Co-Teachers and Parents' Perceptions of Shortened Assignments for Learning Disabled Students

The Individual with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA) 2007, a federal special education law, states that students with disabilities requiring special education services can use accommodations or adaptations of the curriculum to access the general education curriculum. A shortened assignment, as an accommodation, can help learning disabled students learn and demonstrate their knowledge. The purpose of this qualitative case study using grounded theory analysis was to explore the administration and implementation of shortened assignments for four learning disabled students and to describe the perceptions of co-teachers and parents of how shortened assignments benefit or hinder learning for these students within a co-teaching context at an urban middle school. Shortened assignments, when applied consistently and appropriately by general and special education teachers, can help learning disabled students in a variety of ways. The use and meaning of this accommodation was studied by examining the perceptions of four parents, three general education teachers, and one special education teacher within a co-teaching setting at an urban middle school in Riverside County, California. Thorough interviews of these participants were conducted as well as classroom observations of how the shortened assignment was administered. Document analysis of student work samples was also conducted to explore how shortened assignments have been used with student class work. Data collected from the interviews, observations, and work samples answered four research questions. The data also generated four overlapping themes: a) types of shortened assignments; b) lack of time/training with shortened assignments; c) hindrance to learning; and d) benefits to learning. Specifically, the findings of this study revealed: a) teachers need more training in the administration and implementation of the accommodation; b) parents and teachers would benefit from dialogue about how the accommodation should be implemented; and c) participants perceived shortened assignments as beneficial, yet also enabling in a variety of ways. Data suggested that teachers and parents need a strong training program to fully understand the administration and implementation of shortened assignments as well as its effects in hindering or benefiting student learning.