WHAT MAKES YOU SO GOOD? HIGHLY EFFECTIVE GENERAL EDUCATION TEACHERS SERVING STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL EDUCATION NEEDS
Advisor Information
Dr. Tamara Williams
Location
MBSC 201
Presentation Type
Poster
Start Date
6-3-2020 12:30 PM
End Date
6-3-2020 1:45 PM
Abstract
Teachers are the single most important factor in student learning, including the learning of students who receive special education services. Most students with disabilities are included in the general education classroom but general education teachers often express feeling underprepared to meet their diverse needs. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the experiences of general education teachers in a traditional high school environment who are highly effective in serving students with special education needs in hopes of finding commonalities that could be replicated for other teachers.
In this study, six positive deviant general education teachers participated in interviews and observations which were transcribed and coded. Thematic analysis indicated that highly effective general education teachers care about and build relationships with all students, collaborate, and learn from their robust experiences serving students with disabilities. These findings indicate that school leaders should invest in developing general education teachers’ abilities to collaborate, communicate, demonstrate kindness and build relationships. Additionally, all six of the teachers in this study credited their effectiveness to their past experiences serving students with challenging needs, teaching classes with a large number of students with special education needs enrolled, and attending IEP meetings. In fact, 31% of all final data proved this to be a major theme in the research. Therefore, all general education teachers need hands on experience serving students with special education needs and attending IEP meetings in order to build their capacity to better serve all learners.
WHAT MAKES YOU SO GOOD? HIGHLY EFFECTIVE GENERAL EDUCATION TEACHERS SERVING STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL EDUCATION NEEDS
MBSC 201
Teachers are the single most important factor in student learning, including the learning of students who receive special education services. Most students with disabilities are included in the general education classroom but general education teachers often express feeling underprepared to meet their diverse needs. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the experiences of general education teachers in a traditional high school environment who are highly effective in serving students with special education needs in hopes of finding commonalities that could be replicated for other teachers.
In this study, six positive deviant general education teachers participated in interviews and observations which were transcribed and coded. Thematic analysis indicated that highly effective general education teachers care about and build relationships with all students, collaborate, and learn from their robust experiences serving students with disabilities. These findings indicate that school leaders should invest in developing general education teachers’ abilities to collaborate, communicate, demonstrate kindness and build relationships. Additionally, all six of the teachers in this study credited their effectiveness to their past experiences serving students with challenging needs, teaching classes with a large number of students with special education needs enrolled, and attending IEP meetings. In fact, 31% of all final data proved this to be a major theme in the research. Therefore, all general education teachers need hands on experience serving students with special education needs and attending IEP meetings in order to build their capacity to better serve all learners.