Date

3-1-2007

Department

School of Education

Degree

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Chair

Margaret E Ackerman

Primary Subject Area

Education, Special

Keywords

Mental Retardation, Personal-Social Skills Scores, Life Centered Career Education, LCCE

Disciplines

Special Education and Teaching

Abstract

The Effects of Life Skills Instruction on the Personal-Social Skills Scores of Rural High School Students with Mental Retardation. (Under the direction of Dr. Margaret Ackerman) School of Education, March, 2007. The current legislation No Child Left Behind mandates that students with mental retardation have access to core curriculum courses. A comprehensive life skills program, Life Centered Career Education (LCCE), was integrated into the curriculum of high school students with mental retardation. The LCCE program was utilized to educate students on Personal-Social, Daily Life skills, and Occupational lessons with an academic emphasis. The study measured improvements made in the personal-social skills of students measured by pre- and posttest scores of the LCCE Knowledge Battery and Competency Rating Scale (CRS). The study observed differences in the control group and an experimental group receiving the LCCE instruction. The results indicated that the students participating in the experimental group did not show a greater increase in scores on the Knowledge Battery and Competency Rating Scale than the scores of students who belonged to the control group. Furthermore, interviews with the participating instructors indicate that the experimental group would potentially demonstrate significantly higher scores if the personal-social skills curriculum was continued over an extended period of time and continuously reinforced.

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