An evaluation of a district-wide staff development plan as a means for promoting change in the education of students with disabilities

This study focused on the evaluation of a district-wide staff development plan sponsored by the Texas Education Agency as a grant project aimed at promoting pilot inclusive practices for students with disabilities during the 1994-1995 school year. This comprehensive plan was implemented with twenty model campus sites. This study focused on three areas related to educational leadership: organizational structures, policies and procedures; teacher knowledge, skill level and attitude; and administrative leadership supports. In looking at organizational structure, mission statements, campus improvement plans, allocation of staff, role definition and grade reporting as a consequence of participation in the training grant were analyzed. In examining changes in teaching knowledge, skill, and attitude, there were six areas of training analyzed: Rationale, Teaming and Collaboration, Alternative Teaching Strategies, Models and Staffing, Grading and Evaluation, and Behavior Interventions. Campus-based inclusion teams were asked to attend the training and follow-up at the campus level by determining appropriate implementation for their students. In looking at administrative leadership supports, commitment building, training on core skills, and providing adequate resources and articulating action plans were the elements examined.;The method employed in this study included a content analysis of archival data to examine elements of the change process which facilitated the innovation of inclusive programming. The results of the content analysis of archival data of the training documents, in-house memoranda, policies and procedures yielded data that support positive impact from the comprehensive training plan. A 38 item survey was administered to 126 educators at the twenty campus sites to measure the impact of the training on their attitudes, skills and knowledge regarding the six training components. The sample included elementary and secondary teachers attending any portion of the training. The survey provided data to examine the impact of training by certification type (regular or special education teacher) and by level taught (elementary or secondary). Statistical procedures which included univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA), were employed to determine statistical differences between certification type and level taught. The results obtained from this procedure revealed no difference when considering level taught. There were no statistically significant responses for certification type with the exception of one difference found in the Models and Staffing Training. The implementation of the more inclusive models of support suggests that the training model may have been effective in structuring and supporting widespread change for an innovation. (Abstract shortened by UMI.).