Council For Exceptional Children State of the Profession 3rd Edition

* INFORMED CONSENT

Purpose of the Research

The purpose of this research is to investigate the educators’, teacher preparation providers’, administrators’ and early childhood providers’ perceptions of the state of the special education profession.

Specific Procedures

Your participation in this study will assist in learning more about the state of the special education profession. You will be asked to answer 47 questions about your opinions on your experiences with the special education profession.

Duration of Participation and Compensation

The total duration of your participation should be no longer than 25 minutes. There will be no compensation for participation.

Risks

This online survey is strictly voluntary, and no penalty will be imposed for non-participation. There are minimal risks in participating in the survey. However, if you feel uncomfortable or anxious at any time, you may press the “X” button in the upper right-hand corner of the survey and exit out of the survey.

Benefits

There are no benefits for answering the survey questions, however, you may enjoy sharing your feelings about the special education profession.

Confidentiality

This survey is strictly anonymous and there is no identifying information. No IP addresses will be kept or known to the researchers. Your answers to questions will be stored for two years on a password protected computer and after that time will be deleted. This project's research records may be reviewed by the departments at Lynn University responsible for regulatory and research oversight.

Contact Information

If you have any questions about the research project, you may contact Dr. Mary Lynn Boscardin (phone: 413.545.1193; email:mlboscardin.umass@gmail.com) and Dr. Jennifer Lesh (phone: 561.237.7082; email: jlesh@lynn.edu). For any questions regarding your rights as a research participant, you may call Raouf Ghattas, Chair of the Lynn University Institutional Review Board for Protection of Human Subjects, at rghattas@lynn.edu

Documentation of Informed Consent

I have had an opportunity to read the consent form and have the research study explained. I have had an opportunity to ask questions about the research project and my questions have been answered. I am prepared to participate in the research study described above.

By clicking “Agree" I am consenting to participate in the study.