ANALYSIS OF LAGOS STATE SPECIAL EDUCATION POLICY AS COMPARED TO THE IDEA OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
| dc.contributor.advisor | Thurman, S. Kenneth | |
| dc.creator | Abayomi-Ige, Olabimpe Temilola | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2020-11-03T15:34:02Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2020-11-03T15:34:02Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2020 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12613/2522 | |
| dc.description.abstract | The study is a two-part study that utilized the comparative method of content analysis and Policy Analysis of legal documents. Part one of the study compared special education policy documents of two systems; the Lagos State Special People’s Law and its Inclusive Education Policy to the United States’ Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 2004) to figure out how they compare for the sole purpose of mutual improvement and global competitiveness. Part two of the study is the policy analysis of the Lagos State policies that utilized the results and recommendations from the comparative document analysis (part one). This section of the study focused mainly on how the Lagos State special education documents could be improved using the IDEA of the United States as a model. It also offered alternatives that could be explored as well as recommendations that policymakers in Lagos State could use in order to improve the life outcomes of all children with disabilities in the State. The study addressed explicitly how the United States special education policies could inform the Lagos state policies and vice versa. The overarching purpose of the study was for mutual improvement that could influence special education policy revisions of both systems by respective stakeholders. The study concluded that there is a need for a special education-specific law in Lagos state that will be comparable to the IDEA of the United States so that children with disabilities in the state could become fully integrated into the system and be able to achieve their highest potentials. The study also offers directions for future research. | |
| dc.format.extent | 249 pages | |
| dc.language.iso | eng | |
| dc.publisher | Temple University. Libraries | |
| dc.relation.ispartof | Theses and Dissertations | |
| dc.rights | IN COPYRIGHT- This Rights Statement can be used for an Item that is in copyright. Using this statement implies that the organization making this Item available has determined that the Item is in copyright and either is the rights-holder, has obtained permission from the rights-holder(s) to make their Work(s) available, or makes the Item available under an exception or limitation to copyright (including Fair Use) that entitles it to make the Item available. | |
| dc.rights.uri | http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ | |
| dc.subject | Education, Special | |
| dc.subject | Education | |
| dc.subject | Comparative Special Education Studies | |
| dc.subject | Education Policy Analysis: Lagos State | |
| dc.subject | Inclusive Education in Lagos State | |
| dc.subject | Special Education and Globalization | |
| dc.subject | Special Education Policies in Nigeria | |
| dc.subject | Special Education Policy Comparisons | |
| dc.title | ANALYSIS OF LAGOS STATE SPECIAL EDUCATION POLICY AS COMPARED TO THE IDEA OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | |
| dc.type | Text | |
| dc.type.genre | Thesis/Dissertation | |
| dc.contributor.committeemember | Thurman, S. Kenneth | |
| dc.contributor.committeemember | Boyle, Joseph R. | |
| dc.contributor.committeemember | Cordes, Sarah A. | |
| dc.contributor.committeemember | Brooks, Wanda M., 1969- | |
| dc.contributor.committeemember | Brandt, Carol B. | |
| dc.description.department | Special Education | |
| dc.relation.doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.34944/dspace/2504 | |
| dc.ada.note | For Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accommodation, including help with reading this content, please contact scholarshare@temple.edu | |
| dc.description.degree | Ed.D. | |
| refterms.dateFOA | 2020-11-03T15:34:02Z |
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Equity in Quality of Special Education Programming: A Qualitative Study on the Perceptions of Special Needs ParentsWith over 6 million children receiving some form of special education in the United States, and federal legislation mandating that all disabled students be provided with a free and appropriate education (FAPE) in the least restrictive environment (LRE), school districts are facing the daunting task of providing individualized services for a growing percentage of special education students. Unfortunately, it is well established in the research literature that special needs students who "belong" to racial and ethnic minority groups and/or are from low Socioeconomic Status classes have traditionally been over-represented in special education. Disturbingly, not only are minorities over-represented in special education classification, they are also under-funded. While research contends that the actual level and quality of service received by members of the above groups tend to be sub-standard to those of their white and/or higher income counterparts, parent perceptions regarding this may or may not align with this fact. This leaves the potential for a gap to exist between what objective measurements and observations uncover and what the parent holds to be true. This also raises the question of ethics in equity of information access for those with limited cultural or social capital. This qualitative study examines the perceptions parents from various demographic groups have regarding the special education services their children receive. Interviews with parents of special needs children who are from the Philadelphia and surrounding areas serve as the primary data source. Additionally, information gathered while assuming the role of observer participant in a local support group serve as a support source of data for my study. A variety of sources were used to gather data on parent perceptions for this study. The parents of twelve special needs children were interviewed for this study. Each parent was asked a series of questions regarding their experiences with their child(ren)'s special education including, but not limited to, identification of the disability; ease/difficulty of obtaining services; design of education program offering; initiation of services; IEP implementation; and goal attainment. Several characteristics of the participants were focused on to identify commonalities among participants that determine likenesses in perceptions of various aspects of interest relating to special education services. Participation/observation in a support group for parents of special needs children, in addition to the literature distributed at that session also served as data sources for this study and that led to the study findings. Survey quantitative data, and information from limited IEP review, were also contributors to the pool of data that ultimately led to the study findings and recommendations. The conduction of a focus group was planned and attempted on more than one occasion during the study period, however, the recruitment of an acceptable number of willing participants proved to be an insurmountable challenge. One major area of interest in the study included determining if the participants believed there were differences in the special education services received by different students and if so, why. Interestingly, all of the respondents answered yes and identified eleven "major contributors" to the differences. The four considered most significant by a majority of the participants include Parental Persistence, Time Availability of the parents, the Connectedness/Access to Information maintained by the parents, and belonging to a high SES. After studying the content of all of the interviews, noticeable likenesses in the characterizations of the mindset of the participants regarding special education emerged. This commonality was so strong that it led me to give this phenomenon or theoretical concept a name - Framing Mindset. Each participant, as a result of her experiences over an extended period of time with the "universe of special education" develops a certain "casting point" where the parent's attitude becomes "set" and future decisions regarding special education programming for that child follow similar thought patterns. Thus, the parent has adopted one of three "mindsets" that serve as the "framework" from which all of their educational choices are built. Finally the study looked at the question: "How does a special needs parent's current stage of grief (Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance) relating to having a son or daughter with a long term, often lifelong disability, influence the perception of the variables (quality, appropriateness, timeliness, comprehensiveness) comprising his or her child's educational programming?" 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Knowing this, the role of the advocate can become much more critical to both newly diagnosed parents and parents who are not well connected. Second, the literature, interview participants, and support group participants affirm that seeking out and attending support groups is often one of the first things the parent of a newly diagnosed disabled child does to both obtain information and relieve stress. Unfortunately, the participants also indicated their frustrations with the formats and content of the groups - enough so that most did not return. Therefore, it is recommended to be the most helpful to parents of special needs children through the support group venue, training for the potential facilitator and a quick survey to potential attendees to assess their interest, preferred format, and needs should occur first. Finally, the implications of information from the study for education policy relate to the both the implementation of special education law and the oversight of the implementation of special education law. All of the interviewees asserted that there are differences in special education services among special needs. As a result of this remarkable finding, I recommend that changes to education policy include a provision for local oversight or "watchdogging" of the process of special education service provision; tougher sanctions be developed for districts and private schools who fail to provide appropriate services to a disabled child or are found guilty of providing inequitable services; and that parent surveys about their home district be distributed annually with the district and private school's scorecard partially based on the survey scores.
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Mediation of special education disputes and the use of participant feedback: A multi-state studyMediation of special education disputes varies between states. This study addressed the ways in which the practices and methods of evaluation differ between five states: Hawaii, Iowa, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and New Jersey. This includes such factors as provision of services, alternative dispute resolution procedures, mediation style, and mediator training. Data were examined regarding mediation rates, rates of agreement, and the types of students/issues involved. The research focused on the ways the states used participant feedback to assess their own performance. Extant data from two states, Iowa and Minnesota, were examined to determine which factors impacted overall evaluation of the mediation process and satisfaction with the outcome. States were similar regarding the provision of services, although the agency overseeing mediation differed. Methods of alternative dispute resolution varied greatly, and were strongly tied to the perspective of each state. Large differences were found between states relating to mediation usage and agreement rates. Content analyses were conducted on the survey instruments. The greatest number of questions addressed the impact on the relationship between participants, followed by fairness of the process, and then skills of the mediator. Overall, participants were satisfied with the mediation process. Satisfaction with the outcome was moderate to high, but diminished over time. There were no significant differences in satisfaction ratings between parents and school officials in either state, but individuals who reached a resolution were most satisfied with the mediation process. The ability to discuss and understand the important issues was the largest predictor of satisfaction. Improved communication in the long term was strongly related to satisfaction, but improved communication within the mediation session was not. Additionally, Iowa parents felt more satisfied when they were better able to understand their own perspective and their views were considered before any solutions or agreements were made. Iowa school officials were more satisfied when they were better able to understand the parents' perspective. In Minnesota, an improved relationship with the other party predicted greater satisfaction with the mediation outcome for the school officials, but not parents. Mediator skills and impartiality were important factors for the school officials only.
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Prevalence of Self-Determination Content in Teacher Education ProgramsSelf-determination, as it applies to special education, has been studied extensively. While the effects of self-determination for students with disabilities are established, there is still limited knowledge of the presence of the construct in preservice teacher preparation programs. This study begins to addresses this gap. In particular, a nationwide sample of secondary general education and special education teacher preparation programs was examined. Department chairs and program coordinators were surveyed and revealed a significant difference in the mean self-determination score of participants representing special education teacher preparation programs and participants representing secondary general education teacher preparation programs. Specifically, special education teacher preparation participants had a significantly higher mean score on the ‘Autonomy’ and ‘Self-Regulation’ sections of the survey across all participants, ‘Autonomy’ had the lowest mean of all of the sections. Participants identifying as a department chair had a significantly higher self-determination score than participants that did not identify as a department chair. Finally, participants representing a university located in a state with standards for secondary special education and self-determination had a significantly higher self-determination score than participants located in a state without a standard for secondary special education and self-determination.
