Creating connections: Investigating the use of diagnostic information in classrooms

The purpose of this study was to identify how recommendations provided by educational diagnosticians in a student’s full and individual evaluation are used by teachers to effectively promote and provide specialized instruction. This study also investigated how to communicate the recommendations to teachers most effectively. An exploratory and descriptive, non-experimental design study was conducted, and data were gathered from respondents using a researcher-designed survey. Respondents included general and special education teachers instructing students at 10 junior high campuses within a metropolitan school district in North Central Texas. Responses to survey questions were analyzed using both frequency distributions and descriptive statistics. Overall, two major themes emerged from the study. First, respondents indicated a need for the information found in the instructional recommendations in a full and individual evaluation and reported accessing and utilizing this information to enhance classroom instruction. Second, the communication of this information can be improved, and special education teachers need to be involved in the transmission of this information in some way. Recommendations and limitations are also discussed.