The Effects Of Inservice Training On Information Acquisition, Retention, And Self-efficacy Of Special Education Personnel.

With the mainstreaming of severely retarded populations into school settings, there is a need for inservice training of special education staff in classroom management techniques and data collection. This study addresses the need to develop an effective inservice package for special education personnel; to evaluate the effectiveness of various techniques and packages currently used for inservice training utilizing a common core of instructional content; to evaluate the long term effects of training under different formats; and to assess the individual contributions to training of feedback, the pre-test, segmental versus non-segmental training presentations, staff status, the use of jargon, the relationship of information to application, and perceived self-efficacy. This study used out-of-the-classroom training of 119 teachers and aides of severely and trainable impaired students randomly selected for developmental and time-on-task control groups and six treatments which included lecture; videotaped modeling; videotaped modeling and role-playing with and without peer feedback; videotaped modeling, role-playing and feedback without a pre-test; and a serial presentation over six days of videotaped modeling, role-playing, and feedback. The dependent variables of information acquisition, retention, and perceived self-efficacy were measured by instruments developed for this study. The modeling videotapes, role-playing exercises, peer feedback slips, and a data-collection work book were also developed for this study. Analyses of variance, non-parametric statistical measures, student and dependent t's were used to analyse the data. Data suggest that a serial treatment is superior to all other treatments in information acquisition, retention, and the development of feelings of self-efficacy. An interaction effect between employee status (teacher vs. aide) and treatment format was not found. Jargon hinders the learning of concepts. A pre-test may contribute to the efficiency of concept acquisition. Feedback is not a significant contribution when not given on a repeated basis. Feelings of perceived self-efficacy are related to status.Ph.D.EducationEducational psychologyUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/127616/2/8225058.pd