Qualitative Study
The Problem Statement
While the demand for education continues to increase, recent educational research regarding teacher professionalism indicates that there continues to be a scarcity of teachers within the learning institutions. As the teaching profession continues to prove demanding, tiring, and with low motivation, most undergraduates have lost interest in this field, while teachers the profession leave the teaching profession in search of better professions (Ronfeldt, Loeb, & Wyckoff, 2013). Thus, this research provides a qualitative study of teacher turnover and learning outcomes amongst disabled students.
The Purpose Statement
The intended research would be seeking to establish the prevailing and possible relationship between teacher turnover and the performance of learners, especially among students with learning disabilities. Hence, the main purpose of this qualitative research study is to assess the high turnover rates of teachers and their supposed effects on the students’ performance, particularly those marred with learning disabilities with evidence from teachers and students of the American elementary schools.
Research Method
Qualitative studies follow the principles of qualitative research methods that draw evidence from research participants concerning their real-world experiences using questionnaires, direct observations, and interviews (Golafshani, 2013). The study will embrace the principles of qualitative research methods that include data collection, data analysis, data presentation, data interpretation, and data validation. During data collection, the researcher will use questionnaires, analyze the data qualitatively, and ensure that it follows the principles of interpreting qualitative data.
Research Design
Resign design is a pragmatic and subjective approach that describes life phenomena and give them relevant meaning. Qualitative research entails the principles of research design where social constructivism makes the most in drawing the conclusions made from the perceptions of the participants regarding a research inquiry (Golafshani, 2013). The study will adopt a case study research design where the focus will be students and teachers of elementary schools within the state of Ohio in the United States. A study of elementary schools would provide valuable information that applies to the other schools in the United States.
Variables
Variables are measurable elements of research that vary in accordance with the research subject and the objectives established by the research. Since qualitative research uses social constructivism where the opinions and ideas of participants are important, its variables remain socially constructed (Golafshani, 2013). In the case of this research, the research will have teacher turnover as the independent variable, while student performance shall be the dependent variable.
Population
The study population is the target respondents, who provide data concerning the research problem. Researchers investigate the study population and draw research inferences regarding a certain research problem, which associate with the population. Hence, the study will target teachers and students, both normal and disabled, in a number of schools in Ohio, the United States. About 20 teachers from 5 renowned elementary schools, 50 able students, and 10 students with disabilities will participate.
Geographical Location
The state of Ohio is the most populated region in the United States with reports indicating that the region is the 34th largest American region and 7th most populous area. Dominated by the middle-class and a majority of poor citizens, education is a critical issue and teachers are often avoiding Ohio as a workplace. The high rates of poverty and poor living standards in some areas have resulted in high numbers of unhealthy children, with a considerable number of them living with disabilities.
Quantitative Study
Problem Statement
Apart from individual abilities in learning, studies have discovered that the quality of education highly determines the competencies of graduates. Researchers have unveiled that education and learning styles are determinants of competencies among graduates in various professional fields (Candy, 2004). However, the question is whether this notion applies to students with learning disabilities. Concerning the above question, this research seeks to investigate whether education and learning style in an institution, influences the learning outcomes of disabled students.
The Purpose Statement
Learning and educational teaching techniques have worked in tandem in most institutions, but it has remained unknown whether the learning style of a particular institution influences the educational outcomes of disabled learners (Candy, 2004). With evidence from teachers and students of the American elementary schools, the main purpose of this study is to assess whether the education and learning style of a particular institution influences the learning outcomes of disabled learners, apart from influencing learning outcomes in most schools with able learners.
Research Method
The quantitative method is a pragmatic research method that uses numerical data, statistical information, computational techniques, and figures to analyze a research inquiry (Tewksbury, 2009). The research method that the study will adopt is the use of questionnaires designed in a Likert scale model to collect data from teachers and learners from different selected schools. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) will be useful in analyzing data.
Research Design
Quantitative research design tests research problems descriptively or experimentally (Tewksbury, 2009). The intended research would confine to descriptive statistics, where the final and determining activity of the research would be testing the research hypothesis. The research would want to test hypothetically the relationship between learning styles and competency of graduates. The study hypothesizes that there is a positive relationship between the learning styles of an institution and the competency of graduates. Furthermore, the study hypothesizes that there is a positive relationship between learning styles and performance of students with learning disabilities.
Variables
Quantitative research depends on research variables, which quantify a research problem and allow quantitative analysis. According to Tewksbury (2009), people or things that provide quantitative data are units or cases and the data collected are the variables. The greatest notion here is that the competency of learners depends on the education and learning style of a particular institution. Hence, learning style in this case acts as the independent variable, while the competency of learners acts as the dependent variable in the study.
Population
Quantitative research also has a study population where the researcher collects data necessary for the assessment of the identified problem. The research has a target population of 100 participants, including 20 headteachers, 50 schoolteachers, and 30 disabled students from disability schools around the state of Ohio. From the estimated number, the study will use probability sampling to design a sample size that would be appropriate in analyzing the research problem.
Geographical Location
The state of Ohio is a densely populated area and located in the Midwestern part of the United States. The state has a mixture of households with a considerable number of families with disabled children, which have prompted the establishment of several special education centers across the towns. The Ohio Department of Education has several links to schools for disability where the researcher would be able to locate special education institutions for the assessment of teachers and willing students.
References
Candy, S. (2004). Learning styles: An overview of theories, models, and measures. Educational Psychology, 24(4), 420-444.
Golafshani, N. (2003). Understanding Reliability and Validity in Qualitative Research. The Qualitative Report, 8(4), 597-607.
Ronfeldt, M., Loeb, S., & Wyckoff, J. (2013). How Teacher Turnover Harms Student Achievement. American Educational Research Journal, 50(1), 4-36.
Tewksbury, R. (2009). Qualitative versus Quantitative Methods: Understanding Why Qualitative Methods are Superior for Criminology and Criminal Justice. Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Criminology, 1(1), 38-58.