Examination of the implementation of a job-related social skills program in high school classes for students categorized as cognitively impaired: a case study approach

A job-related social skills program for high school students with mild cognitive impairments, using a range of media materials has been implemented in several school districts in Virginia. The program, developed under the auspices of the U.S. Office of Special Education Programs, will be examined in this study for issues of implementation and adoption in public high schools. The use of traditional experimental designs in program evaluation is seriously questioned when complex issues of implementation are involved. These issues are magnified in special education settings where subject assignment, sample size, individualized instruction, and teacher choice of materials are uniquely present. Consequently, a case study approach of four classrooms following the techniques of Miles and Huberman and Yin was used to examine the implementation process. Three major factors were used to organize data collection: teacher understanding of existing curriculum and goals and teaching style, congruence between the existing and new content and decision making related to implementation, and instructional delivery and the way program use actually looked. While all teachers appeared to like and accept the program, they did not want it to alter their existing classroom plans, teaching styles, and personal interaction approaches. Each teacher showed a unique defense of his or her existing educational style, and the new program was adapted to the ongoing classroom situation, rather than vice versa. If faced with decisions between using the new program and fulfilling existing requirements, these teachers chose to reject the program. The great variation in implementation and modification of the program across these sites supports the need for more careful descriptive site by site studies that allow for differences that cannot easily be identified in quasi-experimental designs.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph. D.

Level thesis:degree_level

doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Educational Research and Evaluation

Department dc:contributor.department

Educational Research and Evaluation

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Year dc:date.issued

1989

Author dc:creator

• Harris, Carolyn DeMeyer

Chair dc:contributor.committeechair

• Cline, Marvin G.

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Lichtman, Marilyn V.
• Jones, Philip R.
• Impara, James C.
• Wolfe, James F.

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10919/54190

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/54190