Identification and Assessment of Children with Learning Disabilities in Early Childhood - Research Proposal Example

Research proposal: Identification and assessment of children between 3-6 years of age with learning disabilities from the selected provinces of Zambia.  Statement of purpose:  It is very important to identify the children with learning disabilities in the very early years of their life so that their issues can be addressed before they mature to an untreatable condition. This study is intended to discover ways and means to assess the learning disabilities in children aged 3 to 6 years and suggest the appropriate corrective measures. The study fundamentally aims at improving the learning ability of these children so that they can utilize their capabilities for the betterment of the chosen provinces of Zambia. Introduction:  The most critical period in the life of an individual constitutes the very early years of life. This period lays the pattern of the whole life of an individual. The younger a child, the more flexible he/she is. This flexibility is extremely essential for a child with learning disabilities because it offers the elders room to implement necessary techniques to improve the condition of such a child. Hence, the parents need to ensure that their child does not have any learning disability in the first 3 to 6 years of the child’s life. Early identification and assessment of children in their early years prevents the disabilities from deteriorating ( Wong, 1998). As many parents are not aware of the scale on which to measure their child’s learning ability, there is a strong need to realize some measures that parents can commonly adopt to ensure that they and their child are out of trouble. Also, research needs to be conducted to suggest the parents ways to help improve their child’s condition. This research will fulfill the purpose. Literature review: Globally, in recent years, there has been a focus on the educational skill assessment of young children prior to their entry into formal schooling. The reason for this interest lies in the importance of the early years for future development. Disabilities in the children tend to magnify and strengthen as they grow up. Research in child development has adequately revealed that the early years are very important not only because they lay the basis for development but also because whatever experiences a child is exposed to during these years has life long influence (Miller, et al, 2002). Researchers have clearly established the importance of early intervention to promote second language acquisition. The pattern of child development clearly shows that the early years, especially pre-school years, are the most important ones for language development (Spodek, 1977).  At the Zambian level, the consensus of expert opinion is that 10 to 15% of children are exceptional and require active intervention and specialized services. This means that in Zambia, there are 160,000 to 250,000 children of primary school age in 1995 with special educational needs arising from physical and mental causes (MoE, 1996). Assessment will always be based on identification of emergent and established skills in several developmental areas. This information could be obtained from parent/teacher meetings. Interaction with the child often provides more useful information (Bloom 1994). Many child development specialists and educationalists hold a mutual consensus about the fact that family involvement in the development of a child is essential to enhance a child’s learning ability and develop his/her confidence. Contemporary empirical research as well as logic, however, shows us that child development is not simply maturational, it is the result of interactions with physical and social contexts experienced by the child (Guralmick and Bennett, 1987). The value of identification of skills and the establishment of a linkage between assessment an intervention is very essential.  Studies in the area of early childhood education have been majorly concentrated on the ordinary children. However, there is a lot of past research to suggest that pre-schooling enhances a child’s learning ability. This supports the idea of the need for early childhood education and the need to begin school early. In addition, there have been many other studies done in the area of reading difficulties amongst the ordinary primary school going children in Zambia. For instance the concern about literacy levels among primary school pupils in Zambia led to the new national language policy to which initial instruction should begin in a familiar language before the introduction of English in Grade 2 ( MoE, 2001). Literature has revealed that, the course of children’s development is heavily influenced by the experiences of the early years (Chazan and Laing, 1982). For children with special educational needs, skills such as reading, are desperately important and the need to acquire them effectively and early has been widely recognized. Warnock Report, (1978) on the education of handicapped children and young people accepted this view of the significance of the early years and argued that the extension of education for the under five should be one of three priorities for action.  Before conducting the research, the researcher deems it important to screen and assess the instruments whihc are available, and realize how developmentally vulnerable children and their families can be assessed meaningfully (Meisles and Shankoff, 1996 ).  Methodology: Population of research participants will constitute parents of children with disabilities, children themselves, care providers, and early childhood practitioners and administrators. The sample to be drawn will be 50 children, 25 teachers and 25 parents who will be purposefully selected from the University Teaching Hospital Special School in Lusaka and St Mulumba Special School in Choma Southern province. The researcher believes that the selected schools have the required characteristics needed for the study and are the only special schools that cater for children between 3-6 with learning disabilities.  Research Design:  The study will employ the use of both quantitative and qualitative research designs in order to validate the study. Open ended questionnaires will be designed to allow the respondents room to express themselves openly, without having to limit themselves to the choices given by the researcher. The quantitative research design will be used to code the variables under investigation by entering the scores using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The qualitative research design will interpret data according to the information that will be provided by the teachers, parents and care givers in the semi-structured interviews conducted by the researcher. It will fundamentally be a retrospective cross-sectional study to find the parents’ and tutors’ trends towards the assessment of children’s skills over the past 25 years. Sample questions: 1. Why are the children between 3-6 years of age with disabilities not assessed conventionally?  2. What is the importance of identifying and assessing children with disabilities between the ages of 3- 6 years? 3. What challenges if any are faced by the teachers in identifying and assessing children with disabilities? 4. What measures can the parents and teachers take to address these challenges? Research schedule: February, 2011 Identification of the research problem  June, 2011 Submission of the research proposal to the school  August, 2011 Development of the research proposal  November, 2011 Submission of the approved research proposal to the school  March, 2012 Collection of data  October, 2012 Analysis of data  March, 2013 Writing of the research report  November, 2013 Submission of the research report  Research limitations: It might be very difficult for the researcher to retrieve true information from certain parents given their unwillingness to have their children participate in the study. Certain parents would not like to have the disability of their children explored for fear of being identified with the disabled child in society.  Ethical Concerns:  In this study, ethical issues will variably be considered. Permission will be sought from the District Education Board Secretary (DEBS) Lusaka, to use the schools in the study. Permission will also be sought from the parents to give consent for their children to participate in the study.  References: Bloom BS, 1994. Stability and Change in Human Characteristics. New York: John Wiley & Sons.  Chazan MC and Laing AF, 1982. Some of our Children. London: Open Books.  Guralmick MJ & Bennett FC, 1987. Intervention for At-Risk and Handicapped Children. London: Academic Press.  Meisles SJ and Shankoff JP, 1996. Handbook of Early Childhood Intervention. Melbourne: Cambridge University Press.   Miller L., Drury R. and Campbell R., 2002. Exploring Early Years Education and Care. London; David Fulton Publishers.  Ministry of Education, 1996. Educating Our Future: Policy Reform Document. Lusaka: ZEPH.  Ministry of Eduction, 2001. New Break Through to Literacy. Lusaka: ZEPH.  Spodek W. 1977. Early Childhood Education. Chicago: MC Cutchan Publishing Corporation.  Warnock HM. 1978. Report of the Committee of Enquiry into the Education of Handicapped and Young People. London: Her Majesty’s Stationery office.  Wong B, 1998. Learning About Learning Disabilities. London: Academic Press Read More