Downloads & Free Reading Options - Results

The methodology of using a mixed qualitative and quantitative research design to evaluate 16 "inclusive" preschool programs in a continuing study is detailed. The qualitative approach was used to understand the general phenomenon and integrated with more quantitative, structured, and precise measures in an iterative, sequential process to develop repeated data collection activities and expand data interpretation. At each site, five children with disabilities, two typically developing peers, the children's families, direct service providers, and administrators and policy makers were involved in the study. The qualitative phase involved participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and document analysis. Quantitative measures encompassed survey questionnaires and measures of child behavior, friendship patterns, and the educational context. The process of data reduction, comparison, and integration for both qualitative and quantitative phases is detailed. Systematic comparison of information from interviews and survey data is illustrated in a table. Comparison involved the following themes: (1) how and why the child was placed in the program; (2) the program's appropriateness for the child; (3) the meaning of inclusion; (4) peer relationships; (5) helpful and non-helpful players; and (6) the child's participation in family and community activities. (DB)

1Boy Crusoe

By Allan Eric

Also published as" A Yankee Crusoe" . A 15 year old hard working and studious farm boy finds the lure of adventure on the seas as a merchant seaman more than he can resist. This is his story. " I was born in a little town in the State of Maine, near the close of the Civil War. My boyhood life did not differ materially from that of the average farmer's son in the remote country districts of New England--except, perhaps, that I read more and thought more. Hard work on the rugged soil, two terms each year in the little yellow country schoolhouse, a day's fishing now and then filled the early years of my life full to over-flowing. " What he gets is enough excitement and adventure to overflow his wildest dreams. How he experiences disaster and uses his wits and knowledge to overcome every problem makes for a great read. - Summary by Phil Chenevert