Theses and Dissertations

Date of Award

1991

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice

Advisor

Jane E. Matson

Committee Member

George Mehallis

Committee Member

Peter K. Mills

Keywords

Adult Education; At Risk; Equality Of Opportunity; Guidance/Counseling; Homeless; Human Resources/Training And Development; Staff Development; Teachers

Abstract

The number of homeless persons in the United States has been increasing rapidly over the past few years. Nationwide estimates range between three hundred thousand and three million homeless, with a ten to thirty percent annual increase. Efforts to reduce homelessness consist primarily of the provision of housing and employment.

Dade County Public Schools initiated educational programs for homeless adults in February of 1988. Between 1988 and 1991, over three thousand homeless adults were enrolled in part-time and full-time academic and vocational programs. In-service training for teachers and counselors working with the homeless needed to be developed and implemented because of the great dropin and dropout rate in adult education programs due to various problems related to homelessness. The purpose of this study was to develop in-service training that would allow teachers and counselors who deal with this population on a daily basis to address these problems in the classroom, and thus help insure that these students remain in their chosen programs until completion.

A search of the literature disclosed that in-service training dealing with the homeless had not been developed and that educational programs for homeless adults were few. Researchers emphasized the need to address mental health problems in educational programs for homeless adults.

A nationwide search for educational programs for the homeless and in-service training components for teachers who work with this population resulted in the development of a three-day in-service training component for teachers and counselors who deal with homeless adult students on a daily basis. The program presented specific problems associated with homelessness including history of homelessness, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, and mental illness, housing, and employability skills.

Naturalistic observation, materials found in the literature, and recommendations from experts in the fields of homelessness, housing, mental health, and employment, were chosen to develop the content of the in-service training.

Experts reviewed and validated the content of the components, and Dade County teachers chose the format. The Southeast Florida Training Center for Adult Literacy Educators of Miami-Dade Community College plans to pilot the in-service training in February 1992. A follow-up study, six months after participation in the in-service training was recommended to establish whether or not the training had assisted teachers to retain homeless students in academic and vocational programs, and to lead these students to successful reintegration into the mainstream of society.

Recommendations that resulted from this study were as follows: that the in-service training be conducted over a three-day period and that experts in the fields of the individual topics be invited to present their topic, using the components developed as part of this study to focus on the problems of the homeless population. It was further recommended that a follow-up study be conducted to establish if the in-service training had enabled teachers and counselors to successfully reintegrate the adult homeless students into the mainstream of society.

Download

Files over 10MB may be slow to open. For best results, right-click and select "Save as..."

Share Feedback

Share

COinS