This study examined the relationship of work-related support to teacher satisfaction and job commitment for rural special educators. The researcher conducted a phone survey with 203 special education teachers from randomly selected rural districts in 33 states. The results suggest that several key sources of support, such as support from other…

This study used Giorgi's descriptive phenomenological method to investigate and document the lived experience of special education teachers serving one or more successful students in special education. A direct analysis of the psychological meaning of naive descriptions of personal experiences provided by these teachers was conducted. Taped…

This research explores using participant ethnography, the theoretical and practical underpinnings of the combination pedagogical approach of co-teaching and embedded professional development within the Co-teaching Professional Development Approach (CoPD). The structure of this approach is presented and the research findings examine the outcomes of…

The current study is designed to investigate the mediating effects of work-related stress on the relationship between mentoring functions (i.e., career support, psychosocial support, and role modeling) and measures of job attitude (i.e., job satisfaction and organizational commitment). Mentoring is widely used as a means of assisting in the new…

School accountability reports reveal that wide achievement gaps exist among different subgroups of students in PK-12 schools. Research findings reveal that general and special education teachers improve their classroom practices when working in professional learning communities (PLCs). In addition, research shows that special education teachers…

This article reports on a quantitative research study designed to examine the impact of organizational climate on burnout among homeroom and special education teachers working in Israeli state (non-religious) schools. The research literature identifies various causes for teacher burnout, offering evidence that special education teachers experience…

This study examined teachers' knowledge and support when working with students with terminal illness or having experienced a student death. One hundred and ninety teachers of students with physical or multiple disabilities responded to a 40 item questionnaire that was distributed nationally. Results indicated that teachers have greater knowledge…

Over a quarter of a million U.S. students each year reside for a period of time in a psychiatric inpatient hospital setting to receive mental health treatment. Following inpatient treatment, most children are transitioned from the hospital into a regular school setting. Little is known about how these transitions are managed by hospital or school…

US school libraries are required to ensure that schoolchildren and school staff with disabilities have equal opportunity to use and benefit from library facilities and information services under federal law. However, evidence indicates teacher-librarians (TLs) often lack the training, knowledge and skills to provide programmes and services that…

This article explores the networking roles and practices of special educators with the methods of social network analysis. This multiple case study included three special educators in a Finnish part-time special education context. The results revealed that although the special educators had central positions in the formal teacher communities as…

Collaborative professional development of science and special educators leads to improved access and inclusion of students with disabilities. Yet, despite poor science achievement of students with disabilities, their increasing presence in general education science classrooms, and research that demonstrates effective teaching strategies for…

This study examined the perceptions of secondary IEP team members (i.e., administrators, special education teachers, and general education teachers) from one Virginia school district regarding the diploma decision-making process for students with disabilities. Using a qualitative, multi-case approach incorporating three phases of analysis (i.e.,…

Across the nation, special educators are the most thinly stretched professional educators, and they do need carefully designed support from paraprofessionals. Giangreco and Broer (2009) reported that assigning paraprofessionals either to classrooms or to individual children with disabilities has become a growing model of providing services to…

General and special education are confronting tremendous change resulting from legal mandates related to closing the achievement gap under No Child Left Behind and a focus on early intervention and prevention in the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, 2004. As a result, schoolwide intervention approaches are under rapid development,…

This study was designed to understand how high school educators perceive and implement inclusive education in the Republic of Korea. Specifically, the study included the educators' points of view on inclusive education and how these differed according to educators' roles (i.e., as general education teacher, special education teacher or school…