Date of Award

2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Organizational Leadership

First Advisor

Timothy Mccarty

Second Advisor

Jamie Hughes

Third Advisor

Jonathan Greenberg

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative multi-case study was to examine the challenges elementary general education teachers (TK–6) face, including confidence and skills, when working to successfully include students with disabilities in their classrooms. The study also sought to identify the most valuable professional development experiences, the role of grade-level collaboration in building teachers' capacity, and the administrative support and resources that contribute to teachers' success in including students with disabilities.

Methodology: This qualitative multi-case study employed semi-structured interviews with six TK–first grade general education teachers in Orange County, California, each with at least one year of experience including a student with an Individualized Education Program. Data were analyzed through open coding, pattern coding, and cross-case analysis using a framework matrix, yielding 40 codes across six categories.

Findings: Teacher confidence was rooted in accumulated classroom experience rather than disability-specific preparation, though years of experience and amount of training covaried and could not be disentangled. Formal professional development was scarce across all six participants, with legal and behavioral knowledge and parent-communication skills identified as the most consistent gaps. Collaboration occurred primarily through informal contact and real-time push-in support rather than protected structured time, with caseload and staffing constraints the most frequently cited barrier overall. Administrative support was person-dependent rather than systemic, and administrators were widely perceived to lack special-education expertise, including in one account affecting compliance oversight.

Conclusions: Findings align with self-efficacy theory, professional learning community frameworks, and prior research on administrator preparation, suggesting that inclusive practice in TK–first grade settings currently depends on individual teachers' accumulated experience and informal peer networks rather than durable institutional structures, leaving implementation vulnerable to staffing and personnel turnover.

Recommendations: Districts should embed disability-specific coaching into early-career induction, formalize legal, behavioral, and parent-communication training, restructure grade-level team time to include specialists as standing members, evaluate specialist caseload ratios, and require special-education leadership preparation for site administrators. Establishing a dedicated inclusion-support role to guide mainstreaming transitions is also recommended.

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