Date Presented 03/21/24
The presentation will review different service delivery methods to provide related services used in school settings, and the role of teachers’ perception of these methods in implementation as well as factors contributing to it will be discussed.
Primary Author and Speaker: Vidya Pingale
Contributing Authors: Maxine Tannenbaum, Tyler Burton, Jessica Digennaro, Mikayla Shamy
PURPOSE: Under the IDEA, children with disabilities are eligible to receive related services ranging from speech-language therapy, and occupational therapy to counseling in order to facilitate children’s participation in school activities (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2023). Related service deliveries fall on the continuum of pull-out to integrated service delivery models (Case-Smith & Holland, 2009). Although there is a consensus among teachers and therapists on the benefits of the integrated therapy services delivery model (Cavendish, et.al. 2020). However, therapists report barriers to using the Integrated Therapy Service delivery model (ITS) (Watt et al., 2021). Teachers play a role in the successful implementation of ITS. Therefore, understanding teachers’ perspectives of ITS and the factors that influence their perspectives could be beneficial for related service professionals. The main research question was: What are the perceptions of preschool and elementary-grade teachers about an integrated therapy service delivery model?
DESIGN: This qualitative study intended to use the grounded theory method to understand the teachers’ perspective of ITS.
METHOD: A snowball sampling method was used to recruit 8 preschool or elementary grade special education teachers who met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The data was collected using semi-structured interviews consisting of open-ended questions. Corbin and Strauss’ grounded theory approach was used to analyze the data.
RESULTS: Currently, data is being analyzed and the preliminary analysis shows recurrent categories of teacher’s sense of control, experience, knowledge of intervention strategies, and a repertoire of classroom management strategies, physical space, time, and institutional supports.
CONCLUSION: The understanding of the teachers’ perspective of integrated therapy service delivery could benefit related service professionals in successfully implementing services.
References
Case-Smith, J., & Holland, T. (2009). Making Decisions About Service Delivery in Early Childhood Programs. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 40(4), 416–423. https://doi.org/10.1044/0161-1461(2009/08-0023)
Cavendish, W., Morris, C. T., Chapman, L. A., Ocasio-Stoutenburg, L., & Kibler, K. (2019). Teacher perceptions of implementation practices to support secondary students in special education. Preventing School Failure: Alternative Education for Children and Youth, 64(1), 19–27. https://doi.org/10.1080/1045988x.2019.1628000
National Center for Educational Statistics (2023). The condition of education. Retrieved October 27, 2021, Retrieved from COE - Students With Disabilities (ed.gov)
Watt, H., Richards, L. G., Woolley, H., Price, P., & Gray, S. (2021). Integrated services or pullout? Factors influencing school-based occupational therapy service delivery models. Journal of Occupational Therapy, Schools, & Early Intervention, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/19411243.2021.1934226
