Using a multiple gating procedure, five elementary principals were identified as
special education leaders. This descriptive study uses a multiple-case study design to
explore principal’s (a) understanding and perceptions of instructional strategies
associated with improved outcomes for students with learning disabilities (LD), and (b)
their instructional leadership practices utilized to promote educators’ instruction of
students with LD. Findings reveal that the majority of participants (n = 4) expressed at
least a moderate understanding of effective instruction for students with LD, perceived
implementation of these practices as necessary (n = 5), but reported mixed perceptions
regarding feasibility. As expected, the five participants also described different levels of utilizing instructional leadership practices to promote educator’s instruction of students
with LD.
However, the two participants with advanced special education degrees were
distinct from the others with respect to their combined high understanding, positive
perceptions, and instructional leadership practices utilized to promote educators’
instruction of students with LD. Overall propositions indicate: (a) principals in this study
who possessed higher understanding of effective instructional practices for students with
LD and were interested in improving this understanding, were more apt to engage in
instructional leadership practices to promote effective instruction for students with LD,
(b) principal’s prioritization of developing a collaborative vision and practices among
educators to promote effective instruction of students with LD may be beneficial to
improving instruction for students with LD, and (c) principal’s intentional interaction and
support with both general and special educators may lead to higher levels of collaboration
among educators as well as more effective instruction for students with LD. / text
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UTEXAS/oai:repositories.lib.utexas.edu:2152/6876 |
| Date | 04 February 2010 |
| Creators | Heckert, Jennifer Meyer |
| Source Sets | University of Texas |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | electronic |
| Rights | Copyright is held by the author. Presentation of this material on the Libraries' web site by University Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin was made possible under a limited license grant from the author who has retained all copyrights in the works. |
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