Training needs of Portuguese practitioners working with children and young people with complex and intense support needs.

Upon the publication in Portugal of Decree-Law No. 3/2008, inclusive education for all children in regular schools became compulsory. In a short period of time, the educational community (special education teachers, regular education teachers, administrators, and technicians) were required to include and teach all students in regular schools. This article characterizes Portuguese teachers' perceptions (TPs; N = 105) about the training needs of practitioners working with children and young people with complex and intense support needs (CISNs). In this work, we use data collected using the questionnaire for practitioners working with children and young people with CISN-TPs, which was drawn up under the auspices of project ENABLIN+. The results of content analysis showed that the most frequently mentioned themes were special education, intervention strategies, international classification of functioning, disability and health, educational legislation, and family support/intervention. In conclusion, training should focus on specific contents, should be for everyone (practitioners and nonpractitioners), and should aim to improve practices, while being sufficiently flexible and differentiated to meaningfully inform each professional.

Behavioral Skills Training in Portuguese Children With School Failure Problems.

This paper postulates that psychology can make an important contribution at an individual level to help children with school failure problems in a context where too little applied research has been conducted on the instructional needs of these children. Some data are analyzed, revealing that, despite some progress, school failure is still a main educational problem in many countries. In this study, Behavioral Skills Training (BST) was applied in Portugal to train children with school failure difficulties. BST is a method based on Applied Behavior Analysis, a teaching package consisting of a combination of behavioral techniques: instructions, modeling, rehearsal, and feedback. Two empirical studies are presented. Their main purpose was to develop behavioral diagnostic and training techniques to teach lacking skills. School success was defined in terms of a set of skills proposed by teachers and school failure as a lack of one or more of these skills. The main instrument was a package of training programs to be applied in three areas: basic behavior (precurrents), academic behavior, or social behavior. The second instrument is a package of check-lists, aimed to determine the level of performance of the child in an area. This check-list was applied before (pre-test) and after (post-test) training. In the first study, 16, 7- to 8-year old children were trained. They were attending the second or third grades and having academic difficulties of different origins. The effects of the training programs are evaluated in terms of percentage of attained objectives, comparing a pre- and a post-test. The results showed an increase in correct responses after training in all cases. To provide a sounder demonstration of the efficacy of the training programs, a second study was carried out using a quasi-experimental design. A multiple baseline design was applied to three 10- to 11-year-old children, referred by teachers because of learning difficulties in the fourth grade. Results showed few performance changes without training. Increases in behavior following BST were evident in all cases, indicating that training generated improvement in all three children. In both studies, comparable results occurred across students, demonstrating replication of the effects of the training programs.

The Influence of Family Support According to Gender in the Portuguese Language Course Achievement.

Several factors like pupils' characteristics, school conditions and family context have been pointed out in the literature as being linked to academic achievement. Regarding the latter, family socio-economic status and parental support have been identified as determining variables on success at school. The current study analyses the influence of family support on the achievement of school children in their native language [Portuguese language course (PLC)]. Participants were 885 students attending PLC on basic and secondary schools (6th and 9th school grades) (ISCED 1); 418 boys and 467 girls, ranged between 10 and 18 years of age (M = 12.99). School achievement was assessed using year-end classifications in PLC. Family support was assessed using the Family Support-Context Variables Questionnaire. A regression analysis showed that students' perception about instrumental and affective family support in school life was positively related to their Portuguese grades. However, different predictive values were revealed according to gender. Girls' Portuguese languge couse classification seemed to depend on affective variables like their perception of affective parental support and affective attitudes toward the PLC, while boys' results seemed to be influenced by instrumental variables, such as the perception of instrumental support from parents and boys' attitudes toward the utility of learning Portuguese language. These results supported those of other studies, showing the need to take gender differences into account in educational interventions, especially during early adolescence. In conclusion, the study shows an influence of parental support on PLC achievement. Such influence differs according to gender, with girls being more sensitive to the affective dimension of parental support and boys to the instrumental one.