Establishing Effective Supports Across Classrooms that Allow Equity and Access to High Quality Instruction

A central component of special education is the concept of Least Restrictive Environment (LRE), meaning a student’s right to have access to the regular education classroom and curriculum as the starting conversation for placement. The purpose of this study is to examine IEP specially designed instruction implementation and teacher perceptions of their effect on student achievement that results in success in the LRE where high quality educational opportunities exist. This research project looks to answer three questions. What are teachers’ perceptions about student supports outlined in a student’s IEP and how are those supports implemented in their classrooms? What relationship, if any, is there between teacher perceptions/implementation of student supports and student achievement? What movement from regular education classes to more restrictive pullout classes occur over the course of a year and is there any correlation to perception and implementation of student supports? Through a mixed methods approach that collects teacher perception data, qualitative feedback, standardized achievement data, and schedule changes throughout the year, the researcher used the data to find common trends in student achievement and value systems with supports implementation. There is evidence that teachers who show the greatest gains with their students often have similar value systems regarding supports put in place in their classrooms. There are also differences in how various content teachers view supports in their classroom. The results of the study are meant to inform us as educators to try and replicate practices that yield better results.