Andrews UniversitySchool of Education
LITERATURE REVIEW FOR INCLUSION OF SPECIAL NEEDS STUDENTS IN SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST SCHOOLS
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the CourseLEAD 637 Issues in Research
byBonnie Velez
November 2010
Introduction
Can you imagine that you and your spouse are eagerly expecting a child. You pick out
names, prepare the nursery, imagine what it will be like to play with them, watch them grow and
develop, graduate, go to college, get married, have a successful career and contribute to society.
But the very most important goal you set for your child is that they will grow up knowing Jesus,
and receive His eternal gift of salvation. You give this goal the utmost priority, because it is the
one that is eternal. Then your child is born and you fall madly in love with them. In fact, you
never knew that it was possible to love someone so much. You glimpse the love that Christ has
for us at this moment. It does not matter that your child was born with disabilities. You love
them just the same and that one ultimate goal is the same as well. You want your child to know
Christ and receive His eternal gift of salvation. I understand this story, because it is my story.
Therefore, I have chosen to research the number of Seventh-day Adventist parents within the
Lake Union who have school-aged children who are disabled and would choose to send them to
Seventh-day Adventist schools if an appropriate program were in place to meet their needs. My
hope is to stimulate a growing awareness of the need for including special needs children in
Seventh-day Adventist schools.
As such, this literature review relates to extending Adventist education to children with
disabilities. As such, disabilities will be defined, U.S. Educational Law relating to disabilities
will be briefly reviewed, public education practices and inclusion practices will be investigated
and general trends in public education will be probed. Biblical and doctrinal themes and
historical issues in Seventh-day Adventist education will be explored, including past and present
Adventist educational philosophy, exceptional student inclusion studies, individual instances of
inclusion and exclusion, examples of current schools with active inclusion programs, CIRCLE
initiatives and NAD inclusion commission formation and function. My research question will be
referenced as well.
Criteria for Source Selection
The criteria used for source selection was that the literature must be from a credible
source and provide information regarding several parameters of the question which were: 1)
historical information regarding why Seventh-day Adventist schools were founded (research
framework), 2) current information regarding the function and purpose of Seventh-day Adventist
church school (research framework), 3) both former and current policy regarding inclusion of
disabled students in Seventh-day Adventist schools (research framework), 4) public school
inclusion policies (research framework), 5) definition of the term disabled (term definition), 6)
general statistics for the number of disabled children in the United States population, (related
studies) 7) general statistics for the number of disabled children in the Adventist school system,
(related studies) 8) general statistics for the number of parents who have disable children who
want them included in the Seventh-day Adventist school system, (related studies). The most
recent literature found was included in this review. The literature reviewed included reputable
educational journals, Seventh-day Adventist historical books, Governmental sources including
census data, public laws and Seventh-day Adventist statistics regarding special needs populations
and parent preferences. At least 3 of the references cited were secondary sources, which helped
provide additional references.
Definition of Disability
The research question for my master's thesis that will be examined in this study is as
follows: How many Seventh-day Adventist parents in the Lake Union will have disabled
children that they would like to have included in Seventh-day Adventist church schools that are
not currently attending during the 2011-2012 school year? Most of the terms within this 2
variable project lend themselves to simple unambiguous definitions. However, the term disabled
presents a much more complex dilemma regarding its definition. Therefore, a discussion of this
term is included in this literature search. There are, not only a growing number of children with
disabilities, as will be presented in a subsection of this paper; but also a growing number of
disabilities that are currently being defined. For example, Asperger's Syndrome was first
proposed as a disability in 1994, but through subsequent study is now an accepted disability
which is fairly common (Ehlers & Gillberg, 2006). This literature review will look at both legal
and practical descriptions of the word disability in order to create a useable definition. A legal
definition of a child with a disability according to Public law 94-142 (Code of Federal
Regulations, Part 300, July 1987) is "A child with mental retardation, hearing impairment,
speech or language impairment, visual impairment, serious emotional disturbance, orthopedic
impairment, autism, traumatic brain injury, other health impairment or specific learning
disability and, who because of their condition needs special education and related services"
(Office of the Federal Register, 1987). In order to fully understand each of the above-mentioned
terms, it would be necessary to fully define each one of them. In point of fact, even experts do
not agree on definitions for some of the above-mentioned terms. For instance, Dr. James Tucker,
former director of the Bureau of Special Education for the Pennsylvania Department of
Education states, “But professionals do not agree on what ADHD is or is not, what causes it, or
how it should be treated” (Tucker, 1996). Additionally, there are now other special needs that
teachers commonly address in their classrooms. Therefore, it may be somewhat more practical
for the terms of this study to adopt a modified definition as set forth by Dr. James Tucker, who
says, ”Unfortunately, we tend to substitute labels for the needs of people” (Tucker, 1995). Dr.
Tucker gives many examples of how labeling does not provide the framework for meeting
special needs. Students may, for example, be labeled emotionally disturbed by one school and
not another. This label is not only ambiguous, it "clearly does not define how the special needs
of the individual can be met" (Tucker, 1995). To give you a working example of this idea, I
have devised a hypothetical scenario. For example, a claustrophobic individual with many
phobias would require different help than someone who had trouble concentrating because of
emotional distress in the home. Likewise, the Learning Disabled and Mentally Retarded labels
are ambiguous with little agreement between professionals on what they really mean. Tucker
asserts that all such labels define people in terms of behavior, without once evaluating the
individuals’ need (Tucker, 1995). Tucker states, “We no longer need a separate educational
designation for students with disabilities.” "The needs of such students define themselves.”
(Tucker, 1995).
"Disabilities are always defined in terms of norms, or what is considered normal." "And
normal is almost always defined in terms of a value" (Tucker, 2007). Another working example
might be in order here. Let us suppose that we value the ability to communicate.
Communication is important to us. When we encounter someone who cannot communicate, we
see this as outside of the norm. However, "the whole concept of normal is a human invention to
establish convention-conventional wisdom conventional behavior" (Tucker, 2007). Furthermore,
Tucker cites several dynamic examples of how diagnostic labeling has affected educational
funding, perceptions of state educational systems and the education that exceptional students
receive. He states:
With the emergence of postmodern thought, we are experiencing a new way of life as it relates to education, learning, and mental health. this is particularly true as it relates to the meaning of words used to label so-called disabilities in educational settings. (Tucker, 2010)
Since the issue for education is not to diagnose eligibility in terms of categorical labels,
but to determine the degree to which a person can function effectively; this study will define
disabled as any student who cannot function and succeed in a classroom setting without an
extensive amount of intervention. This will include students with physical, emotional and
mental exceptionalities that significantly impact learning. While this definition is also somewhat
open-ended, it focuses on the needs of the student rather than their dysfunction, and how it would
impact teacher/helper time in a classroom setting.
Number of Disabled Students in the U.S.
In the section titled Americans with Disabilities: Household Economic Studies, the U.S.
Census Bureau reported that an estimated 12.7% of children between the ages of 6 and 14 have
some type of disability. (U.S. Census Bureau, 2001). Statements were made regarding the
number of people with disabilities in the United States as a growing population, with the number
of children and youth with disabilities increasing the most (U.S. Census Bureau, 2001). Further,
the Disability Statistics Center published a report in 1998 titled Disability Watch-the Status of
People with Disabilities in the United States, which notes that the number of children with
disabilities increased by 1.5 million people between 1990-1994. (U.S. Census Bureau, 1998).
Today, there are "over six million school age children in special education programs"
(Robicheau, Haar & Palladino, 2008).
U.S. Law and Disabilities
In 1975, Congress passed Public Law 94-142 (Education of All Handicapped Children
Act), now codified as IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act). This law stated that in
order to receive federal funds, states must develop and implement policies that assure a free
appropriate public education (FAPE) to all children with disabilities. As already noted, the term
disabled was defined, and the law mandated that each states' plans had to be consistent with the
federal statute, Title 20 United States Code Section 1400 et.seq. (20 USC 1400). Also,
additional funding was appropriated to facilitate implementation of the law. However, perhaps
the portion of this law that had the most far-reaching effect was the statement that disabled
children were to be included "in the least restrictive environment that is appropriate to the
individual students needs" (34 CFR 300, 1987). This meant that exceptional students were to be
included in regular classrooms whenever it was possible for them to benefit and learn in those
environments, and has caused special needs students to be main-streamed into regular classroom
settings far more frequently.
Public 107-110, the No Child Left Behind Act or NCLB was put into effect on Jan. 8,
2002. This act was a sweeping reform of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965;
and was meant to close the achievement gap between disadvantaged and minority students. The
act set goals for public schools with students in each of 4 minority groups (race/ethnicity,
socioeconomic status, limited English proficiency and students with disabilities). Basically, all
students were to exhibit substantial yearly progress. Extensive funding programs, to the tune of
over 11.5 billion dollars, (Eckes & Swando, 2009) were implemented as part of this legislation,
and a strict monitoring system was put in place to monitor progress. An extremely large
empirical research effort study was done to determine the effect of NCLB on special needs
students, that included 3 states and 4 sub-groups as research groups, and used the annual yearly
progress tests inherent in the legislation. Since the NCLB defines substantial yearly progress as
keeping up with other students within the 4 subgroups; it is not surprising that the study
discovered that it was the students with disabilities sub-group which failed to make substantial
yearly progress as compared to students without disabilities in the first 3 sub-groups (Eckes &
Swando, 2009). Therefore, the special needs students, according to this study, did not
significantly benefit from the NCLB act (Eckes & Swando, 2009).
Results from a non-published qualitative study that interviewed public school
administrators, teachers, para-pros and resource room teachers and parents of exceptional
students who are enrolled in public school found that the NCLB act is extremely controversial
(Velez, 2010). According to that research effort, published test results show that both math and
reading abilities were increased dramatically. Therefore, many U.S. citizens believe that it has
improved their schools, but many others believe the opposite. The controversy arises from the
fact that there has been an enormous increase in testing which is directly associated with NCLB.
Also, in an effort to show progress, many teachers 'teach to the test', and much instructional time
where true learning takes place is lost. The thought is that the surge in reading and math ability
may be artificially inflated due to this phenomenon. Additionally, the requirements for teacher
training have exploded to the point that it is now not always feasible for teachers of special
education students to complete all the certifications required. For example, special education
teachers in a high school setting must be certified in not only special education, but in every
other subject that the students they assist are taking! Since certifications often take 3 or more
summers to complete, this is an outrageous mandate. Some of the professionals interviewed
were looking into other career opportunities, had retired early or were already actively engaged
in a secondary career (Velez, 2010). One parent made the comment that the No Child Left
Behind legislation was "leaving children behind" (Velez, 2010). In short, it is my opinion that
the NCLB might have been a well-meaning piece of legislation, but that it has serious draw-
backs.
President Obama is currently working on legislation to enhance education in the United
States. His new proposal, is a for reauthorization of the elementary and secondary education act
was issued in May of 2010. This proposal is focused on targeting:
1) Improving teacher and principal effectiveness; (2) Providing information to families to help them evaluate and improve their children's schools; (3) Implementing college- and career-ready standards; (4) funding and developing quality programs to aid English learners and students with disabilities students (4) Improving student learning and achievement in America's lowest-performing schools by providing intensive support and effective interventions. (U.S. Dept. of Education, 2010)
When one looks at the historical trend for public education, it is apparent that there is
an increasing focus on including special needs students in regular classrooms as much as
possible and providing a quality education for them. While the public education system may not
be perfect in providing that education, there is no doubt that a concerted effort is being made to
educate exceptional students well in an inclusive setting.
The Philosophy of Adventist Education
Seventh-day Adventists believe that:
The Holy Scriptures are the infallible revelation of His will. They are the standard of character, the test of experience, the authoritative revealer of doctrines, and the trustworthy record of God's acts in history" (General Conference, 2005).
In other words, the Bible is truth given by God and we should live by it. God does not hold one
person as higher than another. "God is not one to show partiality" (Acts 10:34, NASB). God
loves us all, each and every one. In fact, God loves us so much that He sent His Son Jesus to die
for us, so that we could live forever. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only
begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:16,
NASB). God does not exclude anyone from His Kingdom or His love. "But as many as
received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in
His name" (John 1:12, NASB). In fact, the Bible teaches us "You shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and
your neighbor as yourself" (Luke 10:27). If we are to love our neighbor as we love ourselves,
and if we love God and realize that Christ died for each one of us, we should make every effort
to help everyone, regardless of race, creed, color or disability to come to Christ and believe in
Him so that they have the best chance possible of going to Heaven.
Part of the philosophy which Seventh-day Adventist schools were built on and the
philosophy that they operate under today as well is to assist students in following Christ. One of
the founders of the first Seventh-day Adventist schools was Ellen White. She counseled teachers
that "by precept and example" we are to "instill the principles of truth and honesty into the minds
and hearts of the young that they will become men and women who are as true as steel to God
and His cause" (White, 1943, p. 165).
Seventh-day Adventist school systems were founded upon Christian principles as
training grounds for spreading the gospel of Christ. “The true higher education is that imparted
by Him with whom is ‘wisdom and strength’, out of whose mouth ‘cometh knowledge and
understanding” (White, 1903, p.14). Again, Mrs. White reiterates the point in the same
reference:
In the Teacher sent from God all true educational work finds its center. In the presence of such a Teacher, with such opportunity for divine education, what worse than folly is it to seek an education apart from Him— to seek to be wise apart from Wisdom; to be true while rejecting Truth; to seek illumination apart from Light, and existence without the Life; to turn from the Fountain of living waters, and hew out broken cisterns, that can hold no water!” (White, 1903, p. 83).
Thus, the Seventh-day Adventist school system was founded to educate and train students with
and through Christ.
However, today the Seventh-day Adventist church school often excludes the very
students who need Christ the most—those with disabilities. Traditionally, parents who want to
enroll their children with disabilities in Seventh-day Adventist schools are told, “We have
nothing for your child. The public schools are set up to provide special education” (Tucker,
2001, p.175). Their minds have the same need of nourishment to discover and fulfill their God-
given purpose. In this same qualitative historical analysis, James Tucker applauds the incredible
quality of the philosophy upon which the Seventh-day Adventist educational system was
originally based, but recognizes that this system is not being run entirely according to that
original philosophy. Tucker poses this question, “Is it possible that what we are presently
promulgating as Seventh-day Adventist Education lacks the essence of its soul to a point where it
is simply accepted as an alternative, and a good one, but not a distinctive one” (Tucker, 2001, p.
176). Tucker goes on in this article to allege that the Seventh-day Adventist educational system
would be more widely recognized if it were run utilizing the entire original philosophy that it
was founded upon. In another article, James Tucker performed a literature review of 13 sources
from various educational journals where he answers the question as to why this phenomenon
occurs with another question. He states, “Lack of sufficient funding is often given as the reason”
(Tucker, 1995). “But how can any administrator or teacher in a Christian school rationalize that
there are not funds to provide an appropriate education for a certain group of students” (Tucker,
1995). “The Christian schools of America are failing to live up to a basic tenet of their faith:
Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me” (Sutton, Sutton &
Everett, 1993). Tucker reiterates:
It is time for Christian schools to find ways to educate all of God’s children, not just those who show sufficient promise according to some standardized criteria and makes the assertion that public schools are finding the cost of education the same for disabled children as it is for children in the regular classroom when students are not isolated from the general populace.” (Tucker, 1995).
Inclusion in Adventist Schools
Several individualized accounts of Seventh-day Adventist parents who enrolled their
disabled children in Seventh-day Adventist schools or wished to, as well as generalized
statements regarding parent wishes were found. These were all articles found in educational
journals that discussed isolated cases of including disabled children in Seventh-day Adventist
schools.
An article from the Journal of Adventist Education by Judy Anderson describes a success
story for Joey. Joey, at age 7, was quoted as saying, “School is a blowtorch and I am an
ice cube” (Anderson, 1996). He had just completed 2nd grade when he made that statement.
According to Anderson, Joey had been diagnosed as having severe attention deficit disorder,
exhibited poor social skills, was in conflict with his teacher, and did not live up to his academic
potential in school. However, he was accepted and included in a multi-age classroom that
included grades 1-8 in a Seventh-day Adventist school. Judy Anderson, his teacher,
accommodated Joey’s exceptionalities and he prospered through 7th grade. At that point, his
family moved, but Joey kept touch with his teacher. When he graduated in 1996 he mailed Ms.
Anderson a letter which included his high school graduation picture and the statements, “I made
it Mrs. A.” “Thanks for everything” (Anderson, 1996).
A second article in the Journal of Adventist Education by Christian Dupont relates a story
that looks at the other side of the coin. Angela Banks who was originally enrolled in SDA
church school and was mildly retarded (Dupont, 1989). Angela liked the spiritual atmosphere
and social environment, but had to leave because her school could not meet her needs. Today
Angela is an adult who “still speaks wistfully of how much she missed having a Christian
education” (Dupont, 1989).
Judith P. Nembhard, Assistant Professor of English at Howard University in Washington,
D.C. wrote an article for the Journal of Adventist Education regarding her son, who was mildly
retarded and labeled as learning disabled. Mrs. Nembhard relates that she and her husband
realized that their son would never be an achiever, “Yet they hoped that he would be able to
receive an Adventist education during his early years” (Nembhard, 1987). Nembhard says that
the principal at the church school told them that his school did not deal with such cases. He
stated, “We recommend that they go to public school.” He said, “They do a better job.” Mrs.
Nembhard believes, “that principal and others like him have allowed the visible physical
limitation of learning-disabled children to obscure the fact that these youngsters, like all others,
have spiritual needs, needs that the Adventist church school was designed to meet” (Nembhard,
1987).
Fortunately, there is evidence that the Seventh-day Adventist school system may be
slowly turning a corner in their thinking. The North American Division recently published the
following statement in an online manual titled REACH, which seeks to help SDA church school
teachers assist mildly disabled children already in their classrooms. They state, “The number of
students with learning and/or behavioral challenges is increasing.” “ In classrooms across North
America, regular classroom teachers serve students with special needs with minimal support.”
(NAD REACH Manuel, 2008). This manual goes on to say, “In 2007 the North American
Division assembled the Inclusion Commission to develop a comprehensive plan to address the
needs of students with disabilities in regular Adventist classrooms” (NAD REACH Manuel,
2008). While these efforts are commendable, and a step in the right direction, the fact remains
that most moderately and severely disabled children are denied a Seventh-day Adventist
education. These statements are relative to the research because the research purpose is to
provide quantitative information to appropriate NAD officials to support inclusion of special
needs students in Seventh-day Adventist schools.
Trends Versus Philosophy
As mentioned previously, the trend in public education from 1975 until 2010 has been to
include special needs students in regular classrooms, while investigating ways to improve the
education they receive and providing major funding for the programs that public law mandates.
In other words, public educators have a vested interest that encompasses passing laws,
developing new programs and strategies and funding the inclusion of exceptional students in
regular classrooms. Although the Adventist educational system seems to be developing some
interest in the matter of inclusion, most exceptional students are still being excluded from
Seventh-day Adventist schools. Do we not have even more reason to be interested in how all
Adventist children are educated than the public sector? "Each of the church's children (as well as
the church itself) is caught in the midst of a great struggle between good and evil" (Knight, 2010,
p. 5). Because the Adventist church realizes this, it has gone to great expense and effort in
establishing their own schools (Knight, 2010, p. 6). Since "people's beliefs about the philosophic
issues of reality, truth, and value will determine everything they do" (Knight, 2010, p. 6) it is
time that we woke up and realized that exceptional students are children of God just as much as
we are. We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain uninalienable rights (U.S. Constitution, 1776). As
Seventh-day Adventist Christians, they have the right to a Seventh-day Adventist Christian
education, since we are all created equal.
In light of the philosophy of Seventh-day Adventist education and the need for schools to
increase enrollment and thereby funding; I think that it makes perfect sense to include
exceptional students in Seventh-day Adventist schools. "The Seventh-day Adventist elementary
and secondary schools in the USA show a continuous enrollment decline" (LaBorde, 2007).
However, the number of exceptional students across the United States is increasing rapidly. In
the section titled Americans with Disabilities: Household Economic Studies, the U.S. Census
Bureau reported that an estimated 19.7% of the general population (or 52.6 million people) have
some type of disability (U.S. Census Bureau, 2001). The same study found that 12.7% of
children between the ages of 6 and 14 have a disability as well (U.S. Census Bureau, 2001).
Statements were made regarding the number of people with disabilities in the United States as a
growing population, with the number of children and youth with disabilities increasing the most
(U.S. Census Bureau, 2001). This being the case, there may be a largely untapped market out
there for Seventh-day Adventist schools to draw from, if their doors are open.
One plausible scenario for inclusion is the method that we used when my son Josue' who
has Down Syndrome successfully attended Seventh-day Adventist schools for 13 years. This
was a no-cost scenario for the school, as we paid for his tuition and a tutor to be with him in all
of his classes and to teach him life skills during appropriate periods. Although not everyone can
afford to pay a tutor, a volunteer option might be another suggestion.
My Research
My study is designed to provide quantitative information to NAD officials regarding the
number of disabled students currently in the school-age population who have parents that would
like them to attend Seventh-day Adventist schools. The 2 variable research question asked in this
effort will be as follows: that is not as much a scholarly research tasks as just a census mining
task. How many Seventh-day Adventist parents in the Lake Union will have disabled children
that they would like to have included in Seventh-day Adventist church schools that are not
currently attending during a given school year?
I am considering using mixed-methods approach and adding a qualitative component
which interviews those parents who would want to include their exceptional children in Seventh-
day Adventist schools why they want them there, but this idea is still under construction.
Therefore, I will focus on what I know will be a part of my research.
The first variable is how many Seventh-day Adventist parents in the Lake Union have
disabled children who are school age and not attending Seventh-day Adventist schools. The
second variable is how many of those parents would like their disabled children to attend a
Seventh-day Adventist school during a given school year.
It is the intent of this study to obtain a representative sample from the Lake Union, and
explore the research question using this population. There is no true hypothesis in this study.
However, it is likely that the number of parents with disabled school-aged children will
somewhat approximate the national statistics.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study is to ascertain how many Seventh-day Adventist parents within
the Lake Union have disabled children that they would like to include in Seventh-day Adventist
schools. The instrument used will be a survey that will be sent to both schools and churches
within the Lake Union.
Importance and Significance
This study is important because currently there is little if any information regarding the
number of Seventh-day Adventist parents who have disabled children who they wish to include
in Seventh-day Adventist schools. It is also important because the number of disabled children is
rising, as noted earlier in this chapter. But the most compelling reason for this study is that it
will substantiate the number of Seventh-day Adventist children who are usually denied a
Seventh-day Adventist Christian education. Fortunately, there are now workable protocols for
including disabled children in Seventh-day Adventist schools that impact neither teacher time
nor school finances. It is hoped that these protocols along with the quantitative data obtained
from this study may stimulate programming through the North American Division that will allow
many more disabled students to be included in Seventh-day Adventist schools.
Studies Regarding Inclusion in Adventist Schools
An experimental primary research project done by Christian Dupont involved sending out
300 quantitative surveys to conference administrators, pastors, teachers and lay members in the
Lake Union (Dupont, 1989). One hundred forty people responded. Dupont, a direct care worker
for the mentally impaired shared the desire to include disabled students in Seventh-day Adventist
classrooms. He states:
Since mentally retarded and other handicapped children will always be there, our schools should provide education curricula for exceptional children. When looked at from that angle, it becomes a matter of principle—a matter of committing ourselves to meet the goals of our educational philosophy and the needs of our young people. (Dupont, 1989)
Five questions regarding the attitudes toward the possibility of Adventist special
education were asked in the Dupont survey, which revolved around whether 1) our church has
enough time to devote to special education, 2) Adventist special education would fulfill a unique
purpose in our mission, 3) Adventist special education would help spread the gospel message, 4)
Adventist special education could be both distinct and reputable and 5) our church could
financially support special education programs, and he used the Likert scale (strongly agree,
agree, neither agree nor disagree, disagree and strongly disagree) for responses (Dupont, 1989).
The most dramatic results from this study showed that while more than 85 % of the population
strongly agreed that special education in Adventist schools would help spread the gospel, only
48% agreed that it would be affordable (Dupont, 1989). Although this study is similar to the
study that I am proposing, it differs in that Dupont was looking at attitudes toward the Seventh-
day Adventist denomination adopting a special education program and extrapolating data
statistically from U.S. Census Bureau data, while I am look at providing data that would help
support inclusion of disabled children in Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) schools based on the
growing number of disabled children in our population, and providing input on the number of
parents with disabled children who want them included in SDA schools. These studies further
differ in that my study will involve 2 variables and 2 questions with yes and no answers, while
DuPont's involved 5 variables and 5 questions which were ranked. These studies are similar in
that they are both surveys in which the selection of population uses available participants within
the Lake Union. Additionally, Dupont, based on national averages, estimated that probably 180
mentally retarded children between the ages of 3 and 21 (i.e. about 1% of the population for this
group) were in the 65,000 member Lake Union Conference. He further asserts that about 64% of
these mentally retarded children would require special education. This portion of his study is a
secondary synthesis of U. S. Census data and statistical analysis was used to apply the data to
Seventh-day Adventist populations (Dupont, 1989).
In comparison, Dupont sent out only 300 surveys within the Lake Union with a roughly
50% response. Since there are currently over 79,000 members in the Lake Union, 300 doesn’t
seem like a representative sample. This study will send out several thousand surveys (dependent
on pastoral and school administrator response), which should enhance result reliability (Pyrczak,
2008).
The Dupont study methodology differs in the survey format and question type. Dupont
asked questions regarding the viability of starting an inclusion program for disabled students in
the Lake Union using the Likert scale for reference. This study will collect information directly
from parents of school-aged children as to whether they have disabled children and if they would
like to include their disabled children them (if they are not already) in Seventh-day Adventist
schools for a specific school year using yes/no responses. Both question types are opinion, but
those of this research proposal deal with a parent’s opinion regarding the welfare of their child,
rather than a more peripheral program opinion. Therefore, I think that the data obtained from
this research study should be somewhat more reliable, as parent opinion regarding their own
children should be more determined.
Disabled Students Currently in SDA Schools
The number of disabled students currently attending Seventh-day Adventist schools is
included here as it relates to the first variable of the research question. That variable is: How
many Seventh-day Adventist parents have disabled children? One analysis of a functioning
special education program instituted by La Sierra Elementary School was referenced in this
section. This was an Ex Post Facto qualitative study.
Janet Gillespie Mallery referenced the 1981 North American Division Task Force
findings which stated that, “within the Seventh-day Adventist school system, about 10 percent of
the total school population is classified as exceptional, and could benefit from specialized
instruction” (Mallery, 1989, p. ). She further began to explain that a program to respond to that
need was initiated at Riverside, California at the La Sierra SDA Elementary School in the fall of
1985. She relates that, due to this program 5 new students were able to attend an SDA school
during the 1987-88 who would otherwise have been referred to public school. Additionally, 10
third graders were able to receive individualized help in reading, 8 of who had never attended a
Seventh-day Adventist school previously. This ex post facto look at providing specialized
instruction resulted in a population increase within the school of both disabled and regular
students. This study might indicate the need to explore a third variable in future studies. That
variable is: How does including special needs children in Seventh-day Adventist schools affect
enrollment.
This study does not provide an exact number of parents who are successful in having
their students enrolled Seventh-day Adventist schools, but rather indicate that this number is
somewhere in the vicinity of 10% of the current student population. It also indicate that both the
disabled and “normal” student population might increase if specialized instruction were offered.
Other Studies Quantifying U.S. Disabled Student Populations
Two primary research studies that were experimental and were done by the United States
Bureau of Census will be referenced in this section. Both involved sending out surveys to the
United States population at large in their ten-year census effort, and both rely on the accuracy of
the general population in filling out the survey. Their methodology is obviously well tested.
A secondary research article found in the Journal of Adventist Education references a
study done in 1985 titled American Freshman: National Norms for 1985. Research noted in this
article polled college students to determine how many were disabled. This article states, “the
number of learning-disabled college students has increased 300 percent in less than a decade.”
The article goes on to say that many former academy students have entered college with
undiagnosed disabilities (Bogart, Eidelman, and Kujawa, 1987). You will need newer census
data than this. This is way too old.
In the section titled Americans with Disabilities: Household Economic Studies, the U.S.
Census Bureau reported that an estimated 19.7% of the general population (or 52.6 million
people) have some type of disability (U.S. Census Bureau, 2001). The same study found that
12.7% of children between the ages of 6 and 14 have a disability as well (U.S. Census Bureau,
2001). Statements were made regarding the number of people with disabilities in the United
States as a growing population, with the number of children and youth with disabilities
increasing the most (U.S. Census Bureau, 2001). Further, the Disability Statistics Center
published a report in 1998 titled Disability Watch-the Status of People with Disabilities in the
United States, which notes that the number of children with disabilities increased by 1.5 million
people between 1990-1994 (U.S. Census Bureau, 1998). The same time period showed that the
number of young adults with disabilities increased by 1.9 million people (U.S. Census Bureau,
1998). The disabled persons in both of these studies were categorized as having disabilities that
involved ambulatory, hearing, seeing, learning, emotional, psychological, developmental and
other issues. It is probable that many or all of these disabilities would have needs that required
an extensive amount of intervention in a classroom setting.
Inclusion Challenges
In a study of The central research question was whether attitudes toward persons with
disabilities were dependent on the social context of prior experiences with persons with
disabilities. Two other more peripheral questions were asked by these researchers as well. They
were; whether the major of a student was related to general attitudes toward people with
disabilities, and whether people in particular majors were more likely to have contact with
persons with disabilities (Schoen, B., Shannon, C.D., & Tansey, T.N., 2009).
The literature review pointed to several interesting findings. For instance, researchers
suggested that social proximity to a disability is a major factor that affects attitude toward the
disabled, (Meyer, Gouvier, Duke, & Advokat, 2001). Other researchers proposed that promoting
positive views of persons with disabilities is through social contact, (Hunt & Hunt, 2000).
Interestingly, the same study determined that there was no significant correlation between
positive attitudes toward people with disabilities and having a family member with a disability,
(Hunt & Hunt, 2000).
The methodology for this research effort was to invite 480 undergraduate students
enrolled in elective courses at a large Midwestern university, (more specifically from 24 sections
of 2 undergraduate courses), to take a survey titled Attitudes Toward Disabled Person Scale (or
ATDP Form B), that focused on attitudes toward persons with disabilities, (Antonak & Livneh,
1988). The reliability of the instrument was reported to range from .71-.83 according to Antonak
& Livneh, 1988. Three of the instructors of these courses had disabilities, while the other 11
instructors did not. Of the 480 students invited to take the survey, 218 participated, but only 208
surveys were usable. Once the survey was completed, it was analyzed by combining 3 specific
social networks. Those networks were: 1) relatives (parent or siblings), 2) peers (friends or
coworkers) and 3) professors. Finally, results were statistically calculated. This instrument
should be reviewed in section 3.
Results revealed that there was not a significant correlation between respondents who had
relatives with disabilities and positive attitudes toward others with disabilities. However,
students who had a professor with a visible disability had more positive attitudes toward others
with disabilities, as evidenced by a higher score on the evaluation instrument (ATDP Form B).
Students that were in human service majors appeared to have more positive attitudes toward
persons with disabilities than students who were in programs not devoted to human service
occupations.
The discussion of the results of this study noted that there were differences in the attitudes
among groups of undergraduate students majoring in various disciplines that paralleled former
studies. They ascertained that more positive attitudes toward disabled people correlated with
their choice of major for undergraduate students. Their strongest statement, however, was that
"it is the exposure to persons with disabilities who are in positions of power as educators that
appears to shape attitudes in more positive directions", (Schoen, Shannon & Tansey, 2009). The
rest of the discussion made several analytical errors which will be discussed in the next section
of this report.
For the most part, this article held its own when rated by Pyrczak's (2008) guide to
evaluating journal articles. The title was, however, not specific enough, as it did not relate the
specifics of the study. The literature review was fairly well done, and brought out term
definitions that agreed with a current leadership text, (Hughes, Ginnett, & Curphy, 2009). The
problem was established and background studies were included. The findings presented related
well to the research design of this study.
The design of this project was somewhat flawed, in that it looked at three factors that
might influence attitudes toward disabled people rather than narrowing the research to one.
The tables presented were not terribly easily readable, although the researchers used a
documented and tested instrument for their research; and the results were, therefore, fairly
reliable.
The research discussion left much to be desired. It appears that the researchers were
suffering from a touch of the 'halo effect' (Rosenzweig, 2007),which basically says that
researchers are prone to let a general perception shape specific judgments. I found it interesting
that Schonen, Shannon and Tansey, (2009) attributed more positive attitudes of undergraduate
students toward disabled people to the expert, coercive and referent power of their disabled
professors without correlating the data specifically to those attributes. They further make the
following statement: "However, contact with people with disabilities who are viewed as having
expert power and within the social context of an academic setting may provide the momentum
for a positive shift in perceptions regarding disability.", (Schonen, Shannon and Tansey, 2009).
First of all, their limited study cannot be totally conclusive. Much further research would have to
be done. There may be the appearance of correlation between disabled professors and expert
power being exerted over attitudes, but this is not necessarily the case. For instance, there is not
a clear discussion of how the participants were asked to fill out the survey. If they suspected that
their professor was in any way connected to the survey, they might have been more inclined to
project a more positive attitude toward disabilities because of coercive or reward power. Also, it
is a leap in logic to think that having contact with disabled teachers (at any level) will
significantly ‘fix’ the problem of disabled people being excluded by others; whether or not they
are experts in their field.
Additionally, there may be factors other than social power, contact and context that
affected this extremely limited sample of 204 individuals to be more positive toward disabled
people. While there appears to be a positive correlation, much carefully managed further study
would be required to ascertain whether or not this is the case.
The main contribution of this work is the finding that people appear to have a more
positive attitude toward disabled people when they have a college professor who has a visually
discernable disability. It will be useful in the literature review of my research because the
research findings (to some extent) and literature review will establish a foundation regarding
current attitudes and mitigating measures for negative attitudes toward disabled people.
Conclusion
The literature review found several studies which used survey methodology to indicate
the number of disabled students in given populations. The study which most closely resembled
the current proposal was done by Christian Dupont in 1989, and offered several strategies for
designing this research project. Although Dupont used the Likert scale rather than simple yes/no
responses, his population sample was also the Lake Union. Additionally, the number of surveys
Dupont sent out was 300 with about a 50% return. The number of surveys sent out in this
proposal will be far greater, which should better substantiate the results.
This literature review provided many references regarding the problem of excluding
most moderately and severely disabled children from attending Seventh-day Adventist church
schools, which goes against the very principles on which this educational system was founded.
Further, it revealed that the typical reason given is lack of funding for developing a special
education program within the SDA system.
The literature review suggested that somewhere in the range of 10%-13% of all students
are disabled in some form and that this number is rapidly increasing, and that this is
approximately 1% of the students in the Lake Union. It further noted that North American
Division officials are aware of and concerned about this increase.
No quantitative data was found regarding the number of Seventh-day Adventist parents
who would like to include their children in Seventh-day Adventist church schools. However,
several individual accounts related specific instances of this phenomenon. Certainly, the overall
availability of literature regarding both the number of Seventh-day Adventist parents who have
disabled children and those who would like to include them in Seventh-day Adventist church
school coupled with a growing interest in serving disabled students from North American
officials suggests that more research is needed. A quantitative study regarding these topics
would be helpful in providing useful data that could potentially be applied to program
development within the Seventh-day Adventist school system.
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APPENDIX C
Table of Variable Definitions
Table of Variable Definitions
Variable Name: Conceptual Definition: Instrumental Definition:
Parents Parents are adopted parents, legal guardians or biological parents of children and have legal authority to make decisions for their well-being.
1. Are you the parent, adopted parent or legal guardian of children between the ages of 5 and 18? Yes No
Disabled Disabled will be defined as any person who cannot succeed in a normal classroom setting without an unusual amount of intervention.
2. Are any of your children disabled (in other words need special help or accommodations in order to successfully learn at school)? Yes No
3. Does your disabled child currently attend a Seventh-day Adventist school? Yes No
Included Included means attending and enrolled as a student in good and regular standing with all appropriate privileges and rights of all other students within a school
4. Would you like your child to attend a Seventh-day Adventist school the 2010-2011 school year if appropriate accommodations could be made for them and they would be allowed all
appropriate privileges and rights of other students? Yes No
2010-2011 School
Year
The 2010-2011 school year means the year in which school is in session according to any particular school calendar and begins in the fall of 2010 and ends in the spring of 2011.
4. Would you like your child to attend a Seventh-day Adventist school the 2010-2011 school year if appropriate accommodations could be made for them? Yes No
