Date of Award

2013

Document Type

Open Access Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Education (MAE)

Department

Education

First Advisor

Elizabeth Madson Ankeny

Abstract

This qualitative research study examined juvenile probation officers' perspectives of special education. Juvenile probation officers who work with youth who receive special education services agreed to participate in this study to help the researcher learn more about how they view special education. Since the two professional groups (juvenile probation officers and special education teachers) often work with the same demographic, learning more about their perspectives can help improve their working relationships. However, even more importantly, the services youth receive may also be improved through gaining a better understanding of others' perspectives. A combination of formal interview questions and observations were used to collect the data. The themes that emerged from the data were: inadequate communication/lack of understanding among professionals, lack of respect for other professionals and/or their time, respect for education, and frustration with the special education. This suggests that the juvenile probation officers in this study feel that education is very important for the youth they serve, but that they could use more information about special education and benefit from improving their communication and interactions with other professionals. Additionally, special educators could also improve on their communication skills and their understanding of the correctional system when interacting with probation staff.

Identifier

SC 11.MAE.2013.Trainer.L

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