Nancy Glomb

Teaching Behaviorally Disordered Adolescents to Use Self-Management Skills for Improving the Completeness, Accuracy, and Neatness of Creative Writing Assignments

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a self-management procedure known as WATCH that was designed to teach adolescents with learning and behavior problems to improve the completeness, accuracy, and neatness of their creative writing homework assignments. The procedure was based on four strategies: teaching students the fundamentals of behavior change, teaching students to use self-instruction, teaching students to set goals and implement plans to achieve those goals, and teaching students to accurately evaluate their work. Two high school students who were classified as behaviorally disordered were taught to develop plans for completing their creative writing homework assignments, and to evaluate the completeness, accuracy, and neatness of their assignments. A multiple baseline design across students was used to determine if improvements in the completeness, accuracy, and neatness of homework assignments were associated with the use of the procedure. Data show that the completeness, accuracy, and neatness of creative writing assignments increased for both students following training in the use of the WATCH procedure.

Reducing Isolation through Regional Mentors and Learning Communities: A Way to Support Rural Learners

Reinforcing and facilitating learning communities is a strategy that has been used to decrease attrition rates in traditional campus-based programs, and it has been hypothesized that applying principles of learning communities in distance education programs could have similar positive outcomes. To facilitate the development and maintenance of regional learning communities within the Mild/Moderate Distance Degree and Licensure Program at Utah State University, highly successful graduates of the program are employed as mentors within each broadcast locality to engineer regional opportunities for studying and socialization. Program evaluation respondents indicate that mentoring experiences were very helpful as they progressed through the courses and practica. Moreover, graduation rates increased from 53% to 75% since the inception of this approach.

The Learning Leaders Mentoring Program for Children With ADHD and Learning Disabilities

Strong, supportive, mentoring relationships between adults and children at risk for social and academic failure have been associated with improvements in academic performance, school attendance, and self-image. One of the variables associated with strong, supportive, mentoring relationships is the practice of matching children with adult mentors on the basis of similar personal traits. In this article, the authors describe the development and implementation of a school-based mentoring program in which children and youth with learning disabilities and attention problems are matched with university students who have experienced similar challenges. The authors also discuss the personal experiences of the university student who inspired this program.

The USU Mild/Moderate Distance Degree and Licensure Program: Where We’ve Been and Where We’re Going

Providing access to quality special education teacher training programs for all qualified applicants is particularly pertinent in light of the national shortage of special education teachers. In addition, there are increasing numbers of students enrolling in Utah schools, and a percentage of that increased enrollment includes students with disabilities. The Mild/Moderate Distance Degree and Licensure Program at Utah State University began in 1995 to help address this shortage. Initially, the program was designed to recruit and prepare qualified mild/moderate special education teachers in one rural area of the state that includes two school districts. Over time, the program expanded to other areas of the state in an effort to provide accessibility to qualified individuals for whom financial and family obligations preclude their ability to enroll in and attend a traditional campus-based program. Currently, 108 individuals have graduated from the program and are employed in 27 Utah school districts. In this article, the authors discuss the development of the distance program over the past decade, what worked, and future directions in distance education delivery at Utah State University.

A Case Study of Special Educator Professional Development in a Virtual World

A wide variety of legislation impacts the jobs of special education teachers in the United States. In 2002, the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) was signed into law, mandating that states develop standards and report outcomes for all students in the key areas of math and reading. In 2004, the reauthorized Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA) came into effect calling for accountability and “assessments of how students with disabilities progress within the general curriculum” (Lynch & Adams, 2008). This is implemented by writing individual education plans (IEPs) that state goals for individual students with disabilities. Another recent approach by states (including the state of Utah) is the development of a standardized “common core” for language arts and mathematics instruction. This is used by all teachers to guide the assessment of all students within grade levels (Samuels, 2011). In the state of Utah, this is called the Utah Core Standards. For Utah special education teachers and speech-language pathologists (SLP), hereafter called special education professionals, writing standards-based IEP goals using the Utah Core Standards are required by the law (Lynch & Adams, 2008; Samuels, 2011).

Education in the Empty Quarter: How Have We Fared?

Garreau (1981) used the Arabic term Rub ‘al Khali, or Empty Quarter, to label the Intermountain West portion of the United States. In Saudi Arabia, the Empty Quarter is a large, dry, and relatively unpopulated area with a wealth of energy resources not unlike the Intermountain West. Garreau described changes in the area that were associated with changes in commerce and industry during the 20th century, particularly with respect to mining ventures and the discovery of oil and natural gas in the region. Although Garreau discussed many ways that these changes impacted the people and environment, he did not discuss the actual impact, or predicted impact on the education of children and youth in the region. The purpose of this article is to examine the impact of these changes on the functioning of schools in the Empty Quarter and to propose considerations for improving educational services in the region.