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Functional Behavioral Assessment: Putting the Function Into Functional Behavioral Assessments
No full textAs more students are moved from self-contained to inclusive classroom environments general educators will need the capacity to meet all students’ needs. The purpose of this qualitative case study explored how school personnel (school psychologists, intervention specialists, and general educators) perceived the influence of Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA) on classroom behavior. This exploration was guided by the behaviorism theoretical framework. Behaviorism as a theoretic framework for FBA considers what is directly happening in the environment from an antecedent or external stimulus-response perspective. The snowball sampling technique was used and resulted in 20 participants. The demographic questionnaire, individual interviews, and focus groups data were collected, organized and analyzed to understand the perception of specific school personnel who have responsibility for conducting FBA leading to an effective function-based behavior intervention plan. Transcripts of the individual interviews and focus groups were analyzed manually and then using In Vivo and Open coding within Atlas.ti. The results revealed that general educators would benefit from FBA training that increased their ability to identify the function of student challenging behavior as an initial intervention. School personnel who comply with IDEA mandates maintain compliance
Higher Education Executives and Data-Driven Decision Making: A Phenomenological Study
Full text linkHigher education organizations gather significant data from their constituents throughout student enrollment to graduation and beyond. This qualitative phenomenological study explored how college executives make decisions for their organizations. The Competing Values Framework (CVF) provided the conceptual framework for this study which focuses on how an organization relates to its environment. Eight executives consisting of five vice presidents, one enrollment executive, one dean, and one director, at higher education institutions accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges participated in this research study. Semistructured interviews, an open-ended questionnaire, and a review of participant college website data were the methods used to collect and analyze data for this study. Executives interviewed for this study revealed three primary areas within colleges for which they make decisions; these categories were the operational, functional and human element. Four prevalent themes aiding in the decisions these executives make emerged: collaboration, cooperation, communication, and data sharing. Results of the interviews, responses to questionnaires, and review of participant documents led to the concussion that these executives make methodical decisions when having time to consult the data gathered by their departments. When making snap decisions that may not necessarily require extensive data they rely on their “gut” and personal experiences. Future studies might examine the analytical process executives may take when making decisions on behalf of their organizations
Middle School Teachers’ Perceptions of Goal Orientations, Teacher Self-Efficacy, and Authentic Outcomes-Based Assessments
No full textThe purpose of this study was to determine middle school teachers’ attitudes towards authentic outcomes-based assessments and to relate teachers’ perceptions of patterns of adaptive learning to authentic assessment scores of middle school students. Multiple learning theories were used to shape the conceptual framework. The correlational portion of this study was designed to seek relationships between the participants’ perceptions of patterns of adaptive learning and their students’ mean authentic assessment scores. The descriptive survey portion of this study was designed to gather middle school social studies teachers’ opinions of authentic outcomes-based assessments used to evidence mastery of intended learning outcomes. The Spearman’s Rank Correlation Coefficient was used to examine correlations, and descriptive statistics were used to describe teachers’ perceptions of authentic outcomes-based assessments. The results of the correlational portion of this study were nonsignificant in that patterns of adaptive learning do not predict authentic outcomes-based assessment scores. Insights that stemmed from the descriptive survey portion of this study included middle school teachers’ opinions of the resources, scoring practices, format preferences, and alignment of authentic assessments used to replace state standardized assessments. Implications that were formed based on the findings from this study included revisiting school culture and methods of evaluation. The results of this research study warrant additional research across multiple grade levels, content areas, gender, and professional roles to heighten awareness about patterns of adaptive learning and authentic assessment
Don\u27t Need No Thought Control: Western Culture in East Germany and the Fall of the Berlin Wall
No full textThe fall of the Berlin Wall is typically understood as the culmination of political-economic trends that fatally weakened the East German state. Meanwhile, comparatively little attention has been paid to the cultural dimension of these dramatic events, particularly the role played by Western mass media and consumer culture. With a focus on the 1970s and 1980s, Don’t Need No Thought Control explores the dynamic interplay of popular unrest, intensifying economic crises, and cultural policies under Erich Honecker. It shows how the widespread influence of (and public demands for) Western cultural products forced GDR leaders into a series of grudging accommodations that undermined state power to a hitherto underappreciated extent.https://commons.cu-portland.edu/humfacultybooks/1005/thumbnail.jp