Date of Award
2003
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Fischler Graduate School of Education and Human Services
Advisor
Paul M. Terry
Committee Member
Patricia Grimes Smith
Committee Member
Barbara Packer
Keywords
alternative learning center, alternative setting, attention, behavior modification, behavioral intervention plan, classwide interventions, classroom activities, counselor reports, curriculum specialist, deaf blind, discipline referrals, educational process, elementary principals, escape extinction, high school principals, inappropriate behaviors, intervention techniques, learning center, Mississippi School for the Blind, parent involvement, peer-assisted self-management, positive ratings, residential directors, residential schools, screening committee, southeastern states, special needs students, staff development, student behavior, student learning, student placement, stressful situations, superintendent, surveys, task alteration, teacher perceptions, teacher referrals, teacher training, visual impairments, visually impaired students, working skills, workplace behavior management
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to develop an intervention behavioral plan to improve special needs students’ behavior by reducing the number of discipline referrals that were received annually. This plan was implemented at a specialized residential school in a southeastern state. Implementation of interventions included suggested techniques for detecting and dealing with inappropriate behaviors. Students and staff members in a residential southeastern school were interviewed, observed, and provided with a survey for this study. A review of the literature revealed that staff development and the establishment of an alternative learning center are relevant to student learning and to the modification of behavior.
Based on the review of literature, intervention for this study was designed to decrease inappropriate behaviors by providing an alternative setting to continue the educational process. Intervention focused on task alteration, escape extinction from academic demands, and attention under stressful situations. Student placement into the alternative setting was based on teacher referral and counselor report, and Mississippi School for the Blind referral recommendations were reviewed by a screening committee that was composed of the superintendent, the prevocational director, the elementary and high school principals, the residential directors, and the curriculum specialist.
This research highlighted a number of factors that may influence a teacher’s choice and sustained use of classwide interventions and describes an effective peer-assisted self-management program that was based on these findings. The results showed positive ratings in all areas that were addressed.
There was a discrepancy between what teachers of students with visual impairments perceived as needed for behavior modification and what teachers needed to do to prepare to handle these problems. Identification of the source of this discrepancy would be helpful in reducing the gap between the teachers’ perceptions and the actual training need.
It is hoped that this study will be helpful to others who plan similar programs. There appears to be a great need for knowledge of and skills in working with students who are visually impaired, not only among the teaching staff but among related service providers, administrators, and parents.