Phyllis Paolucci-Whitcomb

A Four-Year Evaluation of Consulting Teacher Service

This study evaluated the effects of consulting teacher service on the reading and math achievement of mildly handicapped children. Results of a four-year comparison of three schools with service and three schools without service indicate significantly greater child achievement gains achieved in the service schools the first year, and that these gains were maintained for the remaining three years of the projects.1

Preparing Consulting Teachers Through a Collaborative Approach Between University Faculty and Field-Based Consulting Teachers

Phyllis PaolucciWhitcomb and Ann Nevin are Associate Professors in the College of Education and Social Services of the University of Vermont at Burlington. The Consulting Teacher Program of the University of Vermont is a teacher-training-based model (Lilly, 1972) that provides special education within regular classrooms for students who have traditionally been labeled mildly retarded, learning disabled, neurologically impaired, or emotionally disturbed. It relies on the implementation of a triadic model of consultation

The Consulting Teacher as a Clinical Researcher

This study was supported as part of the Deparfment of Special Education, Social Work and Socia.1’ Services research efforts. This article wouid no be ~ossible without the cooperation and exceilence of ~~e preschool, elementary, and secondary consulting teachers who continue to develop, implement, evaluate, and revise effective individualized programs for Vermont’s exceptional students. The purpose of this paper is to describe the applied clinical research procedures used by special education personnel who act in a consulting cr roie. The main thesis is that the procedures of applied behavior analysis are appropriate and helpful in deciding the effectiveness of special education interventions.

What Have We Accomplished in the Education of Persons with Severe Challenges

This article examines the interpersonal relationships, community participation, and employment of five individuals with severe educational challenges who had exited from public school programs mandated by PL 94-142. Observations of participants in their residences as well as their day activity centers and interviews with key informants formed the basis of the data collected. The results indicated that their lives were oversimplified by rigidly controlled routines and schedules that fostered passivity and dependency. Several unresolved issues emerged: (a) the parameters of appropriate treatment and quality of life, (b) the contrast between serving the letter versus the spirit of the law, and (c) the role of best practices in guiding the content of services for individuals with severe handicaps. Implications for special and regular teacher educators are discussed.

Interactive Evaluations: Processes for Improving Special Education Leadership Training

This article describes the interactive evaluation procedures used for improving special education leadership training in the Interactive Leadership Program (ILP) at the University of Vermont (UVM). The term “interactive evaluation” was used in the ILP to convey a spirit of mutual respect in the exchange of evaluative information. The faculty continually modeled the use of evaluation feedback to inform their decisions about program improvements. The participants, settings, preprogram planning, recruitment and selection, as well as the training and evaluation procedures are described because of the uniqueness of this program. Examples of both narrative and numerical evaluation data are illustrated in the results section. Finally, the implications of the interactive evaluations for special education leadership training and for facilitating overall improvements in similar teaching/learning situations are discussed.