Teacher Candidates with Learning Disabilities: Effective and Ethical Accommodations

Overview & Synopsis

The number of teacher candidates with learning disabilities (LD) has grown over the past several years. Teacher education programs are accountable to produce quality teachers while providing reasonable accommodations that facilitate completion of a degree program. This study investigated accommodations provided to teacher candidates with LD in teacher education programs. Accommodations at the knowledge level were considered acceptable, while accommodations in field experiences were less common and more likely to raise ethical concerns. For some accommodations, a wide disparity of opinions was evident, indicating poor consistency across teacher education programs. Findings indicated that programs were willing to provide accommodations that maintain the standards of the program and require candidates to demonstrate competence in essential skills of being a teacher. (Contains 4 tables.)