Special education teachers play an integral role in preparing students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) for a successful transition to their desired postsecondary pathways. As more opportunities arise for students with IDD to attend inclusive postsecondary education (IPSE) programs, there is a growing need for special…

In the 2010 issue of "Teacher Education and Special Education (TESE)," Sindelar and colleagues examined the current status of research on special education teachers and outlined future work necessary to improve the special education teacher workforce. In this article, the authors focus explicitly on Sindelar and colleagues' charge to…

In this article, co-written by a self-identified White female professor and a self-identified Black male doctoral student, the authors address the pressing need to train and retain a teacher workforce willing and able to foster equity for students from nondominant racial, ethnic, and linguistic backgrounds. They make three arguments. First, the…

A greater emphasis on measuring the outputs of teacher preparation programs such as practice-based evaluations (e.g., edTPA) has increased the need for teacher educators to examine "best practice" for developing the skill-based competencies of teacher candidates. The purpose of this study was to examine the role of practice and feedback…

The use of visual representations (VRs) in mathematics is a strongly recommended practice in special education. Although recommended, little is known about special educators' knowledge of and instructional emphasis about VRs. Therefore, in this study, the authors examined special educators' own knowledge of and their instructional emphasis with…

The current prevalence rates for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) coupled with the mandate to provide services to students with disabilities in inclusive classrooms warrants the need to examine the dynamics of inclusion for students with ASD. Focus groups were conducted with special and general educators at the elementary, middle, and high school…

This article describes the development, implementation, and second-year evaluation of Project Autism Competencies for Endorsement (ACE), a web-based professional development (PD) program that is designed to train teachers currently working in the field to meet the unique and diverse needs of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). A…

Revisions to Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA) proposed alternative models, such as Response to Intervention (RTI), as a preventive measure that supports students at risk. As teachers' roles evolve in response to RTI, teacher preparation programs must adjust their focus and curriculum accordingly. A mixed-methods…

In this study, the authors represent an exploratory investigation of current preparation of preservice teachers related to response to intervention (RTI) in institutions of higher education (IHEs) in the Office of Special Education Program (OSEP) Regional Resource and Federal Centers (RRFCs) North Central Region and Pennsylvania. In this study,…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the discourse patterns characterizing individual special education teachers as they participated in a collaborative professional development (PD) group, and how these individual discourse patterns influenced other group members' opportunities to learn about reading instruction for upper elementary…

Teacher educators of pre-service teachers of students with special needs face challenges in providing the unique knowledge and skills required of highly qualified special education teachers. The emerging use of various forms of virtual technology, however, offers realistic solutions to these problems. This systematic review of literature examines…

Training and technical assistance programs for autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have emerged in many states as educators, administrators, and institutions of higher education attempt to address the increasing needs for enhancing the knowledge and skills of educators and disseminating the ever-growing knowledge of educational practices. This report…

Efficient lesson planning with universal design for learning (UDL) enables teachers to more effectively meet students' individual needs. In this study, a comparison of lesson plans by teacher candidates in a teacher preparation program before and after UDL training is presented. After training, teachers (n = 45) incorporated more differentiated…

Student performance in mathematics has been linked to the mathematical knowledge of the teacher. Based on this finding, a 5-day professional development module was created to improve teachers' mathematical knowledge and their understanding of number sense. We found no difference prior to the professional development in mathematical content…

The school-to-prison pipeline (STPP)--disproportionately impacting students of color--involves a set of interactions between and among children, youth, their families, school personnel, other service providers, and gatekeepers to such outcomes as incarceration or college. Educators can, through their interactions with and expectations for…