Research Proposal on "No Child Left Behind Program"

Research Proposal 7 pages (2255 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

No Child Left Behind

Data Collection and Data Analysis

Time Scale

The intent of this paper is to evaluate efficacy of counselling sessions held in a secondary school setting for educators to provide desired help to the students diagnosed with Emotional and Behavioural Disorders considering the value of No Child Left Behind act 2001. This paper is divided into six parts. First part provides information about the program, statute used and the reason behind creating this program. Second part describes the proposed method for evaluation of program efficacy, thirds part contains information about the collection and analysis of data, fourth part explains the anticipated outcome / conclusion, fifth part provides recommendations on this subject together with the anticipated time scale for the complete study. Sixth part contains list of publications utilized for the study.

Teacher education programs provide training for teachers and administrators in the area of mental health for children and how to identify the early symptoms of a mental health disorder in children or adolescents. There is an urgent need for all teachers and school administrators to familiarize themselves about children's mental health as well as the management resources that are available for them to provide desired help for students with Emotional and Behavioural Disorders. This paper will provide help in recognizing and understanding the importance of children's emotional and behavioural well-being together with their mental health.

No Child Left Behind

Introduction

Rroughly 4 million American young people are known to possess significant emotional and behavioral disorders that severely disrupt their daily lives and the lives of their families. (Lechtenberger and Mullins, 2004) According to one report it has been noted that two thirds of these young people do not receive the required supports and services to fulfill their mental health requirements in order to lead healthy, productive lives in their communities (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2004a). Due to these depressing figures, educators are encouraged to provide desired support for students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders (EBD). Increased academic standards, coupled with the challenge of high-stakes testing requirements, have created highly pressurized learning environments for most students and their teachers. (Richardson, 2006)

Efforts to address these priorities by school personnel is ultimately designed to decrease student dropout rates, improve school discipline and classroom behavior management, as well as to meet adequate yearly progress (AYP) requirements for student performance. (Miles, Burns, Osher and Walker, 2006) Unfortunately, the additional pressure on students may lead to more acting out behavior and an increase in some students becoming depressed or overwhelmed as they work to keep pace with these current educational demands. These stressors may be especially taxing for students with EBD. Mental health disorders do not discriminate, and their accompanying challenges can be found in families across all ethnic, socioeconomic, and educational backgrounds. Students identified as EBD are also more likely to be from a nontraditional home environment, such as a single parent household or a foster care placement (Richard and Davis, 2005). Also, White and African-American students, as well as students from lower socioeconomic standings, are all noted to be overrepresented in the percentage of students labeled as having EBD (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2004a).

Professional development delivered by mental health professionals also provides skill training on a variety of topics for school personnel, including how to distinguish between typical and troubled social-emotional development in students as well as what actions to take with students from either category. (Sugai & Horner, 2002) Mental health personnel can also provide referrals that link families to other community programs and resources. Some mental health service providers have developed creative billing strategies that can support their participation in parent conferences and student individualized education program (IEP) meetings. (Lewis, Powers, Kelk & Newcomer, 2002) This type of partnership can create a problem-solving team who can get a more holistic view of what is going on with a student who is experiencing difficulties in school, in the community, or at home. Utilizing this team approach can also enhance the recruitment and retention of quality teachers by providing supports and services that will help newly certified teachers survive their first years on the job as well as assisting veteran teachers in avoiding professional burnout from working with students who have EBD.

Although Positive Behavior Support (PBS) training is commonly delivered through in service and other professional development opportunities for existing school personnel, many pre-service teacher education programs have identified this as an evidence-based practice and have begun to provide this training to educators in order to prepare new teachers in using PBS to address behavior in their future classrooms. Hence, a program was created to train educators of a secondary school in order to help them dealing with the emotional and behavioral misconducts of the children diagnosed with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders with in the school having No Child Left Behind concept in mind. (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2004a) The funding for the program was approved and provided by the stake holder beforehand. Five expert physicians of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders were hired to educate and provide training to the teachers. These sessions were arranged in after school hours and maximum numbers of educators were encouraged to attend the program. Subsequent to these training the author of this study was consulted by the stake holder to evaluate the efficacy of training sessions from teachers' point-of-view.

Proposed Methods for the Evaluation

Two months subsequent to the training sessions, 30 educators who were present at the training sessions will be contacted by the author in order to find out about their opinion concerning efficacy of the program for students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders. These teachers will be seen by the author personally and they will be asked to answer 5 questions given to them in a questionnaire Following questions will be asked in the questionnaire from the teachers.

1. Was the training effective in familiarizing yourself with the basics of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders in children?

2. If yes, please explain how did the training affect you in providing an extra help for students who have been diagnosed with Emotional and Behavioral Disorder?

3. Did you observe any positive change in the behavioral conducts of these students subsequent to training sessions?

4. If yes, please explain the type and extent of improvement.

5. Would it be beneficial to arrange these counseling sessions on regular basis for educators in order to provide extra help for students diagnosed with EBD?

Data Collection and Analysis

The questionnaires will be collected physically from the teachers by the evaluator. The outcomes will be analyzed through statistical applications and SPSS. The classic experimental design will be utilized for the study. The most important positive aspect of an experimental design is that, if carried out correctly, it can expose causality. Eexperimental design is thought of as the most accurate form of experimental research, used to prove or refute a hypothesis using numerical and statistical tools. Though experiments are quite useful in describing cause and effect relationships, they also have a number of disadvantages. (Sugai and Horner, 2002) That are, good experiments are difficult to conduct. Experimental designs sometimes generate significant artificiality. Lastly, some times, it is questioned how to justify and prove it to be ethical to use individual's experience concerning things being studied.

Conclusion

It is expected that early intervention of children at risk for EBD will provide promising results if treatment is provided to these children and the families are engaged and supported during their counseling. Schools can be served effectively as prime settings for possible early screening, early identification, and mental health interventions for children with EBD. Families frequent such facilities with their young children, especially primary care physicians, pediatricians, day-care facilities, and elementary schools. Young children could be easily screened for early warning signs of emotional and behavioral concerns. Unfortunately, there is a shortage of competently trained personnel, especially on school campuses and childcare centers where these assessments would be the most beneficial.

The natural connection between system of care communities and PBS is through the schools; therefore, interagency and cross-disciplinary training efforts will bridge these two strength-based reform initiatives to create communities and schools that can work together to support better outcomes for students with EBD. This program was designed to support children with EBD focusing on identifying what they really need, (b) building on child and family strengths, (c) utilizing both formal and informal supports, and (d) providing services that are flexible and individualized. Most students who fall within the top tier of the PBS triangle have exhausted traditional school programs and behavioral interventions. By bringing together the significant people in a student's life, the effective intervention programs are expected to provide a multidisciplinary approach that will enhance the traditional school program for students who fall within the category of sufferers of EBD.

Recommendations

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