| This dissertation consists of four chapters Chapter 1 presents the conceptual framework for the review of literature and the empirical study. Chapter 2 consists of a review of literature on outcomes of early childhood special education programs and legislative requirements addressing family outcomes and accountability systems. It presents the link between four categories of family outcomes and eight instruments with established psychometric properties that can be used in assessing family outcomes. The criteria for inclusion of outcome measures include: appropriateness of the instrument, length of the instrument, inclusion of families of children with disabilities in the norm sample, and the perceived usefulness of data for practice. The description of the context and measures of family outcomes provided in this review documents that appropriate family outcome measures are available. Chapter 3 examines the relationships among the adequacy of services that young children with disabilities and their families need and receive, the quality of their partnerships with professionals, and family quality of life outcomes. It focuses on relationships in programs that serve both birth-to-three-year-olds (Part C of IDEA) and three-to-five-year-olds (Part B of IDEA). Two hundred and ten parents completed the Beach Center Family-Professional Partnership Scale, Beach Center Family Quality of Life Scale and a Services Inventory. The most important finding is that satisfaction with family-professional partnerships partially mediates the effect of services on family quality of life. Also, parental ratings of parental perceptions of services affect their satisfaction with family quality of life. Finally, chapter 4 presents the conclusion and implications for research, practice, and policies. |
