Novice Special Education Teachers' Efforts to Impact Student Learning During COVID-19

• In Event: Equity for Urban Students: Novice Teachers' Efforts to Virtually Impact Learning During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Objectives
• To explore novice special education teachers’ perceptions of their ability to positively impact learning and development while teaching virtually in COVID-19 pandemic.
• To explore novice special education teachers’ approaches to virtual learning.
Theoretical Perspective
COVID-19 forced thousands of schools to close in March 2020 and to move instruction online. Among the millions of U.S. students impacted were approximately seven million who qualify for special education services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) (National Center for Education Statistics, 2020). Recent research on online teaching underscores additional challenges for special education teachers and that disabled students are frequently denied equal access due to inaccessible technologies (Basham, et al, 2016; Shaheen & Lohnes Watulak, 2019). Special education educators were still legally expected to meet their learners’ needs despite the sudden shift to online learning (Pioneer Education, 2020). All 50 states have publicly available online schools and as online learning increases, teachers must be prepared to teach virtually (Kennedy & Archambault, 2012); however, teacher preparation specific to special education and virtual learning is scare (Crouse, Rice, & Mellard, 2018). Given the absence of a strong literature base on how to provide quality online instruction for students with disabilities (Crouse, Rice, & Mellard,2018), we designed this study to learn from the online teaching experiences of our graduates who were working in the field of special education.
Methods and Data Sources
This qualitative study was conducted during and after the spring 2020 pandemic by faculty involved in evaluating the effectiveness of teacher preparation programs at an urban institution. Five participants were purposefully chosen based on the following criteria: (a) they had completed programs leading to special education certification, (b) they were within their first or second year of teaching, and (c) they were employed in an urban public school. Semi-structured, individual phone interviews of 30 – 45 minutes were conducted, recorded, and transcribed in Otter.ai. Participants described their approaches to online instruction and their perceptions of their ability to impact their students’ learning in a virtual environment. Data transcripts were analyzed using a constant comparative method to identify themes (Merriam & Tisdell, 2014).
Results and Discussions
Preliminary findings indicate that special education teachers faced additional difficulties trying to meet individual learning plan (IEP) goals despite differing student participation percentages, no physical proximity, and access to technology issues. Additionally, teachers reported increased workloads and emphasized how the level of parental involvement influenced learning for their students. Participants took various approaches in their attempts to manage their responsibilities and to meet the needs of their students.
Significance
Gaining insight into what shapes special education teacher’ perceptions of their ability to have a positive impact on learning when teaching virtually can help teacher preparation programs strengthen their efforts to prepare educators to teach 21st century learners with special needs. Research on special education, online learning is scarce, and more studies are needed to further understand the particular challenges teachers of students with special learning needs face and what can be done to help those same educators succeed.

Author

• Susan Belmonte, Georgia State University