School leadership and teaching experience strongly influence educators’ confidence in their ability to adapt instruction for students with disabilities, according to a new survey. But most teachers, regardless of tenure, don’t feel prepared to differentiate lessons.
General education teachers were markedly less likely to feel confident in their ability to differentiate instruction than special educators. This confidence gap exists despite most students with learning disabilities spending the majority of their school day in general education classrooms, according to a new nationally representative survey of 1,654 general and special educators by the National Center for Learning Disabilities and West Ed. The State of Learning Disabilities survey explored educators’ confidence in adapting instruction and the school-level factors that shape that confidence.
Here are three takeaways from the survey.
1. Most general education teachers aren’t confident they can adapt instruction for students with disabilities
Less than half of all general educators (42%) felt completely confident in their ability to adapt instruction for students with learning disabilities. That number drops to 17% for novice teachers with fewer than three years of experience, compared with 60% of novice special education teachers who felt completely confident in their abilities.
General educators’ confidence grew with experience, whereas special educators’ confidence plateaued.
Overall, educators’ comfort with choosing academic interventions to address students’ skill gaps did not grow with experience.
There was no substantial difference in the confidence levels of novice and veteran educators overall (42% and 46%, respectively) to pick the right intervention.
But there was a notable confidence gap when comparing the practice by role.
Sixty-two percent of special educators were sure of their ability to choose academic interventions, compared with 43% of general educators.
2. Teachers doubt their colleagues’ ability to meet students’ academic and behavioral needs
Educators not only lacked confidence in their own skills, but also in their peers’ abilities to meet students’ academic and behavioral needs.
Only 55% of both general and special educators believed their colleagues consistently met students’ behavioral needs, while 60% of general educators and 65% of special educators thought their colleagues routinely met kids’ academic needs.
Veteran teachers were generally the least assured of their colleagues’ ability to meet their students’ behavioral and academic needs consistently.
When a student’s individualized education program (IEP) isn’t implemented correctly, 75% of general educators and 87% of special educators say they talk to their colleague about it.
Novice teachers reported the least confidence in talking with their colleagues about special education and disabilities.
Just 56% of special educators reported that their general education colleagues made instructional decisions aligned with IEP goals.
3. School leadership matters
School leaders set the tone for inclusion and provide critical resources and support for teaching students with learning disabilities, survey respondents said.
Yet, less than one-third of educators believed that their school leadership team had the necessary training and knowledge to meet the academic needs of students with learning disabilities.
Respondents noted that leaders could better support staff by carving out dedicated collaboration time.
Roughly two-thirds of educators agreed they had adequate resources and support to teach students with learning disabilities; less than half said they have enough time to actually meet students’ needs consistently.
To fix this, the report’s authors suggested that districts provide school leadership teams with training to develop more collaborative schedules, and to develop “master teacher” roles in which experienced educators with leadership training and instructional expertise can mentor novice educators. Those mentorship positions should be compensated, the report noted.
