Recognizing and Promoting Success for Students with Disabilities through Collaborative Professional Learning Communities and Appreciative Inquiry

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Students with Disabilities; Student Placement; Graduation Rate; High School Students; Urban Schools; Advanced Courses; Career Readiness; College Readiness; Cooperative Planning; Interdisciplinary Approach; Attitudes toward Disabilities; Communities of Practice

979-83-8273-415-6

This research study focused on the potential factors impacting students with disabilities (SWDs) course placement and graduation rates at Simmons High School (SHS), a large urban school in Massachusetts. Preliminary research found that approximately 50% of SWDs graduate each school year at SHS and are historically marginalized compared to their non-disabled peers. This marginalization occurs as SWDs are placed in courses that merely satisfy minimum graduation requirements while their non-disabled peers are placed in advanced coursework to prepare for college and career. Further, SWDs are rarely placed in honors-level career pathways at SHS or given access to other high-level curricula. Two of the driving factors of this problem of practice discovered during the diagnosis phase are a lack of cross-departmental collaboration (CDC) across the school and the ableist mindset of staff towards SWDs. This paper aims to determine whether increasing CDC and implementing professional learning communities (PLCs) focused on SWD success stories will reduce the staff's ableist mindset and increase opportunities for SWDs. To address this problem, 28 staff members from various departments and roles at SHS participated in collaborative inquiry using a PLC model and the tools of appreciative inquiry. The study used brief Plan Do Study Act (PDSA) cycles with mixed methods, and data triangulation occurred through surveys, artifacts, peer observations, and researcher memos. The data revealed several themes, including, a need to increase CDC, a need to improve attitudes towards collaboration, SWD success comes from a supportive environment, a need to build structures school-wide to support SWDs, and the staff fears SWDs leave SHS with unrealistic expectations post-secondary life and insufficient transition planning and support. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

As Provided

2024

ED652834