DISSERTATION PROPOSAL ANNOUNCEMENT Ed.D. Program: Quincey Schenck “Experiences of K-8 Self-Contained Teachers: A Qualitative Study”

This qualitative interview study will elevate K-8 self-contained classroom teachers’ voices. Ultimately, this study explores how self-contained teachers describe their roles and responsibilities, the support they receive, and the challenges they face teaching in a self-contained classroom. The findings from this study can be used to inform school personnel on how to best support self-contained teachers by understanding self-contained teachers’ responsibilities. Additionally, this study may highlight factors leading to self-contained teachers’ intent to stay at their current schools or profession. This study will be qualitative and use semi structured interviews and observations. Qualitative interviews will be conducted with fifteen to twenty research participants who hold a Teachers of Students with Disabilities Certification and currently work in a self-contained classroom. Two to three observations of self-contained teachers in their classrooms will be conducted from the participant pool. A qualitative study will enable the collection of in-depth information about the participants’ experiences and answer the research questions.

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