FY2004 Research Projects
Funded Under 84.324C

This document is a listing of all the grants and contracts funded in Fiscal Year 2004 by the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), U.S. Department of Education, under its competition 84.324C. This funding is authorized by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), our nation's special education law. In 2004, two program types were funded under this competition, as follows:

• Field-Initiated Research Projects, under a competition that ran in 2001, and



• Research and Innovation Projects, under a competition that ran in 2004, and

This document lists all projects funded under both of these competitions. Use the links in the Table of Contents above to jump to the section of your choice.

Purpose: This project will continue a longitudinal study of students with Fragile X syndrome (FXS), in order to examine their transition to early adolescence.

Method: A sample of 66 students, who have been followed since the preschool years, will be studied during the late elementary and middle school grades, beginning with fourth grade and extending through eighth grade. The study focuses on three primary outcomes: skills (the extent to which students with FXS develop academic and adaptive skills necessary to function in school and the community), membership (the extent to which students with FXS participate in and feel a sense of belonging to school and community groups), and relationships (the extent to which students with FXS develop a wide range of social relationships with other children). The study will examine the interrelationships among these outcome domains longitudinally over five years, and study how child, family, and school variables account for variation in these outcomes.

Products: The project will publish results in peer-reviewed literature; make findings available on a Web site; disseminate findings through state, national, and international conferences; develop a semi-annual brief to be distributed to parents and schools participating in the project; and continue efforts at public awareness about FXS.

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Purpose: This project will evaluate the effects of increasing the intensity of treadmill procedures on the onset of independent walking of infants with Down syndrome (DS). The project also will initiate the science needed to study the ontogeny of treadmill stepping in infants at risk for cerebral palsy (CP).

Methods: The project will evaluate the effects of treadmill training on physical stamina of infants with DS as measured by level of physical activity, body composition, gross motor skill development, dynamic balance, speed of walking, walking quality, and the ability to adapt to small objects in the environment while walking. Given the consistent results in the literature suggesting the benefits of locomotion in further cognitive and social development, the project will examine the relationship between locomotive, cognitive, and social skills. These measures will be evaluated at onset of walking and after the child with DS has acquired one year of walking experience. This project also will follow a group of 19 infants at risk for cerebral palsy (CP) beginning at eight months of age until they are 24 months of age. The project will record a series of measurements bimonthly, including: response on the treadmill; level of physical activity for a period of 24 hours; level of motor skill development; level of spasticity; hip, knee, and ankle range of motion; cognitive and social skills; and physical growth. These longitudinal measurements will allow project staff to determine: if and when infants at risk for CP respond to the treadmill; the developmental trajectory of their response; what developmental factors, including physical and cognitive, are related to their response patterns; and whether their pattern of response provides information useful for predicting a diagnosis of CP and the onset of walking.

Products: The results will provide information needed to determine if and when the treadmill intervention program could be utilized with infants at risk for CP.

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Purpose: This study will examine: (a) what specific factors support the academic success of culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) youth with disabilities in high school resulting in successful access to and participation in postsecondary education programs; (b) what contextual factors in high school support the educational success of CLD youth with disabilities resulting in successful participation in postsecondary education; and (c) how high schools and other service providers effectively support CLD youth with disabilities to successfully transition into postsecondary education.

Methods: The project will use consumer-driven participatory action research (PAR) to conduct four research activities, each building sequentially upon the other. Research activities will include: a literature search and synthesis, a nationally representative survey, focus groups, and in-depth case studies. The research is designed to tap the expertise of CLD youth with disabilities who have successfully accessed and participated in postsecondary education, thereby yielding valuable information on key factors supporting the successful transition of CLD youth with disabilities. The research will be conducted by the University of Hawaii at Manoa's Center on Disabilities Studies in collaboration with University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa , University of Washington , Northern Arizona University/University of Alaska , and Ohio State University . Each research site will focus on one or two CLD groups, including African-American, Hispanic-American, Native American/Alaskan, and Americans of Asian and Pacific Island descent.

Products: Research results and recommendations will be summarized in a variety of accessible formats tailored for a range of audiences and disseminated through an extensive national network that includes OSEP-funded centers.

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Purpose: This study will conduct a five-year follow up of an OSEP-funded study of 115 children identified when they were in kindergarten or first grade as having moderate or high risk for developing emotional and behavioral disorders. These children will be in middle school and high school for the five years of this study.

Methods: Of the original 115 students, 104 have been located in 42 different schools in the district. The research will determine the presence and levels of learning, emotional, behavioral, and attention problems, depression, and substance abuse among adolescents who were identified during primary school for being at risk for developing EBD. The developmental progression of these students will be studied using growth curve modeling. Analysis will yield a comprehensive model of early prediction as well as describe constellations and hierarchies of risk and protective factors with respect to increasing and decreasing levels of learning and attention disorders, disruptive behavior, depression, and substance abuse and their co-morbidity.

Products: Results will further knowledge of early indicators of learning and disruptive disorders, depression, and substance abuse and risk for these disorders; contribute to the accumulating literature base on the multidimensional nature of these disorders and the long-term impact on children exposed to the identified risk factors; further inform mental health professionals, educators, and policymakers about the long-term outcomes for children identified early as at risk for EBD; and have implications for public health policy and prevention/intervention programs for these at-risk children.

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Purpose: This project will track educational outcomes for students with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and will develop a theory of how special education referral, identification, and placement decisions affect success in school for these students.

Methods: The project will select a sample of 120 students with TBI, with equal numbers of subjects representing a range within three crucial characteristics: eligibility under IDEA, severity of disability, and parent perception of school program. Students will be tracked both retrospectively and prospectively. Each student's family will complete a set of measures: demographic, socioeconomic status, level and type of special education services, level and type of social service support, level of family support, employment, and education. These measures will be repeated at six-month intervals each year of the project. Data will be summarized descriptively to identify patterns that typify how students with TBI are served. This in turn will lead to theory development and the potential for conducting statistical tests of difference across outcome variables of interest. To gain a greater understanding of how service delivery decisions affect success in school for these students, the project will also collect qualitative data on a subset of subjects, who will be studied intensively through interviews and observations.

Products: The detailed, longitudinal information about the experiences of students with TBI will be useful to educators and medical personnel throughout the country. Educators, students with TBI, and their families will benefit from information about the efficacy of special education services to students with TBI. In addition, the study will yield information, through the qualitative component, about specific features of these services and details of their implementation that enhance their effectiveness. Project results will be disseminated through communication with the Regional Resource Centers , presentations at professional conferences, newsletter articles, and other publications.

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Purpose: This project will: (a) examine the extent to which deaf and hard of hearing (D/HH) students, attending general education classrooms in public schools, are academically and socially integrated; (b) track the academic and social progress of these students over a five-year period; (c) identify the school and classroom factors, as perceived by parents, administrators, teachers, and students, that facilitate or inhibit integration and progress of these students; and (d) provide an efficient battery of valid and reliable instruments that can be used by programs to evaluate the academic and social status of D/HH students in order to make decisions regarding the intensity and quality of services.

Methods: This research is a collaborative project involving the University of Arizona , the University of Northern Colorado , the Arizona State School for Deaf and Blind, and the Colorado Department of Education. Data will be obtained annually for 250 D/HH students in grades 3-8 who attend general education classrooms for three or more hours each day. To examine academic status, the project will obtain normative data on reading, writing, and math from academic achievement tests; data on classroom academic standing from the students' general education teachers; and information from students regarding their perceptions of classroom participation. To examine social integration, the project will obtain social skills and classroom behavior ratings from teachers and students. Detailed longitudinal case studies, using interviews and observation, will be completed for a subset of 25 students to obtain an in-depth understanding of the specific service, school, and classroom variables that affect their status and progress.

Products: The project will result in data as well as tools that programs can use to assess the status and progress of individual D/HH students in public schools and also to evaluate and justify specific services provided by special education programs. The data collected will assist in the development of, and be incorporated into, program accountability systems in Arizona and Colorado . The data will also be used to diagnose academic and social strengths and problems of individual students, allowing teachers to intervene appropriately. Project information will be disseminated to teachers, administrators, policymakers, professionals in special education, and the general public through reports, workshops, Web site development, journal articles, and conference presentations.

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Purpose: This research will analyze national survey data for trends over time in, and predictors of, the entry, retention, turnover, reentry, qualifications, and shortage of special education teachers in accordance with a comprehensive conceptual framework for teacher career transitions.

Methods: The research objectives are to analyze the recently completed Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS, 1999-2000), a nationally representative large-scale sample survey, and its longitudinal component, the Teacher Followup Survey (TFS, 2000-2001), collected by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). These data will be linked with comparable data from three prior SASS/TFS surveys from 1987-89 to 1993-95. A major feature of this database is the inclusion of follow-up questionnaire data from special education teachers who: (a) were retained in their teaching positions, (b) transferred to different teaching positions in general education or to different schools (or both), and (c) left the teaching profession entirely. These teacher career transitions will also be analyzed by multiple regression techniques using numerous teacher demographic, qualification, and incentive variables relevant to teacher career transitions. Parallel analyses will be made of general education teachers so that both unique and common dimensions of teacher career paths in special and general education will be understood.

Products: The expected outcomes of this research will be its contribution to a deeper understanding of these phenomena from a national perspective relevant to the formation of more effective policies to improve the supply and retention of fully qualified teachers in special education. The objectives for dissemination of project findings and interpretations include the preparation of project reports in multiple formats for diverse constituencies (policy makers, administrators, researchers, and professionals at the federal, state, and local levels) in special education, and dissemination through print and electronic media, archival depositories, and presentations at relevant professional meetings in special education.

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Purpose: The ESCAPE Project is a three-year study designed to assess the effectiveness of a positive behavior support approach for addressing challenging behavior among elementary school children with or at risk of disabilities. The goal is to document an evidence-based, problem-solving approach to: (a) enhance the quality of interventions that children with disabilities and/or severe behavior problems receive in grades K-5; (b) prevent the need for special education and related services for children whose challenging behaviors place them at risk of developing severe behavior problems; and (c) promote professional development among educators to avert the onset of behavior problems for all children.

Methods: ESCAPE will conduct the following research activities: (a) evaluate the effects of the ESCAPE intervention on the social and academic function of children who exhibit severe challenging behaviors; (b) evaluate the effects of the ESCAPE training, implementation, and collaborative-research components on professionals and parent; (c) examine the social validity of ESCAPE; and (d) evaluate maintenance and generalization of ESCAPE treatment effects. Participants will include: (a) 84 school-based professionals and 96 parents of children in grades K-5 in Milwaukee and Madison , Wisconsin public schools; and (b) 96 children enrolled in the participating classrooms. The experimental method involves two components: (a) a five-step intervention component; and (b) a five-phase action-research component. Both components will be taught to experimental teams during initial training, and monitored through collaborative sessions between teams and ESCAPE research staff. Three elements of the ESCAPE intervention (functional assessment, positive behavior support, and collaboration) are designed to enable professionals and parents to develop effective interventions to accommodate challenging behaviors.

Products: The significance of ESCAPE lies in its potential contributions to knowledge of evidence-based approaches that accommodate and prevent severe challenging behaviors among children. ESCAPE is a comprehensive treatment approach; it broadens interventions to incorporate multiple strategies, which include restructuring environments, minimizing the occurrence of problem behaviors, and teaching functionally equivalent social-competence behaviors.

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Purpose: Positive behavioral support (PBS) has emerged recently as a comprehensive, proactive, and school-wide model with significant and positive findings in comparison to other practices, and can provide a set of practices (e.g., social skills instruction) and procedures for use in local schools.

Methods: The activities of this research project are to: (a) identify culturally and linguistically diverse students on a school-wide basis who may be at risk for problem behaviors, suspensions, and expulsions; and (b) examine PBS as an effective school-wide discipline intervention that minimizes discipline referrals, suspensions, and expulsions, thus reducing the over-identification of students with or at risk for EBD.

Products: Benefits of this research will be potential support for a "prevention" theory of over-identification and its reduction and culturally responsive PBS procedures. Additionally, students at risk and with EBD in multiple school sites will be involved in a school-wide prevention program where effective interventions are implemented to ensure a safe and productive school environment.

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Purpose: The project will conduct a participatory research effort to identify, refine, and disseminate successful approaches to strengthening linkages between families and schools in urban settings with regard to participation in individualized education programs as well as general education curriculum planning.

Methods: This project emerges from the work of the past four years of the National Institute for Urban School Improvement (NIUSI) to embed inclusive educational practices within larger initiatives for whole school reform. This research project uses a participatory research design and a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods. Family-teacher inquiry teams in Denver will work with the project research team to focus specific questions, learn data collection strategies and engage in research. Project staff will work closely with inquiry teams to analyze data and summarize findings.

Products: The benefit of this project is the following: (a) sustainable reform can only occur in a context of strong collaboration and partnership between school and home; and (b) successful inclusion of students with disabilities must also address the inclusion of the families of those students in the life and goals of the school. A range of products for all stakeholders will be developed.

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Purpose: This study will identify parent and teacher activities that assist the social inclusion and integration of children with disabilities in the school setting.

Methods: Participants will include 200 children in elementary school, ages 6-12, with congenital (n=50) or acquired (n=50) brain dysfunction and two comparison groups, one group with physical disability but not concomitant brain involvement (n=50) and another group of nondisabled children (n=50), plus parents/guardians. The specific aims are to: (a) identify direct parent and teacher activities (i.e., advocacy and direct facilitation of peer interactions) that assist children's social inclusion in the school setting, and (b) examine the child behaviors that predict social integration. The study will use a mixed multifactor design. Direct influences will be assessed with the Direct Methods Questionnaires for parents and teachers. Social integration will be assessed with the Friendship Contact Checklist, Peer Social Network Diagram, and teacher ratings of social functioning in the classroom. Child behavior will be assessed using the Observed Friendship Quality Scale. A brief neuropsychological evaluation will be performed to assess variables previously shown to be associated with social problem solving including level of intellect, attentional and executive functions, visual perception, and memory. Following descriptive analyses within groups, group means comparisons, and regression analyses will be conducted.

Products: The project will result in specific empirically informed guidelines for parenting, teaching, and advocacy efforts to facilitate school and community-based social integration of children with disabilities. Teacher- and parent-targeted guidelines will be disseminated in collaboration with the United Cerebral Palsy Association. Articles will be published in peer-reviewed scientific journals, and presentations will be made at national conferences of professional groups. Preconference workshops focusing on social integration will be held in conjunction with the Pediatric Rehabilitation conference.

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Purpose: Positive behavioral support (PBS) and functional behavioral assessment (FBA) are effective strategies for decreasing problem behavior and increasing appropriate behavior. Although PBS and FBA are considered best practices, a number of questions remain regarding widespread adoption, applicability across diverse populations/challenging behaviors, and long-term effectiveness. In addition, the project will develop and implement strategies for addressing inappropriate behavior of students with disabilities in schools, including strategies to prevent children with emotional/behavioral problems from developing emotional disturbances that require the provision of special education and related services.

Methods: The project will address three research areas: (a) widespread utilization of PBS, (b) applicability of PBS/FBA, and (c) evaluation of long-term effectiveness of PBS. For Research Area 1, after gathering initial information via telephone with team members, a questionnaire will be developed and widely administered to identify factors most likely to promote or inhibit successful PBS outcomes. Qualitative analyses then will be conducted with members from successful teams to ascertain strategies that address inhibitors and enhance functioning. For Research Area 2, this research will document the efficacy of the process across students with EBD with diverse challenges, including: (a) conduct problems, (b) psychiatric disorders, (c) withdrawal, (d) truancy, and (e) weapons violations. Single subject methodologies will be used to experimentally evaluate the effectiveness of the process. In addition, procedural variations (e.g., extended team membership, particular methodologies) necessary to develop effective support as a result of the student's unique needs will be carefully documented. For Research Area 3, long-term outcomes will be evaluated across a variety of areas critical to general well-being, including problem behavior, adaptive behavior, and quality of life indicators. Comprehensive follow-up data will be collected for a minimum of two years utilizing a variety of outcome measures.

Products: Information from this project will have direct impact on practices by: (a) providing a structured format (questionnaire) for teams to evaluate the presence/absence of factors relevant for success; and (b) delineating specific strategies to optimize team functioning. The research will directly contribute to practice by demonstrating applicability and documenting procedural variations when applying PBS to divergent groups/ challenges. This research will contribute critical information by empirically assessing the durability of initial gains achieved through PBS/FBA, which is directly relevant to long-term planning for individuals with disabilities.

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Purpose: Using procedures, materials, and instruments (e.g., direct observation, Pediatric Personality and Anger Expression Scales, Reactive- Proactive Aggression Scale) piloted through prior work, the project will study the efficacy of a cognitive-behavioral intervention (CBI) in preventing aggressive behavior in elementary students with pervasive behavioral deficits.

Methods: The CBI curriculum promotes self-regulation by teaching students problem-solving skills to use when frustrated or angry. The project will examine the relationship of treatment exposure (amount and duration), setting (class-wide versus pullout), and teacher variables to measures of student anger and disruptive/aggressive behavior using a hierarchical linear model to accommodate repeated measures and the nested nature of data. The project will track maintenance effects over a two-year period, assess social validity, and determine whether student demographic variables and aggressive profile affect treatment efficacy. In studying the prevention of aggressive behavior, the project hopes to increase the chances for students with or at risk for emotional/behavioral disorders (EBD) to be successful in the educational mainstream.

Products: Project findings will be disseminated to researchers and practitioners through manuscripts, reports, digests, conference presentations, and Web content.

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Purpose: This study will test and identify ways of promoting the adoption of best practices by multidisciplinary teams working in Early Intervention (EI) with families and their infants and toddlers who have delayed development or disabilities. The project will identify, study, and test the supports and strategies necessary for professionals and family members to adopt and use EI best practices in their day-to-day interactions with infants and toddlers.

Methods: Central to this purpose are collaborative research-practice partnerships involving multidisciplinary EI professionals, parents of infants and toddlers who are participants in early intervention programs, and expert mentors. Activities of this project will include: (a) testing the extent to which a strategy of collaborative research teams using participation action research (PAR) methodology results in adoption and use of best practices of EI professionals and families; and (b) maximizing children's learning and development through implementation of these practices. Practices will be categorized into three major groups: (a) interactions with families, (b) interactions with children, and (c) maximizing learning opportunities for children within the context of activities and routines that occur in their natural environments. The study will be implemented in four phases: (a) identification of key issues and desired outcomes, (b) adoption of action plans, (c) analysis and review of results, and (d) experimental replication. Phases II (adoption of action plans) and III (analysis and review of results) will be conducted with 15 PAR teams. Both quantitative and qualitative data about adoption/utilization of best practices and effects of use of best practices on children's outcomes will be gathered during this phase and used as the basis for Phase IV replication activities. Phase IV (experimental replication) will be based on a mixed-model design. Fifty teams (25 experimental and 25 contrast), each of whom is working with an infant/toddler who is receiving multidisciplinary EI services, will be recruited and selected for participation. Because the ease of adoption/utilization of best practices and the type of best practice may differ as a function of a child's degree of disability, both the experimental and control group will include infants with Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, multiple disabilities (including multi-sensory impaired), and developmental delay (without specific etiology).

Products: This project uses an action research framework to guide dissemination. Action research links researchers to experts (developers) together with practitioners and with families (implementers) to jointly apply new knowledge in practice situations and design dissemination strategies and products that are meaningful and useful to the consumer. By working together with parents and multiple-discipline professionals, the project will create print, audiovisual, and technological dissemination products that will be useful for a wide variety of audiences.

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Purpose: Studies demonstrate the effectiveness of procedures to teach students with disabilities to become involved in their IEP meetings, but no studies have examined internal meeting dynamics or educational outcomes. This project will complete quantitative and qualitative studies of 600 secondary IEP meetings of students with learning disabilities, emotional/behavior problems, and mental retardation.

Methods: Five urban, suburban, and rural Oklahoma public school districts will participate in this project. The project will use stratified random sampling, factorial designs, quantitative measures, and qualitative measures to study 600 IEP meetings. The project will determine if differences exist between the IEP meetings and outcomes when: (a) students attended their IEP meetings without IEP instruction, compared to when students do not attend; (b) students who attended their IEP meeting received IEP meeting instruction, compared to students who attended but had no IEP instruction; and (c) students who attended received IEP instruction and their IEP team received student facilitation training, compared to when students who attended had IEP meeting instruction but their teams had no IEP meeting student facilitation instruction.

Products: This project will produce scholarly research articles and teacher and parent practice-oriented articles, and project staff will present at conferences. In addition, the project will develop an instructional curriculum in the form of a student facilitation book that will be submitted to a national publisher. Findings will be published on the Web.

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Purpose: The project will examine how school environments may be "turned around" for students at risk for school failure if teachers and other school staff understand and readily apply themselves to the new tasks required to implement function-based supports.

Methods: Functional behavior assessment (FBA) seeks to identify environmental variables that are related to a problem behavior, such as laughter from peers or corrections from teachers that may (inadvertently) function to maintain problem behavior. Function-based support, because it respects the individual's perspective while taking into consideration the requirements of the school, is likely to prevent emotional disturbance and promote successful inclusion of students with disabilities. Students who stand out as having more frequent discipline referrals than the vast majority of their peers are at-risk for emotional disturbance requiring special education and related services, alternative placements, expulsion, dropout, and juvenile delinquency. This project has several layers of support including training and on-going technical assistance and development of school-based systems to facilitate: (a) early identification, (b) function-based assessments, (c) effective and relevant behavior support planning, and (d) data-based decision making. This project comprises three main features: (a) a wait-control group design with 30 schools randomly assigned to begin treatment in either Year 1 or Year 2, (b) sustainability examined over two years for the group starting in Year 1 and over one year for the group starting in Year 2, and (c) trainer of trainers model used to further develop the skills of local leaders at each site in Year 3.

Products: Results from the project will provide practitioners and researchers with FBA protocols that (a) produce more comprehensive, precise, and relevant information; (b) result in more effective and efficient behavior intervention plans; and (c) are easier and more practical to implement in real public school contexts.

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Purpose: Project LINK will focus on how to integrate health, education, and psychological assessments into positive behavior support plans for students with severe disabilities and challenging behavior.

Methods: Project LINK is a collaborative effort among researchers from Vanderbilt University 's Department of Special Education, its Medical Center , and the Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development, and from Nashville 's Metro School District . The project will examine how to integrate health, education, and psychological issues into comprehensive positive behavior support plans. There is growing evidence that many instances of chronic challenging behavior have associated health conditions that may be diagnosed and incorporated into support plans using current best practices. Project LINK will test a new model of positive behavior support that: (a) coordinates family, educational, health, and psychological supports; (b) provides comprehensive assessment information; (c) provides for interdisciplinary exchanges of important information; (d) provides a single point of contact at a student's school, and (e) allows for the long-term monitoring of positive behavior support. Project LINK will compare equivalent groups of students identified as having severe disabilities and chronic challenging behavior. Two groups, the LINK and Contrast groups, will be compared over the course of the project (total = 90 students). The Contrast group will receive a best practices intervention that includes functional assessment and positive behavioral supports. The LINK group will receive these assessments and supports as well, but will also receive the interdisciplinary health, education, and psychological services outlined above.

Products: Outcomes of the project will include: (a) the LINK Handbook which will function as a guide for developing comprehensive assessment and positive behavior supports, and a tool for suggesting specific steps that can be taken to improve student outcomes; (b) a research article presenting evidence of the efficacy of the Project LINK model; (c) a review article of current interdisciplinary assessments; (d) presentation of project findings at six national conferences; (e) creation of an interactive Web site for disseminating project information; and (f) a series of regional inservices and workshops for families, practitioners, and administrators.

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Purpose: This project will improve the care and early intervention services provided to infants and young children who are at risk for or who have disabilities, in order to promote their communication and language development.

Methods: The project will: (a) develop and test effective professional development strategies that result in successful collaboration with early childhood care providers to ensure that quality care and effective interventions are implemented in inclusive community child care programs; and (b) collaborate with early childhood caregivers in inclusive community child care settings to translate effective evidence-based communication and language-promoting strategies into practice to promote communication and language outcomes of infants and toddlers at risk for, and with disabilities.

Products: The project will broadly disseminate findings to early childhood care providers, administrators and researchers to promote practices resulting in the exemplary communication and language outcomes of infants and toddlers served in inclusive child care. The benefits of this project will include the advancement of the knowledge base regarding care-giving practices and interventions that can be effectively implemented by caregivers in community-based child care programs that contribute to exemplary communication and language gains of young children. Results from this project will be disseminated through journal articles for practitioners and researchers and through a Web site. This information will be relevant to child care practitioners, researchers, higher education personnel, teachers, parents, and policy makers.

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Purpose: This project will develop teacher-researcher collaborative partnerships to design, implement, and field test instructional practices for middle school-aged students with disabilities in inclusive school science and social studies classes. The project is intended to improve academic performance and access to the general education curriculum for students with disabilities.

Methods: Students with disabilities (specifically—learning disabilities, serious emotional disturbance, and mild mental disabilities) fall behind regular education students as they move into cognitively challenging areas of the general education curriculum, such as science and social studies instruction at the middle school levels. This project will build teacher-researcher partnerships to design and implement effective strategies such as peer mediation, comprehension strategy instruction, content enhancements, test-taking skills, and parent involvement. It is hypothesized that this model of designing and implementing instructional practices with teacher-researcher partnerships can increase access for students with disabilities to science and social studies curriculum, by providing specific strategy instruction and practice through an integrated model. In the first year, the project will develop the teacher-researcher partnership model and will study and document its implementation through a series of case studies. In the second year, a large-scale randomly assigned experimental study will further test the model. During the third year, a replication and extension study will be implemented, based upon feedback from previous years.

Products: Approximately 1,200 students, including 300 with disabilities and their parents, and 80 general and special education teachers will be involved as participants throughout the three-year project. These participants are expected to directly benefit from this project; furthermore, dissemination efforts will provide local, state, and national impact for the model of teacher-researcher partnerships to promote inclusive learning. Products, including case studies, research reports, and training manuals, will be developed for practitioner, parent, researcher, and policy audiences and disseminated via refereed journals, conference presentations, and the Web site.

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Purpose: This project will develop and validate a family-guided routines-based intervention model that meets the legislative mandates and the recommended practices of the field with empirical data to support the model components. The project will conduct single subject studies of family-guided routines-based intervention (FG-RBI) within a local community program to assure "real world" results and applications, in order to develop a better understanding of the factors that contribute to natural environments intervention and how to translate the information into procedures that will be effective, efficient, and nonintrusive for families.

Methods: The philosophy of natural environments intervention maximizes the time available for teaching and learning by dispersing the intervention throughout the day within frequently occurring activities and routines, using familiar materials and caregivers. Intervention becomes portable with the child practicing functional skills whenever and wherever they are useful and meaningful. This project will examine the efficacy of the natural environments intervention approach by answering these questions:

1. How should routines be identified for intervention?
2. How many routines should be used to promote generalization?
3. What methods of data collection are effective?
4. What adaptations are needed to overcome barriers that exist to implementation with families who have other children, have hectic schedules, live in poverty, or have special educational or health needs of their own?

A multiple baseline design with systematic replication is planned to increase the specificity of the results and ultimately the impact of the findings.

Products: Data gathered over the three years of the project will have a national impact with the following benefits: (a) contribute new knowledge and research reports on the types of routines families identify as most consistent and comfortable for intervention, (b) contribute new procedures for service providers about methods for assessment and intervention within daily routines, (c) describe effects of intervention within routines on the family's ability to generalize use of strategies to other daily activities and events, and (d) describe effects of the FG-RBI on the children's development as measured by their progress on Individualized Family Service Plan outcomes as well as standardized measures of development. Results will reach practitioners at local, state, and national levels through inservice workshops, conference presentations, short courses, and training manuals. Research results will be presented to policy makers and researchers at conferences of professional organizations and via journal articles.

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Purpose: This project targets early communicative exchanges between young children with substantial language delays and their social partners—primarily their families and their teachers. One of the greatest challenges confronting young children with severe mental retardation or autism is learning to communicate in unambiguous and socially acceptable ways. Early intervention is the key to meeting this challenge. Children who have not acquired a system of language by the age of 30 months are at risk for developing either problem behavior or learned helplessness because they cannot communicate effectively with speech, and thus they use informal gestures, facial expressions, body movements, and vocalizations. These nonverbal communicative behaviors may not be readily understood by social partners in various situations. Furthermore, when these efforts to communicate are unsuccessful, children may try either more coercive means (problem behavior) of accessing desired outcomes or they may stop trying entirely (learned helplessness). The project intends to address these situations in the following ways: (a) by developing "responsive" environments, and (b) by teaching children multiple communicative alternatives that are understood by and socially acceptable to a wide range of listeners (i.e., "resilience"). The project believes that this "reciprocal" approach to language intervention will foster both communicative resilience and reduce or prevent the occurrence of problem behavior and learned helplessness.

Methods: The project will conduct a logical sequence of studies that will involve about 30 children and their many social partners. In Year 1, an intensive descriptive study will be conducted by gathering data on eight children and their partners in two different contexts: (a) the natural environment and (b) structured and scripted protocols. In Year 2, intervention work will begin by developing a multicomponent intervention to enhance social partner responsiveness. The project will intervene with nine focal children by teaching multiple functionally equivalent and socially acceptable alternatives for requesting and protesting. Finally, in Year 3, the project will assess systematically the maintenance and generalization of newly acquired responding by social partners (responsiveness) and by nine new focal children (multiple socially acceptable, functionally equivalent alternative forms). The project staff will probe these responses by observing in naturally occurring situations within everyday routines.

Products: This project will influence the field of early language intervention for children with severe disabilities by generating comprehensive assessments and effective interventions that target children with, or at risk for, problem behavior, learned helplessness, or both. The project will disseminate information; present at local, state, and national conferences; distribute an assessment manual; and publish in both scholarly journals and practitioner journals.

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Purpose: Recent reform efforts in general education have recognized that contextual disparities among schools require different schools to modify and supplement instruction to meet the unique needs of students. Paradoxically, special education employs universal definitions and criteria defining disability categories (for example, learning disabled), with the presumption that "all" schools serve a uniform group with effective uniform services. This project will compare 200 students with learning disabilities (LD) and 200 low-achieving students served in schools differing on two salient dimensions: (a) income level of students and (b) school-wide student academic performance, with the hypothesis that the group of students identified as LD by schools differing along those dimensions will differ markedly from one another.

Methods: The project will identify four types of schools (Low-Low, Low-High, High-Low, High-High) based on income level and academic performance, and examine their contribution to differences in the following: (a) aptitude, level of reading and math achievement, and deportment of LD students; (b) restrictiveness of placement and IEP goals specified for LD students; and (c) magnitude of "unserved handicapped" students, who meet eligibility criteria but are denied services and accommodations to which they are entitled. The project will utilize the Academic Performance Index (API) compiled by the California State Department of Education, a reliable database on all schools reporting general academic performance, demographics of the student body, and the qualifications of the teaching staff. Data will by analyzed to describe how LD students in differing schools are served and to what extent their special education differs. With access to the API data, the project can efficiently address the following: (a) compatibility of special education and regular education and (b) under- and over-representation in special education.

Products: Findings will extend prior research that ignored variations in academic performance among schools serving low-income students and will inform policy, research, personnel preparation, and therefore the delivery of services to students with LD. Findings will be disseminated at the local, state, and national levels through various means, including presentations at professional conferences and publications in professional journals.

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Purpose: This study will develop a multi-level intervention program to prevent and treat disruptive behavioral disorders during the first two years of middle school, based on three themes which emerged from a statewide evaluation of services conducted by the project staff in North Carolina . First, the transition to middle school was identified as a period that exacerbates the adjustment difficulties of youth with/or at-risk of emotional or behavioral disorders (EBD). Second, general education teachers need training and support to better meet the behavioral and academic needs of youth with/or at-risk of EBD. Third, more collaboration is needed between education and related service agencies (e.g., mental health, social services, juvenile justice) to provide coordinated multi-agency interventions that are responsive to individual treatment needs and that build upon the strengths of students.

Methods: To address these concerns, Project BEST (Behavioral and Emotional Support Training) will develop, implement, and evaluate an inservice training and consultation program for special education teachers, general education teachers, and related services personnel. The program will focus on five components to provide behavioral and emotional supports for youth with/or at risk of developing EBD: (a) academic engagement enhancement; (b) competence enhancement behavior management; (c) career and extracurricular activities exploration; (d) individualized strengths enhancement; and (e) coordinated systems of support. The project will be conducted in five middle schools in two districts (a representative mid-size city and a rural county) in North Carolina .

Products: The information and strategies generated from this project will be disseminated to practitioners and researchers in a variety of ways, including: (a) direct training of strategies to teachers and related services personnel in five middle schools; (b) establishment of local advisory groups at these middle schools; (c) training manual; (d) linking this project to the State Improvement Plan of the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction and promoting exchange of information and training through the state's five behavioral support centers and the state's extensive network of behavioral consultants; and (e) presentations at local, state, and national conferences.

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Purpose: Project ABC will examine the impact of increased early access to books on the reading achievement of young children from low-income families. The project will provide a plentiful supply of books and other literacy-related materials to 90 children enrolled in Head Start programs, and will identify and follow 90 other children for comparison. Children will be assessed in preschool, kindergarten, and first grade to measure growth in early literacy development and beginning reading achievement.

Methods: In Year 1, project staff will meet four times with the parents of the children in the "Books" group to provide books and other literacy-related materials to be used in the home, along with information about how these materials can be used effectively. In Year 2, project staff will provide half of the children in the Books group (n=45) and half of the children in the No Books group (N=45) with daily early literacy intervention in their kindergarten classrooms. This will enable the determination of the effects of increased early access to books on children's responsiveness to early intervention. In Year 3, the project will conduct classroom observations and parent and teacher surveys to determine whether differences exist among the four groups (i.e., Books/Intervention, Books/No Intervention, No Books/Intervention, No Books/No Intervention) in reading behaviors, such as participation in reading group discussions, choice of reading as a free-time activity, and ability to choose books at an appropriate level of readability. Throughout the 3 years of the project, project staff will conduct interviews with a sample of parents to learn about literacy-related practices in the home and parents' perceptions of their children's literacy development. Joint storybook reading sessions with parents and children will be videotaped to examine differences in the types of interactions that occur.

Products: Project findings will be disseminated via written publications in a variety of formats, including journal articles, presentations at conferences, sending materials to state-funded centers and local school governing boards, and news media coverage.

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Purpose: This multidisciplinary collaborative project will determine the factors that influence enrollment, completion, and employment experiences of high school students with disabilities enrolled in career and technical education (CTE) programs in Illinois .

Methods: The project is a research partnership involving Western Michigan University , the Illinois State Board of Education, and a Research-to-Practice Team consisting of policy and practitioner stakeholders. The research will utilize population data on students enrolled in CTE programs collected by the Illinois State Board of Education. Data for 11 school years (1996 through 2006) will be analyzed through cross-sectional (year-by-year) analyses and overlapping four-year longitudinal panels. The project proposes six studies using the 11 years of data, including: (a) investigate measures used to assess students' career interests; (b) investigate the influence of demographic and environmental variables (including the career assessment indicators) on enrollment in CTE training level programs of students with disabilities; (c) investigate the influence of demographic and environmental variables (including the career assessment indicators) on participation in CTE work-based education experiences of students with disabilities; (d) investigate the influence of demographic and environmental variables on completion of CTE training level programs of students with disabilities; (e) determine the influence of student and environmental variables on students' post-school outcomes regarding postsecondary education and employment; and (f) investigate the influence of federal and state policy on CTE opportunities, enrollment, and services for students with disabilities. In each study, the experiences of students with disabilities of both genders and various ethnicities will be compared with those of a comparison group of students without disabilities.

Products: Project findings will be disseminated via a project Web site, research briefs at the completion of each study, conference presentations, manuscripts, and policy/practice workshops.

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Purpose: This project will conduct applied research on the efficacy of a research-based early intervention program for kindergarteners at risk for reading failure. The project will adapt Sound Partners, a supplementary phonics-based one-to-one tutoring program extensively evaluated for use with students grades 1-3, for a new application with kindergarten students.

Methods: Classroom teachers will identify students at mid-year who are most likely to experience reading failure. Students will be screened on assessments that reliably predict reading achievement. Trained paraprofessional tutors will provide students with a half-year of phonics-based tutoring, 4 days a week, for 30 minutes per day. School sites selected include both inner-city and middle-class urban schools to evaluate widespread replicability of the intervention.

Products: Study outcomes will include: (a) Students will be identified as at risk for reading disability (RD) earlier through reliable kindergarten screening; (b) students who fail to respond to typical year-long first-grade intervention can be identified earlier for extended supplementary assistance; (c) students at risk for RD due to English as a second language status will be introduced to the English sound system and provided explicit phonics instruction to allow them to fully participate in critical first-grade reading instruction; and (d) students who require more skilled instruction in special education will be identified sooner by documenting response to kindergarten treatment.

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Purpose: This project will study the effects of paraeducators on student achievement by documenting the use of certain research-based literacy methods and techniques among paraeducators in Colorado who have taken CO-TOP training and among those who have not. CO-TOP (Comprehensive Training Opportunities for Paraeducators) includes feedback and coaching as an integral part of a paraeducator training program. The project will consider two sets of factors: (a) paraeducator use of certain identified research-based literacy techniques, and (b) select contextual features of the special education programs that employ them, such as coaching and feedback.

Methods: The study will include observations, interviews, self-reports, etc. and both quantitative and qualitative analyses. First, a sample of about 50 paraeducators who have taken CO-TOP training and another group of 50 who have not taken the training but work in the same schools will be randomly selected. Second, 100 paraeducators will be observed in context to determine: (a) the extent to which paraeducators use the identified research-based techniques, (b) the extent to which the identified practices are evident elsewhere in the context, and (c) the amount of feedback and coaching evident in the context. To supplement the observation data, paraeducators will submit self-reports of how they use the specified techniques on the job. Third, about 25 paraeducators will participate in focus group interviews to provide information about the factors associated with use of the identified techniques. Fourth, 100 teachers who supervise the paraeducators in the study will be asked to provide assessments of paraeducators' use of the identified techniques and participate in individual interviews regarding their provision of feedback and coaching to paraeducators.

Products: At least 12 lectures and/or poster sessions will be presented at selected national conferences and meetings, and 10 presentations will be made at state conferences and meetings. Written reports and manuscripts will be created for publication in suitable journals. A desk reference will be produced that lists findings and recommendations in a bulleted format. The desk reference will be placed on the project's Web site along with PowerPoint slides from conference presentations.

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Purpose: This project will identify and investigate alignment of curriculum, assessment, and accountability policies across three levels (i.e., school, local education agency, and state education agency) for day treatment and residential schools for students with emotional/behavioral disorders (EBD) and schools for youth committed to juvenile correctional facilities; and will identify teacher instructional adaptations and assessment accommodations in mathematics and English for secondary students with learning and behavioral disabilities in these alternative settings.

Methods: Project activities will include: (a) mail national surveys to LEA and SEA directors of special education; (b) mail national surveys to principals; (c) examine SEA, LEA, and school-level policies via case study designs (i.e., structured interviews, policy document review); (d) mail national surveys to special education math and English teachers; and (e) investigate instructional and assessment variables via case study designs (i.e., observation, structured interviews, document review) of math and English teachers.

Products: Project outcomes will include: (a) a written report to the Department of Education and submissions to scholarly and practitioner-oriented journals; (b) briefs and reports in association with supporting organizations; and (c) presentations at local and national conferences.

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Purpose: Project Prevent will: (a) determine the extent to which empirically validated screening procedures detect the same type of students; (b) examine the academic, social, and behavioral characteristics of students identified by recommended screening procedures; (c) explore the successes and challenges of implementing screening procedures in high-performing and at-risk schools; (d) identify the extent to which these at-risk youth respond to primary interventions; (e) examine the effectiveness of secondary academic, behavioral, and combined interventions relative to controls for preventing the development of emotional disturbance; and (f) identify the characteristics of students who are, and are not, responsive to secondary interventions.

Methods: Study 1, "Screen, Assess, and Follow," addresses questions pertaining to screening and seeks to determine the extent to which students identified as at-risk respond to the district-wide positive behavior support program being implemented in Williamson County , Tennessee . Four elementary schools (2 high performing, 2 at risk) are implementing, with district support, a primary-level positive behavior support plan. Students identified as at risk for later developing emotional disturbances (ED, anticipated n = 200) will become part of the identified at-risk sample and will continue forward with multimethod, multisource assessments over the three years. Study 2,"Screen, Assess, Intervene, and Follow," will explore questions about the utility of more focused, secondary interventions in preventing the development of ED in students identified as at risk. Study 2 will implement the same screening procedures in another four elementary schools, and will explore the additive benefits of secondary interventions focusing on academic, behavioral, and combined domains provided in conjunction with the district-wide primary intervention plan over a two-year period. The effectiveness of the secondary interventions will be evaluated with multivariate procedures and single case methodology.

Products: Materials such as staff training manuals for academic and behavioral secondary interventions, evaluation tools, conference presentations, and formative and summative reports will be developed, and will be distributed in a variety of formats (e.g., videotapes, audiotapes, Web access). Trainings on implementation strategies will also be made available at local, state, and national levels.

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Purpose: This project will investigate the effectiveness of a multicomponent self-regulated strategy instructional approach on multiple measures of expository reading comprehension and writing of fifth-grade students who struggle with reading and writing, with instruction implemented by special education or general education teachers in Science and Social Studies classrooms. The project will focus on the "Think Before Reading, Think While Reading, Think After Reading" reading comprehension strategy and the PLANS (Pick goals, List ways to meet goals, And make Notes, Sequence notes) essay-writing strategy, with self-regulated strategy development (SRSD) instruction.

Methods: The project will involve three studies over a 3-year period: (a) a group design components analysis study with 144 students with high-incidence disabilities, (b) a group experimental study with 162 students with and without disabilities with special or general educator-taught lessons in small homogeneous reading groups, and (c) a group experimental study with 162 students with and without disabilities with teacher-taught lessons implemented in heterogeneous Social Studies and Science classrooms.

Products: The project will produce a detailed instructional manual and videotape for elementary school teachers that will provide lesson plans, instructional materials, and procedures for modifying instruction to meet the needs of students with high-incidence disabilities in a variety of settings. Other products will include final reports of project outcomes presented in refereed journals for both research and teacher audiences, presentations at regional and national conferences, and seminars for elementary teachers of students with high-incidence disabilities.

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Purpose: Project AAIMS will examine the alignment of algebra curriculum, assessment, and instruction in general and special education, and develop and validate a set of algebra assessment tools that can be used in both general and special education settings to impact increased academic achievement for students with high-incidence disabilities.

Methods: The project will: (a) engage in collaborative planning and continuous feedback; (b) examine the alignment of curriculum, assessment, and instructional practices for algebra in general and special education; (c) develop, test, and refine progress monitoring measures for algebra; (d) replicate the technical adequacy studies across multiple sites; (e) examine issues related to teachers' use of algebra assessment data; and (f) disseminate results to practitioners, researchers, and policy makers in local, regional, and national audiences. Participants will include 19 general and special education teachers of mathematics and 1,175 secondary students (including approximately 80 students with high-incidence disabilities) from three Iowa school districts.

Products: Project AAIMS will result in establishment of technically sound algebra assessment tools to assist teachers in monitoring the progress of students as they learn algebra. Findings regarding these tools will be disseminated to teachers, researchers, administrators, technical assistance providers, and policymakers both regionally and nationally.

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Purpose: This project will examine the impact of early identification of hearing loss on children ages 4-7 who are deaf or hard of hearing. A primary hypothesis of the study is that four groups of children will emerge during the preschool and early school-age period: (a) early-identified "high maintainers" (children identified within the first six months of life who have maintained language development within the normal range); (b) early-identified "decelerators" (children identified within the first six months of life who have been unable to maintain language development within the normal range); (c) late-identified "accelerators" (children identified after six months of age who have been able to achieve language development within the normal range); and (d) late-identified "low maintainers" (children identified after six months of age who have been unable to maintain language development within the normal range).

Methods: Participants will include 100 children who are deaf or hard of hearing who have been followed longitudinally from identification of hearing loss to 3 years of age. The children will be assessed annually using a variety of parent-report and clinician-administered speech and language measures. In addition, spontaneous speech and language will be analyzed based on an elicited conversational and narrative sample. The validity of the four-group hypothesis will be tested using discriminant analysis procedures and, if validated, the characteristics of these groups will be compared using developmental questionnaire data, language sample analysis, a measure of parent involvement, a measure of nonverbal performance intelligence, and parent sign language skill.

Products: Project findings will be disseminated via research presentations to professional groups; articles in peer-reviewed journals, parenting magazines, and newspapers; and the Web site of the Marion Downs National Center .

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Purpose: A wraparound approach is a tertiary-level intervention for children with emotional and behavioral disorders that provides a unique set of community services and natural supports individualized for that child and family to achieve a positive set of outcomes. This project will evaluate the effectiveness of wraparound services using a randomized experimental research design.

Methods: Students with emotional disturbance (ED) or at risk for ED and their families will be randomly assigned to either an experimental group or a control group. The experimental group will receive wraparound services (i.e., intensive service coordination, interagency family planning teams, unified service plans, family involvement, and teacher assistance teams). The control group will receive standard practice. The study will assess the outcomes of the wraparound services, assess the implementation of the program, and assess the cause and effect relationship between the treatment and outcomes variables.

Products: Project results and products will be made available to training coordinators in universities and local agencies, policymakers, direct service providers, and academic researchers. A mailing list will be developed for the dissemination of information through a series of working papers and progress reports. Staff will present reports at various professional meetings. Reports of the implementation and results will be written and published in manual style at the conclusion of the project.

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Purpose: Relationship-focused intervention (RF) is a parent-mediated approach for addressing the developmental and socioemotional needs of young children at risk for or having disabilities, in which parents engage in responsive interactions with their children. This 5-year research project is an extension of a recently completed RF research study which indicated that RF was very effective at addressing children's developmental and socioemotional needs over a 12-month period. The project will replicate and expand the original findings by assessing the impact of RF intervention on a group of 133 children with diagnosed mental health concerns and their parents over a 1-year period and comparing them to a randomly selected control group of 67 children and parents who will receive alternative early childhood mental health services.

Methods: Children in the RF treatment group will receive the Responsive Teaching intervention in the context of individualized, weekly sessions with their parents for a period of 12 months. The study will evaluate the effects of RF intervention on children's socioemotional, communication, and cognitive functioning over an 18-month period. It will also examine the characteristics of families that contribute to the implementation of RF interventions as well as the impact that RF has on parents.

Products: Project results will be distributed to the OSERS research and training c