Current State of High Stakes Teacher Evaluation for Special Education Teachers

Education reform legislation has led to an upwelling of mandatory teacher evaluation for all elementary, middle school, and high school educators, including those who teach special education. While this reform effort aimed to improve overall teacher effectiveness and student learning outcomes, the teacher evaluation for special education is a retrofitted version of the general education teacher evaluation model and yields little meaningful information and increased stress levels for both the special education teacher and their evaluator. Before this problem can be rectified, the barriers standing in the way to a meaningful special education teacher evaluation need to be identified. This article examines existing literature related to special education teacher evaluation to identify those barriers, so progress can be made to improve the delivery of special education instruction and outcomes for students with disabilities

Sources of Stress among Parents of Children with Intellectual Disabilities: A Preliminary Investigation in Saudi Arabia

This study identified differences in sources of stress between parents of male children with intellectual disabilities in Saudi Arabia. Seventeen pairs of parents completed the Parent Stress Index (Abidin, 1995). Each pair of parents had a male child diagnosed with intellectual disability who either attended an institute for male children with intellectual disability or a special education classroom attached to a public elementary general school in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. Results indicated higher perceived stress levels in Saudi mothers compared to fathers regarding the overall parent-child relationship, the child’s individual characteristics, and the parent’s characteristics. Implications provide research-based data for stakeholders in the development of appropriate and effective programs for parents of children with intellectual disabilities, especially for mothers. These data will inform professionals in Saudi Arabia of needed services for parents of children with intellectual disabilities and potentially encourage further study of families of children with intellectual disabilities in Saudi Arabia

The Effects of Rater Training on Inter-Rater Agreement

This paper addresses the effects of rater training on the rubric-based scoring of three preservice teacher candidate performance assessments. This project sought to evaluate the consistency of ratings assigned to student learning outcome measures being used for program accreditation and to explore the need for rater training in order to increase rater agreement. There were three phases during this project: (1) authentic student work was rated by department faculty members in the absence of rubric training; (2) faculty were then trained to administer rubric scoring guides; and (3) additional student work was rated by faculty after training. Inter-rater agreement was calculated pre- and post- rater training, using side-by-side comparisons. Little to no improvement in rater agreement was seen post-training. Implications and future research needs for rater training in the application of rubrics are discussed

Impact of HA-2, HA-3 and HA-8 minor histocompatibility antigen mismatches on acute GvHD and relapse frequencies after allogenic stem cell transplantation

In der vorliegenden Studie wurden mit Hilfe der PCR-SSP Methodik die Zusammenhänge zwischen vorliegenden Mismatchen der mHAg HA-2, HA-3 und HA-8 und dem Auftreten von GvH-Reaktionen bzw. von Rezidiven in einer homogenen Patientengruppe mit HLA-identischen Geschwistern- oder unverwandten HLA-identischen Fremdspendern untersucht. Die Ergebnisse dieser Arbeit zeigten, dass bei Vorliegen von einem oder mehreren mHAg Mismatchen in GvH-Richtung ein erhöhtes Risiko für eine klinisch relevante GvH-Reaktion (Graad I-IV) nachweisbar ist. Dieser Effekt konnte, möglicherweise aufgrund geringer Fallzahlen, in spezifischen Untergruppen der gesamten Patientenkohorte nicht mehr gezeigt werden. Ein Zusammenhang zwischen mHAg Mismatch und einer erhöhten Rezidivrate konnte in dieser Studie ebenfalls nicht nachgewiesen werden

The effects of a nonspeech response mode on phonological sensitivity *assessment tasks

Phonological sensitivity skills measured in young children have repeatedly shown a strong relationship to later reading and spelling achievement. The cause and direction of this relationship has not been conclusively demonstrated, but the relationship itself has important implications for the literacy development of children with augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) needs. Phonological sensitivity skills have traditionally been assessed via tasks requiring a spoken response. Validation of a nonspeech response mode must be conducted before it can be used to assess for existing or potential weaknesses in phonological sensitivity among young children with AAC needs. The purpose of this study was to compare typically developing kindergartner\u27s scores on phonological sensitivity assessment tasks administered under two response conditions. Eight assessment tasks were administered in both a traditional speech response mode where participants stated their answers aloud and in a nonspeech response mode where participants pointed to a picture on a response array to indicate their answers. A within subjects design was used wherein each participant received all eight assessment tasks in both response conditions. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four groups within which the order of response condition (speech first or nonspeech first) in combination with two different, but equivalent sets of assessment items (List 1, List 2) were counterbalanced. Participants were taught the spoken label for all pictures to criterion prior to being administered the assessment tasks. Results revealed no statistically significant differences in scores between the two response conditions for six of the eight assessment tasks. Two tasks, phoneme blending and initial phoneme deletion had significantly larger mean scores in the nonspeech response condition. No differences were found for group, age, or gender. The finding that six of the eight assessment tasks produced equivalent scores in both response conditions provides evidence that a nonspeech response mode is a valid approach to measuring some phonological sensitivity skills. These results have implications for the effective assessment of phonological sensitivity skills among children who have AAC needs, a population at risk for insufficient literacy development