NCJ Number
62075
Date Published
1979
Length
79 pages
Annotation
MIDTERM RESULTS OF THE REMEDIATION LEARNING DISABILITIES/JUVENILE DELINQUENCY PROJECT EVALUATION, WHICH FOCUSED ON LEARNING DISABLED DELINQUENTS, ARE DISCUSSED; TENTATIVE CONCLUSIONS ARE DRAWN.
Abstract
THE EVALUATION IS A FIELD EXPERIMENT IN WHICH LEARNING DISABLED ADJUDICATED DELINQUENTS IN A PROGRAM OF REMEDIATION OF SPECIFIC LEARNING DISABILITIES ARE COMPARED TO A SIMILAR GROUP OF ADOLESCENTS IN A CONTROL GROUP. THE EVALUATION EFFORTS SEEK TO IDENTIFY EFFECTS OF LEARNING DISABILITIES REMEDIATION ON EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT, DELINQUENCY, AND RELATED ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIORS OF LEARNING DISABLED DELINQUENTS. IN ADDITION, THEY SHOULD POINT OUT THE CHARACTERISTICS OF A SUCCESSFUL REMEDIATION PROGRAM. THE REMEDIATION PROGRAM ITSELF IS BASED ON AN ACADEMIC TREATMENT MODEL ASSUMING THAT LEARNING DISABILITIES CAUSE POOR ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN SCHOOL, THAT POOR ACHIEVEMENT CAUSES FRUSTRATION, AND THAT THE COMBINED EFFECTS CAUSE JUVENILE DELINQUENCY. REMEDIAL METHODS FOCUS ON SCHOOL SUBJECTS DIRECTLY AND ARE LARGELY CONCERNED WITH AMELIORATING STUDENTS' DEFICIENCIES IN PARTICULAR SCHOOL SUBJECTS. THE PROGRAM BEGAN IN SEPTEMBER 1977 AND RAN THROUGH MID-1979; THE PRIMARY GOAL WAS TO PROVIDE 10 MONTHS OF REMEDIATION TO EACH YOUTH SERVED. THREE LEVELS OF INQUIRY OF THE EVALUATION PROCESS ARE RECOGNIZED INCLUDING THE REMEDIATION PROCESS, THE PROGRAM CONTEXT, AND THE SOCIAL CONTEXT. YOUTHS EVALUATED TOTALED 256; THEY WERE RANDOMLY ASSIGNED TO EITHER A REMEDIATION OR A CONTROL GROUP. ABILITY AND ACHIEVEMENT TESTS AND STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS WERE IMPLEMENTED FOR THE EVALUATION. THE PROGRAM APPEARS TO BE PARTIALLY EFFECTIVE IN CERTAIN SKILL AREAS. THE EFFECT OF THE PROGRAM ON DELINQUENCY PREVENTION IS YET UNDETERMINED AND WILL BE EXPLORED IN FUTURE EVALUATIONS. REFERENCES, FOOTNOTES, APPENDIXES, TABULAR DATA, AND FIGURES ARE INCLUDED IN THE REPORT. (LWM)