Equity Audit: Focusing on Distance Education Students and Students with Individualized Educational Plans

N

21

Distance Education; Equal Education; Disabilities; Individualized Education Programs; Racial Differences; Socioeconomic Status; Gender Differences; Barriers; Professional Development; Intervention; Achievement Gap; Special Education; School Districts; Stakeholders; Attitude Measures; Student Needs; Surveys; Statistical Analysis; Academically Gifted; Speech Impairments; Language Impairments; Educational Technology; Technology Uses in Education

Problem: Many inequities frequently have been found to exist in representations of students and access to school programs in public schools. Theory: The purpose of this equity audit is to utilize theoretical positioning and conduct an empirical study involving student representations and access to educational opportunities. The audit focuses on special education including speech or language impaired students, students with learning disabilities, gifted students, and talented students. Students participating in distance learning opportunities in a Louisiana school district are a second focus of this audit. The audit uses Bernhart's theory of crossing multiple measures. Implications: An understanding of school processes, demographics, student learning and stakeholder perceptions has implications that can pave the way to research based interventions and improved educational success for all students. This study has implications for stakeholders who are interested in the quality of school programs. Stakeholders include students, parents, funding sources, and those responsible for accountability. Objectives: 1. Understand factors contributing to achievement inequities in school programs and identify areas of significant achievement differences (race, socio economic, gender, etc.). This includes identification of home, school, classroom, and individual level barriers to high performance. 2. Assist in identifying professional development and educational interventions to reduce achievement gaps and enhance district wide success of all students. Conclusions & Recommendations: Findings showed that students in special education were not represented equitably in school programs. Little evidence exists relating to equity of students enrolled in distance education. Recommendations include more research, considerations of distance education at student assistance team meetings, faculty and parent education, equitable ethnic representations of faculty in classes and during team meetings.

As Provided

24

2018

ED580855