Date of Conferral

2022

Degree

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

School

Education

Advisor

Billie Andersson

Abstract

Special education team members have shown an inability to write rigorous individualized education program (IEP) goals that meet students’ needs. Researchers have focused on special education team members’ ability to write IEP goals, and the phenomenon continues to be a vital concern. This basic qualitative study was conducted to examine the abilities of special education team members in writing IEP goals that align with student needs. The research questions focus on how IEP teams currently develop goals for students that align with best practices in the local setting. Gathering and analyzing data from special education team members regarding their experiences with IEP goal writing brings awareness to improvements necessary for the process. The framework for this study was Hauser’s operation, benchmark, scale, and evaluate model. Open-ended semistructured interviews were conducted with 11 special education team members to gather data. A priori coding was used to analyze, label, and organize themes from the data. A color-coded systematic process was used to capture the collected data’s in-depth meaning further. The analysis revealed that special education team members need a comprehensive and personalized model of steps to write high-quality IEP goals that meet student needs. These findings led to the creation of a professional development program to improve the IEP goal-writing process among special education team members by creating a model to support team members. Stronger IEP goal writing skills matched to student needs will increase student learning and may lead to greater satisfaction among special education team members, both of which have potential implications for positive social change.

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