This article examines findings on student perceptions of individual interventions based on the principles of universal design for learning (UDL). The examination includes a comparison of the reported perceptions of mainstreamed students with high incidence disabilities (i.e., learning disabilities, behavioral disorders, or other health impairments under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act) to that of their general education peers. Findings showed that relative to their other academic classes, both groups of students had high levels of satisfaction and expressed similar themes as to what they perceived to be the best and worst parts of the interventions and ideas for improvement. Both groups also reported near unanimous agreement as to wanting their teachers to use more UDL interventions. The reported perceptions and subsequent comparison forms the basis for discussing the implications of UDL in high school settings.
This study is based on survey research conducted between 2010 and 2017, involving 1053 graduate students using immersive online learning environments for their coursework. Investigators used course structural factors and student engagement factors to predict students’ perceptions of community and presence in the online immersive space. Utilizing the Sense of Community II index (SCI-2) and the Community of Inquiry survey (COI) median scores as cut scores for predicted outcomes, researchers demonstrated that purely online environments which encouraged student engagement in the online immersive space can enhance sense of presence and sense of community. In addition, students in graduate programs that used online immersive delivery methods longer developed a stronger sense of community. Both dependent measures proved to have stable subscale structures for this inquiry based on a cursory confirmatory factor analysis
Participants with and without specific learning disabilities (SLD) provided responses as to background and school features, postschool plans, dream career, and most likely job after completing school. Findings suggest that participant groups are similar across most background and school features, with apparent differences for grade level and repeating of a grade (participants with SLD older and more likely to have repeated a grade), and gender (those with SLD more likely to be male). Participants without SLD reported a pattern of postschool plans that proved significantly different, including higher rates for postsecondary education, than did participants with SLD and a lower rate for direct employment and for being “unsure.” Both groups were comparable in terms of reported “dream or ideal” job, but the pattern proved significantly different for “most likely” job. Implications for future research and practice are noted.
Teacher job satisfaction is a construct that has been studied in multiple settings and countries over the last several decades (Kim & Loadman, 1995; Lane, 2016) however, much of the current research in this area is survey-based, quantitative (Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2015) or lends itself to determining interventions for teachers (Jennings & DeMauro, 2017). This study utilized participant interviews to investigate factors influencing teacher job satisfaction in an attempt to examine the factors that emerge spontaneously through conversations with teachers, and without imposing a framework on the data collection. Eighteen teachers at two similar elementary schools were interviewed in person in January and February of 2020. Sixteen of those teachers were found to be satisfied with their jobs overall, and those interviews are used in this study. Through multiple rounds of coding, we discovered six emergent themes that defined this work: Making a Difference Makes a Difference, Teaching as Calling, Like a Family, What’s Missing, What’s Added On, and Imbalance. Recommendations for school leaders and policy makers are included along with needs for further research.
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