| dc.description.abstract | Improvement in the quality and quantity of parental involvement in special education has been sought for years, especially since the passage of Public Law 94-142. The present study was designed to investigate the effect of simple environmental manipulation on parent-teacher inter action during morning arrival time at a preschool serving multiply handicapped children. Subjects were 17 parents and caregivers of eight children enrolled in the pre-school. The parents and caregivers of the children rep resented a wide range of socio-economic backgrounds. Five female preschool staff members were also involved. Parent-teacher interactions were observed daily during the twenty minute arrival time, in two different conditions, initially outside the classroom, followed by arrival time inside the classroom. The arrival site then was moved to the Outside condition to end the study. Parent-teacher contacts were recorded in terms of frequency, content, and duration of interaction. The results indicate the frequency of parent-teacher interaction was significantly higher in the Outside condition than in the Inside condition. The duration of individual parent teacher contacts was slightly higher in the Inside condition. In both conditions the content of parent-teacher interactions was focused primarily on child-related topics, 1 followed by miscellaneous topics, and lastly, child problem topics. The difference in frequency of inter action between the two conditions appears to have resulted from an overall increase in the rate of parental inter actions with teachers in the Outside condition. | en_US |
