| An ongoing problem exists in that federal education mandates such as Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) were written in very broad language; as a result, state and local governments were tasked with implementing these laws in order to comply and provide all students with a free, appropriate public education. This qualitative action research study involved a purposive sample of high school English and Special Education teachers and focused on one problem that existed mainly because of the non-specific language of the laws. Access to the general education curriculum and technology resources remained limited for some students with disabilities and non-existent for other students with disabilities. The purpose of this qualitative action research study was to investigate factors such as teacher attitudes, inadequate staff development, and inadequate knowledge of how to turn policy into effective classroom practice in order to ultimately comprise a plan that facilitated more access for this student population. High school English/Language Arts and Special Education teachers in Hawaii participated in an action research study to reflect on their current attitudes and instructional practices that possibly hindered or facilitated access to general education curriculum and technology materials by students with special needs. Three major themes and four minor themes were identified. Three recommendations for educational leaders were to (a) provide more professional development geared toward differentiated instructional practices, (b) allow for more collaboration between general and special education teachers, and (c) allow for ongoing action research in order to allow for more exploration, planning, and problem solving. Future research recommended for action research, mixed-methods, and phenomenological qualitative studies to continue to explore the three major themes. |
