ORCID

https://orcid.org/0009-0006-0208-2048

Date of Award

2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Education (Ph.D)

Department

Education Specialties

First Advisor

Olivia Stewart

Second Advisor

Bonnie Johnson

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of elementary special education teachers who work in self-contained classrooms with students who have emotional disabilities. This research sought to understand the perceived self-efficacy teachers had for teaching reading to this population of learners, and to further explore the perceived barriers, facilitators, and needs they have related to reading instruction. Participants included sixteen teachers and one specialist from a large public-school division in the southeastern region of the United States. The data for this study was collected through teacher completion of an online survey and through individual semi-structured interviews. The survey portion of the study probed teacher self-efficacy for teaching reading to elementary students with emotional disabilities with a focus on areas where teachers showed high self-efficacy and low self-efficacy. Survey results were analyzed in Typeform (https://www.typeform.com), a web-based survey tool, and in Excel for purposes of seeing areas of high and low self-efficacy. Interviews probed deeper into teachers’ self-efficacy for teaching reading, and addressed questions about the perceived barriers they face, the perceived facilitators of reading instruction, and their perceived needs. Interview data was analyzed through a repeated two-step coding process, following Lichtman’s (2013) six step process when moving from raw data to categories and subcategories, and eventually to meaningful concepts and themes. Results indicated areas of reading instruction where teachers felt high self-efficacy, and areas where self-efficacy was low. Further, data analysis showed several themes presented under each research question in relation to the perceived barriers, facilitators, and needs teachers have when teaching reading to students with emotional disabilities.

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