Classroom assessment adjustments, academic achievement, academic wellbeing: a mixed methods study of australian secondary school students with and without disabilities

This mixed methods study examined the relationship between academic achievement and academic wellbeing for students with and without disabilities, and the effect of the provision of assessment adjustments on achievement and academic wellbeing for students with disabilities, in Australian mainstream secondary schooling. The study is framed through the biopsychosocial model of disability and social-cognitive theory, emphasising the interactional nature of disability with personal and environmental factors. Although correlational studies examining relationships between achievement and academic wellbeing have been undertaken elsewhere, this study provides evidence about the nature of these relationships for students in Australia. Further, a qualitative study was undertaken to provide new insights into how academic achievement and wellbeing are related for students with disabilities in inclusive education settings. In these settings, adjustments to enable students to demonstrate their achievement are expected in law and policy. A two-strand parallel mixed methods design was used with data collected from two independent groups of participants. In Strand 1 of the study, a correlational study was conducted with 42 students with disabilities and 80 students without disabilities in classrooms in mainstream schools in Australia. Students in the middle years of schooling (Years 7-10) are particularly at risk of not completing school. The students completed the Academic Wellbeing Questionnaire comprised of three research scales: (a) the Self Description Questionnaire II (SDQ-II); (b) the Intellectual Achievement Responsibility Scale (IAR); and (c) the subscale of School Satisfaction from The Multidimensional Student’s Life Satisfaction Scale (MSLSS; Huebner, 1994). Information recorded by schools for the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data (NCCD) was used to identify the level of implemented adjustments in the classroom for students with disabilities. Student achievement data in English and Mathematics based on classroom assessments were provided by schools. Strand 2 of the study consisted of two segments, individual qualitative case studies and cross-case analysis with four case study students. These students completed structured and semi-structured surveys from the Adjustments in Classroom Assessment Project (ACAP) study as well as the Academic Wellbeing Questionnaire. Classroom assessment tasks, adjustments and student assessment responses were collected for the case study students. The first segment of Strand 2 of the study explored how teachers adjusted teacher-designed classroom assessment tasks for four case study students with regard to impairments in access skills and target skills that were assessed by a task. The tasks were summative assessment tasks intended to contribute to reporting to parents but also to have a formative assessment role to contribute to improving student learning. The perceptions of the students, parents, and teachers were explored as to how the provided adjustments related to student outcomes in focus subject areas. The provided assessment adjustments enabled the case study students to demonstrate their knowledge, although not all students were satisfied with their outcomes. The second segment of Strand 2 of the study investigated the academic achievement of case study students in relation to their academic wellbeing under adjusted assessment conditions. The synthesised findings of this study indicated that students with disabilities in inclusive education in mainstream schools are not necessarily low achievers but can reach a level of achievement in some or even all subject areas similar to students without disabilities. The perception of students with and without disabilities about academic abilities, especially in mathematics, was related to their achievement level. Students with and without disabilities had a similar thinking style about academic responsibility. This meant that they were more likely to take internal responsibility for academic success than failure. Findings indicated that students both with and without disabilities were predominantly satisfied with school but the level of school satisfaction of students with disabilities related to their academic achievement, especially in mathematics. The provision of classroom assessment adjustments bridged the gap between the academic achievement and academic wellbeing of students with disabilities to be comparable to their peers without disabilities, especially in mathematics. Overall, this research sheds light on how access to classroom assessment adjustments enables students with disabilities to undertake assessment tasks on the same basis as students without disabilities, which may, in turn, improve their academic achievement outcomes and academic wellbeing

Parenting styles and academic procrastination

The present study examined the relationship between the parenting styles and academic procrastination. Three-hundred-ninety- five Shiraz University students (261 girls and 134 boys) were participants of the study. Steinberg's Parenting Styles Scale (2005) and Solomon & Rothblum's Academic Procrastination Scale (1984) were used as measures of the study. Simultaneous multiple regression of academic procrastination total score on the parenting styles subscales, revealed that the “acceptance-involvement” and “psychological autonomy-granting” styles were significant and negative predictor of the academic procrastination, whereas the “behavioral strictness-supervision” style had a significant predict power for the academic rocrastination

The relationship between language development and physical aggression among children with intellectual disability

Abstract   Introduction: One of the most common behavioral problems in children with intellectual disability is physical aggression. Physical aggression is described as behaviors such as hitting, kicking, throwing object and threatening with the intent to harm others. Physical aggression is related to the different factors such as language skills, which has been examined among intellectually disabled children in the present study. Materials and Methods: In a descriptive cross-sectional survey, 102 intellectually disabled children of 6 and 8 years old (51 girls and 51 boys) who satisfied the inclusion criteria were recruited from educational centers for children with intellectual disability in Shiraz by stratified sampling method (age and gender). The Test of Language Development-Primary: 3rd Edition (TOLD-3) and Overt and Relational Aggression Questionnaire were used to assess children. Data was analyzed by Pearson’s correlation coefficient and independent t-test. Significance level was set at less than 0.05. Results: There was a negative and significant correlation between physical aggression and expressive language (p=0.008) and receptive language (p=0.019). Intellectually disabled children with the low level of expressive and receptive language skills are likely to express physical aggression. Furthermore, more boys than girls expressed physical aggression (p=0.014). There was no a significant difference among boys and girls in expressive and receptive language skills. Conclusion: There was a negative and significant correlation between physical aggression and expressive language and receptive language. In addition, poor expressive language skills among intellectual disabled girls can be considered as a facilitative factor in expressing their physical aggressive behaviors. However, there was no any relation between language skills and physical aggression among boys with intellectual disability.  Keyword: Children with intellectual disability, receptive language, expressive language, physical aggressio

تعیین همبستگی بین رشد مهارت های زبانی و میزان پرخاشگری رابطه ای در کودکان فارسی زبان 6-4 ساله شهر شیراز

چكيده مقدمه: رشد زبان و رفتار اجتماعی از جنبه‌های مهم رشد اولیه کودکان محسوب می‌شوند. يکی از شایع‌ترین مشکلات رفتاری در دوران کودکی پرخاشگری رابطه‌ای، یعنی تلاش برای صدمه زدن به دیگران از طریق آسیب زدن به روابط اجتماعی است. پرخاشگری رابطه‌ای با عوامل مختلفی از جمله رشد زبان در ارتباط است که در این مطالعه به بررسی آن در کودکان ایرانی طبیعی پرداخته شد. مواد و روشها: تحقیق حاضر به روش غیرتجربی و مقطعی انجام شد. تعداد 106 کودک (64 پسر و 42 دختر) 4 تا 6 ساله که معیارهای ورود به مطالعه را داشتند، به روش تصادفی چندمرحله‌ای، از بین مهدهای کودک شهر شیراز انتخاب و با استفاده از نسخه فارسی آزمون رشد زبان (TOLD-P3) و پرسش‌نامۀ پرخاشگری رابطه‌ای ارزيابی شدند. جهت تعیین نوع و میزان همبستگی بین مهارت‌های زبانی و پرخاشگری رابطه‌ای در این کودکان، از ضریب همبستگی پیرسون و آزمون تی ـ مستقل در سطح معنی¬داری 05/0 استفاده شد. یافته‌ها: رشد زبان و پرخاشگری رابطه‌ای دارای رابطۀ مثبت و معنی‌دار بودند (01/0>p). به عبارت دیگر، با افزایش مهارت‌های زبان درکی و بیانی در کودکان پیش‌دبستانی، احتمال بروز پرخاشگری رابطه‌ای در آن‌ها وجود دارد. از سوی دیگر، میزان بروز پرخاشگری رابطه‌ای و رشد مهارت‌های زبانی در دختران به طور معنی‌داری بیشتر از پسران بود (01/0>p). نتیجه‌گیری: مهارت‌های زبان درکی و زبان بیانی بهتر در پسران 6-4 ساله می‌تواند اثرات تسهیل‌کننده در بروز رفتارهای پرخاشگرانه رابطه‌ای داشته باشد. در صورتی‌که نمی‌توان چنین نقشی را برای رشد زبان در دختران 6-4 ساله قائل شد. كليد واژه‌ها: کودکان طبیعی، مهارت‌های زبانی، زبان درکی، زبان بیانی، پرخاشگری رابطه‌ا

Conceptualising a Fairness Framework for Assessment Adjusted Practices for Students with Disability: An Empirical Study

Given the increasing diversity of teachers and students in 21st century classrooms, fairness is a key consideration in classroom adjusted assessment and instructional practices for students with disability. Despite its significance, little research has attempted to explicitly conceptualise fairness for classroom assessment adjusted practices. The purpose of this study is to leverage the multiple perspectives of secondary school students with disability, their teachers, and parents to build a multi-dimensional framework of fairness for assessment adjusted practices. Open-ended survey data were collected from 60 students with disability, 45 teachers, and 58 parents in four states in Australia and were analyzed using qualitative inductive analysis. The findings present a multidimensional framework for assessment adjusted practices that include interactions across elements of assessment practices, socio-emotional environment, overall conceptions of fairness, and contextual barriers and facilitators. The interactions across these elements influence the learning opportunities and academic outcomes for students with disability