M. David Miller

Factors That Predict Teachers Staying in, Leaving, or Transferring from the Special Education Classroom

We randomly surveyed 1,576 Florida special education teachers to examine factors that contribute to their propensity to leave or stay in the special education classroom or transfer to a new school. The variables identified, based on extensive review of the literature, included background, classroom, school district, and personal factors. We tracked our respondents for 2 years using a multinomial logit model to identify significant predictors of leaving, staying, or transferring. Results indicate that teachers left special education teaching primarily due to insufficient certification, perceptions of high stress, and perceptions of poor school climate. Special educators who transferred to a different school or district had perceptions of high stress and perceptions of poor school climate and were significantly younger than stayers.

Teaching Algebra to Students with Learning Difficulties: An Investigation of an Explicit Instruction Model

Thirty-four matched pairs of sixth- and seventh-grade students were selected from 358 participants in a comparison of an explicit concrete- to-representational-to-abstract (CRA) sequence of instruction with traditional instruction for teaching algebraic transformation equations. Each pair of students had been previously labeled with a spe- cific learning disability or as at risk for difficulties in algebra. Students were matched according to achievement score, age, pretest score, and class performance. The same math teacher taught both members of each matched pair, but in different classes. All students were taught in inclusive settings under the instruction of a middle school mathematics teacher. Results indicated that students who learned how to solve algebra transformation equations through CRA outperformed peers receiving traditional instruction on both postinstruction and follow-up tests. Additionally, error pattern analysis indicated that students who used the CRA sequence of instruction performed fewer procedural errors when solving for variables. Abstract thinking requires a person to work with infor- mation that is not readily represented at the concrete or pictorial level (Hawker & Cowley, 1997). To work with abstract information is to understand theoretical properties and think beyond what a person can touch or see. On a practical level, an ability to work with abstract concepts allows one to work with predictions of what may happen and expectations about what is happening elsewhere. Abstract knowledge may also be considered a conscious awareness that a symbol stands for some

Effects of a Reading Fluency Intervention for Middle Schoolers With Specific Learning Disabilities

A fluency-reading intervention was developed and used to supplement reading instruction of middle school students with learning disabilities (LD). The daily 5- to 6-min fluency intervention focused on phonics, sight phrases, and oral reading. Repeated readings were used in each area until the student achieved mastery on each respective task. The students were divided in three groups according to the length of the intervention (6-9 months, 10-18 months, and 19-25 months). Dependent t tests were used to test the effects of the intervention. A pretest and posttest curriculum-based assessment (CBA) measure was used for each group to determine progress in reading rate. In addition, progress within the intervention was measured using comparisons of beginning and ending reading levels. Significant growth in reading level and reading rate was found. Implications of these results for students with LD are discussed.

Cognitive behavior modification of hyperactivity-impulsivity and aggression : A meta-analysis of school-based studies

Cognitive behavior modification (CBM) has been used for the past 25 years to mitigate maladaptive behaviors through the use of covert self-statements. Yet few reviewers have examined the use of CBM in school settings to reduce hyperactive-impulsive and aggressive behaviors in children and youth. This meta-analysis examined the outcomes of 23 studies. The mean effect size across all the studies was 0.74, and 89% of the studies had treatment participants who experienced greater gains than their control counterparts on posttest and maintenance measures when exposed to a treatment with a cognitive component. These results are discussed in terms of study characteristics and design, and recommendations for future research are made.

High School Youth and Suicide Risk: Exploring Protection Afforded Through Physical Activity and Sport Participation

BACKGROUND Suicide ranks as the third leading cause of death for adolescents. Recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicate that the adolescent suicide rate increased 18% between 2003 and 2004. Sport may represent a promising protective factor against adolescent suicide. This study examined the relative risk of hopelessness and suicidality associated with physical activity and sport participation. METHODS Data from the CDCs 2005 Youth Risk Behavior Survey were analyzed. Logistic regression modeling was used to compare the odds of hopelessness and suicidality in students who engaged in various levels of physical activity to inactive students. Similar analyses were performed comparing risks of athletes to nonathletes, and the risks of highly involved athletes to nonathletes. RESULTS Findings showed that frequent, vigorous activity reduced the risk of hopelessness and suicidality among male adolescents. However, low levels of activity actually increased the risk of feeling hopeless among young females. Yet, for both males and females, sport participation protected against hopelessness and suicidality. CONCLUSION These findings indicate that involvement in sport confers unique psychosocial benefits that protect adolescents against suicidality. Findings suggest that mechanisms other than physical activity contribute to the protective association between sport and reduced suicidality. Social support and integration may account for some of the differences found in suicidality between athletes and nonathletes.

Associations Between Physical Activity and Reduced Rates of Hopelessness, Depression, and Suicidal Behavior Among College Students

Objective: The authors explored associations among types of physical activity and hopelessness, depression, and suicidal behavior among college students. Participants: Participants included 43,499 college students aged 18 to 25 who completed the 2005 National College Health Assessment conducted by the American College Health Association. Methods: The authors used logistic regression modeling to compare the odds of experiencing hopelessness, depression, and suicidal behavior in students who engaged in various levels of aerobic and strength or toning activity with students who did not perform these activities. Results: Men and women who engaged in some physical activity each week demonstrated a reduced risk of hopelessness, depression, and suicidal behavior compared with their inactive counterparts. Conclusions: This study provides empirical evidence that establishes the association between physical activity, especially aerobic activity, and reduced risk of hopelessness, depression, and suicidal behavior among college students.

Spiritual Well-Being and Suicidal Ideation Among College Students

Objective: This study explored whether specific dimensions of spiritual well-being (religious well-being and existential well-being) relate to reduced suicidal ideation, and whether associations persisted after controlling for religiosity and psychosocial variables associated with suicide. Participants: Participants were 457 college students who completed measures that assessed spiritual well-being, religiosity, hopelessness, depression, social support, and suicidal ideation. Methods: The authors used linear regression modeling to assess religious and spiritual correlates of suicidal ideation. Results: After controlling for demographic variables and psychosocial factors, neither involvement in organized religion nor religious well-being significantly contributed to suicidal ideation. However, even after controlling for significant correlates, existential well-being remained a significant predictor of suicidal ideation. Conclusions: This investigation highlighted existential well-being as an important factor associated with lower levels of suicidal ideation among college students. Findings from this study focusing on the association between spiritual well-being and suicidality may prove especially beneficial to suicide prevention efforts.

The Transition Readiness Assessment Questionnaire (TRAQ): Its Factor Structure, Reliability, and Validity

OBJECTIVE National consensus statements recommend that providers regularly assess the transition readiness skills of adolescent and young adults (AYA). In 2010 we developed a 29-item version of Transition Readiness Assessment Questionnaire (TRAQ). We reevaluated item performance and factor structure, and reassessed the TRAQs reliability and validity. METHODS We surveyed youth from 3 academic clinics in Jacksonville, Florida; Chapel Hill, North Carolina; and Boston, Massachusetts. Participants were AYA with special health care needs aged 14 to 21 years. From a convenience sample of 306 patients, we conducted item reduction strategies and exploratory factor analysis (EFA). On a second convenience sample of 221 patients, we conducted confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Internal reliability was assessed by Cronbachs alpha and criterion validity. Analyses were conducted by the Wilcoxon rank sum test and mixed linear models. RESULTS The item reduction and EFA resulted in a 20-item scale with 5 identified subscales. The CFA conducted on a second sample provided a good fit to the data. The overall scale has high reliability overall (Cronbachs alpha = .94) and good reliability for 4 of the 5 subscales (Cronbachs alpha ranging from .90 to .77 in the pooled sample). Each of the 5 subscale scores were significantly higher for adolescents aged 18 years and older versus those younger than 18 (P < .0001) in both univariate and multivariate analyses. CONCLUSIONS The 20-item, 5-factor structure for the TRAQ is supported by EFA and CFA on independent samples and has good internal reliability and criterion validity. Additional work is needed to expand or revise the TRAQ subscales and test their predictive validity.

Conflict Resolution and Peer Mediation in Middle Schools: Extending the Process and Outcome Knowledge Base

Abstract Many professional educators are implementing school-based prevention focused on conflict resolution (CR) and peer mediation (PM). The authors conducted research on CR-PM in 3 middle schools. Specifically, they surveyed teachers and students, tracked disciplinary incidents across school years, collected mediation data, and compared mediators with a matched sample to determine attitudinal change as a result of PM training and experience. The authors also surveyed peer mediators and disputants about program satisfaction, as well as peer mediators and their parents about the generalization of PM skills. The authors conclude with implications for developing future CR programs, including a focus on mediation-process evaluation as well as schoolwide outcome measures and the use of peer mediation training as an intervention for students at risk.

Effect of Sample Size, Number of Biased Items, and Magnitude of Bias on a Two-Stage Item Bias Estimation Method.

A two-stage procedure for estimating item bias was examined with six indexes of item bias and with the Mantel-Haenszel (MH) statistic; the sample size, the number of biased items, and the magnitude of the bias were varied. The second stage of the procedure did not identify substantial numbers of false positives (unbiased items identified as biased). However, the identification of true positives in the second stage was useful only when the magnitude of the bias was not small and the number of biased items was large (20% or 40% of the test). The weighted indexes tended to identify more true and false positives than their unweighted item response theory counterparts. Finally, the MH statistic identified fewer false positives, but did not identify small bias as well as the item response theory indexes