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A Dissertation Defense Submitted to the Faculty of Argosy University Campus

A SURVEY OF HAWAII TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF PROMOTION OF SELF-ADVOCACY SKILLS IN SECONDARY STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES. A Dissertation Defense Submitted to the Faculty of Argosy University Campus in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Education

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A Dissertation Defense Submitted to the Faculty of Argosy University Campus

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  1. A SURVEY OF HAWAII TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF PROMOTION OF SELF-ADVOCACY SKILLS IN SECONDARY STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES A Dissertation Defense Submitted to the Faculty of Argosy University Campus in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Education Laura Ann Farris

  2. Abstract • This investigation was to examine the findings of a survey given to Hawaii special education teachers regarding their opinions in the promotion of self-advocacy skills in students with disabilities. • Respondents were special education teachers in the middle and high school settings in Honolulu District Public Schools serving students with varying types and severities of disabilities.

  3. Significant Findings • A significant difference was found between Hawaii teachers and their Mainland counterparts about promotion of self-advocacy skills in disabled students. • A positive moderate correlation was found between the strength of the belief to promote self-advocacy skills and the number of disability groups that would benefit.

  4. Implicated Findings • Degree of familiarity Sp Ed teachers have with the term • Helpfulness in regard to students’ post-high school goals • Types of self-advocacy strategies used with students • Disability groups that would most apt to benefit from training • And reasons why self-advocacy instruction may not be provided.

  5. What the Literature Supports • Many disabled young adults leave high school without these necessary skills to go to college or find work.(Stang, Carter, Lane, & Pierson, 2009) • In Hawaii, graduates with disabilities are typically less able to self-advocate than non-disabled peers, creating a high rate of unemployment, dependence on parents, social isolation, and less involvement in the community. (Hawaii Workforce Development Council, 2005)

  6. Why this Study?What the Literature Supports • Research shows that high school students who can articulate their goals and needs exhibit higher levels of success in postsecondary settings.(Brinckeroff, 1993; Wehmeyer & Palmer, 2003; Wehmeyer & Schwartz, 1997) • There is reported increased postsecondary success related to environmental characteristics that support self-advocacy (strong self-advocacy role models, self-advocacy skill instruction, opportunities for decision-making, positive communication patterns, high expectations, and availability of supports).(Field, Sarver, & Shaw, 2003)

  7. What is Self-Advocacy? What is Self-Determination? • Self-advocacy/Self determination is considered to be a set of acquired skills which empower an individual to act autonomously, become more self-sufficient, and responsible for self.(Stang, Carter, Lane, & Pierson, 2009) Throughout literature, the terms self-determination and self-advocacy have been reported to be used as interchangeable terminology (Field, 1996).

  8. Self-Determination & Self-Advocacy = Interchangeable Terminology Advocating for Others’ Causes + Strengths + Preferences + Goals + Dreams + Interests + Learning Style + Support Needs + Accommodations + Characteristics of Disability + Responsibilities + Personal Rights + Consumer Rights + Steps to Redress Violations + Knowledge of Resources + Assertiveness + Negotiation + Articulation + Listening + Persuasion + Compromise + Problem Solving + Assistive Technology + Decision Making + Self-Awareness + Organizational Participation + Body Language + Team Dynamics + Roles + Political Action Self-Management + Choice Making + Civil Rights

  9. Definitive Four Point Conceptual Framework (Test, Fowler, Wood, Brewer, & Eddy, 2005) Knowledge of Self(Ability to identify self-interests, express preferences, understand disability, be able to voice accommodations or needs, and realize responsibilities) Knowledge of Rights(Ability to know personal, community, consumer, and educational rights, be able to redress violations, and advocate for change) Communication Skills(To be able to be assertive, use negotiation, persuasion, articulate, read body language, and assistive technology) Leadership Skills(To understand group dynamics, participate in organizations, and advocate for other causes)

  10. Research Questions (1) To whatdegreedo Hawaii DOE special education teachers perceivepromotion of self-advocacy skills as desirable in their students with disabilities? (2) Do Hawaii DOE special education teachers believe self-advocacy skill promotion to be more important forcollege boundspecial education students than those special education students withother post graduate goals?

  11. Research Questions (3) Do special education teachers who teach academic skills feel differently about the promotion of self-advocacy skills verses those who teachfunctional life skills programs? (4) Do theseverities or types of disabilitiesof the special education students affect perceptions of teachers and self-advocacy promotion? (5) Does years of experience in teaching affect perceptions of importance of teaching self-advocacy to special education students?

  12. Research Hypotheses • [H10]: There is no significant difference between the Hawaii DOE special education teachers’ perceptions and their mainland counterparts’ perceptions in the importance of promoting self-advocacy in disabled students. • [H1A]: There is a significant degree of concern between the Hawaii DOE special education teachers’ perceptions and their mainland counterparts in the importance of promoting self-advocacy in disabled students.

  13. Research Hypotheses • [H20]: There is no significant difference between Hawaii DOE special education teachers’ perceptions that self-advocacy skill promotion is more important for college bound students than those with other post graduate goals. • [H2A]: There is a significant degree of concern in Hawaii DOE special education teachers’ perceptions that self-advocacy skill promotion is more important for college bound students than those with other post graduate goals.

  14. Research Hypotheses • [H30]: There is no significant difference regarding perceptions in promoting self-advocacy skills in disabled students between Special Education teachers in Hawaii DOE who teach academic curriculum and those who teach functional life skills programs. • [H3A]: There is a significant difference regarding perceptions in promoting self-advocacy skills in disabled students between Special Education teachers in Hawaii DOE who teach academic curriculum and those who teach functional life skills programs.

  15. Research Hypotheses • [H40]: There is no significant difference between Hawaii DOE special education teachers’ perceptions that self-advocacy skill promotion is more important for special education students with lesser type disabilities than those with more severe disabilities. • [H4A]:There is significant difference between Hawaii DOE special education teachers’ perceptions that self-advocacy skill promotion is more important for special education students with lesser type disabilities than those with more severe disabilities.

  16. Research Hypotheses • [H50]: Regarding how long a teacher has been teaching, there is no significant difference between Hawaii DOE special education teachers’ perceptions in self-advocacy skill promotion. • [H5A]: Regarding how long a teacher has been teaching, there is a significant difference between Hawaii DOE special education teachers’ perceptions in self-advocacy skill promotion.

  17. Procedures • Permission was granted by Hawaii DOE and (Conditional) Argosy IRB. • School principals were individually contacted/visited by the researcher. • Permission to conduct research in each school was granted by individual principals. (11 out of 16 possible middle and high schools chose to participate)

  18. Research Begins! • Full IRB certification was given January 2012 • During the month of January paper/pencil survey packets were dropped off at participating middle and high schools. • Packets included: Teacher Information Letter 3 Active Consent Forms / SASE Survey /SASE To Assure Anonymity

  19. Procedures • A principal-appointed-person placed a survey packet in each special education teacher’s school mailbox. • Special education teachers then: (1) Read Information letter (2) Voluntarily decided whether or not to participate (3) Signed Active Consent Forms: Researcher/School/Self (4) Filled out survey and mailed to researcher

  20. Time Frame • Teachers were notified on the bottom of the survey to please return within a two week period from drop off date. (Date was hand written in) • A blanket reminder email was sent to principals and special education teachers towards the end of January. • Surveys ceased to be returned after January 31, 2012.

  21. Sample Size Total surveys distributed: (N = 120) Total surveys returned: (N = 40) (33% return rate) Respondents were not: • Identified in any way • Any designated ethnic group • Institutionalized protected group • Under 21 years of age

  22. Participation Protection • All Consent Forms and Surveys are held in secure file cabinet by researcher • All collected materials will be permanently destroyed April 19, 2015.

  23. Instrumentation • Three page Opinionnaire survey consisting of 10 questions • Adapted from a study done by Wehmeyer, Agran, and Hughes (2000) (With permissions) • First 7 questions related to teacher perceptions of self-advocacy promotion in special education students • Last 3 questions are demographic to sort responses into comparative groups

  24. Validity & Reliability Validity • Pilot tested (n = 5) • Other teacher and professional feedback • Content validity – provides definitions Reliability • A previously used and proven survey

  25. Limitations • Comparing to a study done 12 years prior • Although a 33% return rate is considered “good” for a blind sent survey, 40 respondents may be considered a small sample group. • Fairly homogonous group of special ed teachers (no outer island participants) • The survey itself…right questions asked? Should other questions been included?

  26. So What Does the Opinionnaire Survey Look Like?

  27. Survey & Scoring General Knowledge Questions 1. Are you familiar with the term ‘self-advocacy’? Yes No (Go to Question 2) (Go to Question 3) Each yes/no response was tallied, given a one point value, and reported as a percent of the sample population size. 2. If yes, from what source have you heard the term? (Mark all that apply). Undergraduate training Graduate training District in-service Conference or workshop Education text Professional journal articles Colleagues Other ________________________ Each response checked was counted as one-point and be reported as percent of the “yes” respondent population.

  28. [H1]: Degree of Concern in Promotion of Self-Advocacy Skills 3. Compared to other instructional areas, how important do you think teaching the following self-advocacy skills and behaviors are?Check only one response for each question. a., b., c., and d. were reported as a mean of means. Comparison was made with the similar Wehmeyer, Agran, and Hughes study (2000) to test for significance. a. Knowledge of Self(Teaching students to identify interests, express preferences, understand learning style and characteristics of disability, voice accommodation needs, and know responsibilities). 1 2 3 4 5 6 Not At All Somewhat Very Important b. Knowledge of Rights(Teaching students to know personal, community, consumer, and educational rights, how to redress violations, how to advocate for change, and knowledge of available resources). 1 2 3 4 5 6 Not At All Somewhat Very Important c. Communication Skills (Teaching students to be assertive, to use negotiation, persuasion, and compromise to fulfill needs, recognize the importance of being articulate, to read body language, and use assistive technology). 1 2 3 4 5 6 Not At All Somewhat Very Important d. Leadership Skills (Teaching students to advocate for others or for causes, to be involved in political action, to understand team dynamics and roles, to have knowledge of groups’ rights, and participate in organizations). 1 2 3 4 5 6 Not At All Somewhat Very Important

  29. [H2]: College-Bound vs. Other Postsecondary Goals 4. How helpful will teaching self-advocacy skills prepare your students for post-school life in the following areas? (Question 4 a., b., c., d., and e. were calculated as a mean of means. (1) “a” was compared to “b,c,d,e” and (2) “a,b” was compared to “c,d,e”. a. Enrolling and completing a two or four year college program? 1 2 3 4 5 6 Not Helpful Somewhat Helpful Very Helpful b. Enrolling and completing a vocational school or trade school program? 1 2 3 4 5 6 Not Helpful Somewhat Helpful Very Helpful c. Getting and holding a job? 1 2 3 4 5 6 Not Helpful Somewhat Helpful Very Helpful d. Navigating the community? 1 2 3 4 5 6 Not Helpful Somewhat Helpful Very Helpful e. Living at home or in a residential care setting? 1 2 3 4 5 6 Not Helpful Somewhat Helpful Very Helpful

  30. General Knowledge Information 5. Have you used any of the following self-advocacy strategies? “Always, Sometimes, Rarely, and Never” responses for each statement (a, b, c, d, e, f, g, and h) were tallied and reported as percentages. a. Required attendance/participation in IEP meetings. b. Listed student’s personal interests, abilities, and post-school goals in IEP. c. Provide opportunities for work experiences relevant and aligned to student interests d. Students participate in community service. e. Students are taught self-management practices that lead to healthy choices. f. Students are able to create healthy relationships or have positive mentors, role models, and/or other nurturing adults supporting them. g. Opportunities exist for students to engage in leadership experiences, develop plans, make decisions, and solve problems. h. Instruction on assistive or advancing technology. Always Sometimes Rarely Never

  31. [H4]: Disabilities Perceived as Most Able to Benefit 6. Which disability group(s) would benefit MOST from self-advocacy training? Specific Learning Disabilities Speech or Language Impairments Mental Retardation Serious Emotional Disturbance Mild Moderate Severe Traumatic Brain Injury Multiple Disabilities Hearing Impairments/Deafness Orthopedic Impairments Visual Impairments Autism Deaf-Blindness Other Health Impairment Each answer checked in Question 6 will receive a one point value. (Respondents may check more than one). A Pearson’s Correlation was performed between number of choices marked and the total self-advocacy rating score from Question 3 (How important do you think teaching self-advocacy is?)

  32. General Knowledge Information 7. What reasons might lead you to decide NOT to provide instruction in self-advocacy areas? (Check all that apply). Students already have adequate self-advocacy skills. Someone else is responsible for instruction in this area. If so, please list responsible party. (Position not name) _____________ Don’t have sufficient time to provide instruction in these areas. Don’t have the latitude (support from administration) to provide instruction in these areas Other areas of instruction are more urgent. Students would not benefit from instruction in these areas because of their characteristics (level of ability, capacity to engage in behavior, etc.). Don’t have sufficient training or information on teaching self-advocacy. Not aware of available curricular or assessment materials, or familiar with instructional methods or strategies related to self-advocacy. Other This information was not used in a statistical test but reported in percentage rank order with each response marked getting one point value. Respondents may choose one or more responses.

  33. Respondent Information • Respondent information 8 and 9 will be used to sort data for statistical significance. 8. What content or curricular area are you responsible for? Academic Functional/ Life Skills Both 9. How many years have you been teaching? 0-5 years 6-15 years Over 15 10. Are you over the age of 21? YES NO (For IRB purposes)

  34. [H3]: Teaching Academic Program vs. Functional Life Skills Program Responses to Question 8 provided the information needed to divide the surveys into two groups: Academic vs. Functional Life Skills (n = 26) (n = 14) (“Both” was sorted into Functional/LS group) An Independent samples t-test was run to test for significance.

  35. [H5]:Years of Experience Teaching Responses to Question 9 provided the information needed to divide the surveys into three groups: Years of Teaching Experience 0-5 6-15 Over 15 (n = 13) (n = 12) (n = 15) A one way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed on the statistics to test for significance.

  36. Collection of Surveys Surveys and consent forms were received at a secure Post Office Box in Honolulu, HI. The researcher picked them up on a daily basis.

  37. Data Analysis • Surveys were collected and divided into scoring groups per each hypothesis • First, manual recording of data was done to identify trends • Then data was entered into SPSS and run for significance

  38. Prior KnowledgeUnderstanding of Definition • Throughout literature, the terms self-determination and self-advocacy have been reported to be used as interchangeable terminology (Field, 1996). • Wehmeyer, Agran, and Hughes found 60% of educators were familiar with the term self-determination (2000) • Grigal, Neubert, Moon, and Graham reported 66% of the population surveyed were familiar with the term self-advocacy (2003). • The current research, A Survey of Hawaii Teachers’ Perceptions of Promotion of Self-Advocacy Skills in Secondary Students, shows that 92.5% of the respondents were familiar with the construct of self-advocacy (2012).

  39. Self-Advocacy Sources of Knowledge (n = 40) Source Frequency = “yes” Percentage (n = 40) (W,A, & H) ______________________________________________________ Graduate Training 21 52.5% (26%) Colleagues 20 50.0% (14%) Conference or Workshop 19 47.5% (30%) Undergraduate Training 16 40.0% (12%) Professional Journals 13 32.5% *(36%) District In-Service 12 30.0% ( 9%) Education Text 12 30.0% (13%) Other 5 12.5% NA ______________________________________________________ • Note. Total sum does not equal 100%. Respondents could choose more than one response.

  40. Results: Research Hypotheses 1 To whatdegreedo Hawaii DOE special education teachers perceivepromotion of self-advocacy skillsas desirable in their students with disabilities? [H10]: There is no significant difference between the Hawaii DOE special education teachers’ perceptions and their mainland counterparts’ perceptions in the importance of promoting self-advocacy in disabled students. [H1A]: There is a significant degree of concern between the Hawaii DOE special education teachers’ perceptions and their mainland counterparts in the importance of promoting self-advocacy in disabled students.

  41. How Was Significance Tested? • The researcher (with permissions) replicated and adapted a portion of a study done by Wehmeyer, Agran & Hughes (2000) “A National Survey of Teachers’ Promotion of Self-Determination and Student Directed Learning” • The current research divides “self-advocacy” into 4 sub-components whereas the W, A, & H study divides “self-determination” into 7 components. • Both studies used a 6-point Likert scale for teachers to rate importance of S-A or S-D. • The mean of means for each S-A & S-D was calculated and compared using an independent samples t-test.

  42. Mean Values (Both Studies) Means of Sub-Components of Self-Advocacy from Current Study (2005) Instructional domain N Mean SD ________________________________________________________________________ Knowledge of Self 40 5.6750 .69384 Knowledge of Rights 40 5.3000 .82275 Communication Skills 40 5.6250 .66747 Leadership Skills 40 4.6000 1.10477 ________________________________________________________________________ Means of Sub-Components of Self-Determination (Wehmeyer et al, 2000) Instructional domain N Mean SD ________________________________________________________________________ Decision making 1219 4.93 1.22 Problem Solving 1219 4.94 1.23 Choice Making 1219 5.03 1.05 Self-Management 1219 4.77 1.29 Self-Awareness 1219 4.77 1.22 Self-Advocacy 1219 4.56 1.34 Goal Setting 1219 4.46 1.38

  43. Results: Hypothesis 1 The Wehmeyer, Agran, and Hughes, A National Survey of Teachers’ Promotion of Self-Determination and Student Directed Learning (2000), indicated a mean score of 4.84(out of 6.00) for importance of self-determination. The current research, A Survey of Hawaii Teachers’ Perceptions of Promotion of Self-Advocacy Skills in Secondary Studentsindicated a mean score of 5.3025(out of the same 6.00 point rating scale) for importance of self-advocacy. The mean difference between the Hawaii teacher population and the mainland teacher population yielded a score of 0.46 (5.30 – 4.84 = 0.46).

  44. Significance: Hypothesis 1 Critical value of t at α = .01 on 1179 degrees of freedom is 3.291. The t-test showed an obtained value of 4.602. STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT So the null hypothesis is rejected the alternative hypothesis is accepted. • Hawaii special education teachers place more importance in promoting self-advocacy skills than their mainland counterparts.

  45. Implied Significance: Hypothesis 1 • In comparison to the similar Wehmeyer, Agran, and Hughes study (2000)….. may be due to increased awareness during the 12 year span between the studies. • …..may be due to the culture of the Hawaiian Islands. Hawaiians define themselves by their relationships to each other, their ancestors, and their land. It is important to honor and nurture others and everyone is expected to contribute in some way to the community. Every person has a responsibility to use their talents to benefit the entire “ohana” (family) (Office of Hawaiian Affairs, 2011). • …..may be these basic beliefs that also foster the importance to be able to self-advocate.

  46. Results: Research Hypotheses 2 (2) Do Hawaii DOE special education teachers believe self-advocacy skill promotion to be more important forcollege boundspecial education students than those special education students withother post graduate goals? [H20]: There is no significant difference between Hawaii DOE special education teachers’ perceptions that self-advocacy skill promotion is more important for college bound students than those with other post graduate goals. [H2A]: There is a significant degree of concern in Hawaii DOE special education teachers’ perceptions that self-advocacy skill promotion is more important for college bound students than those with other post graduate goals.

  47. How Was Significance Tested? Responses to Question 4, How helpful will self advocacy skills prepare students for • College? • Vocational School? • Getting / Holding Employment? • Navigating Community? • Living at Home / Residential Setting? were grouped “a” vs. “b, c, d, e”. (Again a 6-point Likert scale) Mean Scores 5.50 and 5.3188 When an independent samples t-test was run…

  48. Hypothesis 2: Was Significance Found? A significance of .545 was found. _________________________________________________________________ Post-High School Goals N Mean SD SEM Two/Four Year College 1 5.50 Other Options 4 5.32 .238 .119 _____________________________________________________________ Note. SED .26651 T-Value .680 Level of Sig ..545 95% Conf. Interval Lower –.66691 Upper 1.02941 Results indicate no significant difference in Hawaii special education teachers’ perceptions in promoting self-advocacy to those disabled students planning to attend college. The null hypothesis is accepted.

  49. Did Teachers Perceive Voc Ed as College Also? Responses to Question 4, How helpful will self advocacy skills prepare students for • College? • Vocational School? • Getting / Holding Employment? • Navigating Community? • Living at Home / Residential Setting? were grouped “a ,b” vs. “c, d, e”. (Again a 6-point Likert scale) Mean Scores 5.44 and 5.30 When an independent samples t-test was run…

  50. Again, Hypothesis 2: Was Significance Found? A significance of .576 was found. _________________________________________________________________ Post-High School Goals N Mean SD SEM College / Voc Ed 2 5.44 .088 .062 Other Options 3 5.30 .288 .166 _____________________________________________________________ Note. SED .21989 T-Value .625 Level of Sig .576 95% Conf. Interval Lower –.56228 Upper .83728 Results indicate no significant difference in Hawaii special education teachers’ perceptions in promoting self-advocacy to those disabled students planning to attend any kind of school. The null hypothesis is accepted.

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