Are general education teachers in Arizona adequately prepared to teach students with emotional disturbance?

Quinn, Leah

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/117748 Copy

Description

Title

Are general education teachers in Arizona adequately prepared to teach students with emotional disturbance?

Author(s)

Quinn, Leah

Issue Date

2022-11-09

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Hood, Denice W

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Hood, Denice W

Committee Member(s)

• Huang, Wenhao D
• Lee, Sharon
• Hale, Jon

Department of Study

Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp

Discipline

Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

Ed.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

• emotional disturbance
• emotional disability
• emotional and behavioral disorder
• general education
• teacher
• teacher preparation
• Arizona
• Maricopa County
• teacher training
• student behavior

Abstract

The current study seeks to determine the prevalence of students with the special education label of Emotional Disturbance (ED) within Arizona’s general education elementary classrooms. The formal training received by the general education teachers to effectively educate students with ED was additionally analyzed with the goal of establishing a need for improved teacher preparation programs and development training reforms. It has formerly been shown that students with ED suffer from lower academic success, social complications, and dismal post-schooling outcomes when compared to their peers. When implemented properly, using inclusion to allow students with ED to be taught amongst their typically developing peers in a general education setting has been shown to be an efficacious solution to the difficulties facing this population. The current study sought to contribute to the existing body of research and fill necessary gaps within the area of teacher preparation and development programs and their effect on the inclusion of students with ED. The researcher began by establishing the relevance of collected data through studying the prevalence of students with ED in Arizona classrooms. This was followed by an examination of the experiences of Arizona teachers including students with ED in general education settings along with the quantity and quality of formal ED education provided to them. This was accomplished through teacher surveys, school administrative surveys, teacher interviews, interviews with current leaders of Arizona’s public university teacher preparation programs, and a curricular analysis of university preparation programs. The results displayed an inadequate amount of formal instruction provided to Arizona teachers on ED teaching strategies and their subsequent lack of topic knowledge. The findings contribute to existing research regarding ED educator training implicating a need for teacher preparation and development modification through the expansion of ED-related educational content.

Graduation Semester

2022-12

Type of Resource

Thesis

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2022 Leah Quinn

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