Kyeong-Hwa Kim

Transition Planning Involving Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Families

Family involvement in the transition process has been recognized as a crucial indicator of successful transition planning. Many parents, however, take a passive role in their childs Individualized Education Program (IEP) transition meeting. Moreover, despite the clear mandate of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), parents from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds are even less involved. This article explores the current status of parent involvement in transition planning for families from diverse backgrounds. It examines the barriers placed on such parents and recommends strategies to enhance the partnerships between parents and school programs during the transition period.

Evaluating a Transition Personnel Preparation Program: Identifying Transition Competencies of Practitioners

To date, research has not sufficiently addressed the impact of personnel preparation programs on secondary special educators in relationship to specialized competencies needed to impact students during transition from school to adult life. This study sought to evaluate transition competencies gained by secondary practitioners involved in a transition teacher education program. We were particularly interested in examining whether graduates of our programs reported increased levels of competence upon completion of the program. Responses were compared to a pre-assessment measure to determine significant levels of change. Using quantitative and qualitative methods, findings were overwhelmingly positive. Over time, our evaluation methods have expanded in terms of sophistication. Finally, this article addresses strategies for evaluating personnel preparation.

An Unheard Voice: Korean American Parents' Expectations, Hopes, and Experiences Concerning Their Adolescent Child's Future.

Although research has indicated that parent participation is considered to be one of the most important elements of transition planning, there are a few studies that have sought to measure the involvement of culturally and linguistically diverse parents. Asian Americans are the most diverse of Americas leading minority groups and one of the most poorly understood ethnic minorities. We interviewed 10 Korean American parents to understand their perspectives regarding the transition experiences of their children with disabilities. Through this qualitative study, five themes emerged: Parental perceptions of disability, experiences with advocacy, expectations for future living, connections with Korean communities, and family-professional partnerships. Implications for practice among educators to enhance the involvement of Korean American parents in the development of long range plans that will affect the postschool outcomes of their children with disabilities will be discussed.

Strategies for Successfully Completing Online Professional Development

Recently, increasing demand for teacher professional development and significant advances in information and communication technologies has led to a proliferation of online professional development. In spite of online professional developments popularity and advantages, research indicates that there is a concern of considerably high dropout rates of online learners. Therefore, to reduce the dropout rates of the learners, this paper is designed to help teachers identify professional development opportunities that are tailored to their needs as well as successfully complete these learning experiences. To achieve the purpose of the study, the paper explores the considerations for evaluating the characteristics of online learners and online professional development. Using these evaluations, this paper provides practical strategies for helping elementary and secondary education teachers successfully complete online professional development without dropping out an online course.

Emotional and Behavioral Disorders in South Korea: Current Status and Issues

In South Korea, there is no consensus on the definition of emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). This column focuses on how the definition has affected the prevalence rates and services available for students with EBDs. Of the legal, clinical, and educational definitions, the legal definition of EBDs is currently in common use, which raises two issues: First, using this definition results in limitations in terms of interventions for and understanding of EBDs. Second, the definition represents a departure from how EBDs have been used to classify children and adolescents for the purposes of prevention. In short, it was found that administrative adjustments of the legal agents are required and that mutual cooperation is needed between service professionals and reformers. The role of each expert is stressed in the establishment of a concrete definition and service delivery system.

Preliminary Study: Special Education Doctoral Students’ Perceptions of Self-determination

This preliminary study investigated 118 special education doctoral students’ knowledge of and attitudes toward self-determination. In addition, this study examined the relationship between self-determination coursework and special education doctoral students’ perceptions of how well they were prepared for implementing self-determination in their future careers. The results indicated that although the majority of respondents possessed adequate knowledge of self-determination concepts, they reported lacking confidence in identifying how it can be taught and assessed. Most of the respondents indicated that they would integrate self-determination knowledge and skills into their future teaching; however, more than one-half of the doctoral students felt that they were unprepared with regard to the instruction of self-determination. Also, the findings indicated that there were statistically significant relationships between pre-service courses and doctoral students’ perceptions of self-determination. The results of this study showed a gap in current doctoral students’ knowledge about self-determination and confidence related to application within pre-service teaching.