Mary M. Murray

On-the-Job Practices of Early Childhood Special Education Providers Trained in Family-Centered Practices

This qualitative study investigated the use of family-centered practices by graduates of two early childhood special education personnel preparation programs that embedded family-centered pedagogy and involvement in all coursework. Three cohorts, involving 19 graduates employed in 19 different programs located in six states, participated in individually administered interviews to identify their perspectives about and use of family-centered practices in their work environments. All graduates were committed to and described using family-centered practices, but the large majority of graduates also identified significant barriers to using family-centered practices, including lack of support from colleagues and administrators and lack of policies related to working with families. Implications for preservice preparation, policy makers, and service programs are discussed.

Learning Together with Parents of Children with Disabilities: Bringing Parent-Professional Partnership Education to a New Level.

When parents and professionals work well together the results are dramatic (Epstein & Sanders, 2006). Parent/professional partnerships have been credited with improving outcomes for children and enhancing satisfaction for both parents and professionals (Epstein, 2005; Forlin & Hopewell, 2006). Family involvement in preservice programs is minimal and often limited to parent panels or parent involvement in a class activity such as an interview (Epstein & Salinas, 2004). Preservice students who have had multiple opportunities to interact with families, over a variety of settings, have greater chances of developing family-centered dispositions and skill sets and are more likely to generalize these skill sets to the job (Murray & Mandell, 2004; Sheldon & Van Voorhis, 2004). The special education personnel preparation program at Bowling Green State University developed the Intensive Extensive Collaborative Learning Program (IECLP) to provide students with opportunities to interact with parents of children with disabilities in a college course to develop knowledge, abilities and dispositions for parent partnerships.

Administrators' Understanding and Use of Family-Centered Practices

Employing qualitative methods, administrators’ understanding and use of family-centered practices were examined. Results indicate differences in role perceptions and service delivery based on their level of understanding. Administrators with a comprehensive understanding of family-centered practices, in comparison to administrators with limited or no understanding of such practices, were more likely to involve families in organizational governance and provide staff members and families with training opportunities designed to build collaborative partnerships. Regardless of the level of understanding of family-centered practices, administrators viewed on-the-job experiences occurring early in their careers as an influential factor in shaping their beliefs about working with families. Recommendations for practice and future research are discussed.

Innovative Family-Centered Practices in Personnel Preparation

A early childhood special education recommended practices and professional standards support the use of familycentered practices in intervention service delivery, empirical investigations have concluded that providers either do not value such practices or lack the skills necessary to build and maintain parent-professional partnerships. Given that preservice programs tend to rely on field-based experiences as the pedagogical forum for providing preservice students experiences with families (Miller & Stayton, 1996), they are less likely to develop family-centered dispositions and skill sets (Rosenkoetter & Stayton, 1997). While families increasingly are becoming more involved in preservice education, overall family participation is minimal (Knight & Wadsworth, 1998). This manuscript describes how one early childhood special education personnel preparation program developed a Family-Centered Preservice Model (FCPM) and measured its impact on program graduates. The FCPM was an outcome of two Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) personnel preparation grants, Project ENHANCE (1997–2000) and Project FOCUS (1998–2001), awarded to a Northwest Ohio State Univeristy. Both projects were de-

Strategies for Supporting the Sensory-Based Learner.

Prevention of behavioral problems in school settings is essential. When the function of behavior communicates a sensory-based need, as it does for many learners with autism, teachers need to know what to do. Therefore, it is important for teachers to have varied strategies available for use in the support of such learners. The authors present behavioral descriptions and specific interventions for the sensory seeker, underresponder, and overresponder. In addition, the authors discuss techniques regarding the effective application of the strategies in the framework of behavior theory to address the dilemma of accidental reinforcement of problematic behaviors with sensory-based activities. The importance of meeting individual learner needs as the basis for comprehensive behavior change that balances environmental modification and skill development is the foundation of the approaches that the authors describe.

One step closer: Connecting parents and teachers for improved student outcomes

Abstract This study investigated the influence of a professional learning intervention on parents and special educators’ perceptions of collaboration to support student outcomes. Over a period of six months, participants worked together to identify effective ways to establish and sustain partnerships in their districts. Eight pre- and post-intervention semi-structured focus groups were conducted with homogenous parent and educator participant groups. Findings indicated that participants recognized specific needs of improvement in home–school partnerships in the areas of: communication, understanding, and appreciation of the families’ experiences, contributions and funds of knowledge, and participation in special education processes. The post-intervention findings indicated that the training helped participants to gain critical insight over each other’s perspectives. This study brings important considerations for school districts or other agencies to design and deliver effective professional development in the area of partnerships between schools and families.

Visual Representation in Mathematics: Special Education Teachers’ Knowledge and Emphasis for Instruction:

The use of visual representations (VRs) in mathematics is a strongly recommended practice in special education. Although recommended, little is known about special educators’ knowledge of and instructional emphasis about VRs. Therefore, in this study, the authors examined special educators’ own knowledge of and their instructional emphasis with VRs in mathematics for students with disabilities (SWDs) in Grades K-12. A total of 146 teachers (pre- and in-service) responded to an online survey. A mixed methods triangulation research design was utilized. Findings include the following: (a) teachers hold conceptions about VRs and the roles they serve in problem solving; their ideas, however, lack depth and are narrow in perspective; (b) what teachers emphasize about VRs to SWDs tends to match their own conceptions, but the explanations they provide for SWDs need expanding and refinement; and (c) given their narrow conceptions, VRs may be limited to a peripheral role in special educators’ instruction.

Teacher–parent partnership: an authentic teacher education model to improve student outcomes

This manuscript describes a statewide initiative to implement a training model for educators and parents of children with disabilities in more than 90 public school districts and 20 higher education institutions. The proposed model was designed to facilitate positive changes among families, teachers and administrators by increasing their knowledge, improving their attitudes and dispositions, and improving their ability to develop effective partnerships. Through this statewide initiative, teachers and families will be trained together in learning communities whose members share a vision and a mission to serve children with disabilities and improve student outcomes. This article describes (a) the theoretical and research basis that provides the foundation of this training model, (b) the core components of the training model, and (c) the procedures for implementing the model throughout the state.

Using Technology and Community Partnerships to Improve Educator Preparation: Changing the Landscape for Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder

This chapter describes how an institution of higher education, Bowling Green State University (BGSU), partnered with the Ohio Center for Autism and Low Incidence (OCALI), a quasi-governmental agency, to meet the training needs of the local, state, national, and international community by providing an online autism spectrum disorders (ASD) certificate program. This curriculum incorporates and builds on OCALIs numerous on-line learning modules specifically focused on ASD that were developed by experts in the field of autism. Today over one hundred individuals from eight states and three countries have completed the comprehensive certificate ASD program through BGSU. This program is one example of how technology has broadened the outreach of educational preparation in ASD from local to national and international audiences.