Increasing the Problem-Solving Skills of Students with Developmental Disabilities Participating in General Education
چکیده
Although skill in problem solving is critical to success In school and the community, as well as to promoting student self-determination, problem solving remains a neglected curriculum area for students with developmental disabilities. Using the self-determined learning model, 4 students with mental retardation or developmental disabilities were taught problem-solving skills to achieve self-set goals. A multiple-baselineacross-participants design was used, and the instruction was provided in general education content classes. Target behaviors included Increasing appropriate touching, increasing contributions to class discussion, and increasing direction following. Data revealed immediate and dramatic changes for all participants, with performance levels maintained at 10096. Anecdotal social validation data supported the findings. The implications of these findings in respect to promoting selfdetermination and inclusive practice are discussed. CRITICAL TO A STUDENT'S SUCCESS IN GENERAL education is his or her ability to problem solve. As we endeavor to fully include students with severe disabilities in general education and to raise our expectations about educational outcomes for them, it is crucial that we teach students to be more adept at problem solving. Peterson (1996) noted that an increased focus on teaching critical thinking and problem solving has been central to restructuring school curriculum reform because such skills provide the basis for all learning. Indeed the ability to retrieve and process information and, in turn, propose a solution to a discernable problem represents a skill that will greatly advance a student's competence and independence (Agran & Wehmeyer, 1999; Stainback & Stainback, 1996). Problem solving involves using available information to identify and design solutions to problems. It is not guess work, but a systematic information processing strategy in which the student is taught to define and analyze a situation to identify potential problems and then identify and execute a solution to those problems (Mithaug, 1993). Unfortunately, many persons with mental retardation or developmental disabilities lack the skills to solve problems in their lives (Wehmeyer & Kelchner, 1995). There are re latively few studies examining the social and functional problem-solving skills of individuals with mental retardation or other cognitive disabilities (Agran & Wehmeyer, 1999). This circumstance most likely exists because of the expectation that students with intellectual or developmental disabilities will not benefit from instruction to pro mote problem solving (Agran & Wehmeyer, 1999). In a recent study of the degree to which teachers working with adolescents with disabilities knew about and taught the skills leading to self-determination, there was general agreement among the 1,200 respondents that teaching skills like problem solving was important for successful school and community outcomes. When asked, however, if they taught skills like problem solving, teachers of students with mental retardation and other developmental disabilities indicated they did so significantly less frequently than did teachers of students REMEDIAL AND SPECIAL EDUCATION Volume 23, Number 5, September/October 2002, pages 279-288 280 with learning disabilities because they felt their students would not benefit from such instruction (Wehmeyer, Agran, & Hughes, 2000). What results is that many individuals have a limited set of response options and may rely on previously employed responses, even though they may have been ineffective (Agran & Wehmeyer, 1999). The lack of instructional opportunities may have negative consequences for students with cognitive disabilities. As mentioned previously, problem solving has also been identified as a key component in promoting and enhancing selfdetermination. It stands to reason that limited experience in solving problems may greatly compromise an individual's opportunity to achieve a higher quality of life. In effect, all of the strategies associated with promoting self-regulation and self-determination serve in part to help individuals solve problems (Agran & Hughes, 1997). For example, the goal setting and attainment process has a problem-solving process at its core. Mithaug (1996) noted that problem solving reduces the discrepancy between what we have achieved (i.e., our current or actual state) and what we want (i.e., our goal state). This goal discrepancy analysis allows us to identify the problem (i.e., the difference between our actual state and our goal state) and to identify solutions to solve that problem (i.e., narrow the gap between current and goals states). By becoming more effective problem solvers, students are better able to set and attain goals, identify potential response alternatives in the decision-making process, and self-regulate learning (Wehmeyer, Palmer, Agran, Mithaug, & Martin, 2000). As previously mentioned, it has been traditionally assumed that individuals with mental retardation or developmental disabilities could not benefit from instruction in problem solving-an assumption that is both potentially erroneous and debilitating (Agran & Wehmeyer, 1999). There is, in fact, an emerging body of research to demonstrate that persons with mental retardation can learn to solve problems across a variety of situations (see Agran & Hughes, 1997; Agran & Wehmeyer, 1999). For example, Hughes and Rusch (1989) taught two individuals with severe mental retardation to solve a series of work-related problems (e.g., obtaining materials put in an incorrect location, responding to a puddle of soap on a work table). The participants were taught to use verbal self-instructions, which included a statement of the problem, a statement of the correct response, a reporting of the response, and a self-reinforcement or praise statement. Both individuals increased the frequency of their correct responses and were able to generalize their responding to untrained situations. Also, nine individuals with mental retardation were taught to use a problem-solving strategy to prevent work-related injuries (Agran, Madison, & Bown, 1995). When presented with 24 different problem situations (e.g., frayed wire, broken glass on floor), the participants were taught to ask and respond to the following questions: How could an accident happen? When could an accident be prevented? Who would you talk to? and What would you do or say? The participants' problem-solving skills increased markedly, and their newly acquired skills generalized to untrained situations. Last, Agran, Blanchard, and Wehmeyer (2000) taught 19 students with mild to severe mental retardation to solve a variety of problems relating to their transition programs (e.g., arranging for transportation to job training site, following directions). Seventeen of the 19 students made substantial progress. Although there is evidence that individuals with mental retardation and other disabilities can learn to systematically problem solve, most of these studies have been conducted with adults in work or community settings, not with students and certainly not in general education settings. Given the current interest in ensuring access to the general curriculum for all students with disabilities, it is critical that studies be conducted in natural school settings. Indeed, the application of problem-solving strategies to classroom behaviors has received very little attention (Copeland, Hughes, Wehmeyer, Agran, & Fowler, in press; Snyder & Bambara, 1997). The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of self-regulated problem-solving instruction on specified classroom behaviors of four middle school students with cognitive or developmental disabilities.