Programs' efficacy to develop employable skills for people with functional diversity: a meta-analysis

Purpose: Promoting the labour integration of people with functional diversity is a key element to achieve their social inclusion. This meta-analysis aims to examine the effectiveness of experimental programs in developing employable skills for people with disabilities. Methods: Literature searches up to June 2019 were conducted in four databases (Web of Science, Scopus, PsycINFO and ERIC). Studies that met the following criteria were selected: (1) The program should develop employable skills; (2) the participants should be people with functional diversity; (3) the study should have a design with an experimental group and a control group as well as pretest and posttest measurements; (4) the study had to provide enough data to calculate the effect sizes; and (5) the study had to be written in English or Spanish. 67 independent studies met the selection criteria, among 14 articles published between 1998 and 2019. Results: The results revealed mean effect sizes in favour of the experimental group for the set of all studies according to data reported by people with functional diversity, as well as according their relatives and teachers. The two dimensions of the programs with a significant effect size in favour of the experimental group were interview skills and career planning. Furthermore, it was found that the programs showed a higher degree of effectiveness in groups formed only by people with intellectual disabilities, with a lower educational level, whose duration ranged from six to twelve months. This was particularly the case with participants from Spain and Australia. Conclusion: Promoting the labour insertion of people with disability is a key element to achieve their social inclusion. Programs that support and develop employability and that are conducted upon experimental conditions do have a positive impact upon young people with functional diversity. Upon the results, we discuss practical implications for integrating disabled persons into the labour market

Unlearning school attendance and its problems: Moving from historical categories to postmodern dimensions

School attendance and its problems have been a focus of myriad stakeholders for over a century, which has led both to important advancements in this area as well as compartmentalized categorical approaches to explain at least part of the vast ecology of these issues. Recent seismic events and changes, however, have provided a unique opportunity to unlearn calcified notions of school attendance and its problems and to consider more inclusive paradigms. This article focuses on several categorical approaches that have been historically a focus of research, health-based clinical work, and educational and social policy in this area: defining school attendance problems, demarcating school attendance problems, subtyping school attendance problems, risk and protective factors for school attendance/problems, interventions for school attendance problems, and school completion. For each area, alternative dimensional approaches are discussed that are emerging from different disciplines and that may provide additional flexibility and comprehensiveness for avenues of endeavor relevant to a postmodern era. The article concludes with a call to abandon historical, discipline-specific, categorical silos in favor of a spectrum of postmodern, multidisciplinary systemic-analytic collaborations and shared alliances to better conceptualize and manage the full ecology of school attendance and its problems

Cuaderno de Prácticas: Altas Capacidades

Este material, centrado en el estudio de las Altas Capacidades, pretende favorecer la adquisición de destrezas en el conocimiento e intervención en el ámbito de la educación especial para conocer de primera mano las diferentes formas que se tienen para actuar e intervenir ante niños con necesidades específicas de apoyo educativo

Cuaderno de Prácticas: Trastorno del Espectro Autista

Este material, centrado en el estudio de la Trastornos del Espectro Autista, pretende favorecer la adquisición de destrezas en el conocimiento e intervención en el ámbito de la educación especial para conocer de primera mano las diferentes formas que se tienen para actuar e intervenir ante niños con necesidades específicas de apoyo educativo

Cuaderno de Prácticas: Discapacidad Intelectual

Este material, centrado en el estudio de la Discapacidad Intelectual, pretende favorecer la adquisición de destrezas en el conocimiento e intervención en el ámbito de la educación especial para conocer de primera mano las diferentes formas que se tienen para actuar e intervenir ante niños con necesidades específicas de apoyo educativo

School Refusal Behavior and Aggression in Spanish Adolescents

In order to reduce school attendance problems and aggressive behavior, it is essential to determine the relationship between both variables. The aim of this study was twofold: (1) to examine the mean differences in scores on aggression, based on school refusal behavior, and (2) to analyze the predictive capacity of high scores on aggression, based on school refusal behavior factors. The sample consisted of 1455 Spanish secondary school students, aged 13–17 (M = 14.85; SD = 1.56). The School Refusal Assessment Scale-Revised (I. Avoidance of negative affectivity, II. Escape from aversive social and/or evaluative situations, III. Pursuit of attention from significant others, and IV. Pursuit of tangible reinforcement outside of school) and the Aggression Questionnaire (I. Physical Aggression, II. Verbal Aggression, III. Anger, and IV. Hostility) were used. Results indicated that students having high levels of Physical Aggression, Verbal Aggression, Anger, and Hostility received significantly higher scores on school refusal behavior. In most cases, school refusal behavior was found to be a positive and statistically significant predictor of aggression. Students that base their school refusal on the pursuit of tangible reinforcements outside of school earned higher scores, and other functional conditions underlying school refusal behavior were found to be associated with aggression issues. The role of aggression as a risk factor for school refusal behavior is discussed.This research was funded by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities and Fondos FEDER with the grant number RTI2018-098197-B-I00 awarded to José M. García-Fernández and the Project GV/2019/075 awarded to CG

School attendance and school absenteeism: A primer for the past, present, and theory of change for the future

School attendance and school absenteeism have been studied for over a century, leading to a rich and vast literature base. At the same time, powerful demographic, climate, social justice/equity, and technological/globalization forces are compelling disparate stakeholders worldwide to quickly adapt to rapidly changing conditions and to consider new visions of child education for the next century. These overarching forces are utilized within a theory of change approach to help develop such a vision of school attendance/absenteeism for this era. This approach adopts key long-range outcomes (readiness for adulthood for all students; synthesized systemic and analytic approaches to school attendance/absenteeism) derived from thematic outputs (reframing, social justice, and shared alliances) that are themselves derived from contemporary inputs (movement of educational agencies worldwide toward readiness for adulthood, technological advances, schools, and communities as one). As with theory of change approaches, the purpose of this discourse is not to provide a roadmap but rather a compass to develop multi-stakeholder partnerships that can leverage shared resources and expertise to achieve a final mutual goal

Capacidad predictiva del rechazo escolar sobre la alta ansiedad social en adolescentes chilenos

There is a growing interest in quantifying the risk of presenting maladaptive behaviors through the use of multivariate prediction algorithms such as logistic regressions. The objective of this study was to analyze the predictive capacity of school refusal behavior on high levels of social anxiety. The study used a sample of 895 Chilean adolescents (54.3% girls) aged between 14 and 17 years. The School Refusal Assessment Scale-Revised (SRAS-R) and the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents (SAS-A) were administered. The results revealed that adolescents with school refusal presented significantly higher scores in social anxiety than their peers with low scores in school refusal. This is due to feelings of social aversion, negative affectivity, fear of evaluation, or the use of this behavior to pursue the attention of significant others. This type of school refusal was found to be a positive and statistically significant predictor of high scores for social anxiety. On the contrary, when school refusal is based on obtaining tangible reinforcement outside the school, this factor acts as a negative and statistically significant predictor of high scores for social anxiety. These findings are discussed with reference to the differences found according to the type of school refusal behavior and its impact on the appearance of high levels of social anxiety.Existe un interés creciente por cuantificar el riesgo de presentar conductas desadaptativas mediante algoritmos de predicción multivariante como las regresiones logísticas. El objetivo de este estudio fue analizar la capacidad predictiva del rechazo escolar sobre los altos niveles de ansiedad social. Participaron 895 adolescentes chilenos (54.3% chicas) con edades comprendidas entre los 14 y los 17 años. La Escala de Evaluación del Rechazo Escolar-Revisada (SRAS-R) y la Escala de Ansiedad Social para Adolescentes (SAS-A) fueron administradas. Los resultados revelaron que los adolescentes con rechazo escolar debido a sentimientos de aversión social, afectividad negativa, miedo la evaluación o cuando se pretende captar la atención de personas significativas presentaron puntuaciones significativamente más altas en ansiedad social que sus iguales con bajas puntuaciones en rechazo escolar. Este tipo de rechazo escolar resultó ser un predictor positivo y estadísticamente significativo de altas puntuaciones en ansiedad social. Por el contrario, cuando el rechazo escolar se basa en la obtención de refuerzos tangibles externos a la escuela este factor actúa como un predictor negativo y estadísticamente significativo de altas puntuaciones en ansiedad social. Se discuten estos hallazgos en basa a las diferencias encontradas según el tipo de rechazo escolar y su repercusión en la aparición de altos niveles de ansiedad social

Quadern de Pràctiques: Trastorns de l'Espectre Autista

Aquest material, centrat en l'estudi dels trastorns de l'espectre autista, pretén afavorir l'adquisició de destreses en el coneixement i la intervenció en l'àmbit de l'educació especial per a conèixer de primera mà les diferents formes que hi ha d'actuació i intervenció davant alumnat amb necessitats específiques de suport educatiu

Quadern de Pràctiques: Altes Capacitats

Aquest material, centrat en l'estudi de les altes capacitats, pretén afavorir l'adquisició de destreses en el coneixement i la intervenció en l'àmbit de l'educació especial per a conèixer de primera mà les diferents formes que hi ha d'actuació i intervenció davant alumnat amb necessitats específiques de suport educatiu