Developing Teachers' Competency in Individualized Education Plan Design for Children with Disabilities at the Kalasin Special Education Center

Abstract

This research consists purposes were 1. to develop the knowledge and understanding of teachers at the Kalasin Special Education Center regarding the preparation of Individualized Education Programs (IEP) for children with disabilities 2. to enhance the competency of these teachers in developing IEPs and 3. to study the satisfaction of teachers participating in the development program. This is quantitative research. The research instruments consisted of a test, an interview form, an observation form, an evaluation form for assessing teachers' competency in developing Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) for children with disabilities and a satisfaction evaluation form. The target group comprised 12 people, consisting of 9 study participants and 3 key informants, selected through purposive sampling. The data collected from the research instruments were then analyzed using descriptive statistics software, including percentage, mean and standard deviation, while the data from the interviews were analyzed using content analysis. The research findings revealed that 1) Following the implementation of the development strategy, specifically the workshop, all participating teachers demonstrated significantly higher post-development scores compared to their pre-development scores. 2) Regarding the supervision and follow-up strategy, which required participants to achieve a competency level of High or above, results from the first cycle showed that 6 co-researchers reached the High level, while 3 co-researchers performed at a Moderate level and required further development. In the second cycle, through targeted counseling and plan refinement, the remaining participants successfully attained the Highest competency level (x̅= 4.50, S.D.= 0.05) and 3) The overall satisfaction of teachers toward the competency development program for IEP preparation at the Kalasin Special Education Center was at the Highest level (x̅= 4.56, S.D. = 0.20).