<p> This qualitative study examines the identities of three secondary special education teachers in self-contained classrooms. Nationally, there is a serious shortage of special educators interested in and successful working with students exhibiting emotional and behavioral disorders. An understanding of teacher identity and the personal and professional contexts that contribute to it is critical to the retention of these teachers in the field and the preparation of future special educators. Interviews, observations, and the use of image elicitation provided data to examine each participant&rsquo;s identity in relation to the students they taught, the school setting, and their sense of self. Analysis of collected data emphasized their historical past, present relationships (e.g., family, colleagues), professional development, and lives within the school. </p><p> Cross-case analysis findings illuminate each teacher&rsquo;s reasons for working with students who exhibit challenging behaviors and how their personal experiences shaped their identity and approach to teaching. Findings demonstrate how teacher-participants addressed student autonomy through empowerment or control via an instituted behavioral model. Social and relational aspects of teaching effected collaboration within the classroom and school setting. </p><p> Findings from this study indicate several implications. Due to the stressful and emotional work environment, the field has both a quantity and a quality shortage. Preparation programs must offer prospective teachers the chance to observe and participate in daily work within restricted settings while cultivating and recognizing a network of supports. Well-planned mentor and field-based programs offer on-the-job resources that help incoming teachers with classroom practice and the stimulation of identity development. Schools should implement strategies to improve the consistency of instructional aide support for special education teachers. </p><p> It is important to recognize the systemic structures that shape teacher identity. Institutional settings rarely challenge the status quo; so it is important that teachers resist, otherwise practices appear fixed and unalterable. While working with students who are emotional, aggressive, combative, and traumatized, teachers should detach from maladaptive conduct and not associate the student with their behavior. It is essential for special educators experiencing the effects of a school system and the challenges brought by students to practice a method of self-care.</p>

<p> Evidence indicates that first-grade students who struggle with reading and do not receive help are likely to become poor readers for their entire school careers and will have continued reading problems into adulthood. If a person cannot read well, the outlook is dismal for their employment, self-sufficiency, community participation, social inclusion, and overall well-being. Researchers have found that the solution for struggling readers is not to simply wait and hope they will catch up with their peers. Instead, it is essential to identify students who are at risk for reading failure and disabilities as early as possible and quickly provide evidence-based interventions. This regression discontinuity study examined the effects of Sound Partners, an evidence-based early reading intervention that was implemented by teacher candidates, on the correct letter sounds of 46 first-grade students identified as being at risk for reading failure. Findings indicated that the intervention was effective in raising participants&rsquo; reading scores. Additionally, stakeholder feedback from the participating university, schools, and teacher candidates helped to foster and develop a school-university relationship that yielded mutually beneficial results. Further research should be conducted that includes a larger sample of students using different measures and other evidence-based reading interventions, as well as following the students longitudinally. </p><p> <i>Keywords:</i> DIBELS, CLS, evidence-based practice, regression discontinuity, response-to-intervention, Sound Partners, teacher candidates </p>

<p>The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore how educators describe their lived experiences with regard to addressing social skills challenges for children with ASD and what meaning can be derived from the experiences of those educators. Digitally recorded semistructured interviews were conducted with twelve educators working in school settings in Southern California. The participants held a variety of titles and all participants had at least six years of experience teaching social skills to children with ASD. Findings from this study resulted in five major thematic groups: (a) defining social skills; (b) how social skills are assessed; (c) program characteristics; (d) instructional and standardization challenges; and (e) critical factors. Study findings primarily indicated a need for a more structured approach to research due to the diversity within the ASD diagnosis and the complexity and broad nature of social skills. Two major recommendations for future research evolved from this study. First, future research should systematically explore the varying characteristics within the ASD population and how intervention strategies or intervention types impact the subpopulations within the ASD diagnosis. Finally, research should explore social motivation as a possible pivotal characteristic for successful social skills development and whether it is possible to cultivate motivation. </p>

<p> This qualitative single case study explored how general education middle school teachers implement the three tiers of the Multi-Tiered Response to Intervention (MTSS/RTI) model while delivering differentiated core curriculum instruction. The conceptual framework included the differentiated strategies of Fleming and Mills&rsquo; (1992) Visual, Aural, Read/Write, Kinesthetic (VARK) model; Vygotsky&rsquo;s (1978) concept of Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD); and Wood, Bruner, and Ross&rsquo; (1976) concept of scaffolding. The sample group consisted of 11 general education middle school teachers in a single Central Florida school district. The data sources included an online questionnaire, interviews, and one focus group session. The macro-level research question that guided this study was: &ldquo;How do general education middle school teachers implement tier one, tier two, and tier three of the MTSS/RTI model while delivering differentiated core curriculum instruction?&rdquo; The analyzed data produced four themes: (1) tiered intervention strategies, (2) tiered progress monitoring measurements and frequency, (3) tiered documentation of responsiveness to interventions, and (4) tiered delivery of differentiated core curriculum instruction. The findings provide insightful perspective to general education middle school teachers, leading to an increase in the successful implementation of the three tiers of the MTSS/RTI model. </p><p> <i>Keywords:</i> Multi-Tiered Response to Intervention (MTSS/RTI) model and differentiated core curriculum instruction</p><p>

<p> The purpose of this quantitative correlational research study was to examine the extent that teaching experience affected the knowledge, implementation, and perceived skill level in implementing the 27 evidence-based practices (EBPs) established by the National Professional Development Center for Autism Spectrum Disorder. The study was conducted in the state of Iowa, with special education teachers from fourteen different school districts. Survey responses were gathered from 228 special education teachers. Of the 228, there were 48 novice teachers and 180 veteran teachers. Novice teachers were classified as having less than three years of teaching experience and veteran teachers with more than three years. Based on the data, results showed that as experience tended to increase from less than three years of experience to more than three years, the scores on EBPs knowledge, implementation, and perceived skills also tended to increase. The results of the study found a positive correlation (<i>r</i> = .26, <i>p</i> = .001) between years of teaching experience and knowledge of EBPs, a positive correlation (<i>r</i> = .22, <i>p</i> = .001) between years of experience and EBP implementation, and a positive correlation (<i>r</i> = .26, <i>p</i> = .002) between years of experience and perceived skill level in implementation. This small effect size indicates that as experience increased, there was a positively correlated increase of teacher knowledge and implementation of the EBPs to use when working with students with autism. </p><p>

<p> The present study used a multiple probe across participants design with an embedded generalization measure to examine the effect of systematic and explicit instruction of text-based listening comprehension strategy instruction through the implementation of two concurrent dependent variables: listening comprehension responses to wh- questions and communicative turn-taking during a discussion of those texts. Participants were four high school students with moderate to severe disabilities and commThe present study used a multiple probe across participants design with an embedded generalization measure to examine the effect of systematic and explicit instruction of text-based listening comprehension strategy instruction through the implementation of two concurrent dependent variables: listening comprehension responses to wh- questions and communicative turn-taking during a discussion of those texts. Participants were four high school students with moderate to severe disabilities and communication needs supported by augmentative and alternative communication. Additional analyses included the generalization of these effects to a special education classroom group discussion, the target student&rsquo;s view of the intervention, and the classroom staff&rsquo;s view of the changes observed between baseline and intervention communicative turn-taking by target participants with disabilities.unication needs supported by augmentative and alternative communication. Additional analyses included the generalization of these effects to a special education classroom group discussion, the target student&rsquo;s view of the intervention, and the classroom staff&rsquo;s view of the changes observed between baseline and intervention communicative turn-taking by target participants with disabilities. </p><p>

<p> Every student deserves to be educated by teachers who are culturally proficient to ensure their needs are being met within inclusive school systems. This calls for educator preparation programs to ensure teacher candidates are culturally proficient. However, this is a pedagogical shift in isolated, rural settings due to the challenges rural communities pose for cultural proficiency (Sileo, Sileo, &amp; Pierce, 2008). Modeling co-teaching and critical discourse in educator preparation allows teacher candidates to explore historical and systemic inequities of marginalized populations. Understanding these inequities can allow teacher candidates to recognize how diversity may impact the lives of various individuals and learn to honor the cultural uniqueness of others.</p><p> The purpose of this study was to explore the perspectives of teacher candidates within a course modeling co-teaching and critical discourse in educator preparation to capture the essence of their experiences. The conceptual framework created to guide this study centralizes co-teaching in educator preparation to model and promote critical discourse embedding critical theory and disability inquiry. This study used a phenomenology approach to obtain the essence of teacher candidates&rsquo; experiences. Participants of the study were pursuing a degree in education from a rural state college. Of the participants, 92% were female and 98% were white. To ensure the essence of teacher candidates&rsquo; experience prevailed, the researcher used a peer debriefing process and member checking to ensure validity.</p><p> Three themes emerged from the survey responses and four participant interviews. Each theme had three sub-themes that emerged as well. The first theme was a prosocial environment, with sub-themes of connectivity, multiple perspectives, and critical discourse. The second theme was vulnerability, with sub-themes of professors as change agents, self-awareness, and critical consciousness. The last theme was empowerment, with sub-themes of advocacy, pedagogical awareness, and understanding and honoring culture. Interconnections of the themes were analyzed and presented to combine the conceptual framework of the study with the findings.</p><p>

<p> Pre-service teachers (PST) clinical experiences are critical for transfering theory to practice (e.g., Brownell, Ross, Col&oacute;n, and McCallum, 2005) and these experiences require effective mentoring, coaching, and supervision from university supervisors and cooperating teachers (e.g., Leko, Brownell, Sindelar, &amp; Murphy, 2012). Yet, many special education teachers enter the field feeling under-prepared to teach effectively, especially in reading (e.g., Brownell et al., 2009). One solution is to maximize support provided by cooperating teachers (CTs).</p><p> CTs receive little or no training on how to provide mentoring, coaching, and supervision to PSTs (Gareis &amp; Grant, 2014). Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the effects of elbow coaching on the CT&rsquo;s ability to provide online, in-ear <i>e</i>Coaching to the PST during literacy based clinical experiences. Specifically, I investigated how elbow coaching influenced the CT&rsquo;s provision of online, in-ear <i>e</i>Coaching to the PST; how coaching the PSTs (i.e., in-ear <i>e</i>Coaching plus side-by-side coaching) influenced the PSTs delivery of effective reading instruction; and how coaching the PST positively influenced student outcomes (i.e., student engagement, opportunities to respond, correct responses).</p><p> Participants for this single case research design included three CT/PST dyads, and their K-1 students with and without disabilities. Social validity and procedural fidelity were measured and IOA was conducted in accord with prevailing standards. Quality standards for SCRD were met without reservation (Kratochwill et al., 2013). Data was analyzed visually based on mean, level, trend, and latency of change (Kratochwill et al., 2010), and effect size was based on Tau-U (Vannest, Parker, &amp; Gonen, 2011). Results indicated that the elbow coaching was effective in modifying CTs&rsquo; <i>e </i>Coaching behaviors, PSTs&rsquo; provision of effective reading instruction, and student opportunities to respond, correct responses, and behavioral engagement. Results also confirmed the efficacy&nbsp;of an online module plus coaching as an effective way to support CTs as they provide instructional support to PSTs, serving students with and without disabilities. Limitations, implications, and future directions are discussed.</p><p>

<p> This qualitative case study explored how secondary special education teachers and transition specialists perceived their collaborative efforts when transitioning students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) from secondary to higher education. The theory of transition established the platform for this study. Two of the theoretical principles of situation and support were used as a lens to determine the collaborative perceptions between these two educator groups. The research questions specified educator perceptions of collaboration throughout the transition process and building collaborative relationships. The sample consisted of seven secondary special education teachers and seven transition specialists within the State of Arizona. Data collection sources the secondary transition plan document, semistructured individual interviews and two focus group sessions. Data coding procedures determined specific patterns that emerged in the analysis. A total of seven themes emerged: Collaboration ongoing, team effort, unrealistic expectations affect transition, attitude of specialists affecting student success, trust is vital to building relationships, lack of knowledge in preparing students during transition, and the importance of parental involvement throughout the transition process. The results that provided the greatest influence to the collaborative process included parental involvement and relationships, trust building between educators, continued training, provision of resources, and the development of the transition plan. The implications of this study suggested that educational organizations provide opportunities for these specialists to attend trainings for continued professional development. </p><p>

<p> There is an evidence base supporting the use of positive behavior supports in schools; however effectively and efficiently transferring these interventions into classroom settings remains a challenge. Precorrection is a highly-regarded behavior support strategy that relies on antecedent prompting to reduce problem behavior and teach socially appropriate skills. This study examined how a brief training in precorrection and praise paired with regular feedback impacted the behavior of four Title I elementary school teachers and students. As a result of the intervention, the four teachers increased use of precorrection and praise, while concomitantly reducing their use of reprimands. Limitations and suggestions for future research are provided. </p><p>