Morley, D., Maher, A., Walsh, B., Dinning, T., Lloyd, D., & Pratt, A. (2017). Making reasonable adjustments for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities: Pre-service teachers’ perceptions of an online support resource . British Journal of Special Education , 44 (2), 203–219. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8578.12175

Journal Article

Morley, D., Maher, A., Walsh, B., Dinning, T., Lloyd, D., & Pratt, A. (2017). Making reasonable adjustments for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities: Pre-service teachers’ perceptions of an online support resource. British Journal of Special Education, 44(2), 203–219. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8578.12175

Tags

Accommodation/s not specified; International (non-U.S.); No age; No disability

URL

https://nasenjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/14678578

Summary

Accommodation

Accommodations were not specified; a set of online professional development material on "making reasonable adjustments" for students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in the United Kingdom (UK) was evaluated. "Reasonable adjustments" is the term of art in UK legislation pertaining to accommodations for instruction and assessment.

Participants

Twelve (12) secondary school preservice teachers who had completed an online professional development module focusing on the use of reasonable adjustments in educational settings participated. Participants were enrolled in and attending a university in northwestern England, and were seeking to earn the qualified teacher status (QTS) credential.

Dependent Variable

Four focus group interviews were conducted, with three teacher participants in each. The focus group protocol questions addressed aspects of the online professional development resource; the evaluation was on the degree to which the online training content matched with the teacher standards and addressed the needs of students with disabilities. The evaluation question for assessment was "How have the online modules influenced the way you assess [students with disabilities]?" The qualitative data analysis was completed using a computer software package.

Findings

The evaluation participants expressed that the online training provided a sense of the complexity of the accommodations decision-making process for new professionals teaching students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Many participants indicated that the online module broadened their knowledge and understanding; some participants who had previous paraprofessional practical experience with students with SEND tempered this conclusion, noting that they already had begun formulating their understandings of providing accommodations.