The findings from the pilot phase of Project Destiny, a 3-year research and training project concerning the knowledge and skills that middle school teachers need to educate students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) in inclusive settings, are reported. Teachers' self-ratings concerning their knowledge base and skill mastery in the area of EBD were assessed and analyzed. Results of the teacher self-assessments are reported in relation to their ratings of the diverse academic, social, and emotional behaviors of their students in these inclusive classrooms. These initial results suggest that teachers viewed themselves as having only little-to-some competence for working with the academic and behavioral challenges that students with EBD present. The Project Destiny Training Model was empirically developed from these preliminary results, and initial staff development activities in the model are discussed in terms of their value for expanding the knowledge, skills, and strategies of teachers in inclusive settings.
Laboratory research was reviewed that compared the effects of various types (verbal, symbolic, tangible) and combinations (right-wrong, right-blank, wrong-blank) of feedback upon children's conceptual learning. This research was evaluated in terms of theories involving reinforcement, motivation, and information-processing interpretations. In general, the findings have been consistent in two respects: (I) Verbal and symbolic feedback produce more rapid acquisition than does tangible feedback. (2) The wrong-blank combination produces faster acquisition and more resistance to extinction than does the right-blank condition. Results yielded by the right-wrong combination have been inconsistent. Several variables which interact with the type and combination of feedback children receive have not been systematically evaluated (e.g., incentive value, instructions, feedback accumulation, mode of delivery). Implications of laboratory research findings were then considered in relation to prototypic research designed to modify and improve children's academic learning. The general conclusion was that those concerned with applied research have overlooked some important findings, implications, and issues derived from laboratory research.During the past two decades, a number of investigators have demonstrated that conceptual learning is differentially affected by various types and combinations of
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