Teachers' evaluation of vocational curriculum for secondary students with intellectual disabilities: An exploratory analysis from Saudi Arabia.
Saudi teachers like their vocational curriculum except for hands-on activities—plug in video prompting and student choice to fix it.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team asked 47 Saudi special-ed teachers to rate their vocational curriculum.
Teachers used a 5-point scale on five areas: goals, content, learning activities, materials, and evaluation.
All students had intellectual disability and were in grades 7-12.
What they found
Teachers gave the program a thumbs-up overall.
One weak spot stood out: learning activities scored lowest.
No differences showed up between male and female teachers, or between new and veteran staff.
How this fits with other research
Diemer et al. (2023) shows how to fix the weak spot. Their video prompting taught laundry and check-in tasks to eight young adults with ID. Skills stuck for three months and moved to new places.
Chandroo et al. (2018) adds another layer. Their review found students with ASD sat silent in transition IEP meetings. The fix: teach students to speak up for themselves.
Gandhi et al. (2022) looked at actual transition IEPs for students with autism. Plans had only 1.6 post-school goals on average and almost no social-skills targets. This lines up with the Saudi finding that hands-on, individualized pieces are missing.
Why it matters
Your students need more than a good-looking curriculum on paper. Add short video clips that show each job step. Let students pick tasks they like using a quick preference check. Then give them words and visuals to ask for help or new jobs. These small moves turn a weak program into real job readiness.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Students with intellectual disabilities (ID) continue to face significant challenges in transitioning from school to employment. Vocational education plays a critical role in developing workforce skills and promoting independent living. Despite its importance, the effectiveness of vocational education for students with ID in Saudi Arabia has received limited empirical investigation. This study addresses this gap by evaluating the vocational curriculum through Tyler's Curriculum Evaluation Theory and the Universal Design for Transition framework, aligning with Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030. AIMS: This study examined special education teachers' perceptions of the vocational curriculum's appropriateness for secondary students with ID in Saudi Arabia. It also explored whether these perceptions differed based on teachers' qualifications, area of specialization, years of experience, or institutional setting. METHODS: A structured quantitative survey measured four curriculum domains: presentation style, content relevance, learning activities, and assessment methods. Data from 84 special education teachers in Riyadh were analyzed using descriptive statistics and independent samples t-tests, with effect sizes (Cohen's d) reported. Reliability was confirmed via Cronbach's alpha, and content validity was established through expert review. RESULTS: Teachers generally rated the curriculum favorably, particularly regarding presentation style. In contrast, the learning activities domain received lower ratings, indicating limited use of experiential and individualized pedagogical methods. No statistically significant differences emerged across demographic variables, suggesting strong consensus among respondents. CONCLUSION: These findings underscore the need to strengthen the learning activities domain to better support students' development of functional skills and transition to employment. Curricular improvements should integrate practical, differentiated instructional strategies aligned with international standards. Such enhancements align with Vision 2030's goals for inclusive, outcome-focused vocational education.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2025 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2025.105100