Bublitz, D. F. (2009). Special education teachers’ attitudes, knowledge, and decision-making about high-stakes testing accommodations for students with disabilities (Publication No. 3353853) [Doctoral dissertation, University of Virginia]. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global. https://www.proquest.com/docview/305014182

University of Virginia (Charlottesville, VA); ProQuest document ID: 305014182

The accommodations examined were those permissible in the state of Virginia, not specified by the researcher. The topic examined was understanding and attitudes regarding accommodations in general.

Participants were 38 people completing their pre-professional graduate program in special education in Virginia (U.S.).

Participants' responses to three surveys were used as dependent variables to measure their knowledge of, their attitudes toward, and their decision-making accuracy about accommodations. Knowledge included both general understanding of accommodations as well as permissibility of specific accommodations in the state of Virginia. Attitudes were measured using a Likert scale of degree of agreement regarding various principles of accommodation. Accuracy of decision-making was measured through responses about accommodations selection for a series of scenarios. Additionally, a measure of amount of training was gathered based on number of training hours.

The findings indicated that teachers with more knowledge about accommodations effected more accurate decisions regarding accommodations than did teachers with less knowledge. In contrast, attitudes about accommodations and training on accommodations did not have an influence on accuracy of decisions. Limitations of the study were reported, and future research possibilities were suggested.