Serving All Students: Assuring Principals Access to Standards Based Professional Development
Suzanne M. Martin, Ph.D.; Haiyan Bai, Ph.D.; Dena Slanda, Ph.D.; Anna Diaz, Ed.D. and Kimberly Steinke, Ed. D.
Abstract
School districts often face challenges in recruiting and retaining high quality and fully credentialed leaders who have the knowledge and skills to serve all students, particularly students with disabilities. These challenges are exacerbated by today’s accountability climate which calls for an increased focus on performance expectations for school principals. Research indicates school principals must have access to research-based professional development that enhances their knowledge and skills for effective implementation of policies and procedures to provide all students with access to the general education curriculum to meet increasingly rigorous state standards (e.g., Authors 2017). The purpose of this study was to determine if school principals were receptive to the use of online professional development modules designed to improve their knowledge of special education and inclusive practices to effectively implement the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 2004). After completion of the online modules, principals in a large, urban school district in the southeast United States participated in a survey to determine their perception of the impact of the content of the modules on their ability to meet the needs of students with disabilities.