Sustaining and retaining beginning special educators: It takes a village

The need to support and retain beginning teachers has become critical given: (1) the shortage of teachers in certain disciplines, and (2) the current emphasis on teacher qualifications and student achievement. In this study, five first year special education teachers in the southwestern section of the United States provided information on the persons and activities that supplied them with much needed and valued support. The results indicate that having a strong network of support and a variety of resources positively influenced these teachers’ ability to focus on student learning and on their intent to remain in their positions.     

Attitudes toward mainstreaming: A status report and comparison of regular and special educators in New York and Massachusetts

Four hundred regular and special educators from New York (a categorical labeling state) and Massachusetts (a noncategorical labeling state) were surveyed on their mainstreaming attitudes and perceptions of handicapped exceptional children. Among the topics investigated were educators' attitudes toward the effects on these children of different educational placements, their reactions to integrating these children into regular classrooms, their knowledge of their special education responsibilities, and their inclusions in their building-level special education processes. Results, implications, and future research directions are discussed, so that services to handicapped exceptional children can be improved and implemented.     

The construction of lessons in effective and less effective classrooms

This study examined relationships among teachers' management effectiveness ratings, student achievement, social and academic participation structures, patterns of instructional sequencing and teachers' contributions to thematic development in classroom lessons. Representative case samples were selected to explore effective and less effective management and instructional practices in four junior high school English classrooms. Patterned differences across classrooms were identified in (a) the demands placed on students to interpret subtle changes in their rights and obligations for participating, and (b) the development of a conceptual framework to guide academic participation and meaning construction processes. Implications are provided as a set of questions to guide instructional planning and reflection.     

Effective special teacher characteristics: perceptions of preschool special educators in Greece

The aim of the present study was to evaluate six characteristics of effective special pre‐school teachers, similar to those used in the relevant literature. The study participants were all special teachers (n = 226), serving in Greek state and community pre‐primary educational institutions (i.e. kindergartens and day nurseries) for children with learning disabilities. Data were collected through a two‐part questionnaire sent to the targeted special teachers (response rate 100%) and through focused group discussion with teachers. Three characteristics emerged as salient features of an effective teacher: love for the children; competent pre‐service training and ongoing professional development; and professionalism and commitment. The remaining three characteristics assessed (i.e. effective communication skills, a well‐rounded personality, and instructional ability) were also judged to be essential. Based on each characteristic’s analysis, the paper discusses the implications of pre‐service and in‐service training for special teachers.     

Preparing special educators to teach reading and use curriculum-based assessments

Preparing special educators who are knowledgeable about evidence-based interventions for teaching reading to students with reading difficulties and who are capable of using curriculum-based assessments to monitor student progress and differentiate interventions is vital to the success of current school reform efforts. The primary purpose of this exploratory study was to examine the effect of tutoring and using assessment to monitor the progress of struggling readers on preservice teachers’ (PSTs’) knowledge and preparedness to teach reading. Also of interest was whether reading scores of tutored students improved. PSTs (n = 18) in an undergraduate reading methods course tutored at-risk second graders using an evidence-based intervention and monitored students’ progress weekly. PSTs made significant growth on a measure of teacher knowledge about the structure of language and on a survey of their preparedness to teach reading. A qualitative analysis of PSTs’ weekly reflections and final reports revealed that the majority used curriculum-based assessment data to describe students’ response to tutoring and were beginning to use that data to make instructional decisions. On average, tutored students improved reading fluency, but did not demonstrate significant growth in reading relative to national norms. Implications and limitations of the study are described and directions for future research are discussed.     

Getting our best teachers into disadvantaged schools: differences in the professional and personal factors attracting more effective and less effective teachers to a school

Of the school-level factors that have an impact on student learning, one of the most powerful appears to be the effectiveness of the individual teacher. The most effective teachers are, therefore, one of the most important tools schools and systems have at their disposal to lift the achievement of socio-economically disadvantaged students and improve equity, and policy must be designed in such a way as to draw more of them to the most disadvantaged educational settings. To do this, systems and schools need to be aware of differences in the priorities more and less effective teachers hold in deciding where to teach. This study highlighted such differences in a large sample of Australian teachers. The most effective teachers placed considerably more importance on professional factors in determining whether to transfer into a school. Implications for staffing policy are discussed.     

论"少教多学"

教与学的矛盾是教学过程中的主要矛盾.如何处理好这对矛盾,作者提出了"少教多学"策略.何谓"少教多学",为什么提出"少教多学",如何实施"少教多学"策略",这是本文探讨的三个主要问题.     

The roles of special educators and classroom teachers in an inclusive school

The research examined one school's attempts to include and integrate deaf and hard-of-hearing children. Interviews with teachers and observations of classrooms over a 3-year period revealed the critical roles played by the special educators and the classroom teachers. The responsibilities of the special educators, the adaptations and accommodation made by the classroom teachers, issues regarding ownership and attitude of the classroom teachers, perceptions of the special educator role, and specific areas of concern expressed by the special educators and classroom teachers are described.     

Exploring the Radical Middle between Theory and Practice: A collaborative self-study of beginning teacher educators

This article is a collaborative self-study of our development as beginning teacher educators over the course of an academic year. A focus of our self-study was our shared interest in the role of theory and of practice in teacher education programs. Theodore taught a philosophy of education course and Shawn taught a practicum supervision course. Both authors share autobiographical excerpts of their teaching contexts and the problems of practice that they encountered. Our analysis suggests that the dichotomy between theory and practice is unhelpful and unproductive for both teacher candidates and teacher educators. Theory and practice are densely interwoven aspects of teaching that can be tacitly separated by coursework in teacher education. We advocate a pedagogy of teacher education that explores the radical middle between theory and practice.