Beasley, L. (2022). Teaching in the gap: Understanding special educators’ experiences teaching in between education policies (Publication No. 29330637) [Doctoral dissertation, University of Illinois at Chicago]. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global. https://www.proquest.com/docview/2697053457

University of Illinois (Chicago, IL); ProQuest document ID: 2697053457

Accommodations were not specified.

Elementary and middle-school special education teachers (n=10) from the Chicago Public Schools (Illinois; U.S.) participated. Participants had 2–17 years of work experience. Many held learning behavior specialist credentials. Their students were in various grade ranges, typically across two grade levels, between kindergarten and grade 8. The participants worked in resource rooms (n=6), self-contained classrooms (n=4), and inclusion settings (n=3); some worked in more than one setting throughout the day or week. Information about additional demographic characteristics (e.g., race/ethnicity, gender) was included. Stratified random sampling was used when selecting participants.

A semi-structured interview protocol that incorporated about 30 questions was used, including follow-up probes addressing the concurrent implementation of both ESSA 2015 and IDEA 2004 in the participants’ classrooms. The interviewer sought to understand how these two major education policies impacted the teachers’ perspectives regarding accommodations, their roles, and the effects of federal policies on their schools.

The researcher found that educators found it challenging to provide accommodations they believed students needed while complying with federal policies (ESSA, 2015; IDEA, 2004).