Graduate Program

School Psychology

Degree Name

Specialist in School Psychology

Semester of Degree Completion

2006

Thesis Director

Linda Leal

Thesis Committee Member

Unknown

Thesis Committee Member

Unknown

Abstract

A total of 376 general education teachers in grades kindergarten through high school completed a questionnaire about their involvement and satisfaction with the Individualized Education Plan (IEP) process. The results from the current study suggest that many regular education teachers are not actively involved or satisfied with the IEP process. For example, less than half of the teachers surveyed indicated that they were completely or actively involved in determining IEP goals and less than one-fifth reported that they felt a major responsibility for helping students in their classroom achieve IEP goals. Many areas of dissatisfaction were also noted in teachers' responses. Although over half of the teachers reported that they had gained at least a little better understanding of the student as a result of attending the IEP meeting, most teachers expressed some concern over the placement decision made, most did not think the school district had the resources to implement the IEP effectively, many indicated that few of their questions about the student had been answered adequately, and over half expressed concern that the IEP goals would not be met during the next school year. Teachers who reported being more satisfied also reported more involvement with the IEP process. In their written responses, teachers indicated that the most positive aspects of the IEP process were related to collaboration and shared decision-making with team members, including other school personnel and parents/guardians. The most frequently written negative comment related to time involvement. Over one-third of teachers mentioned something negative about the amount of time involved in the IEP process or meeting in their written responses. How the present findings relate to previous research on the regular education teacher's involvement and satisfaction with the IEP process, as well as directions for future research, are discussed.

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