Volume 13, Issue 3 (March 2026), Pages: 224-233

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 Original Research Paper

Teachers’ perceptions of obstacles to adapting assessment and instructional materials for students with learning disabilities in mainstream education

 Author(s): 

Nouf Abdullah Alsudairy, Sarah Hamed Aljihani, Mahmoud Mohamed Eltantawy *

 Affiliation(s):

Department of Special Education, College of Education, Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University (IMSIU), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

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 * Corresponding Author. 

   Corresponding author's ORCID profile:  https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5886-7200

 Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  https://doi.org/10.21833/ijaas.2026.03.023

 Abstract

The adaptation of assessment and instructional materials within the curriculum is essential for improving the academic performance of students with learning disabilities and for achieving intended learning outcomes. This study aimed to examine teachers’ perceptions of the obstacles to adapting assessment and instructional materials for students with learning disabilities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It also investigated whether these perceptions differ according to teachers’ years of experience, educational qualifications, and gender. A descriptive survey method was employed, and data were collected through a questionnaire administered to 299 teachers working in public schools that offer learning disability programs. The participants were selected using simple random sampling. The results show that teachers face a high level of obstacles in adapting assessment and instructional materials. In addition, statistically significant differences were found based on years of experience, with less experienced teachers reporting greater challenges. However, no statistically significant differences were identified in relation to educational qualifications or gender. Based on these findings, the study recommends prioritizing and providing continuous in-service professional development for teachers.

 © 2026 The Authors. Published by IASE.

 This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

 Keywords

Curriculum adaptation, Learning disabilities, Teacher perceptions, Instructional materials, Professional development

 Article history

Received 9 November 2025, Received in revised form 11 March 2026, Accepted 19 March 2026

 Acknowledgment

The authors would like to express their sincere gratitude to the teachers who generously shared their time and experiences to participate in this study. 

 Compliance with ethical standards

 Ethical considerations:

Ethical approval for this study was obtained from the Ethics Committee at Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University (Approval No. 638623681656319867). All participants provided their written informed consent prior to participation in the study. 

 Citation:

Alsudairy NA, Aljihani SH, and Eltantawy MM (2026). Teachers’ perceptions of obstacles to adapting assessment and instructional materials for students with learning disabilities in mainstream education. International Journal of Advanced and Applied Sciences, 13(3): 224-233

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