Congratulations to Keith Sullivan who on Wednesday, March 12, 2025, successfully defended his dissertation. The title of Keith’s dissertation is: SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHERS’ PERCEPTION OF SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL LEARNING.
Research has shown, when students have supportive relationships and opportunities to develop and practice social, emotional, and cognitive skills across many different contexts, academic learning accelerates, (Durlak, et. al, 2011, p. 412; Cristovao, A. M., et., al., 2017). Conversely, when students do not have supportive relationships, it could lead to disruptive or challenging behaviors, developmental disorders, learning difficulties, bullying and school violence, (Cristovao, A. M., et., al., 2017; Durlak et., al, 2011; Kourkoutas and Giovazolias, 2015). As a result of these problematic behaviors, teachers can begin to feel burnt out in the profession and/or have negative feelings towards these students (Kourkoutas and Giovazolias, 2015). Additionally, students who struggle to regulate their social and emotional skills are more likely to struggle academically and tend to have an increased number of absences. The purpose of this quantitative study is to identify K-12 Special Education teacher’s perception of social emotional learning. Keith’s findings illuminate the value of Social and Emotional Learning for special education teachers, in particular for less experienced teachers. Additionally, his results show that the one area that teachers reported to be lacking was the extent to which there was guidance and support at the building and district level.
DISSERTATION COMMITTEE CHAIR:
Dr. Nora Broege
DISSERTATION COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
Dr. Martin Fitzgerald
Dr. Ellen Connors
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