Egocentric Map of a Kentucky Urban Family
Egocentric Map of a Kentucky Rural Family
Support Systems for Families of Young Children with Disabilities:
An Egocentric Network Analysis
From 2003-2009 researchers from the University of Kentucky’s National Early Childhood Transition Center and Human Development Institute interviewed families of young children that have disabilities in five states throughout the United States. They were attempting to learn about the families’ support structures and educational practices at transition points for their children—as the children exited early intervention, entered preschool, exited preschool, and entered kindergarten. As part of their initial interview process when children were exiting early intervention or exiting preschool, the researchers asked and worked with families to create eco-maps—a graphic representation or visualization of the family and linkages to their larger social systems. For this study, I procured and analyzed the data found on 490 eco-maps and created egocentric maps using that data, and additional data from interview question responses. Through this analysis, I found the supports which families identify as having at the different transition points differ by state and urbanicity of residency and disability identification of the child. These findings have greater implications for state-level support structures and policies targeted at families of young children with disabilities.
I am writing this piece with Dr. Beth Rous (PI of the study; Professor at the University of Ketucky, Email: brous@uky.edu), Ms. Jaime Grove, and Dr. Katherine McCormick through the Early Childhood Research and Development Initiative at the University of Kentucky.
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Continuity of Care During Times of External Shocks in Early Childhood Systems
In Kentucky, children from birth to three-years-old with disabilities are served by the Part C First Steps early intervention (EI) program. Until the COVID-19 pandemic, EI providers (e.g., developmental interventionists, service coordinators) delivered services to families in their homes (KY CHFS, 2020). As a result of COVID-19, in March 2020 services either ceased or shifted to remote service delivery (i.e., tele-intervention). Guidance for remote service delivery was provided by the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP; OSEP, 2020), the U.S. Department of Education (DOE; DOE, 2020), and the Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (ECTA Center; Edelman, 2020). Tele-intervention services used audio and/or video technology to connect providers with parents or other caregivers to support their children’s learning and development (ECTA Center, 2020).
To examine the perceptions and experiences of Kentucky EI service providers and families during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the Kentucky Early Intervention Services (KEIS) program transitioned EI services from in-person to virtual, through tele-intervention, their perceptions were measured through online surveys, which focused on the: 1) changes due to moving to tele-intervention services, considering the types, frequency, and intensity of services; 2) advantages and disadvantages of tele-intervention services; 3) influence of tele-intervention services on child progress; and 4) perceptions of service coordinators regarding families and providers who opted out of participating in tele-intervention services.
The findings of this study can be used to inform both policy and outreach efforts. Tele-intervention is an important tool for advancing equity and access in EI and early childhood special education and shortening potential breaks in the continuity of care for young children and their families, not just at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic but also during times of other external shocks.
We are currently writing a piece focused on our findings from this first Kentucky-focused research study. I am first author on that piece. I will also be expanding our research on the innovative use of tele-intervention or tele-health to decrease breaks in the continuity of care for young children during times of external shocks in the state of Florida and nationally throughout the United States.
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Education through TIME: Representations of United States Education on TIME Magazine Covers
from 1983-2018
Magazine covers are multimodal ensembles whose message is conveyed through combinations of words, images, and design elements. Drawing upon social semiotics and multimodality theories, a multimodal content analysis of TIME Magazine (TIME) covers published between 1983 and 2018 was conducted to understand how TIME has visually communicated ideas about U.S. education to their audience throughout time. Three primary categories were constructed: 1) schools are in need of fixing; 2) learning and schooling have not changed through time; and 3) uncomplicated stereotypical representations can stand for broad categories of educational stakeholders, practices, and tools. If these conceptualizations of education are left unchallenged, uncritical reader-viewers may take up such conceptualizations as truth and reality.
I wrote this piece with Dr. Dani Kachorsky (Assistant Professor at Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi, Email: danielle.kachorsky@tamucc.edu) and Dr. Stephanie F. Reid (Assistant Professor at University of Montana, Email: stephanie.reid@mso.umt.edu). It was published in AERA Open in 2020 and can be referred to through the following citation:
Kachorsky, D., Reid, S. F., & Chapman, K. (2020). Education through TIME: Representations of United States education on TIME Magazine covers. AERA Open, 6(3), 1-19. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2332858420961110.
We are currently writing a piece examining how TIME covers portray issues related directly to P-20 education policy. I am first author on that piece. We also intend to expand our research to conduct multimodal content analyses of Newsweek Magazine and LIFE Magazine covers, and write a piece comparing the three magazine covers and their portrayals of education at different points in time.
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Vergara v. California as Political Spectacle
Over the past five years, the laws governing teachers’ employment have been at the center of legal and political conflicts across the United States. Vergara v. California challenged five California state statutes that provide employment protections for teachers. Drawing on the theory of political spectacle, we conducted a media content analysis of 83 print news media articles published between the time the lawsuit was initiated and a high-profile TIME Magazine article about the case.
Dr. Jeanne M. Powers (Associate Professor at Arizona State University, Email: Jeanne.Powers@asu.edu) and I have published two pieces from this research. They can be referred to through the following citations:
Powers, J. M., & Chapman, K. (2017). Protecting teachers or protecting children? Media representations of Vergara v. California. International Journal of Sociology Education—RiSE, 6(2).
http://hipatiapress.com/hpjournals/index.php/rise/article/view/2328/2032.
Powers, J. M., & Chapman, K. (2021). Poor kids versus bad teachers: Vergara v. California and the
social construction of teachers. Teachers College Record, 123(4). https://www.tcrecord.org/Content.asp?contentid=23651.
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Opting Out in the Empire State: A Geographic Analysis of Opting Out in New York,
Spring 2015 & 2016
In 2015, New York had the most visible opt-out social movement, formed in opposition to standardized assessments. Many public school families decided that their children should not spend time taking tests that they viewed as having little association with the classroom curricula. As the opt-out movement has continued to grow throughout the United States, we were interested in determining if a connection existed between geography and the opt-out movement. This study analyzes the opting out behavior of public school parents, guardians, and students in New York and investigates which factors shape opt-out behavior. We include all districts except for New York City, which is excluded because the available public data does not allow for geographic disaggregation within the city’s schools. Through this study, we found a strong correlation between high opt-out levels at the district level and high proportions of White students and students of low poverty levels, and areas of high population density. For the latter two, the relationships appeared to vary geographically, and we determined that it was not appropriate to characterize those relationships as constant across the state.
I wrote this piece with Dr. Lydia Ross (Executive Director of the Association for Education Finance and Policy (AEFP) and Clinical Assistant Professor at Arizona State University, Email: Lydia.Ross@asu.edu) and Dr. Sherman Dorn (Professor at Arizona State University, Email: Sherman.Dorn@asu.edu). It was published in Teachers College Record in 2020 and can be referred to through the following citation:
Chapman, K., Ross, L., & Dorn, S. J. (2020). Opting out in the empire state: A geographic analysis of
opting out in New York, spring 2015 & 2016. Teachers College Record, 122(2). https://www.tcrecord.org/content.asp?contentid=23062.
We are now expanding our work to take a closer look at the opting out situation in the state of Colorado.