Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to have experts identify and recommend future actions California high schools and districts can take to support high school math students in special education. Identified future actions by expert recommendations support these students to achieve math proficiency levels on the California High School Exit Exam and California Standards Test by 2014, required in No Child Left Behind legislation. Methodology: This is a Delphi methodology research grounded in expert opinion. A panel of experts reach consensus while remaining anonymous throughout the deliberation of the data consideration process. Experts were selected for theoretical and practical expertise in California public education; high school math standards and frameworks; state and national laws pertaining to IDEA and students with special needs; California Education Code and policies; California assessments and data reporting; and the No Child Left Behind legislation. Sixteen experts participated in three rounds. A qualitative approach was used in round one to generate expert recommended actions. Inferential and descriptive statistics were used in rounds two and three to analyze the collective responses. Findings: Recommendations with highest degree of consensus on both variables are strongly recommended actions generating four categories: quality of educational access, staff development, student support, and tracking progress. Conclusions: California schools and districts need to provide staff development and implementation time for teachers to integrate additional skills, techniques, and new knowledge. Students need conceptual knowledge: learning how to think critically and create new knowledge. Basic fundamentals need to be learned, manipulated, discussed, and incorporated to develop higher levels of new meaning. Using focused, aligned interventions, learning disabilities and learning gaps can close. Recommendations: Use performance-based and other alternative math assessments for students with learning disabilities; develop a longitudinal study spanning three years showing how data results are used to drive math mastery, accommodations, learning environment, improvement of equity, and student performance. Research on "math interventions" that are successful in reaching students struggling with specific math gaps in conceptual knowledge and numeracy.