Educational Technology Research

The Importance of Educational Research

This week I spent time studying the report from EdResearch for Recovery which looked at how schools can intervene to reduce learning gaps between students with disabilities and their peers. The study looked at how the learning gaps between the two groups widened due to school closures from COVID-19 and effective practices teachers can use to reduce the gaps now. As a special education teacher I related to this study because I am always looking for ways to engage students on my caseload and the best interventions to bridge the gap.

The report was broken into three main topics: the Issue, Strategies to Consider, and Strategies to Avoid. When reading about the Issue I was not surprised that students with disabilities was one of the populations that regressed the most during distant learning. As a teacher, I know I struggled with the best way to meet all my students' needs while teaching online. The report stated that the "single most important service schools provide for students with disabilities is additional intervention time devoted to students' specific areas of needs" (2). Working with my co-teacher we found times where we could have small group times built into the schedules to allow time for interventions to meet the specific needs of students with IEPs. While small interventions were included during the day, this was not the best forms of interventions students needed. 

Surprises

As I was reading the article something that stood out to me was the survey conducted by Parents Together that found only 20% of families were receiving the services to which they were entitled. I feel as though most schools were doing some form of distance or hybrid learning for the majority of the 2020-2021 school year, which means that a large group of students were going without needed services for over a year of their educational careers. 

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Reading through the strategies to avoid I noticed that there were no claims that stated co-teaching as a method to improve student achievement. In a way I find this surprising, but also can recognize how this may be true for certain models of co-teaching. When the special education teacher is acting as support for students with disabilities they are not able to meet the specific needs of students on their caseloads and and work with them to meet their IEP goals. I personally am a fan of co-teaching and find that if it is done in the right manner can be beneficial for all students.

Takeaways

I believe that educational research is important for educators to continue to explore because it gives us insight into new teaching practices and the reasons behind them. After reading more about effective interventions I now have more strategies to use in my own teaching that can help close the academic gap between students with disabilities and their peers.