Exploratory Study of Instruction Planning in a Secure Facility to Support Students With Disabilities

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session 1
  In Roundtable Session: Advocacy and Community Engagement in Special and Inclusive Education

Abstract

In a pilot study, we asked teachers in a secure juvenile justice (JJ) facility to discuss how they plan instruction. The purpose was to build understanding about how JJ educators think about planning and accommodations for students with disabilities (SWDs) and English learners (ELs). We conducted pre-and-post-interviews to understand their planning practices. Participants also tracked their planning for two weeks on a "Teacher Planning Tracker”, to see if they could identify changes in their planning after tracking. Major findings: 1) safety was prioritized over academics, and 2) unexpectedly, all teachers viewed planning responsive accommodations for SWDs and ELs as central to their professional responsibility. Based on our findings, we seek to design PD to support the teachers.

Authors

• Sarah Marie Salinas, Arizona State University - Tempe

• Sarup Rani Mathur, Arizona State University