Volume 25 Number 2
January 1986

Carl G. Foster and Emma Gabel

IN RURAL NORTHEASTERN ARIZONA, the Chinle Agency is one of five Bureau of Indian Affairs sites responsible for the education of the Navajo Tribe's kindergarten through high school age population. Ten schools are strategically located with the Agency's 850 square mile boundary and offer a variety of programming to 2,800 students during a 180-day school year.

A teaching staff of 120 implement a pretest/posttest curriculum during a six-and-one-half-hour school day. Nine special education teachers and 12 education aides instruct 263 exceptional students in 11 resource and two self-contained classrooms daily. A "related service" staff of a school psychologist, an educational diagnostician, a speech pathologist, an occupational therapist and two speech/occqpational therapy technicians continuously service the special education classrooms. An Agency-housed Special Education Office staff--consisting of a child find technician, a secretary, a budget technician and a coordinator--synchronize program offerings.

The Special Education Office yearly surveys the Agency's schools to ascertain program strengths and weaknesses. The SY-84 questionnaire investigated parental involvement in special education, regular educator understanding of special education practices and procedures, exceptional student achievement and teacher certification. Results of this survey reported that parents had minimal knowledge of their child's special education program and regular educators expressed difficulty teaching the mainstreamed exceptional child.

Although the questionnaire asked that exceptional student school-year achievement be reported, none of the 10 schools reported such data. All sampled staff requested training which was applicable to a degree, certification and in accordance with Bureau special education procedures. Based on these facts, a Summer Supplemental Special Education Program was implemented. The Program's purpose was to: 1) provide exceptional students with instruction beyond the 180-day school-year; 2) inform parents of P.L. 94-142 regulations and practices; 3) train regular teachers and dormitory aides in special education procedures; and 4) provide university undergraduate/graduate credit applicable to a degree and/or Arizona teacher certification.

From June 4 through July 20, the Pinon Boarding School served 57 kindergarten through junior high school age exceptional students. These students were special education classified as learning disabled, emotionally handicapped, mentally retarded, speech/language disordered and physically impaired. The Program was eight hours a day, five days a week for the staff and 24 hours a day, five days a week for students. Five Pinon School regular teachers and five Agency-wide special education teachers team-taught 11 exceptional students per classroom math, reading, language arts and behavior management skills for four hours a day. Three occupational/speech therapy technicians provided 30 minutes of therapy a day to 20 students. Ten dormitory aides and two creation technicians supervised evening home living and recreational activities. Because of the vast distance between the school and the student's home, two drivers continuously transported students and parents to and from the setting.

At the Program's beginning, school-year Individualized Educational Plans (IEPs) and school-year teacher narratives of exceptional student performance were reviewed by the Summer Program staff to ascertain entry levels. For validation, Summer Program teachers administered a standardized achievement inventory and the speech/occupational therapy technicians gave an Agency-constructed instrument. The dormitory staff observed and noted unusual behavior in their areas. These results and school-year data were amalgamated into Summer Individualized Educational Plan goals. Instruction was implemented in accordance with these plans with weekly assessment measuring exceptional student progression toward established goals. Weekly lesson plans were written predicting the amount of information to be taught and the methods of instruction to be implemented. At the end of the Program, student performance was quantified and condensed into "exit reports" for the "home school" and parent use.

To ensure that the Program's four goals were met, the director frequently evaluated various settings. One night a week, the director slept in the dormitory with the students. Classrooms were monitored daily, to ensure that instruction was in accordance with formulated IEP goals, and two meals were eaten with the students. In each setting, lesson plans and/or student performance were randomly reviewed and used as a guide to measure the appropriateness and the least restrictiveness of the activity. At the end of every observation, verbal or written recommendations were made to the staff involved. Monday mornings and Friday afternoons, while students were being transported to and from the school, staff prepared their instructional setting, had in-service on selected topics and solved problems regarding the Program.

Because of the intense Southwest heat and the lack of air-conditioning, classroom and dormitory facilities became extremely hot. Therefore, Tuesday through Thursday afternoons and early evenings, outdoor activities were provided. Each week, several staff members were assigned to plan and to implement highly structured activities. All activities involved gross and fine motor movement and socialization skills. Interest was always given to ensure that each activity was appropriate for the student's age and level of performance.

Student achievement, regular teacher attitudes and dormitory aide/speech technician performance were assessed through a pretest/posttest, no control group, experimental research design. Regular teacher, dormitory aide and speech/occupational therapy technical knowledge of special education was evaluated in accordance with the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, College of Education, Internship in Special Education/field study course syllabus. Parents, community members and school board knowledge of P.L. 94-142 was subjectively measured through observation.

Regular teachers completed the Minnesota Teacher Attitude Inventory. The exceptional student was teacher-administered the Bragance Diagnostic Inventory of Basic Skills, and speech/occupational therapy students were assessed through an Agency devised instrument. A Program-Prepared Opinionnaire evaluated dormitory aide and technician performance. Statistical means and standard deviations scores were computed for the Minnesota and the Opinionnaire. In each student's Brigance "Grade Level Test Profile," five academic area scores were averaged with a mean of the means and a standard deviation calculated. A two-tailed T-test, at an alpha of .05, was computed for the Brigance and the Minnesota. Due to the nature of the Opinionnaire, only means and standard deviations were possible.

Five regular teachers interned in special education and ten dormitory aides participated in field study exercises. Interns were required to: 1) have a working understanding of IEP construction, implementation and monitoring; 2) develop prescriptive teaching methods; and 3) become familiar with various student assessment instruments. Field study course participants were exposed to: 1) numerous special education classified students; 2) IEP implementation and monitoring; and 3) various teaching methods.

Seventy-seven parents and community members visited the Program. Each visitor received a two-hour in-service on P.L. 94-142 procedures, observed Program activities, and, whenever possible, assisted teachers with instruction. Visitor shifts in special education knowledge were measured through the amount of time spent at the school, the type of questions asked of the staff and the general feedback about the Program.

The five Pinon Boarding School regular teachers completed the Minnesota Teacher Attitude Inventory during the first and the seventh weeks of the Program. A pretest mean of 8.33 with a standard deviation of 2.55 was calculated. A posttest mean of 17.0 and a standard deviation of 2.65 were also tabulated. A T-score of 1.65 was obtained and compared to a critical T-score of 2.22.

The Brigance Diagnostic Inventory of Basic Skills "Grade Level Test Profile" scores were compiled on 47 students the second and the sixth weeks. These scores reflected student achievement averages in reading comfortability, word recognition, spelling and math. A pretest "Grade Level Test Profile" mean of the means was 1.52 with a standard deviation of 1.0. The posttest mean of the means score was 2.44 with a standard deviation of 1.26. A T-score of 3.03 was obtained and compared to a critical T-score of 2.02.

A speech/occupational therapy Agency-devised instrument was technician administered to 20 students during the Program's second and sixth weeks. Entry student speech/occupational therapy needs were gleaned with instruction implemented. However, posttest results were in error, enabling no inferences to be drawn about therapy shifts.

Dormitory aide and technician performance was assessed through a Program Prepared Opinionnaire during the second and the seventh weeks of the Program. A Likert Scale of one (poor) through five (superior) was attached to the Opinionnaire's 57 stems and measured student interaction, teaching environment and the utilization of appropriate skills for student learning. The pretest mean was 2.21 with a standard deviation of .23. A posttest mean of 3.94, with a standard deviation of .34 was also computed.

Persons enrolled in the internship in special education or the field study courses were evaluated in accordance with the course syllabus objectives. A grade of B or better was awarded.

A significant number of visitors traveled hours to inspect the Program. Although in-service and observation of the setting only took a few hours, many stayed for the entire eight-hour school day. Five parents returned to the school several times to ask more questions and to assist the teacher with the instruction of their child. A representative of the Navajo Tribe's Division of Education traveled from Window Rock three hours, viewed the Program for six hours, and returned the same day. All visitors spent a great deal of time talking with the staff and gleaning information about special education or what instruction would benefit their child more. Most often asked questions were how the EEP was implemented and what teaching methods were the best for learning.

The Chinle Agency's Summer Supplemental Special Education Program trained 137 people. Analysis of data overwhelmingly supports that this training raised participant special education knowledge and skills. Most significant is that the majority of the Pinon Boarding School's staff and 80 percent of the Agency's kindergarten through junior high school age exceptional student population received instruction which augmented an appropriate and a least restrictive educational environment.

Although the Pinon Boarding School's five regular teachers attitudes did not significantly shift, there was noticeable change by the Program's end. A review of the Minnesota Teacher Attitude Inventory's results seems to reveal that these regular teacher attitudes were conservative at the beginning of training. However, posttest data indicated that these regular teachers attitudes became less conservative, revealing that the training affected their feelings about teaching the exceptional student.

The Bragance Diagnostic Inventory of Basic Skills measured the impact of four hours of intense daily instruction had on student achievement. Averages of student knowledge in reading, math and language arts reported that significant shifts were made. A comparison of the pretest and the posttest mean of the means suggests that the Navajo exceptional student increased an average of one-year. Interestingly, these 47 measured exceptional students performed best in math, average in reading and satisfactorily in language arts.

An Agency devised speech/occupational therapy instrument assessed student therapy shifts. Due to an error in posttesting, no data were compiled from which inferences could be drawn. Nevertheless, upon inspection of student speech/occupational therapy IEP goals and instructional objectives, it was found that 95 percent were completed. Further, instruction seemed to be in accordance with desired therapy goal attainment with supporting documentation solidifying that daily therapy increased the student's speech and/or motoric range.

At the beginning of the Program, dormitory aides and the speech/occupational therapy technician performed at Likert Scale "fair" on the Program Prepared Opinionnaire. On the posttest, these persons averaged a strong Likert Scale "good." Based on these Opinionnaire scores, aides and technicians significantly shifted in performance which seemed to indicate that this training promoted instruction applicable to exceptional student need and direction.

The internship in special education and the field study courses enabled three hours of university credit to be applied toward a degree and/or Arizona teacher certification. The awarding of a B or better grade suggests that the participants have an excellent grasp of special education knowledge and skills paramount for instructing the Chinle Agency's mainstreamed exceptional students. These two indicators seem to predict that these 20 non-special educators have a working understanding of P.L. 94-142 and will be better participants in special education programming.

Visitors traveled far to view the Program, suggesting that they were seeking training. A majority of these visitors spent at least six hours at the school asking questions and observing instruction. Most interesting was that many educational organizations and Bureau schools sent representatives to inspect the program. The Chinle Agency School Board took a day out of its busy schedule to tour the Program and has requested that this training be expanded to include as many of the Agency's faculty as possible. Also, a public school principal, who made numerous trips to the site, has asked if his staff could be included in future training programs of this type.

Not measured, but an integral contributor to the Program's success, was continuous communication between and among staff. The residential aide quickly learned that the exceptional student needed highly structured closely supervised activities. Based on these observations, suggestions for activities were sought from the academic staff. Also, "teaching teams" agreed that the special education teacher would be responsible for the classroom the first three weeks of the Program and then relinquish this responsibility to the regular teacher for the remainder of the Program. Staff soon found that a behavior management system was necessary to terminate aberrant behaviors and decided on a "point system" where the student could "buy" time or items for appropriate behavior. Because of this communication between and among the staff, many ideas were shared, problems resolved and instruction appropriate and least restrictive for the student.

The Chinle Agency is a Bureau of Indian Affairs charge which is actively training its employees and community in special education practices and procedures. One, seven-week in-service enabled 137 participants to acquire information which promote an appropriate and a least restrictive school environment for the exceptional student. Training is the key to implementing P.L. 94-142 and the Chinle Agency is the leader from which other Bureau schools can imitate.