5105.0: Wednesday, November 15, 2000 - Board 5

Abstract #7889

Measuring Participation and the School Environment of Students with Disabilities

Dawn Carlson, PhD, National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, 330 C Street SW, Suite 3042, Washington, DC 20202 and Rune J. Simeonsson, PhD, Frank Porter Graham Center for Child Development, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, CB #8185, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, 919-966-6634, rune_simeonsson@unc.edu.

This paper describes the construction of aggregate participation and environment measures to investigate the complex interaction between students with disabilities and the school environment. Data from a national survey of schools (n=1180) were used as inputs into two second order structural equation models. The weighed composite scores of student participation and supportive social and psychological factors termed the school ecology correlated highly, given the post hoc nature of the analysis. This relatively new approach to special education research substantiated the long-held belief that supportive attitudes greatly enable students with disabilities to participate in important learning activities to a greater extent than does the mere provision of participation opportunities associated with larger school size and physical resource availability.

Learning Objectives: 1. Identify and relate sets of school activities and social and psychological indicators of support in an interactive person-environment scheme. 2. Construct aggregate measures of participation and support. 3. Study the effects of supportive environmental factors, constructs, and beliefs on student participation using aggregate measures of participation and support

Keywords: Children With Special Needs, School-Based Programs

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

The 128th Annual Meeting of APHA