Investigation of special education teachers' competencies and design-based applications in preparing individualized educational programs and teaching plans

There is growing interest in design-based learning. This study aimed to investigate the competencies of special education teachers in preparing individualized lesson programs (ILPs) and teaching plans, to evaluate the presence of design-based applications in ILPs, and to examine individualized teaching plans with an emphasis on the individualization of design-based applications. Explanatory sequential design was used in the study. 57 special education teachers participated in the study. The ILP Quality Evaluation Scale developed by Alan (2019) was used to evaluate quantitative data. Teacher Information Form, Semi-Structured Interview Form and Individualized Teaching Plan Checklist were used to examine qualitative data. In the quantitative part of the research, 119 ILPs obtained from 57 teachers were investigated with the ILP Quality Evaluation Scale. In the qualitative part of the research, ILPs including design-based examples were re-examined according to the goals and content areas. Then, design-based examples presented in the teacher information form were investigated. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 teachers stated willingness to participate in the second stage of the study. Then, individualized teaching plans prepared by two teachers with the highest ILP scores were evaluated with Individualized Teaching Plan Checklist. Teachers' ILP scores were low presenting a low-level competency. There were significant differences between teachers' ILP scores based on the disability group. As teachers worked more with special education students, their ILP scores decreased. Teachers presented design-based objectives in their ILPs. However, ILP score of teachers missing design related goals in their ILPs was higher. This presented that teachers' awareness of design was not transferred to ILPs. Teachers did not include details about the design in their interviews and plans. Finally, teachers with high ILP scores had problems when creating individualized teaching plans. Teacher training would be vital to support teachers' ILP competencies and to implement design-based practices in special education more comprehensively.