Date of Award

2009

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology

Abstract

The Individuals with Disabilities Act 2004 (IDEA, 2006) emphasizes that examining a student's responses to interventions, and knowing the variables that better predict student outcomes, will improve outcomes for students going through the intervention process. This study examined four issues regarding a specific intervention process, Creative Problem Solving for GeneralEducation Intervention Teams (CPS for GEI): (a) whether students referred to the CPS for GEI teams process progressed differently based on student outcomes relative to the area of concern; (b) whether the overall quality of the action plans differed across schools; (c) whether there was a difference in student outcomes across schools; and (d) whether the process had an impact on student outcomes in terms of problem-solving components, including definition of the problem, baseline data, goal setting, action plan, and interventions built on student strengths. Six CPS for GEI trained teams participated in the study with 76 individual cases reviewed, but only 32 cases included student outcomes. Data used, including a Team Accomplishment Sheet (TAS) and individual Action Plans, were completed by the schools and were scored against a rubric replicated from Telzrow (2000) of best practice indicators. Student outcome data were examined based on the student's reaching the goal set by the team. Findings indicated that the distribution of student outcomes did not differ significantly by area of concern. The overall quality of the action plans between schools differed significantly and when teams developed better plans they tended to have better student outcomes. Finally, having a quality goal was positively correlated with student outcomes. Therefore, this study suggests that through the use of CPS for GEI, educators can meet the requirements of the law and monitor a student's progress by focusing on these components.

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