Adversarial relationships between parents of students with disabilities and school professionals can be avoided. Conflict between parents and teachers weakens relationships and prevents communication that can be collaborative and mutually beneficial. Factors at the heart of these conflicts are a lack of trust and poor communication. The importance…

Key-word-signing (KWS), an unaided augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) strategy, has an important role to play in the education system. To date, limited research exists regarding the use of unaided AAC strategies in the school environment, especially in low- and middle-income countries. To address this research gap, the current study…

As deaf education teachers return to the classroom and demands to decrease pandemic learning gaps grow, an emotionally safe environment for work becomes critical. Teacher experiences should be validated, and prevention and recovery from burnout should be normalized. Above all, meaningful, evidence-based resources that are accessible and low cost…

Special education (SPED) teacher preparation programs are intended to help preservice teachers (PSTs) learn and adopt effective teaching practices to serve students with special needs. To help SPED-PSTs learn needed skills, SPED mentor teachers (MTs) must employ high-leverage practices (HLPs) such as performance feedback, conferencing, and…

The introduction of inclusive education in Manitoba, Canada, 30 years ago, has changed the roles and responsibilities of special education teachers. These professionals are now teachers without a class, who co-teach with, and are a support service for, the regular education teacher. They have new administrative duties, due to increased…

The increasing complexity of children with SLD and PMLD can make day-to-day teaching challenging and emotionally taxing. Regular opportunities for teachers to reflect upon practice can help teachers make sense of what happens in the classroom and see the relationship between their personal theories, values and beliefs, and their thinking,…

With increasing demand for early childhood professionals and inclusive opportunities for children with disabilities in the state, the special education (SPED) faculty at State University recognized the need for a new early intervention and early childhood special education (EI/ ECSE) educator preparation program. The department already offered…

Instagram is a free, online social media application that facilitates social networking. Since Instagram is image dependent, educators create visuals accompanied by captions of up to 2,200 characters. By adding specific hashtags to captions, educator posts are curated by the algorithm into a broad community of practice, colloquially known as…

When secondary students with disabilities are in co-taught classes, they still need to receive specialised reading instruction when it is stipulated on their Individualised Education Program. However, previous research reveals over two-thirds of secondary special education co-teachers focus instead on using modifications and accommodations.…

Special education students continue to underperform as compared to their general education peers. The purpose and the research question of this study explored to what extent there is a statistically significant correlation among the personality traits of Psychoticism, Extraversion, and Neuroticism exclusively, and to what extent is there a gender…

This phenomenological study explores the personal and professional attributes of six elementary special education teachers who have taught in an urban school district for five or more years. The ongoing shortage of special education teachers and the increasing attrition rate have caused further analysis of the innate traits of long-serving special…

The focus of the study was to explore real and ideal leadership styles provided by LEA representatives to Special Education practitioners during IEP team meetings and to apply Situational Leadership® II to the specific context. By using the Leader Action Profile (LAP) and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule -- Short Form (PANAS-SF), the…

This study was a qualitative examination of special education teachers' perceptions of social skills training for students with autism. The problem is that without social skills training, individuals with autism are not learning the social skills necessary for independence. Those impacted by social vulnerabilities are individuals with autism,…

Standards-based grading has been used in many Illinois public elementary schools for years, offering educators a different way of assessing and communicating to parents about their student achievement and performance on the grade level state standards. Educators faced many benefits and challenges using a standards-based grading system identified.…

Co-teaching is a popular service delivery option for students with learning disabilities (LD), yet its overall efficacy is questionable. Variance in teachers, students, quality of instruction, and types of co-teaching make it challenging to meet criteria for quality group experimental study. Schools must determine the effectiveness of their…