David Blaiklock
Ph.D Portfolio
George Mason University
| Home | Coursework & Reflection | Professional Experience | Dissertation |
| Goal Statement | Academic & Professional Growth | Analytical & Integrative Thinking | Vitae |
| Publications in Process |
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Graduate Reviewer International Journal of Education Policy and Leadership January 2010-Present |
| I have started working as a graduate reviewer fairly recently but have had the opportunity to review two articles thus far. The graduate reviewer is the first tier of the review process for the International Journal of Education Policy and Leadership. If the manuscript is acceptable at the first tier, it moves to the second tier which is peer review. Once it has been reviewed and accepted by peer reviewers, the manuscript is published in the journal. As a graduate reviewer, I read submitted manuscripts and evaluate them based on internal consistency, purpose, significance, and implications. Once the manuscript has been reviewed, I choose whether it should be accepted, it needs revisions, or it should be declined. I also submit a written evaluation of each manuscript to explain the decision I have made. |
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Research Intern Group Dynamics Lab Virginia Commonwealth University September 1996-May 1997 |
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During the
last two semesters of my undergraduate education, I had a research
internship in the group dynamics lab at Virginia Commonwealth University.
The internship was supervised by Dr. Steven Karau. The first
responsibility of the internship was to create a database of a series of
articles that Dr. Karau had obtained. The database included the APA
citation for each of the articles. Once the database was completed, I
worked with Dr. Karau on several other projects. Twice a week, I worked in the group dynamics lab itself. During that time I would collect data on students who had signed up to participate in Dr. Karau's studies. The first study measured whether people were more likely to engage in social loafing if they though they had less in common with the other person. Student pairs were randomly assigned to conditions and were given a questionnaire abut social issues and how strongly they felt about them. Based on their answers and the treatment condition, students were asked to discuss one of the social issues for 10 minutes. For example, in the low commonality condition an issue would be chosen that they both felt strongly about but had much different opinions. After the 10 minutes of discussion, the pair was assigned a task that they were informed was either a collaborative or individual effort. My work on this study earned an acknowledgement in Karau & Hart (1998). The second study that was run was on memory salience if only one person showed up for the social loafing study. In addition to the time in the group dynamics lab, I also worked on coding data for Dr. Karau. He was working on a study measuring the relationship between mood and group performance. Each group engaged in a 15 minute discussion during which they generated a written solution to a question. The 15 minute discussion was coded for the frequency of different different criteria each minute (i.e. off-topic, process, argue, etc.). The written solutions were coded separately and were also coded on eight different criteria. Karau, S. J. & Hart, J. W. (1998). Group cohesiveness and social loafing: effects of a social interaction manipulation on individual motivation within groups. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 2(3) 185-191. |
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Blaiklock, D. (2008). Virginia Association of Independent Specialized Education Facilities Recommendations to the Proposed Regulations Governing Special Education Programs for Children with Disabilities in Virginia. Retrieved from http://www.townhall.state.va.us/l/viewcomments.cfm?commentid=1694 |
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This paper
was written as a position paper for the Virginia Association of Independent
Specialized Education Facilities (VAISEF) on Virginia's proposed special
education regulations. VAISEF is an association that represents over
50 private special education programs in the state of Virginia. The
proposed special education regulations were drafted to implement the changes
outlined in the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act in 2004. I drafted the paper and submitted it the VAISEF
Executive Board who adopted it as their position paper on the proposed
regulations. The paper praised the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) for having a promulgation process that included the opportunity for public comment. VDOE was also praised for the criteria for eligibility in each disability category and the extended definition of the term "Parent". However, the paper also asked for less criteria under the disability category of Autism, a shorter period of time to complete eligibility evaluations, and requested VDOE remove the ability for jurisdictions to terminate services without parental consent. |
| Brigham, F. J. & Blaiklock, D. School Choice and Specialized Settings |
| This draft presents an overview of nonpublic special education programs framed in the context of school choice. The paper includes a discussion of the benefits and contentious issues associated with nonpublic special education programs. The paper will compare outcome data from the National Association of Private Special Education Centers (NAPSEC) will be compared to the outcome data of the National Longitudinal Transition Survey-2 (NLTS-2) to demonstrate the comparable if not more favorable postsecondary outcomes of students who attend nonpublic programs compared to the national trends of students with disabilities. The conclusion includes a deliberative decision making model rooted in the framework of Response to Intervention (RtI) to help guide IEP decisions in determining if a nonpublic program is appropriate. |
| Alternative Teacher Certification Meta-analysis |
| I am working on this project with Dr. Earley and Dr. Laitsch from Simon Fraser University. My role in this project entails reviewing a comprehensive body of literature associated with the effectiveness of alternative teacher certification programs. During the initial review of the studies in the sample, the studies were assigned to a category based upon the components of the alternative certification program. Studies that did not utilize a design that is susceptible to calculating an effect size were removed from the sample but will be reviewed with a different method in the future. Currently, I am going through the sample a second time to identify the dependent variables and the instruments used to to measure the dependent variables. The next step will be to develop a set of quality indicators and then to code each study so that they can be synthesized with a meta-analysis. |
| Blaiklock, D. & Bon, S. Parental Participation in the Special Education Process: A Review of Circuit Court Holdings |
| This paper will compare the types of cases regarding parental participation that are being heard in federal court to the issues of parental participation that emerge in the research. The cases were identified by conducting a comprehensive search of Lexis/Nexis based on specific terminology associated with parental participation in special education cases. Cases that set precedent or were cited in the findings were also reviewed. In the majority of the circuit court cases, the holding was in favor of the school. The paper concludes with recommendations based on the Code of Federal Regulations regarding the requirements for scheduling an IEP meeting and the specific criteria fro when a school can proceed with an IEP meeting without the parent. |
| Blaiklock, D. & Brigham, F. J. Parental Roles in Special Education Decision-Making: A Review of the Literature on Parental Perception of Interactions with School Personnel Regarding Special Education |
| This paper is a literature review of research associated with determining parental perceptions of their participation in the special education process. The paper provides a brief history of parental participation under IDEA, describes the search method, and organizes a description of each study based on common categories. The discussion focuses on the common themes and makes recommendations for future reauthorizations that can improve parental roles in special education decision-making similar to what the current version of IDEA is attempting to accomplish. |
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Blaiklock, D., Brigham, F. J., (2012, May). Deference or redefinition: Decisions in parallel systems. Paper to be presented at the 34thd annual Massachusetts Association of 766 Approved Private Schools in Marlborough, MA. Blaiklock, D., Brigham, F. J., & Dansky, G. (2012, April). Deference or redefinition: Decisions in parallel systems. Paper to be presented at the annual Council for Exceptional Children conference in Denver, CO. |
| The presentations to the Council for Exceptional Children and the Massachusetts Association of 766 Approved Private Schools (MAAPS) will be based on the same draft of a paper. The presentation will attempt to accomplish three goals with the first goal being to make an argument to change the terminology associated with nonpublic special education programs. These programs are typically referred to as segregated settings which contributes to the negative stereotypes associated with nonpublic programs. The second goal is to compare the separation of special education students for educational opportunities to the separation of gifted students for educational opportunities. Finally, outcome data from the National Association of Private Special Education Centers (NAPSEC) will be compared to the outcome data of the National Longitudinal Transition Survey-2 (NLTS-2) to demonstrate the comparable if not more favorable postsecondary outcomes of students who attend nonpublic programs compared to the national trends of students with disabilities. |
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Brigham, F. J. & Blaiklock, D. (2011, May). Considering the nonpublic option for students with disabilities: Policies, programs, & procedures. Paper presented at the 33rd annual Massachusetts Association of 766 Approved Private Schools in Marlborough, MA. |
| The Massachusetts Association of 766 Approved Private Schools (MAAPS) invited Dr. Brigham and I to present on nonpublic programs. The presentation was similar to the CEC presentation (below). However, the discussion also included issues framed in policy including the perception of nonpublic settings as segregated settings, issues of inclusion, and "a call to research". Given the audience were administrators from nonpublic schools, Dr. Brigham and I challenged them to empirically demonstrate the benefits of their programs. |
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Blaiklock, D., Bon, S. C., Brigham, F. J., & Dansky, G. (2011, April). Considering the nonpublic option for students with disabilities: Policies, programs, & procedures. Paper presented at the annual Council for Exceptional Children conference in National Harbor, MD. |
| The proposal for the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) conference was based on the draft of a book chapter written with Dr. Brigham and Dr. Bon. During the presentation we discussed the benefits of nonpublic special education programs framed in the context of school choice. The history of nonpublic special education programs, significant court cases regarding nonpublic programs, the types of nonpublic programs, and the benefits and contentious issues surrounding nonpublic programs were presented. The presentation concluded with a deliberative decision making model in the Response to Intervention (RtI) framework to help guide special education decisions regarding nonpublic programs. |
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Blaiklock, D. (2009). New Staff Mentoring: The Phillips School Way. Virginia Association of Independent Specialized Education Facilities Spring Conference. Virginia Beach, VA. |
| The Virginia Association of Independent Specialized Education Facilities (VAISEF) requested proposals for presentations for their Spring 2009 conference. VAISEF is an association that represents over 50 private special education programs in Virginia and their Spring 2009 conference was focused on collaboration between the member programs. I submitted an abstract on the Phillips School mentoring program to the conference committee and was chosen to present. The presentation included background research from both Phillips and the education community on the benefits of mentoring new staff members. The Phillips School new staff mentoring program was described in detail to include some of the issues that arose during the implementation and the lessons learned from those issues. Staff comments on the benefits of the program were discussed and data on retention was also presented. |
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Education Program Coordinator, PHILLIPS School, Annandale, VA 2008-Present |
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As
Education Program Coordinator I am responsible for coordinating with
contracted jurisdictions to ensure that eligibility and Individual Education
Programs (IEP) are in compliance, ensuring that the school program is in
compliance with licensing and accrediting bodies, and the integration of
technology. Keeping eligibility determinations and IEPs current requires a process that ensures an IEP is drafted with relevant information and that the representative from the Local Education Agency is able to coordinate their schedule with the parent, the school, and any other stakeholders for a particular student. I supervise this process by setting a print date for a draft of the IEP months before the IEP is due to expire. Setting a print date far in advance helps give the teacher adequate time to complete any relevant assessments for determining present levels of performance from which goals are developed. The teacher also has adequate time to gather any parental input and when relevant discuss the transition plan with the student. Once the IEP is drafted, it is submitted to their program supervisor for review and returned to the teacher for any corrections. When the corrections are made the draft is sent home for review by the parents prior to the IEP meeting. About a month before each IEP is due, I contact the representative from the Local Education Agency to find out their availability. I schedule meetings based on the availability of all of the stakeholders. Completing this process facilitates parental participation in developing the IEP and allows the parent to know what the school will be proposing before the meeting. Phillips is licensed to operate by Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia. I am responsible for being aware of the regulations from each of these entities and to make sure the program's policies and procedures are in compliance with them. Staying in compliance with licensure standards means that I am also responsible for maintaining our license in following licensure application and site visit timelines. In addition, Phillips is accredited by the Virginia Association of Independent Specialize Education Facilities (VAISEF). My role is to ensure we are in compliance with the VAISEF accreditation standards. Finally, I am also responsible for any data reporting from each of the entities mentioned above on the students we serve from their district or state. My responsibilities for integrating technology ranges from purchasing new software to training the staff on how to use it. Integrating technology requires having the vision to know the technology that will be available and working on training staff to integrate it with their lesson. To successfully integrate different technology, my responsibilities include making sure the staff is proficient with the technology available so they can use whatever is purchased in working with the students. Proficiency includes the ability to use Smartboards, web-based software, and live video streaming. |
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Director of Residential Services Oakland School, Keswick, VA 2001-2005 |
| The primary
responsibilities for this position were hiring and supervising the
residential staff and developing the recreational program for the Oakland
students. For the majority of the residential staff that worked at Oakland, it was their first job after college. I was responsible for hiring, training, and supervising the staff for 12 positions during the winter program and 22 positions for the summer program. The residential position required the staff to live on campus four days a week and be available 24 hours a day while they were working their shift. I screened resumes, conducted interviews, and negotiated salaries, to make sure that the ideal staff was working at the school. I was responsible for training the staff in behavioral management and modification techniques particularly as they applied to students with exceptional learning needs. Training also consisted of how to establish and maintain a structured living environment for the students they supervised. During my time in this position, staff retention improved which allowed for a more experienced staff and a higher quality program. The ability to maintain the staff from year to year allowed me to focus more on program development as opposed to hiring at the end of each contract cycle. Part of the residential program was to provide structured recreational activities during the afternoons, evenings, and weekends. In addition to the athletic program that was already established, I worked with the residential staff to develop a fine arts program. I worked with each of the staff members to learn about their hobbies and talents that could contribute to the recreational program. When it was fully established, the fine arts program consisted of pottery (to include wheels and a new kiln), oil painting, photography (to include a functional darkroom), and music (keyboard and guitar). The recreational program also included using community resources to find off campus activities. The Charlottesville area had a lot to offer and I worked towards energizing the residential staff to get the students into the community as much as possible. |