01/31/2024
By Zakkiyya Witherspoon

The School of Education invites you to attend a doctoral dissertation defense by Susan Lynn Brassard on “Recognizing and Promoting Success for Students with Disabilities through Collaborative Professional Learning Communities and Appreciative Inquiry."

Candidate: Susan Lynn Brassard
Degree: Doctoral - Leadership in Schooling
Defense Date: Thursday, February 15, 2024
Time: 11 a.m.
Location: Remote: Zoom link
Thesis/Dissertation Title: Recognizing and Promoting Success for Students with Disabilities through Collaborative Professional Learning Communities and Appreciative Inquiry

Dissertation Committee
Dissertation Chair: James Nehring Ed.D., Professor of Education, School of Education, University of Massachusetts Lowell
Committee Member: Phitsamay Uy Ed.D., Associate Professor, Leadership in Schooling, Graduate Coordinator for Ed.D Programs, University of Massachusetts Lowell
Committee Member/Mentor: Tara Goodhue Ed.D., Adjunct Professor, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Abstract

This research study focused on the potential factors impacting students with disabilities (SWDs) course placement and graduation rates at Simmons High School (SHS), a large urban school in Massachusetts. Preliminary research found that approximately 50% of SWDs graduate each school year at SHS and are historically marginalized compared to their non-disabled peers. This marginalization occurs as SWDs are placed in courses that merely satisfy minimum graduation requirements while their non-disabled peers are placed in advanced coursework to prepare for college and career. Further, SWDs are rarely placed in honors-level career pathways at SHS or given access to other high-level curricula. Two of the driving factors of this problem of practice discovered during the diagnosis phase are a lack of cross-departmental collaboration (CDC) across the school and the ableist mindset of staff towards SWDs. This paper aims to determine whether increasing CDC and implementing professional learning communities (PLCs) focused on SWD success stories will reduce the staff's ableist mindset and increase opportunities for SWDs. To address this problem, 28 staff members from various departments and roles at SHS participated in collaborative inquiry using a PLC model and the tools of appreciative inquiry. The study used brief Plan Do Study Act (PDSA) cycles with mixed methods, and data triangulation occurred through surveys, artifacts, peer observations, and researcher memos. The data revealed several themes, including, a need to increase CDC, a need to improve attitudes towards collaboration, SWD success comes from a supportive environment, a need to build structures school-wide to support SWDs, and the staff fears SWDs leave SHS with unrealistic expectations post-secondary life and insufficient transition planning and support.