Surfacing Principals’ Beliefs About Instruction for Students With Disabilities: A Qualitative Analysis

As instructional leaders, principals establish a vision of effective instruction in their schools and support that vision through evaluation and development efforts. Thus, their beliefs about instruction in special education may have direct consequences for special educators and their students. Though research suggests principals lack experience and knowledge regarding special education, few studies explore these beliefs in action. Informed by Kennedy's theory of working knowledge, we used two distinct interview methods to tap into principals’ expressed beliefs and beliefs in use when evaluating special education teachers. Findings crack open the “black box” of principals’ working knowledge to highlight how underlying beliefs regarding the purpose of special education and students, teaching, and learning drove principals’ visions of instructional quality more than specific practices did. We end by highlighting implications regarding how to best support school leaders in fostering effective teaching for students with disabilities and next steps for research.