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RESEARCH PROPOSAL: PROJECT JUSTIFICATION
Research Proposal: Project Justification
Tiffany Burgi
School of Business, Liberty University
Author Note
Tiffany R. Burgi
I have no known conflict of interest to disclose.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Tiffany R. Burgi.
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RESEARCH PROPOSAL: PROJECT JUSTIFICATION
Email: [email protected]
Abstract
Individuals with disabilities often do not have full access to education. Even more often, they do
not have access to post-secondary education and higher education. Disabled people are the
largest people group in the United States. Typically, the education approach used to educate
disabled individuals is a one size fits all. Using one technique or approach to teach people with
documented disabilities does not help all disabled people. Research needs to be done to find
better ways to assist all people with varying disabilities in getting an education.
Keywords: Education, disabled, technology, educators, accessibility people group
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RESEARCH PROPOSAL: PROJECT JUSTIFICATION
Research Topic
Equal access to education for individuals with disabilities at all levels of education.
Problem and Purpose Statement
One of the largest populations in the United States are people that have a documented
disability, which encompasses a range of possibilities. The Centers for Disease Control reports
that "Up to 1 in 4 (26 percent) adults in the United States have some type of disability" (Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, 2023). With the number of the U. S. population having a
documented disabled it is vital that they are not overlooked. Additionally, it is important to note
that there is not a blanket approach that will successfully serve all their varying needs. The
largest group of individuals with disabilities that are not being served are children in the
education system. There needs to be an early intervention established to help children with
disabilities in education (Gage, 2021).
The general problem to be addressed is to ensure accessibility can be achieved for all
individuals with disabilities in the education system, which should result in individuals with
disabilities acquiring more access to education at all levels education for individuals with
disabilities. It is crucial to remember and keep in mind that people are not to "insult the deaf or
cause the blind to stumble. You must fear your God; I am the Lord" (Leviticus 19:14, New
Living Translation). People, especially Christians, are called to ensure that all people are safe
and cared for, even individuals with disabilities. Jesus taught Christians to care not only for the
prophets, leaders, and those with a higher status but all sinners, which include the disabled and
the poor (for all people are sinners) (Merida et al., 2015). For majority of society the idea of
transportation may appear straightforward, however, people with disabilities may face complex
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RESEARCH PROPOSAL: PROJECT JUSTIFICATION
challenges when attempting to navigate transportation in order to arrive at the educational
institute (Ross et al., 2020). If individuals with disabilities are unable to be transported to the
education system, it will ultimately cut them off from the opportunity to receive their education.
Often, when there are rules and laws in place there are inconsistencies in those rules or laws
being implemented and enforced, which leads to insufficient support that prevents protection for
individuals with disabilities (Lim, 2019). The specific problem to be addressed is the need for
there to be equal access to education within the education system for individuals with
documented disabilities at all levels of education, which will result in equality in education for
individuals with disabilities.
Importance
There is a Universal design established for learning that guides to eliminate issues in the
education of individuals with disabilities. It primarily looks at curriculum, surroundings and tools
or techniques used to teach (Grove et al., 2018). Universal design for learning is highly
beneficial, but it often serves as a blanket accommodation for people with disabilities. Due to the
fact there are no two disabilities that are exactly alike, even within the same classification of a
disability (such as a Deaf person), the needs of each of those individuals greatly differ. In one
study it shows that individuals with disabilities were not learning enough to advance to a
postsecondary education, and only a third of the students with autism were moving on to
postsecondary education (Stark et al., 2020). There needs to be more support in enabling
individuals with disabilities to be prepared to go on to attain a postsecondary education if they
want to. Additionally, there are programs and agencies to help individuals with disabilities to
enter the workforce and some of those agencies/programs may also help with education, but they
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RESEARCH PROPOSAL: PROJECT JUSTIFICATION
are more focused on preparing the disabled individual to enter the workforce. Agencies,
programs, and others involved with the education of individuals with disabilities may encounter
resistance and a battle to support those individual when they are working toward receiving an
education. Before even entering a postsecondary education, individuals with disabilities need to
first graduate from high school or pass the General Educational Development Test (GED).
Nationally, there is an 84% graduation rate from high school for individuals without a disability,
and students with disabilities are only 65% of the time ready to graduate on the traditional
timeline (Kloos et al., 2022). It is important to consider why the percentage of students
graduating on an appropriate and typical timeline is just over half. Furthermore, it is also vital to
consider what changes should be implemented in order to increase the ability of individuals to
graduate on a typical timeline.
Research
I think a qualitative research approach will be an appropriate fit for this topic. This
research approach can "empower individuals to share their stories" (Creswell & Poth, 2018, p.
81). Using a qualitative research approach will be helpful when asking questions to break down
any walls and perceived power. This approach will need to be used, especially with the disabled
individuals. Disabled individuals can be easily taken advantage of, and the researcher does not
want to be perceived as someone who will take advantage of them. When talking to teachers, the
qualitative research approach will be helpful because it is vital to establish trust and important to
ensure that the teachers do not think their abilities as teachers are in question. As a researcher, I
want them to know I am coming alongside of them to improve the education of individuals with
disabilities.
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RESEARCH PROPOSAL: PROJECT JUSTIFICATION
I will be looking to ask teachers of mainstream students, mixed classes of students and
teachers that specialized in schools for teaching students with a disability. I will also be looking
to ask agencies that provide assistance for individuals with disabilities in a variety of ways, such
as Vocational Rehabilitation. I want to reach out to people that serve individuals in independent
living situations. There are also people that serve the individuals with disabilities in an
educational setting that do not work for the educational institute that could have beneficial
knowledge to share. However, above all, the most important group of people to reach out to are
those with documented disabilities. The perspectives of people with disabilities, I believe, have
the potential to be the most helpful. There are many different perspectives to gather and,
hopefully in the future, those perspectives can positively impact the education setting by making
education fully accessible for individuals with disabilities. As this topic is further researched,
there may be more individuals that will be included.
Research Questions
1) What are the most common educational obstacles for individuals with disabilities at all levels?
2) What are the obstacles for individuals with disabilities in pre-kindergarten education?
3) What are the obstacles for individuals with disabilities in elementary school education?
4) What are the obstacles for individuals with disabilities in middle school/Jr. High education?
5) What are the obstacles for individuals with disabilities in high school education?
6) What are the obstacles for individuals with disabilities in college/university education?
7) What are the obstacles for individuals with disabilities in receiving a Master's education?
8) What is missing in teaching educators how to teach individuals with disabilities?
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RESEARCH PROPOSAL: PROJECT JUSTIFICATION
9) What technology is available that is not being utilized in education for individuals with
disabilities?
10) What technology needs to be developed for educating individuals with disabilities?
11) Why is the funding inadequate for students with disabilities?
12) What are the physical barriers to students with disabilities in education settings?
13) Are accommodations accessible and understandable for parents and disabled individuals?
14) Why is the approach to teaching individuals with disabilities often a one size fits all style?
15) What approach is necessary to ensure the students are not discriminating against individuals
with disabilities?
16) What are the obstacles faced in transportation for educational purposes for individuals with
disabilities?
Hypothesis
My hypothesis for this will be seeing where the education system is insufficient, where
caretakers are unprepared, and support agencies and people are inadequately providing the best
unbiased methods for preparing individuals with disabilities. I think there will be tools or
techniques that can assist the disabled community in the education settings that are not being
utilized. I think one of the reasons techniques and technology are not being utilized is due to the
lack of knowledge of technology and assistance device. Also, there is no funding to acquire
technology and assistance devices that would benefit individuals with disabilities. I also think
there are educational opportunities available to the disabled community that the disabled
individuals are not aware of and cannot take advantage of because information is not being
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RESEARCH PROPOSAL: PROJECT JUSTIFICATION
sought out. It may be realized that a precent of disabled individuals do not want an education
after high school or even a primary education.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2023, January 5).KDisability impacts all of us
infographic. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved February 5, 2023, from
https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/disabilityandhealth/infographic-disability-impacts-all.htmlK
Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2018).KQualitative Inquiry & Research Design: Choosing among
Five approaches. SAGE Publication Inc.K
Gage, J. (2021, August 26).KDisability attorney says Florida Education fails underserved
students. UnidosUS. Retrieved February 5, 2023, from https://unidosus.org/progress-
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Grove, L., Morrison-Beedy, D., Kirby, R., & Hess, J. (2018). The birds, bees, and special needs:
Making evidence-based sex education accessible for adolescents with intellectual
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RESEARCH PROPOSAL: PROJECT JUSTIFICATION
Kloos, E., Nacik, E., & Ward, C. (2022). Developing implementation capacity of a state
education agency to improve outcomes for students with disabilities.KJournal of Disability
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Stark, I., Liao, P., Magnusson, C., Lundberg¹, M., Rai, D., Lager, A., & Idring Nordström, S.
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