Helping Students Find Their Voices: A Study in Student Self-Advocacy

Abstract

This study explores student perceptions of self-advocacy, as well as the ways in which self-advocacy influences student success in the classroom. While there have been multiple research studies exploring the benefits of self-advocacy instruction in special education classes or in post-secondary institutions, this qualitative cross-case study looks into the benefits of self-advocacy instruction in all secondary classrooms. To explore the complexities of self-advocacy and its relationship to success in the classroom, high school sophomores completed an open-ended survey about self-advocacy and from those responses, six students participated in a follow-up interview. Lastly, the English teachers of these six students completed a survey as well, to triangulate the findings collected from each student.