Congratulations to Andrea Tolliver, who on Thursday, September 18, 2025, successfully defended her dissertation proposal. The title of Andrea’s dissertation is "VISUAL ART TEACHERS PERCEPTIONS OF SELF-EFFICACY IN THEIR PREPAREDNESS AND EFFECTIVENESS TO TEACH MIDDLE LEVEL STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES."
Overview of Problem: Educating students with disabilities (SWDs) in general education classrooms has become a federal education priority reflecting a strong commitment to improving educational opportunities for such students (Gottfried et al., 2019). However, many visual art educators lack extensive training and confidence in their ability to teach SWD in an inclusive setting (Gabriel, 2018; Kraft & Keifer-Boyd, 2013), an issue that has often been overlooked and under-researched (Suarez-Gonzalez, 2024). Through her research, Andrea will examine the visual art teachers’ self-efficacy as related to their preparedness to teach SWDs who are included in visual art classes.
Research Purpose: This qualitative study will explore middle-level visual arts teachers’ perceptions of self-efficacy in their preparedness and effectiveness when facing the challenge of teaching middle-level SWD who have been integrated into their classrooms.
Research Design: Andrea aims to develop a deeper understanding of the relationships between visual art teachers’ perceptions of preparedness and effectiveness when teaching middle-level SWD by analyzing her findings through the lens of Bandura’s (1977) Theory of Self-efficacy.
Sample & Data Collection: Andrea will conduct semi-structured interviews with 12–15 middle-level visual arts teachers who have at least 3 years of experience working with students with SWD who have been included in general education visual art classes.
Dissertation Committee Chair:
Dr. Joanne Marien
Dissertation Committee Members:
Dr. Kenneth Mitchell
Dr. Lynn Allen
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