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What are the Barriers to the Use of Advanced Telecommunications for Students with Disabilities in Public Schools?
NCES: 2000042
January 2000

Do policies on teacher training in the use of advanced telecommunications at the school relate to administrators' citing lack of training of special education teachers as a barrier?

As discussed above, the barrier to providing access to advanced telecommunications for students with disabilities most frequently cited by schools was lack of sufficiently trained special education teachers. One item on the questionnaire asked school administrators to report on the type of advanced telecommunications training available to all teachers at their school. Responses to the two items (types of training available to all teachers, and administrators' perceptions of lack of training of special education teachers) were examined to see if they were related. Public schools in which participation in advanced telecommunications training for all teachers was encouraged by incentives were less likely to report that lack of training for special education teachers was a moderate or major barrier than other schools. Thirty-seven percent of schools with incentives for all teachers to participate in telecommunications training reported special education teacher training as a moderate or major barrier, compared to 50 percent of schools where training for all teachers was mandated and 52 percent of schools in which training for all teachers was left up to the initiative of the individual teacher (Table 3). Further, when a school reported that training for all teachers was provided by the school or district, that school was less likely than schools that did not report providing training for all teachers to report that lack of training for special education teachers was a moderate or major barrier to the use of advanced telecommunications by students with disabilities (Table 3). Schools were asked about whether training was available on use of computers, use of advanced telecommunications, or integration of technology into the curriculum. From 41 to 45 percent of schools where these types of training were available for all teachers indicated special education teacher training was a moderate or major barrier compared with 57 to 61 percent in schools where such training was not available for all teachers.

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