A Study of Seven Midwest States Teacher Education Programs: A Study to Determine if These Programs Include Specific Designated Courses Dealing with Child Abuse and Neglect Detection
Author: Citrin, Anthony
Date: 2021-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Teacher Education Programs,Program Evaluation,Child Abuse,Child Neglect,Identification,Comparative Analysis,Course Content,Early Childhood Education,Elementary Secondary Education,Required Courses

It has been said that one of the greatest failures in the education system has been a longstanding problem of public and private school educators failing to recognize victims of child abuse and neglect in their classrooms (Jennings, 1989). The maltreatment of children is a prevalent problem as we know that the number of child maltreatment cases far outnumbers the cases reported, such as the 800,00 cases in 2011 (Lusk, 2014). While the 16% of cases in 2009 that were reported by educational professional may seem standard, we still see a big gap in the amount of contact teachers have with students and their reporting rates (Krase, 2013). The lack of recognition of abuse and neglect indicators can be attributed, in part, to a lack of competent training on this topic (Sinanan, 2011). Other variables such as teachers or administrators being uncomfortable with the reporting process, and or not understanding the reporting protections available can also be responsible for inadequate reporting rates, which are all variables that could be addressed with proper training. The study included Teacher Education programs in Nebraska and the six contiguous states on its borders, including public and private Universities. The methodology included viewing the current catalogues for each institution to identify required degree course work which had wording specific to child abuse and neglect. While course work descriptions do not contain all topics covered, they do outline the subjects that are a priority to the course. Education programs included Early Childhood Education, Elementary Education, Middle School Education, High School Education, Physical Education, and Special Education. If the school lacked specific course work information on child abuse and neglect, individual course descriptions were examined to see if the topic of child abuse and neglect was specified as a clear component. Examples of required coursework that were examined included Human Development, Educational Foundations, Educational Psychology or School and Community Relations. These courses were examined to determine if they contained substantial teaching components on Child Abuse and Neglect. The catalogues were all available on the respective school websites. It was assumed that the course catalogue description would indicate the major elements of each course. It is recognized that individual course syllabi might well include content on child abuse and neglect detection and reporting. It is the researcher's contention that this topic necessitates more attention than simply being a small component of a given course. There were 110 accredited Teacher Education programs that were examined. Of these programs, only one, 0.9 percent of the total, Peru State College, had a specific, standalone course dedicated to child abuse and neglect detection. Five institutions, 4.5 percent of the total, had courses which appeared to have components dealing with child abuse and neglect detection. Not only did many required Teacher Education courses lack these components, but most of the colleges did not offer a Child Abuse and Neglect class at all, even as an elective class the student could choose to take. Given the findings of this study it would appear that there is minimal attention provided with respect to training teachers to detect child abuse and neglect. This condition certainly contributes to the failure of many educators to recognize and properly report possible victims.