Preparing Pre-Service Teachers for Collaborating with Families of Students with Disabilities and English Language Learners — Presentation Detail — Celebration of Scholars

Instructions

Student presentations must have a faculty sponsor.

Abstracts must include a title and a description of the research, scholarship, or creative work. The description should be 150-225 words in length and constructed in a format or style appropriate for the presenter’s discipline.

The following points should be addressed within the selected format or style for the abstract:

A clear statement of the problem or question you pursued, or the scholarly goal or creative theme achieved in your work.
A brief comment about the significance or uniqueness of the work.
A clear description of the methods used to achieve the purpose or goals for the work.
A statement of the conclusions, results, outcomes, or recommendations, or if the work is still in progress, the results you expect to report at the event.

Presenter photographs should be head and shoulder shots comparable to passport photos.

Additional Information

More information is available at carthage.edu/celebration-scholars/. The following are members of the Research, Scholarship, and Creativity Committee who are eager to listen to ideas and answer questions:

Jun Wang
Kim Instenes
John Kirk
Nora Nickels
Andrew Pustina
James Ripley

Preparing Pre-Service Teachers for Collaborating with Families of Students with Disabilities and English Language Learners

Name: Lauren Swanson
Major: Elementary & Special Education
Hometown: Kenosha
Faculty Sponsor:
Other Sponsors: Jun Wang
Type of research: Course project

Name: Emily Barrera
Major: Elementary & Special Education
Hometown: Kenosha
Faculty Sponsor:
Other Sponsors: Jun Wang
Type of research: Course project

Abstract

Students with disabilities (SWDs) and English language learners (ELLs) often experience below average academic achievement (National Assessment of Educational Progress [NAEP], 2017). Federal mandates such as NCLB and IDEA have acknowledged that family involvement in education can be one of the critical factors to contribute students’ success and potentially narrow the achievement gap for SWDs and ELLs. In order to effectively collaborate with parents of SWDs and ELLs who are facing unique challenges, it is essential for teachers to examine and understand their own biases and beliefs when they collaborate with families of SWDs and ELLs (Olivos, Gallagher, & Aguilar, 2010). Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the direct interview interaction with families of SWDs and ELLs on the self-efficacy of special and general education teacher candidates in collaborating with those families for the educational benefits of SWDs and ELLs. Twenty special and general teacher candidates participated in the study. Participants took one special education course and one English language learner methods course separately, first interviewed families of SWDs and ELLs by using similar but differentiated interview question protocol developed by the two instructors. Then, the two courses came together to share each other’s interview projects. A self-efficacy survey created by the two instructors was administered at the beginning and the end of the semester. An analysis of the pre and post survey, conducted by the two course researchers and two students from each of the previously described courses, will show participants understanding of effective strategies on how to collaborate with families of SWDs and ELLs. Additionally, it will show participants understanding about how the interaction with some families of SWDs and ELLs via interviews have impacted future educators’ self-efficacy in collaborating with families.