Re-envisioning Teacher Preparation in an Era of Endrew F.: Instruction Over Access

2019 ◽  
Vol 54 (5) ◽  
pp. 264-271 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristin L. Sayeski ◽  
David F. Bateman ◽  
Mitchell L. Yell
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
Teacher Candidates ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Individualized Education Program ◽  
Supreme Court Decision ◽  
Special Education Teacher ◽  
Board Of Education ◽  
General Curriculum ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
High Incidence Disabilities

The Supreme Court decision in Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District (2017) established a higher standard of what constitutes an appropriate education for students receiving special education. In contrast to the previous standard provided in the Board of Education v. Rowley (1982) decision, which established that some benefit (even minimal or trivial benefit) was acceptable, the Endrew F. decision reflected a higher standard for the delivery of special education. Specifically, special education should result in measurable progress toward individualized education program goals. This article explores what it means for special education teacher educators to prepare teacher candidates to meet this higher standard. In particular, how a focus on instruction (i.e., the delivery of specially designed instruction) rather than a focus on access to the general curriculum is necessary in order for meaningful, measurable change to occur in the outcomes of students with high-incidence disabilities will be explored.

Preservice Observation in Special Education: A Validation Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-19
Author(s):  
Daisy J. Pua ◽  
David J. Peyton ◽  
Mary T. Brownell ◽  
Valentina A. Contesse ◽  
Nathan D. Jones
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Teacher Preparation ◽  
Teacher Candidates ◽  
Essential Element ◽  
Special Education Teacher ◽  
Observation System ◽  
Education Teacher ◽  
Observation Instrument ◽  
High Incidence Disabilities

Advancing teacher candidates’ overall competence through use of valid teacher observation systems should be an essential element of teacher preparation. Yet, the field of special education has not provided observation protocols designed specifically for preservice teachers that are founded in theoretical perspectives and research on effective instruction for students with learning and other high-incidence disabilities (SWDs). To address this need, a group of researchers in special education teacher preparation and measurement developed the Preservice Observation Instrument for Special Education (POISE). The POISE is an observation system rooted in effective special education practices that support the growth of preservice teachers who will serve SWD across instructional settings. The purpose of this article is to report on the development and psychometric properties of the POISE. Specifically, we employed Kane’s argument-based validity approach to frame each stage in the development process of the POISE. We conducted two phases of content validation activities, development activities, and a pilot study to assess the degree to which scores from POISE provided evidence for the scoring, generalizability, and extrapolation inferences. In the end, the POISE represents a promising observation instrument for the development of special education teacher candidates.

scholarly journals Preparing Special Education Teachers to Affirm LGBTQ+ Students and Themselves

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 24-35
Author(s):  
Bryan E. Cichy-Parker
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
Special Education Teachers ◽  
Teacher Candidates ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Affective Learning ◽  
Special Education Teacher ◽  
Qualitative Assessment ◽  
Cultural Empathy ◽  
Gender Minorities ◽  
And Gender

Within their work, special education teachers are tasked with being knowledgeable on a wide array of human diversity. Although attitudes have been changing rapidly toward sexual and gender minorities in recent years, data from the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network’s (GLSEN) most recent National School Climate Survey indicated that 52.4% of students reported hearing homophobic remarks and 66.7% of students reported hearing negative remarks about gender expression from their teachers or other school staff (Kosciw et al., 2020). This article identifies three areas in which special education teacher educators can interact with their teacher candidates to support learning about the LGBTQ+ community and equip them to work with their future students who identify as a sexual or gender minority. Techniques included address the use of qualitative assessment through discussion and journaling; building cultural empathy via affective learning, perspective taking, acceptance of cultural differences, awareness, and appropriate responding via an understanding of intersectionality and intention versus impact.

Navigating Barriers as Special Education Teacher Educators

2020 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 161-177
Author(s):  
Amy J. Olson ◽  
Carly A. Roberts
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Special Education Teacher ◽  
General Curriculum ◽  
Significant Disabilities ◽  
Building Relationships ◽  
Education Teacher ◽  
Barriers To Access ◽  
Qualitative Interview Study ◽  
Students With Significant Disabilities

Special education teacher educators face multiple systemic, institutional, and social barriers in preparing teacher candidates to provide students with significant disabilities access to the general curriculum. This qualitative interview study explores how special education teacher educators are working to navigate these barriers while employing strategies at multiple levels. The 14 special education teacher educators in this study utilized strategies to navigate barriers to access the general curriculum in four distinct ways by (a) building relationships, (b) advocacy, (c) increasing knowledge, and (d) being resilient. The discussion includes recommendations for special education teacher educators regarding how to navigate barriers and support pre- and in-service teachers in providing students with significant disabilities access to the general curriculum.

Morphology Matters, but What Do Teacher Candidates Know About It?

2018 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 246-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin K. Washburn ◽  
Candace A. Mulcahy
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
Special Education Teachers ◽  
Teacher Candidates ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Morphological Structure ◽  
Reading Teachers ◽  
Complex Process ◽  
Secondary Grades ◽  
Striving Readers ◽  
Complex Words

Skilled reading is a complex process in which many subskills are involved, including an awareness of the morphological structure of language. Morphological awareness is the ability to understand how words are broken into meaningful units (e.g., affixes, root words). Explicit and systematic teaching of morphological concepts are reported to help striving readers, particularly those in upper elementary, middle, and secondary grades, with reading. To teach morphological concepts and their relation to reading, teachers need to have both awareness and knowledge of morphology. In the present study, general and special education teachers’ knowledge of morphological concepts are examined. Results indicate that teachers, regardless of type of certification (general vs. special education) or grade level (elementary vs. secondary), have difficulty identifying morphemes in both simple and complex words. Suggestions for what and how teacher educators can integrate the teaching of morphological concepts into teacher preparation contexts are provided.

Designing a Dual Licensure Path for Middle Childhood and Special Education Teacher Candidates

2022 ◽  
pp. 917-932
Author(s):  
Virginia F. McCormack ◽  
Marlissa Stauffer ◽  
Kate Fishley ◽  
JoAnn Hohenbrink ◽  
John R. Mascazine ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
Middle Childhood ◽  
Teacher Candidates ◽  
Special Education Teacher ◽  
Effective Teacher ◽  
District Office ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Education Courses ◽  
Dual License ◽  
Office Personnel

This chapter focused on identifying ways to merge education courses and field hours to create a new dual licensure pathway for Middle Childhood Education and Special Education. The purpose was to adapt two programs to unify the competencies, dispositions, and collaborative practices of each program into one program producing highly effective teacher candidates with a dual license in Middle Childhood Education and Special Education. Attention was given to the importance of educating more teacher candidates with the capacity to meet the needs of all learners with an emphasis on those with exceptionalities and disabilities. The key implications and advantages of the effectiveness of combining a Middle Childhood and Special Education teaching license were apparent in the response from district office personnel, teachers, teacher candidates, and university faculty.

Impact of eCoaching With Video-Based Reflection on Special Education Teacher Candidates’ Instructional Skills

2020 ◽  
pp. 088840642096473
Author(s):  
Kristen Merrill O’Brien ◽  
Kelley Regan ◽  
Christan G. Coogle ◽  
Jennifer R. Ottley ◽  
Sarah A. Nagro
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
Teacher Preparation ◽  
Teacher Candidates ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Special Education Teacher ◽  
Clinical Experiences ◽  
Preparation Programs ◽  
Teacher Strategies ◽  
Education Teacher

Clinical experiences are a critical component of teacher preparation programs. Two technology-based approaches used during clinical experiences in special education teacher preparation that have shown promise are eCoaching and video-based reflection. When used in combination as a comprehensive intervention, eCoaching and video-based reflection may offer teacher candidates increased learning opportunities to promote improved fidelity of evidence-based practices. Thus, using a multiple-probe single-case research design, we examined the effect of eCoaching with video-based reflection on special education teacher candidates’ use and quality of target teacher strategies and on focus student responses. We found an increase in the use of target teacher strategies for two of three participants, and an increase in the quality of participants’ strategy implementation and students’ responses for all participants. Participants improved their ability to provide high-quality opportunities for choice making and open-ended responding with consistency. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Tracking Special Education Teacher Candidates’ Reflective Practices Over Time

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (5) ◽  
pp. 277-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurie U. deBettencourt ◽  
Sarah A. Nagro
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
Reflective Practice ◽  
Teacher Candidates ◽  
Repeated Measures ◽  
Professional Growth ◽  
Special Education Teacher ◽  
Clinical Teacher ◽  
Reflective Practices ◽  
Education Teacher ◽  
Over Time

Clinical teacher preparation programs often incorporate reflective practices to promote critical thinking and professional growth. The purpose of this study was to determine whether special education teacher candidates’ reflective abilities changed from repeated exposure to reflective practice as they completed two field experiences. We sought to analyze patterns in candidates’ reflective practices by investigating both types of and topics for reflection. Six initial certification candidates completed two clinical experiences and wrote 30 reflection journal entries. Entries were sampled and reviewed to determine both a reflective ability score and reflective practice patterns over time. Results from a one-way repeated measures analysis of variance indicated no change in special education candidates’ reflective ability over time. Candidates’ reflections were descriptive and focused mostly on themselves. Results suggest professional growth in reflective ability does not occur through maturation. Teacher educators need to consider supplementing reflective practices with learning supports to see substantive growth.

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