Abstract
For Issue 3 of Volume 86 of Exceptional Children, we present six articles on a broad array of topics in special education. Topics covered include profiles of children with special needs in the child welfare system, racial disproportionality in special education identification in the U.S. South, identification of disabilities among students whose first language is Spanish, engagement in transition services by African American students with special needs, retention of special education teachers, and literacy instruction for students with severe disabilities.
Using data from the Department of Health and Human Service’s National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being II, Gee examined the maltreatment profiles of children ages 5 through 17 with disabilities involved in the child welfare system. He reports that “supervisory neglect” and physical abuse were the most common maltreatment classes experienced by children with disabilities. Sexual abuse was the least common (1 in 10) type of maltreatment.
Using data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, Morgan and colleagues explored whether students of color were disproportionally identified with disabilities compared to Whites in the U.S. South. The authors report that when the analyses were adjusted for student-level variables, students of color were less likely to be identified with disabilities than White students.
Swanson and colleagues explored the prevalence of latent classes at risk for reading or math disabilities (or both) in elementary-aged children whose first language was Spanish. Overall, they identified five latent classes, including one for children at risk for reading disabilities. Assessments encompassing three cognitive variables (naming speed, short-term memory, and working memory) given in English uniquely predicted the five latent classes.
Dutta and colleagues investigated active engagement in transition-vocational rehabilitation services for African American high school students with disabilities. They found that a strong working alliance between students and their transition specialists resulted in higher levels of engagement in services. Via further analyses, they also ascertained that the constructs of autonomous motivation, competency, and outcome expectancy explained how working alliance affects student engagement.
Using a national representative sample, Bettini and colleagues investigated variables that affected both general and special education teachers’ intent to stay in the profession. They found that both special and general education teachers reported greater likelihood to stay in the profession when they received strong administrative and collegial support. Teachers reported less intent to stay when they experienced more problems with students and served in high-poverty schools. Critically, strong administrative support positively affected teachers’ intent to stay in high-poverty schools.
Hunt and colleagues conducted a conceptual replication random control trial of the Early Literacy Skills Builder (ELSB) program. The authors implemented ELSB for kindergarten-through-fourth-grade students with severe disabilities in general education classrooms located in 16 schools across three states. They reported that students with severe disabilities in the treatment condition outperformed students in the control or business-as-usual condition on measures of early phonics, phonological awareness, comprehension, and conventions of print awareness.
We hope these articles provide you with knowledge to improve services for individuals with disabilities.