Evaluation of a Family-Centered Early Childhood Special Education Preservice Model by Program Graduates

Abstract

T his qualitative study evaluated the impact on program graduates of two personnel preparation projects founded on a family-centered preservice model and funded by the Office of Special Education Programs. Three cohorts totaling 22 participants were interviewed to (a) determine their attitudes and skill level in working with a diverse group of families and (b) identify pedagogical practices that reinforced the use of family-centered practices on the job. Results revealed that participants' perceptions were similar, indicating that confidence in utilizing family-centered practices was the result of the multiple opportunities their preservice program provided them to interact with families. Family involvement in content-based and field-based coursework, as well as parent-members in the cohorts, positively affected utilization of family-centered practices in their careers.

An Analysis of Haitian Parents' Perceptions of Their Children With Disabilities

“…Their model recommended intervention in four phases which encompassed developing materials, recruiting parents applying the strategies to involve parents and providing assistance to sustain engagement. Murray and Mandell (2004) provided background data to support their claim that families in early childhood special education did not use established family-centered practices effectively. They conducted a study with personnel enrolled in an early childhood special education program to determine their perceptions regarding the use of family centered practices.…”

Teacher-student relationships during adolescence : the role of parental involvement, behavioral characteristics, gender, and income.

“…Programs that do offer an emphasis on parental involvement practices show positive results for teachers. For example when a curriculum involves family centered practices, preservice teachers display beliefs that emphasize the value of family members in education, use more family-centered practices on the job, and more fully understand the parents' perspectives on educational practices (Murray & Mandell, 2004).…”

Beyond Special and General Education as Identity Markers: The Development and Validation of an Instrument to Measure Preservice Teachers’ Understanding of The Effects of Intersecting Sociocultural Identities

“…The other two studies in this group were described as including "a high degree of input from family members of individuals with disabilities" (McCall et al, 2014, p. 58). Although Murray and Mandell (2004) asserted that the "diversity of community-based partners were critical factors" (p. 247) and the 26 participants "respected diversity among families" (p. 246), the authors do not expand on what is meant by "diversity." Murray and Curran (2008) were more explicit by what they meant by families' diversity using terms such as "diversity of disability experiences and ethnicity" and "cultural diversity" (p. 60).…”

“…McCall and colleagues (2014) identified three studies that examined collaboration between special educators and families (Fults & Harry, 2012;Murray & Curran, 2008;Murray & Mandell, 2004). Of these three studies, the reviewers identified the vignettes in the Fults and Harry (2012) article as also addressing in-service teachers' disposition toward diversity.…”

“…Murray and Curran's (2008) study was the only one of the three identified by McCall et al (2014) as addressing collaboration with families that had preservice participants. The assessments developed by Fults and Harry (2012) and Murray and Mandell (2004) were administered to graduate students who already worked in early childhood education. Murray and Curran (2008) paired six parents of children with disabilities with groups of preservice teachers.…”