TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF THE UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING CONCEPT IN TEACHING ENGLISH-LANGUAGE ARTS IN A SELECTED TITLE I SCHOOL

Abstract

LaKeyseya Humber, the title of the dissertation is Teachers’ perceptions of the Universal Design for Learning Concept in teaching English-language arts in a Title I School. Doctor of Education (Executive Educational Leadership), May 2020, Houston Baptist University, Houston, Texas. The purpose of this study was to explore the UDL curriculum and understand how implementing the framework into general education classrooms with all students, including those that receive accommodations, as well as gifted and talented students benefit academically. This study examined teachers’ perceptions of created lesson plans, teaching content, professional growth and student effects of learning outcomes in grades 9-12 regarding the use of the CAST Model for the Universal Design for Learning Framework to deliver instruction to all students. Methodology In this exploratory phenomenological case study, the researcher used mixed methods of qualitative and quantitative research methodology. Narrative methods of qualitative methodology were used to analyze and more clearly understand the essence of teachers’ perceptions of the Universal Design for Learning concept to deliver instruction to students in English-language arts in a Title I School. The researcher sought to gain knowledge of the utilization, fidelity and rigor in regard to the implementation of UDL as it related to the participants’ perspective. Data used to identify and describe participants’ perceptions from surveys was determined using qualitative methods to code themes of responses to open-ended survey questions. The remaining survey questions were results from an SPSS univariate descriptive analysis which was used to describe, summarize, determine patterns in teachers’ responses and quantified into percentages as the quantitative data. Teachers’ Perceptions of UDL & ELA vii The participants were English-language arts teachers from grades 9-12; General Education Teachers; SPED Teachers; Co-Teachers/In-Class Support Teachers. Criterion sampling procedure is an approach of purposive sampling in which selecting participants that meet specific criterion. The criteria chosen for this study was yielded from eight teachers that teach English language arts, Special Education Teachers and Co-Teachers that currently work in the Title I high school in southeast Houston of a school district in southeast Texas, implements the Universal Design for Learning framework in creating, designing and implementing lesson plans, and attends the UDL trainings. Eight teacher participants were invited to participate by an emailed consent form sent by a faculty proctor. Each confirmed participant completed a proctored online, cloud-based software service for the teacher survey, respectively. KEY WORDS: CAST, CCSS, collaboration, co-teach, differentiated instruction education, English-language arts, general education, gifted and talented, IDEIA, inclusion, lesson planning development, professional development, professional learning communities, special education, TEKS, teacher biases, transfer of learning, teacher training, Universal Design for Learning