Analyzing Special Education Campus Needs: Initial Validation of the Special Education Campus Needs Assessment (SECNA) Instrument

• In Event: Virtual Poster Session
  In Virtual iPresentation Only: Division D - Section 1: Educational Measurement, Psychometrics, and Assessment Virtual Poster Session

Abstract

This presentation provides an initial analysis of a new special education campus needs assessment designed to gauge educator perceptions of special education in five key areas: support, expectations, empowerment, equity, and professional development. The Special Education Campus Needs Assessment (SECNA) was administered to 530 educators from 94 campuses in 31 school districts across the state of Texas. Data from the comprehensive study were subjected to factor and reliability analyses and a Structural Equation Model (SEM) was created to assess measurement properties and test the proposed theoretical relationships between variables. The results of these analyses indicate that SECNA is a valid and reliable instrument which can be used to measure special education campus needs from the educators’ perspective.

Authors

• Sean Kearney, Texas A&M University - San Antonio

• Theresa Ann Garfield, Texas A&M University - San Antonio

• Diana Driggers, Northside Independent School District