Final Report on Grant-funded Research on EdTech Context in Therapeutic Day Schools

EdTech Evidence Exchange

February 13, 2023 – 2 minute read

The EdTech Evidence Exchange funded research conducted by Dr. Elizabeth Sturm and Dr. Seung Kim at Lewis University to use the EdTech Context Inventory (CI) to identify key context features associated with edtech implementation in therapeutic day schools. The findings from this study, provided below, will contribute to the ongoing validation of the EdTech Context Inventory in diverse educational settings. The research took place between April 1, 2021 and September 30, 2022. Funding supported stipends for teachers who took the CI survey and defrayed the costs associated with the graduate research assistant attending the Spring 2022 Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education (SITE) Annual Conference where they shared research findings.

The interim report is on our website. 

The Study Findings

Q: What types of technology resources/edtech are available in the therapeutic day schools?

A: Teachers relayed a variety of classroom and assistive technology used in their classrooms. They responded positively to having the technology needed to support their learners. 

Q: What key factors positively affect the edtech implementation in the therapeutic day schools?

A: Teachers in the survey relayed how they communicated with other teachers for information and help with technology implementation. The data also shows strong support for the use and necessity of technology.

Q:  What factors negatively affect the edtech implementation in the therapeutic day schools?

A: [As indicated] in other studies, time, training, funding, technical support, and lack of knowledge of school tech plans all negatively affect the edtech implementation. One unexpected finding was that the majority of the schools either had no technology plan or, if they do, it is opaque to the teachers. Therapeutic Day Schools serve students with the most significant needs and often use a variety of classroom and assistive technology to support their needs. 

Q: What are your next steps with this research?

A: We are now extending our research by conducting deeper case studies of assistive technology knowledge and use by three special education teachers in therapeutic day schools. We will be presenting our preliminary findings from that study at the 2023 SITE conference.