Date of Conferral
4-17-2024
Date of Award
April 2024
Degree
Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)
School
Education
Advisor
Margaret Cramer
Abstract
Students with chronic health conditions are living longer lives, thanks to medical advances. This group of students spend more time in classrooms, and teachers have become tasked with meeting the needs of this growing population. Teachers require supports on best practices for educating students with chronic health conditions who are in their classrooms. The knowledge of teachers supporting this population of students can be insubstantial, but the experiences of teachers can begin to add insight to how to meet the needs of the teachers educating this group of students. The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand the teaching experiences of a total of 10 general and special education teachers in Grades 6-12 who educate students with chronic health conditions, particularly those with cancer, sickle cell disease or blood disease, diabetes, and seizure disorder. In this study, Bandura’s social cognitive theory and its subset of self-efficacy provided insight about the experiences of teachers in two counties in Pennsylvania. Participants participated in semistructured interviews, where data was analyzed using an open coding system so that themes emerged and were identified. The results of this study identified four themes the emerged from the experiences of teachers. Those themes are, barriers to education, chronic health conditions in classrooms, teacher strategies in supporting students with chronic health conditions, and equal access supports. The themes related directly to the literature and the conceptual framework used to guide this study. This study can contribute to positive social change by using the information to assist general and special education teachers to successfully implement strategies of accommodations and modifications to improve outcomes of students that experience chronic health conditions.
Recommended Citation
Matthews, Kimberly Diane, "General and Special Education Teacher Experiences and Support Strategies for Adolescent Students Experiencing Chronic Health Conditions" (2024). Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies. 15659.
https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/15659
