Training rural educators in Kentucky through distance learning: Impact with follow-up data

Rural Special Education Quarterly, Fall 2002 by Grisham-Brown, Jennifer, Collins, Belva C

Course evaluation. The survey respondents had taken all of the courses offered through the TREK projects, with a range of 1-11 students indicating they had completed every course. Students were asked to rate the usefulness of the courses from 1 (not useful) to 5 (very useful). The range of scores across all courses was 4.4-5.0 with EDS 601 (Applied Behavior Analysis), EDS 620 (Instructional Programming in Early Childhood Special Education), EDS 623 (Advanced Practicum: Early Childhood Special Education), EDS 630 (Instructional Methods for Students with Disabilities) and EDS 779 (Issues in Special Education: MSD and ECSE) tying as the most useful courses with a score of 4.8. CD 521 (Nonspeech Communication) was identified as the least useful course, although the score was also high (i.e., 4.4).

When asked how the course content should be changed, respondents made 27 suggested changes. Of those, 81% involved adding additional information to the course content. Four (18%) of those changes involved the need for additional information on the alternate portfolio process or other issues related to the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) ( Kleinert, Kearns, & Kennedy, 1997). Three (14%) of the comments related to a request for additional information about behavior management. Five (23%) of the respondents indicated that there was a need for information on legal issues (e.g., IDEA). Two (9%) indicated a need for additional information on both community based instruction and assistive technology. There was one (5%) comment about the need for additional information on working with children who are birth to three years, family empowerment, first aid, implementation of procedures, and activities.

Delivery. TREK courses have been delivered to 22 locations using three different modes of delivery (i.e., on-site, satellite, and interactive video). When asked at which locations they had taken coursework, there were respondents from 18 of the sites where coursework had been offered. The number of students who responded ranged from 1-6 at any given site. Five (12%) of the respondents attended classes on-site at a rural location, 22 (51%) attended classes at designated satellite delivery sites, and 16 (37%) attended classes at designated interactive video sites (with most students participating in classes across more than one delivery format).

The students were asked to rate the on-site, satellite, and interactive video delivery formats on a scale of 1 (not effective) to 5 (very effective). The on-site delivery format receiving the highest rating (4.8) was instructor feedback and the component receiving the lowest rating (4.0) was guest speakers. Regarding satellite delivery, advising and in-class discussions received the highest rating (4.6) and site monitors and on-campus activities received the lowest (3.5). Several interactive video components received the highest rating (4.7), including instructor feedback, television quizzes, on-site exams, class lectures, class discussions, and class activities. The lowest rated component for interactive video was library services (3.7).