Frederick J. Brigham

Reading Versus Doing: The Relative Effects of Textbook-Based and Inquiry-Oriented Approaches to Science Learning in Special Education Classrooms:

Students with learning disabilities in four special education classrooms studied two science units (magnetism and electricity, and rocks and minerals) via either an activity-based, inquiry-oriented approach or a textbook approach. The investigation was conducted over a 2-week period and employed a counterbalanced, withinsubjects design, in which all students received both treatments. Students performed significantly higher on immediate and delayed unit tests when they had learned by the inquiry-oriented approach, although vocabulary acquisition was limited in both conditions. Additionally, students reported overwhelming preference for activity-based learning over textbook approaches. Implications for special education are discussed.

Motivation and Self-Regulation A Comparison of Students with Learning and Behavior Problems

The purpose of this study was to investigate the motivational characteristics of 3 groups of adolescents: students with learning disabilities (LD), students with emotional or behavioral disorders (EBD), and students with average achievement (AA). Three questionnaires, the Motivation Orientation scale, the Purposes of School scale, and the Motivated Strategies for Learning questionnaire were administered to junior high and middle school students with LD and EBD, and to an age-matched group of students with AA. These self-report measures were administered to students in small groups in one session of approximately 35 to 40 minutes. Significant differences on the Motivation Orientation scale were detected among the groups. Differences on the Purposes of School scale approached but did not reach significance. Students with LD appeared to be more alienated and oriented to avoiding work than students with AA or students with EBD. Students with EBD reported significantly more feelings of test anxiety than did students with LD or AA. Gender differences emerged, with females reporting more support for self-sacrifice, community spirit, and persistence, whereas male students reported more feelings of alienation. Implications for future research and classroom practice are discussed.

An exploration of the use of eye‐gaze tracking to study problem‐solving on standardized science assessments

This pilot study investigated the capacity of eye‐gaze tracking to identify differences in problem‐solving behaviours within a group of individuals who possessed varying degrees of knowledge and expertise in three disciplines of science (biology, chemistry and physics). The six participants, all pre‐service science teachers, completed an 18‐item multiple‐choice science assessment while having their eye‐gaze tracked and recorded. Analysis of the data revealed differences in eye‐gaze behaviour across different disciplines and similarities among participants with similar science backgrounds. This manuscript discusses various issues in eye‐gaze tracking data analysis and suggests some analytical techniques for addressing these issues. The findings suggest that eye‐gaze tracking may potentially be a useful approach to furthering our understanding of students’ problem‐solving behaviours.

Research in the Wake of the No Child Left Behind Act: Why the Controversies Will Continue and Some Suggestions for Controversial Research.

The authors provide an analysis of why the controversies surrounding educational treatment are likely to continue even with scientific validation of practices as called for in the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) act. They describe how bias in human judgment makes it difficult to trust others and also difficult to doubt oneself relative to important decisions and suggest that science, through its mechanism of self-correction, is the best tool for overcoming these biases. The developing relationship between general and special education since NCLB is described. Several suggestions are provided for researchers, including the need to (a) reexamine the functions of individualized education programs, (b) develop standard treatment protocols for students who need support beyond that provided by school-wide discipline programs, and (c) scrutinize the academic demands faced by students with emotional or behavioral disorders vis à vis compliance with NCLB.

ELABORATIVE MAPS FOR ENHANCED LEARNING OF HISTORICAL INFORMATION: UNITING SPATIAL, VERBAL, AND IMAGINAL INFORMATION:

Map-like displays containing names of battles of the American Revolution and related battle information were presented to 72 middle school students with learning disabilities (LD). Students were randomly assigned to one of three map conditions that depicted information in a spatial organizational format but varied the symbols used to mark the map. Map symbols included (a) reconstructive elaborations of battle names and associated event information, (b) mnemonic keywords of battle names, and (c) realistic drawings of soldiers, buildings, and so forth. A 3 (organization) by 2 (recall) (location vs. event information) analysis of variance indicated that recall of locations was significantly greater than recall of event information in all conditions, mnemonic encoding resulted in greater recall of locations but not events, and elaborative encoding resulted in greater recall of event information relative to the mnemonic map but greater recall of locations and event information relative to the non-mnemonic map. Student reports of strategy use and implications for instruction of students with LD are discussed.

School Context and the Academic Achievement of Students With Emotional Disturbance

The authors examined the academic characteristics of 140 elementary-aged students served under the category of emotional disturbance (ED) from schools that differed in income level, performance on state testing, and suspension rates. School income accounted for a large amount of the variance in the reading and math achievement of students with ED as measured by the Woodcock-Johnson III. However, relative academic performance (as measured by performance on state testing compared with same-school peers and teacher ratings of academic competence) was similar across school income levels. Implications for intervention research and eligibility practices for students with ED are discussed.

Curriculum-Based Assessment Testing What Is Taught and Teaching What Is Tested

Over the last 15 years empirical studies have documented positive effects resulting from the use of curriculum-based assessment (CBA) procedures on the achievement of students with special education needs. Several approaches to CBA are described in the literature. Although there have been discussions of distinctions that should be made between different approaches to CBA, some common features contribute substantially to the instructional value of CBA procedures. In this article we discuss the features of CBA that are common to all approaches and that appear to contribute most to instructional effectiveness.

Disproportionate Poverty, Conservatism, and the Disproportionate Identification of Minority Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

Previous investigations of disproportionate representation of students from certain ethnic groups in special education have suggested that disproportionality is the result of bias against the members of overrepresented groups or, conversely, the result of disproportionate exposure to poverty for these students. Strong evidence in favor of either position has failed to emerge over the past decades, leading us to conclude that the models underlying these examinations might be inadequate. We, therefore, examined disproportionality in ED at the national level (50 states and DC) for two ethnic groups, African-American and Hispanic students. Using a more complex model, we found that disproportionate poverty was positively associated with representation of these two groups in ED classification. The representation of African-Americans in the ED category was negatively correlated with levels of conservatism for a state while poverty more strongly affected individuals from Hispanic backgrounds. We suggest that the general underidentification of individuals from all ethnic groups may be the larger problem.

Scientific Practice and the Tradition of Advocacy in Special Education

The purpose of this discussion is to describe and contrast several tenets of scientific behavior and practice with the behaviors and practices associated with advocacy. We argue that scientists must focus their efforts on solvable problems, consider their efforts to be uncertain, and present their findings dispassionately, so that others might judge the evidence for themselves. Advocates, in contrast, must confront the problems facing the people for whom they have concern over whether the problems appear to be solvable or not. Furthermore, advocacy requires a certainty of conviction that leads to the promotion of particular positions and their adoption by others. We suggest that although special educations roots are more closely aligned with advocacy than with science, its future depends on its ability to adopt a more fully scientific approach to practice. We conclude with a discussion of how the assignment of test accommodations to students with disabilities illustrates the tension between science and advocacy.

Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders and Their Teachers in Test-Linked Systems of Accountability

This article discusses the potential benefits and detriments of high-stakes assessment, the characteristics of useful assessments for students with disabilities and the potential impact of high-stakes assessment on students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). We suggest that the benefits of high-stakes assessment (or, more appropriately, test-linked standards) are most likely to be found in schools that are already attaining acceptable results relative to the standards. In schools serving students who are less privileged, test-linked standards are more likely to be associated with detrimental effects. We suggest that these tests are unlikely to be useful to teachers of students with EBD because they differ dramatically from assessment procedures that have been validated for students with disabilities. Test-linked standards, we conclude, are unlikely to yield benefit to students with EBD and quite likely to expose them to increased risk by focusing educational practice only on a narrowly defined and poorly evaluated set of outcomes.