Lucy Barnard-Brak

Student IEP Participation and Academic Achievement Across Time

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act mandates that students with disabilities be provided the necessary special education and related services that will allow them the benefit of a free and appropriate public education. Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) are the product of a team planning process that facilitates the coordination of such services for all students with disabilities in public schools who receive special education services. The purpose of the current study was to examine the association of student IEP participation with academic achievement across time. Although research has indicated the potential value of student participation in IEP meetings in developing self-determination skills, the relationship between student participation in IEP meetings and academic achievement has yet to be empirically examined. This article provides evidence that supports a positive association between student IEP participation and academic outcomes for students with disabilities at the elementary school level.

Macrocephaly in children with autism spectrum disorders.

Research indicates the presence of macrocephaly or abnormally large head circumferences in children with autism and spectrum-related disorders, compared with their typically developing peers. Previous research, however, centered on non-nationally representative, clinic-based samples of children and adults with autism spectrum disorders. Moreover, these samples were typically small. The present study represents results of a nationally representative, community-based sample of children with and without autism spectrum disorders, derived from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Birth Cohort. Results reveal statistically nonsignificant differences in the head circumferences of children with autism spectrum disorders across three time points, compared with children without autism spectrum disorders. These results may be considered highly generalizable, because they are derived from a nationally representative, community-based sample of children with and without autism spectrum disorders from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Birth Cohort.

Predictors of self-injurious behaviour exhibited by individuals with autism spectrum disorder.

BACKGROUND Presence of an autism spectrum disorder is a risk factor for development of self-injurious behaviour (SIB) exhibited by individuals with developmental disorders. The most salient SIB risk factors historically studied within developmental disorders are level of intellectual disability, communication deficits and presence of specific genetic disorders. Recent SIB research has expanded the search for risk factors to include less commonly studied variables for people with developmental disorders: negative affect, hyperactivity and impulsivity. METHOD A heterogeneous sample of 617 individuals with autism spectrum disorder diagnoses was derived from the National Database of Autism Research. Latent constructs were estimated from items of the community version of the Aberrant Behaviour Checklist. Structural equation modelling was used to assess whether impulsivity, hyperactivity, negative affect, severity of stereotypy, intellectual functioning or severity of autism symptoms predicted severity of SIB. RESULTS Impulsivity (β = 0.46), followed by intellectual functioning (β = -0.39), and stereotypy (β = 0.23) were the variables most highly predictive of increased SIB; impulsivity and stereotypy remained significant predictors of SIB after severity of autism symptoms and intelligence quotient (IQ) were controlled for. CONCLUSIONS High levels of impulsivity and stereotypy were significant predictors of SIB in a large and diverse sample of people with confirmed autism diagnoses. Future research is needed on the effects of reducing impulsivity and stereotypy on the outcomes of treatment, early intervention and attempts to prevent the development of SIB.

Online versus Face-to-Face Accommodations among College Students with Disabilities

Abstract Although both the number of online learning opportunities and students with disabilities in higher education has increased over the last two decades, students with disabilities may be overlooked. The purpose of this study was to examine attitudes toward requesting accommodations in the online learning environment among college students with disabilities compared with requesting accommodations in the face-to-face learning environment. Accommodations refer to those adjustments and modification made to instructional and/or curricular requirements in order for students with disabilities to fully participate in a course (Rehabilitation Act of 1973). Results indicate that students with disabilities did not have significantly different attitudes toward requesting accommodations as a whole in the face-to-face versus online learning environments. Results, however, do indicate that students who report having visible disabilities appear to have more positive attitudes toward requesting accommodations in the online versus face-to-face learning environment compared with students who report having hidden disabilities.

Attitudes as a predictor of college students requesting accommodations

The purpose of the current study was to examine those variables that we postulated as predicting whether a registered college student with a disability would request accommodations in higher education. To achieve this purpose, a variety of predictor variables were considered as predicting whether a student with a disability would decide to request accommodations and analyzed using logistic regression analyses. Results indicate two significant predictors of a college student with a disability requesting accommodations, which were a students university characteristics (e.g. being large public versus small private) and student attitudes toward requesting accommodations. Results indicate the importance of both personal and environmental factors as influencing a students behavior of requesting accommodations.

Meta-analysis of noncontingent reinforcement effects on problem behavior

A meta-analysis of noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) outcomes was conducted using hierarchical linear modeling (a) to document the effect size for decreasing problem behavior, (b) to compare effect sizes for NCR using functional reinforcers and nonfunctional reinforcers, and (c) to document the influence of schedule thinning on effect size. Analyses were conducted with data from 55 studies and 91 participants. Results indicate that NCR was associated with a very strong effect size (d =-1.58) for reduction of problem behavior, functional reinforcers were slightly more effective than nonfunctional reinforcers, and schedule thinning resulted in minor degradation of effect size. Meta-analysis of single-case design data provides a method to quantitatively estimate effect sizes of interventions across participants. Therefore, it allows one to identify important variables that are not otherwise evident in single-case data, helps to disseminate findings to the broader scientific community, and contributes to the documentation of empirically supported interventions.

Measuring College Students' Attitudes toward Requesting Accommodations: A National Multi-Institutional Study.

College students with disabilities represent an increasing population of nontraditional students that often experience difficulty in achieving in higher education. This difficulty appears to be related to students with disabilities needing to request accommodations in higher education, unlike in elementary and secondary education where accommodations are provided. In the current study, an instrument, the Attitudes Toward Requesting Accommodations (ATRA), was developed to measure attitudes toward requesting accommodations among college students with disabilities. The results of the current study indicate evidence in support of the sound psychometric properties of the ATRA so that it may be utilized by higher education administrators concerned with the achievement and retention of college students with disabilities.

Cyberbullying Among High School Students: Cluster Analysis of Sex and Age Differences and the Level of Parental Monitoring

Bullying, a typical occurrence in schools, has gone digital. As a result, cyberbullying has become ever more present among youth. The current study aimed to classify high school students into four groups based on their cyberbullying experiences and to examine the characteristics of these groups based on the sex and age of the participants and the level of parental monitoring. Participants were 133 high school students located in central Texas. A cluster analysis revealed four distinct groups of students who were “highly involved both as bully and victim,†“more victim than bully,†“more bully than victim,†or “least involved.†Significantly more girls and more students in lower grades were classified into the “more victim than bully group†while older students were more likely to be classified into the “more bully than victim†group. No significant differences were found between cluster membership and the degree of parental monitoring.

An Experimental Study of the Effects of Stereotype Threat and Stereotype Lift on Men and Women's Performance in Mathematics

In this study the authors examined the differential effects of stereotype threat and lift between genders on math test performance. They asked 3 questions: (a) What is the effect of gender on math test performance?, (b) What is the effect of stereotyping condition (threat, lift, or neither) on math test performance?, and (c) What is the effect of the interaction of gender and stereotyping condition on math test performance? Findings indicated that men performed better on math tests under conditions of stereotype threat than on stereotype lift; women performed better under stereotype lift than on stereotype threat. Practical applications are discussed regarding math test anxiety, social identities, and how teachers might address gender differences regarding stereotype threat and stereotype lift.

Advanced Placement Course Enrollment and School-Level Characteristics.

The current study examined access to Advanced Placement (AP) courses as a function of these school characteristics (e.g., percentage of ethnic minority and lower socioeconomic status) and then examined AP course enrollment as a function of both access to AP courses and these school characteristics. Using structural equation modeling techniques, results indicated that school characteristics, such as the percentage of students who have minority and/or lower socioeconomic status backgrounds, would appear to be more related to the availability of AP curricula rather than to the number of students who enroll in these courses at a school.