New Standards and Old Divides: Policy Attitudes About College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Students with Disabilities

2020 ◽  
Vol 122 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-32
Author(s):  
Adam K. Edgerton ◽  
Douglas Fuchs ◽  
Lynn S. Fuchs
Keyword(s):  
General Education ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
Grade Level ◽  
General Education Teachers ◽  
Career Readiness ◽  
College And Career Readiness ◽  
District Administrators ◽  
College And Career ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Policy Perceptions

Background/Context The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 2004) requires that all students with disabilities (SWD) receive a free, appropriate public education designed to meet their unique needs to prepare them for post-school education and employment (American Psychological Association, 2018). In the past two decades, momentum has grown for a supplementary idea: that schools be held accountable for SWD achieving grade-level standards. Thus standards-based reform for SWD is often caught between ideals of standardization and principles of differentiation. Purpose and Research Questions The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which district administrators, principals, general educators, and special educators differ in their policy perceptions of the newest college- and career-readiness standards (CCRS) for SWD versus other learners. Our research questions were: To what extent do teachers of SWD report delivering similar or different instructional content compared to general education teachers? What types of instructional supports do teachers provide, what types of professional development do teachers receive, and how do these differ by teacher type? How do policy perceptions differ between teachers of SWD and general education teachers? How do district administrators, principals, and teachers differ in their policy perceptions of the CCRS as they relate to SWD? Research Design In three states (Texas, Ohio, and Kentucky), we surveyed a stratified sample of teachers, principals, and district administrators on the implementation of their state's standards and directed them to respond for SWD who participate in the regular accountability system. Conclusions/Recommendations Results indicate an environment where SWD continue to receive less grade-level content and, in Texas and Ohio, are served by personnel who do not believe that the standards are appropriate. Kentucky demonstrated greater consistencies between general education and SWD instruction and policy environments. Findings raise questions about whether CCRS are being implemented for all students.

scholarly journals Teacher Implementation of College- and Career-Readiness Standards: Links Among Policy, Instruction, Challenges, and Resources

AERA Open ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 233285841880686 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam K. Edgerton ◽  
Laura M. Desimone
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Career Readiness ◽  
College And Career Readiness ◽  
Rural Teachers ◽  
Math Teachers ◽  
College And Career ◽  
Content Coverage

Using state-representative teacher surveys in three states—Texas, Ohio, and Kentucky—we examine teachers’ implementation of college- and career-readiness (CCR) standards. What do teachers report about the specificity, authority, consistency, power, and stability of their standards environment? How does their policy environment predict standards-emphasized instruction? Do these relationships differ for those who teach different subjects (math and English Language Arts [ELA]), different grades (elementary or high school), different populations (English Language Learners [ELLs], students with disabilities [SWDs]), and in different areas (rural, urban, or suburban)? We found elementary math teachers taught significantly more standards-emphasized content than elementary ELA teachers, whereas secondary ELA teachers taught significantly more standards-emphasized content than secondary math teachers. Teachers of SWDs and rural teachers taught significantly less of the emphasized content. In all three states, we found greater buy-in (authority) predicted increased emphasized content coverage among ELA teachers but not among math teachers.

scholarly journals A College and Career Readiness Framework for Secondary Students With Disabilities

2015 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 79-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary E. Morningstar ◽  
Allison Lombardi ◽  
Catherine H. Fowler ◽  
David W. Test
Keyword(s):  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
Secondary Students ◽  
State Level ◽  
Drop Out ◽  
Career Readiness ◽  
Future Research ◽  
College And Career Readiness ◽  
College And Career ◽  
Group Data ◽  
Focus Group Data

In this qualitative study, a proposed organizing framework of college and career readiness for secondary students with disabilities was developed based on a synthesis of extant research articulating student success. The original proposed framework included six domains representing academic and nonacademic skills associated with college and career readiness: academic engagement, academic mind-sets, learning processes, critical thinking, social skills, and transition knowledge. Focus groups were conducted to examine perspectives among state-level stakeholders with knowledge and expertise regarding college and career readiness, drop-out prevention, and secondary transition. Through an iterative process, the focus group data were analyzed and the framework was refined based on findings. Implications for practice and suggestions for future research are discussed.

How Do States Implement College- and Career-Readiness Standards? A Distributed Leadership Analysis of Standards-Based Reform

2018 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 447-476 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katie Pak ◽  
Laura M. Desimone
Keyword(s):  
Distributed Leadership ◽  
Leadership Theory ◽  
Career Readiness ◽  
Content Standards ◽  
College And Career Readiness ◽  
Leadership Analysis ◽  
District Administrators ◽  
College And Career ◽  
Standards Based Reform ◽  
Theory Research

Purpose: Our primary purpose is to examine the implementation of college- and- career- readiness content standards in Kentucky, Ohio, and Texas through the lens of distributed leadership theory, and to determine the affordances and challenges of this distributed leadership through the lens of policy attribute theory. Research Methods/Approach: We analyze data from 66 hour-long interviews of state and district administrators across the three states collected from Spring 2016 to Spring 2017. Using a deductive coding approach, we developed themes around distributed leadership as they pertain to the five attributes of policy implementation: specificity, consistency, authority, power, and stability. Findings: Using the distributed leadership and policy attribute theories, we find similar trends in state leaders distributing instructional leadership to regional, district, and organizational leaders to add specificity to the college and career readiness standards at the expense of compromising the consistency and power of the reform. This distribution of leadership is thought to contribute to the authority of the reform, though this authority is made tenuous by the instability of educational policies at the national and state levels. Implications: We highlight the need to examine the implementation of education policy using leadership frameworks and to understand leadership relationships between the state their regional and district partners. We extend the use of the distributed leadership theory beyond the K-16 level and the use of policy attribute theory to showcase where state actors can strengthen their reform initiatives.

A Systematic Literature Review of College and Career Readiness Frameworks for Students With Disabilities

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 131-140
Author(s):  
Jessica L. Monahan ◽  
Allison Lombardi ◽  
Joseph Madaus ◽  
Sarah R. Carlson ◽  
Jennifer Freeman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
Academic Outcomes ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Career Readiness ◽  
Future Research ◽  
College And Career Readiness ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
College And Career

A systematic review was conducted to understand the extent of empirical support for College and Career Readiness (CCR) frameworks and whether or not students with disabilities (SWD) are included in these frameworks. We identified 26 articles that showed a complex set of domains with both academic and nonacademic skills. Findings showed few studies reported empirical research concerning CCR frameworks for SWD and there was a strong emphasis on college and academic outcomes. Suggestions for future research include studies that further support or identify areas of weakness in proposed CCR frameworks, better clarification of CCR nonacademic skills, and the development of accompanying measures to broaden the understanding of CCR and ultimately inform policy and practice.

An Approach to Design-Based Implementation Research to Inform Development of EdSphere®

2016 ◽  
pp. 284-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carl W. Swartz ◽  
Sean T. Hanlon ◽  
E. Lee Childress ◽  
A. Jackson Stenner
Keyword(s):  
Educational Technology ◽  
Implementation Research ◽  
Personalized Learning ◽  
Career Readiness ◽  
College And Career Readiness ◽  
Classroom Teachers ◽  
District Administrators ◽  
Learning Platform ◽  
College And Career

Fulfilling the promise of educational technology as one mechanism to promote college and career readiness compels educators, researchers, and technologists to pursue innovative lines of collaborative investigations. These lines of mutual inquiry benefit from adopting and adapting principles rooted in design-based implementation research (DBIR) approaches. The purposes of this chapter are to: (a) provide the research foundation on which a personalized learning platform was developed, (b) present the evolution of EdSphere, a personalized learning platform that resulted from a deep and long-term collaboration among classroom teachers, school and district administrators, educational researchers, and technologists, and (c) describe a need for development of innovative technologies that promote college and career readiness among our earliest readers.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document