Online ISSN: 2325-7466
2006
Triannual
National Association of Special Education Teachers (NASET)
United States

Articles

To Buy or Not to Buy: Understanding How Special Educators Make Decisions as Consumers of Intervention Materials for Children with Disabilities

  • Dr. Lesley Sylvan, Ed.D. (Author) Montclair State University image/svg+xml
    Dr. Lesley Sylvan is an associate professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Montclair State University. Dr. Sylvan is a certified speech-language pathologist (SLP) with extensive clinical experience working with school-aged children both in public school and private clinical settings. She completed a Master's degree in educational policy and management as well as a Doctorate degree in human development and education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Her research focuses on the intersection between the field of education and the field of speech-language pathology.
  • Erica Goldstein (Author) Montclair State University
    Erica Goldstein is a speech-language pathologist working with children and adults in various settings. Erica has a strong interest in the practices of speech-language pathologists working with school-age children and contributes to research related to this area.
  • Dina Hafez (Author) Montclair State University
    Dina Hafez is a speech-language pathologist working with children in various settings, including early intervention, private practice, and education. Dina has a special interest in working with school-aged children in public school settings.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.64546/jaasep.534
Abstract
Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) play a pivotal role in K-12 public schools supporting students with a wide variety of needs. Like other educators, they face a vast array of choices for teaching material ranging from $1 downloadable worksheets to scripted curriculum that cost over $200 from educational publishing companies. The purpose of this study was to examine how SLPs working with school-aged children make decisions when purchasing educational materials. It involved a national survey completed by 115 participants. Understanding how these professionals make decisions in an environment influenced by profit and marketing provides insight into how educators more broadly function as critical consumers. This study found that issues like price, convenience, and time-saving are major drivers of purchasing decisions and that SLPs value flexible products that align with students’ goals. This study also found that information nsources word-of-mouth recommendations, marketing materials, and conferences were prominent sources of information about educational products.
Keywords
Allied Health Personnel, Costs, Decision Making, Elementary Secondary Education, Information Sources, Instructional Materials
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How to Cite
Sylvan, L., Goldstein, E., & Hafez, D. (2024). To Buy or Not to Buy: Understanding How Special Educators Make Decisions as Consumers of Intervention Materials for Children with Disabilities. Journal of the American Academy of Special Education Professionals, 18(3), 106-130. https://doi.org/10.64546/jaasep.534

Fall 2023

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  • Article Type Articles
  • Submitted September 5, 2024
  • Published October 15, 2024
  • Issue Fall 2023
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