Stephen W. Stile

A Model for Involvement of Fathers in Literacy Development with Young At-Risk and Exceptional Children

Early involvement in literacy activities can provide many benefits for at-risk and exceptional children and their fathers. These benefits include development of childrens reading and writing skills, increased bonding, and positive self-esteem of fathers. Early childhood professionals can foster male involvement by describing benefits, suggesting appropriate activities, materials and expectations, and by providing ongoing feedback. A model for getting fathers involved in literacy activities with their young at risk and exceptional children is described. The four major approaches in this model are early social interaction, reading books, incidental preliteracy activities, and school involvement.

Training and Certification of Special Education Administrators: A 5-Year Follow-up Study

This article reports the results of a 5-year follow-up study of training and certification of special education administrators. Responses to a postcard questionnaire were received from certification offices in the 50 states and Washington, DC. The data indicate that the greatest change since 1979 was in the number of state offices requiring special education coursework or demonstration of competency in special education as part of the general administration credential.

Training and Certification of Administrators in Special Education

A national survey of state certification offices was conducted to determine requirements for administrator certification in special education. In addition, the status of special education training programs was assessed. A 100% return was achieved. Over half of the states offer separate special education administrator certification and over half have at least one training program available. Some inconsistencies of the data are apparent, indicating possible transition or communication problems.

Training and Certification for Early Childhood Special Education Personnel: A Six-Year Follow-Up Study.

A six-year follow-up survey of state, district and U.S. territory certification offices was conducted to determine current requirements for early childhood special education personnel. In addition, the status of known training programs was assessed. All 50 states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, and Puerto Rico responded. Twenty respondents (20%) reported a separate early childhood special education certification/endorsement, 19 (35%) reported a special education training requirement for early childhood certification/endorsement, and 11 (20%) reported an early childhood training requirement for special education certification/endorsement. A total of 29 different states and the District of Columbia (56%) required some combination of early childhood special education coursework for certification/ endorsement in one or both of these fields. Certification offices in 26 states and the District of Columbia (50%) indicated awareness of at least one formal training program within their stated institutions of higher education.

Early Intervention with Gifted Children: A National Survey.

This study surveyed the status of preschool and kindergarten programs for gifted children in 50 states, 5 territories and Washington, D.C. We received responses from 100% of the states, 40% of the territories and Washington, D.C., for a 95% overall response rate. Fourteen states (28%) and one territory reported having a total of more than 51 preschool programs for gifted children. These programs are located at public schools, university campuses, and private sites. Twenty-nine states (58%) and one territory reported serving gifted kindergarten children in a total of more than 2,655 school districts. Kindergarten programs are funded through regular education (40%), special education (30%), a combination of regular and special education (17%) or other sources (13%). Sixteen states (52%) providing preschool or kindergarten programs reported that needs of gifted children from disadvantaged families are specifically addressed.

Alternating Treatments Design (ATD) for Inquiry in Early Childhood Special Education Programs

In this discussion of the alternating treatment design (ATD) in early childhood special education (ECSE) programs, two studies are described to illustrate the use of the ATD for comparing a treatment with no treatment and for comparing two or more treatments. An eight-step procedure is outlined to facilitate classroom application.

Microcomputer-Assisted Student Examinations in Special Education Teacher Training.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of microcomputers for test administration in an undergradute special education teacher training program. By design, four unit examinations were administered to 32 participating students randomly assigned to four groups. Each group took one examination on the microcomputer, while the remaining three examinations for each group were of the paper-and-pencil variety. As anticipated, no significant differences were found between treatments. Student reactions to the microcomputer-assisted testing were generally positive, which, when considered together with such potential benefits as reductions in recurring test preparation efforts, appears to justify this particular microcomputer application.

Bilingualism and Biculturalism for the Special Education Classroom.

are truly handicapped. Few, if any, teacher education programs train special educat~on persor~nel to eal with cultural, linguistic, and value ifferences. There is a growing need for special educators (many of whom are monolingual ~~g~~sh=s~ea~~rs~ to integrate ilingualism and/or biculturalism in their classrooms. This article outlines a plan of action that will assist special educators in their interactions with children (and parents) whose primary language is Spanish. A variety of bilingual-biculturai cornpetencies are suggested. These competencies may be easily mastered by monolingual Enalsnspeaking special edcators.

P.L. 94-142 and New Mexico: Perceived Impact on Programs for Rural Students with Severe Handicaps.

Two postcard survey studies were conducted to determine perceptions of administrators and teachers regarding the impact of PL 94-142 on programs for students with severe handicaps in New Mexicos small (average daily attendance <1000), rural school districts. A preliminary survey indicated that immediately after implementation (academic year 1984-85), improvement was projected by both groups of respondents for 100% of the program/classroom considerations. Participants in a follow-up survey responded to the same Likert-scale items one year after implementation (1985-86). With one exception (“classroom materials and supplies”), the original five considerations achieved less than projected status. The highest and lowest total mean ratings in the follow-up were achieved for “student referral and identification” and “new services.” These two areas were not addressed in the preliminary survey. One year after the infusion of federal funding, 55% of the respondents perceived no improvement in the level of services.

Providing Training to Fathers in Early Literacy Through Community-University Partnerships

In the United States, mothers participate in literacy activities with their young children more often than fathers; however, fathers have recently begun to assume a larger portion of this role. This work describes Project DADS, a parent involvement-training project that serves fathers and other male caregivers interested in participating in early literacy activities. Project DADS provides seminars under community-university partnerships in the areas of early social interaction, school-home involvement, reading books, prewriting and writing, environmental print, storytelling, and technology. This article describes a recent community-university partnership and the preliminary results of training conducted under this partnership for 19 fathers in New Mexico. It also briefly describes the Projects father-training efforts in developing community-university partnerships in California.