THE COLLECTIVE PERCEPTIONS OF K-12 SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHERS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Abstract

In the spring of 2020, nearly every school aged student and K-12 teacher across the United States was forced to participate in remote educational activities online, prompting an unexpected departure from the status quo in public education. This was a result of government mandated social distancing practices, as a mitigation strategy for combating the global pandemic induced by the novel coronavirus. Most school districts were compelled to repurpose their daily practices by rapidly planning to ascertain resources for the implementation of an emergency remote education initiative. These unprecedented events presented many challenges for educators, especially given most had no formal training for conducting online instructional delivery utilizing various technologies. Special education teachers in particular confronted a unique set of challenges when considering how to support the complex needs of diverse learners. This included student support for engagement with access to technology, knowledge of various applied technological pedagogical skills, teacher preparation, technical training, ongoing professional support, interactions with stakeholders, and individual social emotional well-being. The purpose of this study was to determine how special education teachers perceived various aspects of their experiences, when teaching remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic. A survey was designed to measure these perceptions containing aligned items to the domains of the technological pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK) framework. The COVID-19 Special Education Teacher Survey (C-SETS) was a 42 item questionnaire set on a 5-point Likert scale that contained an additional open-ended question. It was administered online and completed by 280 participants, across 46 states, primarily via a social media platform. While the results demonstrated that special education teachers overall were technically skilled, had increased communication with parents/caregivers, and gained skills for future practices, there was a significantly insufficient level of preparation, a deficit with various pedagogical skills using technology, less collaboration with IEP team members, inconsistent student engagement, varying access to technology, a lack of technical training, ongoing professional development and support, contributing to social emotional stress, anxiety and fatigue. Aspects of these findings were particularly evident in historically under resourced districts and those that did not participate in technology infrastructure initiatives, where an overwhelming majority of the statistically significant differences, with the exception of respondents' level of educational attainment, were attributed to school characteristics. Implications for future teacher preparation, technical training, ongoing professional development, and best practices are presented. Keywords: Special Education, COVID-19, Teacher Preparation, TPACK, Emergency Remote Education, Digital Divide, SEL, Educational Technology, Students with Disabilities, Technical Training, Professional Development, Social Media, Facebook, Pandemic, C-SETS