The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to describe the lived experience of 11 special education teachers, who implemented iPads as an instructional tool for elementary students with intellectual disabilities. This study was conducted in a North Carolina school district. The theories, which guided this study were Vygotsky's…

Learning to read with comprehension requires that students acquire and integrate an increasingly complex set of skills. Students with severe disabilities are often seen as incapable of mastering and integrating the skills required for reading with fluency and comprehension, a presumption that results in decreased access to comprehensive reading…

As a result of the varied implementation of Response to Intervention (RTI) and uneven occurrence of professional development, special education teachers struggle to adapt to new roles and responsibilities. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to explore the role of special education teachers in implementing and monitoring RTI, the role…

As student accountability models have become the norm in the United States, first in individual states such as North Carolina and then throughout the nation with No Child Left Behind (NCLB), the implementation of inclusion as a curriculum delivery model for students with disabilities has been explored. The purpose of this study was to examine how…

According to the U.S. Department of Education, shortages of special education and/or related services personnel continue to be a significant challenge for all states. In response to this challenge, state education agencies (SEAs) are implementing various strategies to improve recruitment and retention efforts. The purpose of this document is to…

A No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 Title II audit found the state of North Carolina out of compliance with the definition of teacher quality for secondary special education teachers. The state specific Praxis exam and the Highly Objective, Uniform State Standard of Evaluation these teachers completed to earn certification to teach subject area…

Several challenges characterize the special education profession. The literature is replete with reports of high levels of stress, burnout, and attrition among special educators; the lack of a sufficient number of fully qualified teachers; and dissatisfaction with the gap that exists between research-based effective practices and the daily…