scholarly journals Three Buckets and Eight Strategies: Recruiting, Supporting, and Retaining a Racially Diverse Special Education Teacher Workforce

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 16-23
Author(s):  
LaRon A. Scott ◽  
William Proffitt
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
Students Of Color ◽  
Teacher Candidates ◽  
Special Education Teacher ◽  
Racially Diverse ◽  
Education Teacher ◽  
Vision Statements ◽  
Affinity Groups ◽  
Teacher Workforce

Cultivating a racially diverse special education teacher workforce is critical to the success of students with disabilities, particularly students of color with disabilities. We examine the literature and provide suggestions for recruiting, supporting, and retaining special education teacher candidates of color. Specifically, we present a vignette that highlights the decision-making process of a Black male on a journey to become a special education teacher. We propose recruitment strategies (e.g., anti-racist mission and vision statements), support strategies (e.g., racial affinity groups), and retention strategies (e.g., adopting anti-racist curriculum) that Institutions of Higher Education must consider to promote efforts to diversify the special education teacher workforce.

Improving Teaching Quality for Students With Disabilities: Establishing a Warrant for Teacher Education Practice

2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-44
Author(s):  
Mary T. Brownell ◽  
Nathan D. Jones ◽  
Hyojong Sohn ◽  
Kristabel Stark
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
Teacher Education ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
Special Education Teachers ◽  
Teaching Quality ◽  
Special Education Teacher ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Education Practice ◽  
Teacher Workforce ◽  
Future Work

In the 2010 issue of Teacher Education and Special Education ( TESE), Sindelar and colleagues examined the current status of research on special education teachers and outlined future work necessary to improve the special education teacher workforce. In this article, the authors focus explicitly on Sindelar and colleagues’ charge to increase the quality of research on teacher education. They begin the article by conducting a literature review of all articles published in TESE from 2010 to 2019, examining papers focused on advancing theory, measurement, and practice in teacher education. They compare patterns in the research to the broader teacher education literature captured in seven special and teacher education journals. They conclude by discussing needs of the field going forward and provide some thoughts about how we might address those needs through a comprehensive research agenda—one that articulates a vision for how we might develop teaching quality at the intersection of general and special education.

Backtalk: Why no safety drills for students with disabilities?

2019 ◽  
Vol 101 (2) ◽  
pp. 72-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
David P. Perrodin
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
School Safety ◽  
School Leaders ◽  
Opportunity To Learn ◽  
Special Education Teacher ◽  
School Administrator ◽  
Education Teacher ◽  
Safety Procedures

When students with disabilities are excluded from school safety drills, they are left woefully unprepared for any and all kinds of emergencies, says David Perrodin, a former special education teacher and school administrator. Perrodin considers the arguments against including these students in safety drills and enjoins school leaders to ensure that all students are given the opportunity to learn safety procedures.

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.

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.

Effects of a multicultural perspectives course on teacher candidates’ intercultural competence

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yaoying Xu ◽  
Chenfang Hao ◽  
Mary Ellen Huennekens
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
Intercultural Competence ◽  
Teacher Candidates ◽  
Intercultural Sensitivity ◽  
Special Education Teacher ◽  
Graduate Level ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Education Teacher ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Multicultural Perspectives

Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate the intercultural competence of pre-service special education teacher candidates through the contents of a graduate-level multicultural perspectives course. Design/methodology/approach This study used a graduate-level multicultural perspectives course to examine the intercultural competence of special education teacher candidates. A paired-samples t-test of significance was performed to investigate the pre- and post-growth of participants’s cultural sensitivity using the intercultural development inventory (IDI). Findings Participants’ intercultural sensitivity mean score suggested that their intercultural competence needs to be improved. The results showed no significant difference in the overall mean developmental scores between pre- and post-tests. However, significant differences were found between the pre- and post-test scores in perceived orientation and acceptance cluster. Originality/value A significantly higher perceived score was identified suggesting that participants might overestimate their level of intercultural sensitivity. Different from the existing literature, this study suggested that gender and education level were significant predictors of post-test developmental scores.

Teacher and Video Modeling: A Survey of Use and Perspectives

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 262-271 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaylee S. Wynkoop ◽  
Teresa A. Cardon ◽  
Nathan E. Kruis ◽  
Paul M. Hawkins
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
Video Modeling ◽  
Survey Methodology ◽  
Special Education Teacher ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Education Teacher ◽  
Teacher Use

The current study investigated special education teacher use of and perspectives on video modeling (VM) interventions to improve skills of students with disabilities using survey methodology. To date, no studies were found that explicitly examine teachers’ use of and perspectives on VM. The primary purpose of this study was to estimate the number of teachers using VM and to begin to identify where, with whom, and with what types of skills have been targeted via VM. Further, we identified possible barriers that hinder or prevent teachers from implementing VM. Results showed that only 26.1% of participants reported using VM with a student and the most commonly reported barriers included lack of training, access to necessary resources, and time to create videos. Findings may be used to guide future research on ways to make VM implementation easier and more manageable for teachers.

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