Date of Conferral
6-13-2024
Date of Award
June 2024
Degree
Ph.D.
School
Education
Advisor
Grace Lappin
Abstract
Teachers of children with disabilities are not providing consistent opportunities for assistive technology (AT) services, even when mandated to do so. This phenomenon contributes to children with disabilities not receiving services that help their educational growth and development. The purpose of this study was to explore perspectives of K-2 teachers of children with disabilities in a rural Western school district about using AT when writing individualized education plans (IEPs) with parents. The conceptual frameworks for this study were Piaget’s constructivism theory and Bandura’s social cognitive theory. Eleven K-2 teachers of children with disabilities participated in semistructured recorded interviews. Data were analyzed using coding and categories to identify emerging themes. Results indicated participants viewed AT as a useful and comfortable service to use, assessments benefited performance while access to and availability of AT slowed IEP processes. IEP decisions based on assessments make monitoring progress of work of children with disabilities easier when working with parents, and educating and building relationships with parents helps to address challenges and barriers to AT implementation due to their value with IEP teams. Implications for positive social change include development of programs by administrators and experts that support collaboration among teachers and parents involving AT implementation and collaborative support that may also improve decisions when facing challenges and barriers to AT implementation with IEPs and monitoring progress of children with disabilities who use AT.
Recommended Citation
Voss, Garland Keith, "Teachers’ Perspectives of Using Assistive Technology when Writing Individual Education Plans with Parents" (2024). Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies. 15943.
https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/15943
