Sample Letter of Request for Instrument

Letter of Request for IDP Instrument

From: jaylord losabia [mailto:neonjl1988@yahoo.com]
Sent: Wednesday, 15 August 2012 3:09 AM
To: Judith Fethney
Subject: Request for IDP

Madam Fethney:

Mabuhay!

I am a candidate for a master's degree in education, concentrating on special education, at West Visayas State University, Iloilo City, Philippines. I am currently writing my thesis about regular education teachers' attitudes toward persons with disabilities. Upon researching the literature on attitudes towards persons with disabilities and inclusion, I read about the instrument Interaction with Disabled Persons Scale and found this very relevant to my research. I also learned that the one who developed the scale, Prof. Gething, is associated with your institution.

May I ask if there is any way that I could ask Prof. Gething's permission to use the IDP instrument? I would be very grateful if I would be granted a copy of both the IDP instrument as well as the instruction and scoring manual. Your generosity will surely be of great help to my research as well as in the area of special education in my country. 

Maraming salamat po!

Respectfully yours,

Jaylord S. Losabia

Facilitating Learning: Understanding Elementary School Children

     I am an elementary teacher and I think it is but important to understand our children. These series of posts on facilitating learning will focus more on elementary school children. Specifically, I will discuss about psychological, behavioral and social dimensions of elementary children and hopefully will be of great help among teachers in widening their perspective about their elementary school students.

     Elementary school children are mostly in the age range of seven to twelve years old. This stage is commonly referred to as middle childhood stage. If based on Freud's psychoanalytic thought, this stage is the fourth stage of psychosexual development called latency stage. On this stage, traumas from preceding stage, the Phallic Stage, cause sexual conflicts to be repressed and sexual urge to be rechanneled into schoolwork and vigorous play. The ego, or the rational component of personality, and the superego, the component that consists of one's internalized moral standard, continue to develop as the child gain's more problem-solving abilities at school and internalize social value.
     Meanwhile, Erikson's psychosocial Theory presents this stage in his Eight Life Crisis in which one needs to overcome. By the age of six to twelve years, children experience the crisis of industry versus inferiority. Children must master the importance of social interaction and academic skills to feel assured. Failure to acquire these important attributes leads to the feeling of inferiority. Significant social agents are teachers and peers.

     Erikson labeled the elementary school years as "I am what I learn". This is the period for school children to learn everything they have to do, such as learning to play, sports, extra-curricular activities, academic competition all of which they learn from peers and classmates, as well as from the school itself. They are also anxious to demonstrate the skills mastered.
     In Piaget's Cognitive Development, middle childhood is the stage which he called Concrete-Operational Stage. By this period, children can think logically and systematically about concrete objects, events and experiences. They can now perform arithmetical operations and mentally reverse the outcome of physical actions and behavioral consequences. The acquisition of these and other cognitive operations permit the child to conserve, seriate and make transitive inferences. However, concrete operators still cannot think logically about hypothetical proposition that violates their conception of reality.
    On this stage, development continues to be rapid, although the changes that take place may not be as obvious and observable as those in the earlier periods. Physical growths has slowed and few inches yearly is no longer as dramatic as it was in infancy or toddlerhood. Now, the major changes are largely internal, having to do with the child's way of thinking and feeling.

Sample Letter to the Principal to Conduct Study

Letter to the Principals

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Madam:

I am currently writing my thesis entitled Societal and Personal Attitudes of Elementary Teachers Toward Persons with Disabilities as a requisite for a Master’s degree in Education major in Special Education at West Visayas State University. This thesis aims to study elementary teachers’ societal and personal attitudes toward persons with disabilities. It hopes to acquire a general picture of teachers’ attitudes in relation to including and accommodating learners with disabilities in their classrooms.  

I am hereby requesting your permission to allow me to survey the teachers in your school. The survey instruments are Attitudes Toward Disabled Persons Scale and Interaction With Disabled Persons Scale. These are self-administered instruments that can be accomplished in more or less fifteen minutes, or can be answered at home. The information will be pooled for the thesis and individual data gathered will remain confidential.

Your approval will be of great significance for the success of this study. Thank you for your time and consideration on this matter.

                                                                                                   Respectfully yours,

  (SGD.) JAYLORD S. LOSABIA

                                                                                                        Researcher

                                Noted by:

(SGD.) PROF. SHERBETH CONSEBIT

                                                                                            Thesis Adviser

Sample Letter to Superintendent to Conduct Study

July 22, 2013

Nelly H. Valerio, Ed.D. CESO V, CEO VI
Schools Division Superintendent

Division of Iloilo City

Gen. Luna-Mabini Sts., Iloilo City

Dear Dr. Valerio:

I am presently pursuing my Master’s degree in Education major in Special Education at West Visayas State University. I am in the process of writing my thesis entitled Societal and Personal Attitudes of Elementary Teachers Toward Persons with Disabilities. This study wishes to explore elementary teachers’ societal and personal attitudes toward persons with disabilities. It hopes to acquire a general picture of teachers’ attitudes in relation to including and accommodating learners with disabilities in their classrooms. It intends to have elementary teachers teaching in the Division of Iloilo City as the participants of the study.

I am hereby requesting your permission to allow me to survey elementary teachers in the Division of Iloilo City. I also hope to obtain information from the Human Resources Management Office on the population of elementary teachers under the division. The information will be pooled for the thesis and individual data gathered will remain confidential.

Your approval on this matter will greatly be appreciated. Thank you for your time and consideration.

                                                                                                   Respectfully yours,

                JAYLORD S. LOSABIA

                                                                                                        Researcher

Approved:                                                                                         Noted:

                                                                                                                 SHERBETH H. CONSEBIT                                                                                            

NELLY H. VALERIO, Ed.D. CESO V, CEO VI                                                        Thesis Adviser
       Schools Division Superintendent                                                               

Sample Letter to Validators

January 8, 2013

Mrs. Teresa Caritativo

Special Education Teacher

SPED-Integrated School for Exceptional Children

Mabini Street, Iloilo City

Dear Madam:

I am currently pursuing my Master’s degree in Education major in Special Education at West Visayas State University. I am in the process of writing my thesis entitled Societal and Personal Attitudes of Elementary Teachers Toward Persons with Disabilities. This study wishes to explore elementary regular education teachers’ societal and personal attitudes toward persons with disabilities. It hopes to acquire a general picture of teachers’ attitudes in relation to including and accommodating learners with disabilities in their classrooms.

The instruments that will be used to measure teachers’ societal and personal attitudes toward persons with disabilities are Attitudes Toward Disabled Persons Scale (Yuker et al, 1970) and Interaction with Disabled Persons Scale (Gething, 1991) respectively. These instruments are standardized and have been used in various researches. For the purpose of this study however, these instruments are modified, changing the term “disabled persons” to “persons with disabilities”. Sub-items are also added to measure not only attitudes toward persons with disabilities in general but as well as to specific type of disability such as physical-motor, sensory and intellectual/developmental disability. This is also done to address the research problem of identifying significant differences on societal and personal attitudes toward persons with disabilities in respect to the type of disability. Moreover, definitions of the type of disability are indicated in hand with the instructions to avoid ambiguities and misinterpretation. 

In this regard, I would like to ask your knowledge and expertise to assess the validity and cultural appropriateness of the said instruments. With your reputable opinion, I am positive that I could improve and utilize these instruments to attain the objectives of the study. 

Attached herewith are the original and modified versions of Attitudes Toward Disabled Persons Scale and Interaction with Disabled Persons Scale. If you have any clarifications, you may contact me through these numbers 09203669320.

Thank you for your time and consideration in this matter.

Respectfully yours,

JAYLORD S. LOSABIA

Researcher

Noted by:

PROF. SHERBETH CONSEBIT

Thesis Adviser