Learning to Serve Students with Disabilities Online: Teachers’ Perspectives

As K-12 online learning continues to grow for all student populations, so should knowledge of best practices related to teaching with diverse learning needs, including students with disabilities. The absence of a strong literature base provides a unique opportunity to explore issues of identity and agency of teachers in these settings, particularly as they consider their role in the call for highly skilled, high-quality instruction for all students, regardless of disability status. This study explored descriptions of practice from fully online teachers in their instruction of students with disabilities. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews of online teachers across a variety of grade levels. Analysis involved both thematic and theoretical elements to identify concepts for interpretation. Findings were divided into two major concepts: 1) online teachers’ learned practices about working with students with disabilities, and 2) teachers’ sources of knowledge about “good” teaching practices when working with students with disabilities.