Dissertation

Response to AB 1369: a multiple case study

Students diagnosed with dyslexia are at a disadvantage in the public school systems because their reading acquisition needs are usually not met when the schools implement resources that do not address their specific needs (Rotatori, Obiakor, & Bakken, 2011). Prior research has studied the use of multisensory reading programs based on the Orton-Gillingham method to teach students with dyslexia how to read. This study looks at how a northern California school district is responding to Assembly Bill 1369 in its implementation of "educational services" for students with dyslexia. Educational services are defined in the law as research-based, multisensory, direct, explicit, structured, and sequential in their approach to instructing pupils with dyslexia. The use of Critical Disability Theory as a framework for the proposed study acknowledges the marginalization of students with dyslexia and shows how educational services can address these students' reading needs. By using Critical Disability Theory, the teachers are acknowledged as actors of change and empowered to enact transformative change. A review of the research reveals instructional inequity through the choice and implementation of educational services. Lack of teacher knowledge about the specific reading content and processes for students with dyslexia contribute to students' struggles to learn how to read. The study is conducted as a multiple-case study of four elementary schools in a Northern California school district. The schools are diverse in demographics and include a variety of teacher experiences. The collection of data is by means of in-depth semi-structured interviews, participant observations, and educational services analysis. The study includes semi-structured interviews of the Director of Special Education and special education teachers, along with participant observations of the teachers implementing these educational services and an analysis of the specific services.

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