problems completed correctly, and time for task performance) were collected across two baseline phases, two brief instructional periods, and two generalization phases. Without access to taped cues, experimental and observer students did not successfully utilize the SIT after the first self-instructional training. However, when experimental students were trained to use taped cues, they demonstrated the ability to accurately solve their problems. More important, they were able to successfully use SIT procedures when the taped cues were faded.

Variables Affecting the Reintegration Rate of Students with Serious Emotional Disturbance

This study examined educational program and teacher variables to identify factors that predict the reintegration of students with serious emotional disturbance (SED) into less restrictive placements. Data on program demographics, reintegration orientation, teacher reintegration training, and teacher attitudes toward reintegration were collected from 162 special education teachers and 31 administrators in restrictive placements for K-12 students with SED. This information was compared to the reintegration rates of students in those schools through the use of a hierarchical set regression analysis. Results indicated that reintegration orientation, demographic characteristics of restrictive SED programs, and particular experiences/training of special educators predict the reintegration of students with SED into less restrictive programs.

The Relative Risk of Educational Handicaps in Two Birth Cohorts of Normal and Low Birthweight Disadvantaged Children

An historical prospective study was conducted on 2 birth cohorts of children. Subjects born between 1974 and 1976 (Cohort I, n = 239) and 1978 and 1979 (Cohort II, n = 328) were identified through the medical records of one inner city teaching hospital and stratified by birthweight. The birthweight groups were very low birthweight (VLBW, < 1,500 grams), low birthweight (LBW, 1,501 to 2,500 grams), and normal birthweight (NBW, > 2,500 grams). Pertinent perinatal, neonatal, and maternal obstetric information was recorded for each subject. Children were then tracked into the county public school system to determine present educational achievement as an outcome measure. There were no significant differences between cohorts for medical variables. Results indicated an elevated risk for, and higher prevalence of students with, mild educational handicaps (learning disabled, emotionally handicapped, and educable mentally handicapped) in the LBW group of Cohort I. This was not found in Cohort II, which had a nearly equal distribution of mildly handicapped subjects for the 3 birthweight groups and a greater proportion of severely handicapped subjects than Cohort I. The cumulative incidence rate of milder handicaps is predicted to increase in Cohort II as these children age. The distribution of handicaps is analyzed, and estimated relative risk ratios are presented.

A Study to Evaluate the Language Development of Post-Institutionalised Children Adopted from Eastern European Countries.

This study examined data collected over a period of three years from 48 children adopted from Eastern European orphanages. English language acquisition and present levels of performance were measured by the standardised language assessment, the Comprehensive Assessment of Spoken Language (CASL). The participants ranged from 3 to 16 years of age, and were assessed on three separate occasions, one year apart, using the core assessment battery of the CASL. Results showed there were significant differences found for the non-literal language and pragmatic judgment subscales when measured across time. Beyond those areas, there was little developmental change in language scores. Other findings were that at the initial assessment or baseline, time in country heavily influenced subscales, supporting previous research that children in the country for shorter periods of time performed better than those in the USA for longer periods. Results of this study support the need for early intervention in language use for this population. While opportunities exist in the school setting for pragmatic skills to develop, these limited experiences may not be enough for foreign-born adopted children to catch up to non-adopted peers.

The Effects of Systematic Reading Instruction on Three Classifications of Readers.

Abstract This study examined the effects of systematic instruction emphasizing phonological awareness using three groups of readers (single deficit, double deficit and no deficit) aged 6:6 to 9:3 . Twenty nine subjects identified with language‐based learning deficits were assigned to a group based on assessment of phonological core deficit areas. After nine months of instruction using Phono‐Graphix® subjects were posttested. Analyses revealed significant main effects for phonological awareness composites and rapid naming composites. Despite group membership, all children improved in their phonological awareness skills. Group interactions were observed for blending tasks, phonological awareness scores and rapid naming scores. Implications reveal systematic instruction using consistent encoding and decoding of the phonetic system yield significant results despite the number of phonological core deficits originally identified.