National- and state-level education policies are evolving to address teacher shortages that are pervasive across the United States and are particularly problematic in rural special education. In this article, we describe a policy we call "endorsement by exam" in which teachers certified in one subject area can become certified in other…

There continues to be a wide discrepancy in the views supporters and opponents of full inclusion have on how to best provide services for special education students. Although scholars have extensively researched teacher perceptions of inclusion, the specific examination of special education teacher perspectives are not as evident in the literature…

The implementation of Common Core State Standards raises challenges for teachers, particularly those in urban settings and those who work with students with unique learning challenges, particularly students with disabilities. This article provides the results of a study that surveyed special education teachers' perspectives related to the…

All educational stakeholders benefit when families and school staff have trusting partnerships as they work together to achieve mutual goals. Eleven focus groups were conducted with parents of children with and without disabilities in six schools, which had been selected as knowledge development sites by the Schoolwide Integrated Framework for…

The U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) is dedicated to improving results for infants, toddlers, children, and youth with disabilities ages birth through 21 by providing leadership and financial support to assist institutions of higher education (IHEs), states, and local districts. During a 5-year period, OSEP…

School districts are required to provide special education students with the same education benefits available to other students at their grade level, but meeting the needs of special education students continues to be challenging as most programs provide only one teacher rather than seeking the expertise of content area specialists. Co-teaching…

Little is known about the implementation of assistive technology (AT) services for students in rural areas. This study investigated the AT service delivery in 10 rural districts across six states. The results indicated that students use AT across functional areas, but considerably fewer number of devices than do those not living in rural areas. AT…

Staffing problems are pervasive in certain subject areas, such as secondary math and science and special education, where the combination of training requirements and relatively high alternative wages makes it difficult to attract and retain high-quality teachers. This project evaluated the impacts of the Florida Critical Teacher Shortage Program…

This study examined special education teachers' perspectives of the instructional impact of the Florida Alternate Assessment (FAA) for students with significant cognitive disabilities. Through purposeful sampling, six special education teachers who serve students with significant cognitive disabilities and had experience administering the FAA were…

In this study, we conducted 124 observations of 41 special education teachers teaching reading to their third- through fifth-grade students with learning disabilities to determine the extent to which and in what ways they promoted students' reading comprehension. In 42 lessons, we did not observe any comprehension instruction. In 30 lessons, the…

In light of the current challenges in addressing the achievement gap between minority and non-minority students, the persistent problems of disproportionality in special education, and the dismal post-school outcomes for culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students and those living in poverty, it is critical that successful models of…

This paper contributes importantly to the growing literature on the training of special education teachers and how it translates into classroom practice and student achievement. The authors examine the impact of pre-service preparation and in-service formal and informal training on the ability of teachers to promote academic achievement among…

Teachers of students with visual impairments and paraeducators who work with students with visual impairments were surveyed to determine if previous research related to the competencies needed by teachers who supervise paraeducators applied to this subset of special educators. Both groups confirmed the importance of the competencies, but…

Current emphasis on teacher effectiveness in educational policy poses a challenge for the evaluation of special education teachers and English language learner (ELL) specialists. Most evaluation systems focus on student achievement and teacher practice; however, few systems have the capacity to differentiate among specialty area educators, address…

During the past decade, researchers in special education have begun to investigate the unique and complex challenges encountered by novice special educators. These investigations have documented numerous factors in special education settings that contribute to the stresses of the first year of teaching for them, including: role ambiguity, students…