Date of Award
11-2008
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education (EdD)
Department
Executive Leadership
First Supervisor
Dianne Cooney-Miner
Second Supervisor
Diane Reed
Abstract
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of2004 permits school districts to use an alternative process to establish eligibility for special education services. Response to Intervention (RTI) procedures represent a significant change in thinking and practice. The purpose of this study was to understand the cognitive changes that accompany the implementation ofRTI. Specifically, the relationship between school psychologists' mental models regarding the assessment ofleaming disabilities and their roles as experts in traditional psychoeducational assessment was studied. The study employed a qualitative methodology. Participants included experienced school psychologists. Interview data was transcribed, coded, and analyzed in accordance with the constant comparative method of a grounded theory inquiry. The phenomenon of interest in this study was the process of changing one's mental model regarding an essential element of professional functioning. The emergent theory, Recreating Identity, is presented as a way to understand the internal and external processes of adaptation associated with the paradigm shift. This shift required internal and external changes that included recognition of flaws in both the discrepancy model and the eclectic attempts to work around those flaws. The dissonance created by this recognition led to a variety of defense mechanisms and dissonance reduction strategies. The introduction of the RTI paradigm created challenges to participants' established patterns of power, status, and influence. In tum, this generated the need for retooling of collaborative relationships, skills sets, and attitudes. Recreating Identity is best considered an emergent theory that reflects the selective accommodation of participants' mental models to the new paradigm.
Recommended Citation
Pulos, Theresa L., "Recreating Identity: A Grounded Theory Study of Changing Mental Models and Response to Intervention" (2008). Education Doctoral. Paper 71.
https://fisherpub.sjf.edu/education_etd/71
Please note that the Recommended Citation provides general citation information and may not be appropriate for your discipline. To receive help in creating a citation based on your discipline, please visit http://libguides.sjfc.edu/citations.