Elaine Carlson

A National Sample of Preschoolers with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Special Education Services and Parent Satisfaction

The Pre-Elementary Education Longitudinal Study (PEELS) examines the preschool and early elementary school experiences of a nationally representative sample of 3,104 children ages 3–5 with disabilities from 2004 through 2009. This paper describes the special education and related services received by a subsample of 186 preschoolers with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in 2003–2004 and parental satisfaction with those services. Past research and patterns of litigation suggest that parents of children with ASD are not wholly satisfied with the special education and related services their children receive. In the current study, the authors found many similarities between children with ASD and children with other disabilities in the type of services received under IDEA and in parent satisfaction with these services. Still, some significant differences emerged in the number of services received, the amount of time children with ASD spent in special education settings, and parent satisfaction with the amount of time children spent with typically developing peers. Implications about the importance of parent satisfaction and social validity measures are discussed.

The Interactions of Vocabulary, Phonemic Awareness, Decoding, and Reading Comprehension

ABSTRACT The authors used data from a large, national sample to examine the interaction of various literacy measures among young children with disabilities. Using structural equation modeling, they examined the relationships among measures of phonemic awareness, decoding, vocabulary, and reading comprehension. Child and family factors, including sex, severity of disability, race/ethnicity, household income, and mothers education were used as covariates. The model supported the notion of 2 unique paths to reading comprehension, one through decoding and a second through vocabulary.

Constructing and testing a disability index in a US sample of preschoolers with disabilities

Purpose. To develop and test an index of disability severity in a heterogeneous population of preschoolers with disabilities. Method. Using a nationally representative sample of 3104 children receiving special education services in the US, questions from a parent interview were used to develop an index of disability severity consisting of domains of functioning defined by gradients of severity. Regressions were used to examine the association between 15 functional domains and 8 cognitive, social/behavioural, and functional outcomes. Full and abbreviated versions of this disability index were compared. Correlations with proxy measures of disability in this population were used to establish concurrent validity, and the predictive ability of this measure was compared with that of the federally defined disability categories. Results. Of the 15 domains examined, most were significant predictors of at least two outcomes. A shortened index of only six variables was found to be as effective as the longer version in characterising childrens level of severity. The index was significantly correlated with intervention variables such as the age at which children began receiving special education or therapy service, r(2802) = −0.22, p ≤ 0.0001, the extent of modification of curriculum materials needed for the child, r(248) = 0.42, p ≤ 0.0001 and the number of services the child received in the school, r(2014) = 0.37, p ≤ 0.0001. Adding severity to special education category significantly increased the amount of variance in outcomes over special education category alone. Conclusions. These results provide evidence for the importance of the construct of severity of disability and its measurement, particularly when conducting research with very young children.

Academic, Social, and Behavioral Adjustment for Students Declassified from Special Education

Each year 7% of Michigans special education students return to full-time general education programs through declassification. In a preliminary investigation of declassification from special education, the authors analyzed data collected by the Michigan Department of Education over the past 5 years. Respondents suggested that, as a group, students declassified from special education are academically, socially, and behaviorally well adjusted; but teachers or counselors of 11% of the declassified students felt that these students continued to require special education services. Within 3 years, 4% of declassified students had returned to special education. Particularly noteworthy were the relatively poor results for declassified students with emotional impairments.

Predictors of Change in Eligibility Status among Preschoolers in Special Education

Relatively little is known about the incidence of declassification among young children who receive preschool special education services or about factors associated with declassification. The Pre-Elementary Education Longitudinal Study (PEELS) follows a nationally representative sample of children who were receiving preschool special education services in 2003–2004. Data from PEELS show that approximately 16% of preschoolers who received special education services stopped receiving those services, or were “declassified,” each year over a 2-year period. In a multivariate logistic regression, significant variables predicting declassification included child gender, size of the districts preschool special education program, district wealth, disability category, ratings of problem behaviors, severity of impairment, and scores on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test.

Home Literacy Environment and Its Role in the Achievement of Preschoolers With Disabilities

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the home literacy environment of a nationally representative sample of preschoolers with disabilities and their subsequent receptive vocabulary and reading comprehension skills using data from the Pre-Elementary Education Longitudinal Study. Results from linear regressions indicated that only a small amount of the total variance in children’s receptive language and passage comprehension skills was explained by the home literacy environment. However, the home literacy environment of 3- to 5-year-olds with less severe disabilities was a significant predictor of scores on a test of receptive vocabulary and reading comprehension in later years. The home literacy environment was not a significant predictor of receptive vocabulary or reading comprehension for children with moderate to severe disabilities.