Papers by Anjali J Forber-Pratt
American Journal of Community Psychology, Jan 3, 2023
Schools are increasingly hiring full‐time, unarmed school security professionals (SSPs), who are ... more Schools are increasingly hiring full‐time, unarmed school security professionals (SSPs), who are different from School Resource Officers (SROs), to help facilitate safe and supportive school climates. However, there is a paucity of literature about how they describe and engage with social emotional learning (SEL), particularly equity‐focused or transformative SEL. The current study is a secondary data analysis using qualitative responses to content embedded in two online professional development (PD) modules created for school security: SEL and cultural competence (CC). Forty‐eight SSPs completed the SEL module and 18 of these SSPs also completed the CC module. Informed by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning's transformative SEL literature, researchers sought to understand how SSPs describe SEL and how they apply transformative SEL in their work. A qualitative transcript analysis was performed, and transformative SEL's five subthemes were identified through this iterative process: working collaboratively, equity and inclusion, cultural humility, ties to identity, and advocacy. Findings demonstrated that SSPs who completed the modules apply transformative SEL principles in various, overlapping ways, illustrating their capacity to support student SEL. However, some SSPs struggled to make ties to their own identity, highlighting the need for widespread training and additional emphasis on self‐awareness in transformative SEL PD.
Evaluation and Program Planning, Jun 1, 2023
PubMed, 2022
The inclusion of people with disabilities has historically been, and continues to be, challenging... more The inclusion of people with disabilities has historically been, and continues to be, challenging work. In the health professions, the practice of inclusion should promote and advance the dissemination of efforts to decrease the impact of societal and physical barriers on the lives of people with disability, as well as promote innovative approaches to effectively foster an inclusive society. In addition to a focus on concepts such as the intact abilities of people with disabilities and the facilitation of community participation, an important shift in inclusion-related research requires listening to the lived experience of individuals with disabilities. Listening to their lived experiences and including the valuable insights gleaned from their insider's perspective can enrich efforts to evaluate clinical and educational programs, define population needs, and set research agendas and rehabilitation goals. Building on seminal work from Tamara Dembo, Beatrice Wright, and Margaret Brown, this communication from the Disability Representation Task Force at the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine also explores how healthcare providers living with a disability can make a significant contribution to rehabilitation treatment by analyzing how their own experience applies to clinical practice.
Multiple Voices for Ethnically Diverse Exceptional Learners, Sep 1, 2021
ABSTRACT Teachers are considered as the powerful implementers of inclusive education and are at t... more ABSTRACT Teachers are considered as the powerful implementers of inclusive education and are at the frontlines in responding to the increasing diversity of learners in their classrooms. India is a vast, diverse country where access to quality education is denied across various lines of marginalization, including caste, religion, gender, class, language, and disability. Inclusive education policy in India sets up contradictory expectations for teachers, with no clear pathways toward inclusive education. This scoping review examines empirical research on teachers within inclusive education in India to highlight gaps, challenges, and future directions. Education Resource Information Center (ERIC), Education Database, and Google Scholar were used to identify peer-reviewed articles on teachers within inclusive education in India. A total of 253 articles were identified and 27 articles were selected for the review. The present analysis identifies tensions in the literature on how inclusion is defined, how teachers are studied, and how teacher practices are understood. The analysis discusses the lack of research on teacher practices, the absence of contextualized perspectives on teacher practices, and implications of the confusion around inclusive education for teachers in India.
International journal of bullying prevention, May 2, 2023
Multiple Voices for Ethnically Diverse Exceptional Learners
Teachers are considered as the powerful implementers of inclusive education and are at the frontl... more Teachers are considered as the powerful implementers of inclusive education and are at the frontlines in responding to the increasing diversity of learners in their classrooms. India is a vast, diverse country where access to quality education is denied across various lines of marginalization, including caste, religion, gender, class, language, and disability. Inclusive education policy in India sets up contradictory expectations for teachers, with no clear pathways toward inclusive education. This scoping review examines empirical research on teachers within inclusive education in India to highlight gaps, challenges, and future directions. Education Resource Information Center (ERIC), Education Database, and Google Scholar were used to identify peer-reviewed articles on teachers within inclusive education in India. A total of 253 articles were identified and 27 articles were selected for the review. The present analysis identifies tensions in the literature on how inclusion is defi...
Evaluation and Program Planning
Education and Urban Society
Motivational interviewing (MI), a therapy strategy used to guide students to help students better... more Motivational interviewing (MI), a therapy strategy used to guide students to help students better understand how to develop their social emotional learning (SEL) skills to make positive choices that resolve social conflict, bodes promising for helping youth to cultivate the social and emotional skills needed to address bullying, peer drama, and other issues affecting their mental, physical, and emotional health. Bulldog Solution, Inc., a Chicago-based organization, utilized MI research-informed approach to increase students’ social conflict management and leadership skills through self-awareness and self-discovery, as a mechanism for preventing bullying and supporting the social and emotional growth of young people. This study presents emerging themes resulting from a 9-week, motivational interview and SEL-based program titled, “Peace Over Drama,” implemented with middle school students (sixth–seventh–eighth grade) with disabilities and/or at risk for disability-identification ( n =...
Rehabilitation Psychology
PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE This work provides comprehensive analyses targeting the factor structure and di... more PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE This work provides comprehensive analyses targeting the factor structure and dimensionality of the Disability Identity Development Scale (DIDS). In Forber-Pratt et al., 2020, disability was defined broadly to include individuals with visible or hidden disabilities across many disability groups (i.e., physical, intellectual, learning, or chronic illness). RESEARCH METHOD/DESIGN Retained items from previous exploratory factor analysis were administered to a sample of adults with disabilities (n = 1,126) ranging in age from 18-78 years. Confirmatory factor analytics (CFA) including traditional CFA, and bifactor confirmatory analyses were used to examine the dimensionality and structure of the DIDS. RESULTS Traditional CFA provided lack of evidence in support of the oblique four-factor structure previously reported. Bifactor confirmatory analysis revealed items on the DIDS are consistent with unidimensional, and to a lesser degree multidimensional solutions (i.e., items lacked a level of content diversity to substantiate a complex, reliable multifactor structure). DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION Analytic results on the DIDS revealed reasonable psychometric properties as a measure of disability identity. Our results support using a sum or total score of disability identity. Results of this work are an important contribution to a growing body of literature supporting, and investigating, disability identity development. Furthermore, the DIDS measure with its resulting composite score of disability identity has the potential to inform clinicians in the field of rehabilitation psychology as well as informing future targeted interventions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).
Rehabilitation Psychology, 2022
Purpose/Objective: This work provides comprehensive analyses targeting the factor structure and d... more Purpose/Objective: This work provides comprehensive analyses targeting the factor structure and dimensionality of the Disability Identity Development Scale (DIDS). In Forber-Pratt et al., 2020, disability was defined broadly to include individuals with visible or hidden disabilities across many disability groups (i.e., physical, intellectual, learning, or chronic illness). Research Method/Design: Retained items from previous exploratory factor analysis were administered to a sample of adults with disabilities (n = 1,126) ranging in age from 18–78 years. Confirmatory factor analytics (CFA) including traditional CFA, and bifactor confirmatory analyses were used to examine the dimensionality and structure of the DIDS. Results: Traditional CFA provided lack of evidence in support of the oblique four-factor structure previously reported. Bifactor confirmatory analysis revealed items on the DIDS are consistent with unidimensional, and to a lesser degree multidimensional solutions (i.e., items lacked a level of content diversity to substantiate a complex, reliable multifactor structure). Discussion/Conclusion: Analytic results on the DIDS revealed reasonable psychometric properties as a measure of disability identity. Our results support using a sum or total score of disability identity. Results of this work are an important contribution to a growing body of literature supporting, and investigating, disability identity development. Furthermore, the DIDS measure with its resulting composite score of disability identity has the potential to inform clinicians in the field of rehabilitation psychology as well as informing future targeted interventions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
Rehabilitation Psychology, 2021
Purpose/Objective: The purpose of this study was to qualitatively explore how adolescents concept... more Purpose/Objective: The purpose of this study was to qualitatively explore how adolescents conceptualize disability identity and what factors may influence adolescent disability identity development. Research Method/Design: These data were collected through semistructured in-depth interviews with 24 middle and high school adolescents with disabilities. The participants had a wide range of disabilities, including physical disabilities, learning disabilities, ADHD, Autism, and others. Analyses started with Hamilton’s Rapid Assessment Process followed by identifying structural and in vivo codes using a computer-assisted qualitative data analysis tool to allow for multiple coders and memo writing across the research team. Results: The results indicate that adolescents are undergoing a heterogeneous and complex process to develop their disability identity. Additionally, the salience of the participants’ disability identity often varied depending on the environmental context. Furthermore, social connections to peers with and without disabilities played an important role in the development of many participants’ disability identities. Conclusions/Implications: These findings suggest that adolescents with disabilities are engaging in a multifaceted meaning-making process to develop a sense of disability identity. Rehabilitation Psychologists and other practitioners can support disabled adolescents by helping them to discuss and develop a positive disability identity. Furthermore, practitioners can help disabled adolescents successfully develop their disability identity in a variety of different settings and contexts. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
Rehabilitation Research, Policy, and Education, 2021
Purpose As the disability community holds a larger presence in the United States, the needs becom... more Purpose As the disability community holds a larger presence in the United States, the needs become more apparent. Researchers in collaboration with the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation looked to find the most pressing needs of the paralysis community—inclusive of persons with paralysis, family members/caregivers of persons with paralysis, and professionals working with persons with paralysis. Methods As part of an online needs assessment survey, respondents were asked to identify which topics were most important to them from 25 issues. Data was received and analyzed from 237 valid and unique responses. Results The top ranked issue for each group were as follows: (a) Persons with Paralysis—Public Accessibility, Inclusion, and Universal Design; (b) Family Members/Caregivers—Prevention of Secondary Conditions; and (c) Professionals—Rehabilitation. Conclusions It is essential to consider the priority areas from the U.S. paralysis community when embarking on new policy initiatives and...
Supplemental material, TABLES_AND_FIGURES_July_26,_2019_-_Supplemental for Exploring the Intersec... more Supplemental material, TABLES_AND_FIGURES_July_26,_2019_-_Supplemental for Exploring the Intersections of Disability, Race, and Gender on Student Outcomes in High School by Anjali J. Forber-Pratt, Gabriel J. Merrin and Dorothy L. Espelage in Remedial and Special Education
The Palgrave Handbook of Paralympic Studies, 2018
Qualitative Inquiry, 2019
What is the appropriate method of “interviewing” individuals with more involved disabilities who ... more What is the appropriate method of “interviewing” individuals with more involved disabilities who are nonverbal? As part of a larger case study looking at inclusion in India for disabled1 girls, this work raises questions about what happens when we inadvertently or systematically privilege certain ways of communicating over others without providing accommodations or adaptions. This practice perpetuates ableism by only including some disabled voices, but not all. This article interrogates questions of voice and agency and provides examples of methodological approaches to center the voice of one disabled student who also carries the label of being nonverbal.
Culture & Psychology, 2018
The present study examined the views of students with varying physical disabilities on disability... more The present study examined the views of students with varying physical disabilities on disability culture in a post-Americans with Disability Act society. Qualitative, participatory research methods were used to observe approximately 30 disabled students and conduct in-depth interviews with four disabled students. The main objective was initially to answer the following question: Do disabled students recognize an identifiable disability culture at that particular university, and if so, what does it look like? While the sheer presence of disabled students does not automatically equate to a robust disability culture, it became apparent that there was a disability culture at this site, and therefore the research question was refined to: What are the features of disability culture according to this population? The participants were all students at an institute of higher education in the Midwestern United States. The researcher self-identifies as having a disability. Using in vivo coding...
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Papers by Anjali J Forber-Pratt
I believe that access to education is a fundamental human right, and I am not alone in this conviction. According to the United Nations (UN) Universal Declaration of Human Rights, passed in 1946, every individual has a right to a free public education, at least during the fundamental years of childhood development. In the UN Declaration of Human Rights of Disabled Persons, passed in 1975, this right was extended to persons with disabilities. And in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, passed in 2006, this right is specified as including physical access to educational facilities (Harpur 2012; Priestley 2001).
In my experience, however, these rights are not easily granted and one has to fight for them. Indeed, my quest for an accessible education began long before I knew how the world worked. Born in 1984, I acquired my disability after being adopted from India by an American family. A neurological disorder called transverse myelitis, which causes inflammation of the spinal cord, left me paralyzed from the waist down at two and a half months of age. My mother was first tasked with finding a preschool that would take me—because I was “different,” a “challenge,” an “unknown.” Over the years, problems with my schooling got progressively worse.