Pre-service Special Education Teachers Research Articles

Special Education Teachers: The Role of Autonomous Motivation in the Relationship between Teachers' Efficacy for Inclusive Practice and Teaching Styles.

Research on special education teachers has increased in recent years. However, few studies have investigated factors related to teachers’ preference for a specific style in inclusive education. For this reason, the aim of this cross-sectional study is to investigate the mediating role of autonomous motivation in the relationship between teachers’ efficacy for inclusive practice (TEIP) and teaching styles (structuring, autonomous, controlling, chaotic). Four hundred and twenty-three pre-service special education teachers participated in the study. Participants were administered the following self-reports: TEIP scale, Autonomous Motivations for Teaching Scale, and the Situations-in-School questionnaire. SEM analysis confirmed the role of autonomous motivation as a mediator for TEIP on teaching styles. Moreover, the results showed a positive association between TEIP and both autonomy and structuring teaching styles. The findings of this study suggest the importance of implementing specific special-education teacher training to promote intrinsic motivation toward teaching in an inclusive context.

Mentor teachers modeling: affordance or constraint for special education pre-service teachers in the practicum setting?

ABSTRACT 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 modeling. Although most teacher preparation programs utilize modeling in preparing PSTs, little is known about how SPED-MTs use this mentoring tool. An interpretative phenomenological analysis was conducted to explore how SPED-MTs engaged PSTs in modeling practices during a practicum experience. Data from semi-structured interviews were analyzed to describe SPED-PST and SPED-MT attitudes, experiences, and use of modeling over the course of a special education practicum, focusing on MTs’ modeling strategies and PSTs’ subsequent behaviors. The relative impacts of simple and cognitive modeling on the PST-MT relationship were compared. SPED-MTs’ modeling foci were compared to recommended HLPs. This preliminary study provides recommendations for SPED-MTs’ use of modeling with SPED-PSTs.

Special Education Pre-Service Teachers' Acceptance of Assistive Technology

To examine special education pre-service teachers’ acceptance of assistive technology, this study theorized and established associations between important variables of assistive technology acceptance, including the perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, attitude, result demonstrability, and behavioural intention. The researcher used the convenient sampling strategy to pick the partakers. 250 questionnaires were given out to the respondents and 139 questionnaires were received. A partial least square technique was applied for the data analysis. The outcome of the inquiry was that perceived ease of use substantially influenced perceived usefulness of assistive technology; perceived usefulness was significantly associated with attitude, and result demonstrability was substantially associated with perceived ease of use. This study added to the current body of knowledge regarding the technology acceptance model for explaining intended assistive technology acceptance in educational settings.

Implementation of a Student Research Group with Undergraduate Preservice Teachers

The purpose of this paper is to describe the implementation of an undergraduate student research group with preservice teachers at a university in the Northeastern United States. Following the guidelines of Shanahan et al. (2015), university faculty provided intensive mentoring, scaffolded support, and instruction related to research evaluation and methodology. Undergraduate students completed literature reviews of a specific topic related to education and conducted their own research studies. This article describes a model of undergraduate research the authors developed for elementary and special education preservice teachers.

Video Performance Feedback and Video Self-Monitoring to Improve Systematic Instruction Implementation for Pre-Service Teachers

Although special education teachers are expected to implement evidence-based practices, teachers of students with extensive support needs have reported challenges in identifying and implementing effective practices to meet the unique needs of their students. Systematic instruction has been identified as an evidence-based practice for students with extensive support needs and can be used to support students across a wide range of skill domains. We used an experimental pretest–posttest design to examine the effectiveness of two training approaches, video performance feedback and video self-monitoring, on the implementation of systematic instruction among pre-service special education teachers. Overall, both approaches resulted in improved implementation of systematic instruction by pre-service special education teachers and were viewed as socially valid. We present directions for future research and implications for practice in special education teacher preparation.

The Effect of Flipped Instruction on Special Education Preservice Teachers' Perceptions

This study analyzes the flipped instruction model used in three special education educator preparation courses to examine which components preservice teachers perceived most contributed to their content knowledge, motivation, and engagement (n=50). Weekly pre-class asynchronous assignments included the use of educational technology tools such as an interactive e-textbook site, Perusall, and online academic activities such as Khan Academy to strengthen their content knowledge. This allowed more time for a student-centered approach during synchronous instruction to incorporate tools such as Nearpod, Pear Deck, Flipgrid and digital badges to strength-en their motivation and engagement. Data were collected through a post-course survey; results indicate that preservice teachers perceived this model was motivating, engaging, and contributed significantly to their content knowledge. They also identified hands-on activities during class as a significant component of their learning. This article discusses the project, limitations, and implications for future flipped instruction research in special education educator preparation programs.

Streamlining Observations, Feedback, Reflection, and Professional Development: Are You Ready to Be COACHED?

Special education teacher preparation programs vary in their usage of practices (e.g., modeling and performance feedback) that have consistently been shown to effectively coach pre-service teachers to sustain high-quality implementation of teaching practices. Research even suggests that some pre-service special education teachers may not receive any of these coaching practices during their field experiences. In this article, we describe a feasible multimedia coaching option for teacher educators and teacher candidates to use to streamline the observation and coaching process using effective coaching practices and improved consistency. Specifically, this multimedia tool can be used to document pre-service teacher practice, generate feedback, deliver targeted instruction, and provide the opportunity for structured self-reflection.

Knowledge among Pre-Service Special Education Teachers in North Malaysia Regarding the Development of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Children

Knowledge among Pre-Service Special Education Teachers in North Malaysia Regarding the Development of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Children

Opinions and suggestions of preservice special education teachers on ethical principles

This study aims to explore the opinions and suggestions of preservice special education teachers about the ethical principles that should be followed in the field of special education. The study adopted qualitative methodology. The data were collected through semi-structured interview questions. The participants of the study are senior students who study at the special education department of a faculty education in a university in the Western Black Sea region. One of the prerequisites sought for students is that they have successfully passed all junior year courses and the other is that they have taken the Ethics and Ethics in Education course. The data collected in the study were analysed through content analysis. In addition, the Maxqda programme was used in the analysis of the data. Research findings were categorised under five themes. The themes are ethical principles, ethical characteristics that special education teachers should have, ethical and unethical behaviours, the impact of training and legal regulations on ethics and suggestions of the participants on ethics were collected under the sub-categories. Keywords: Ethics, ethics in special education, professional ethics.

Integrating Information and Media Literacy into Pre-service Special Education Teachers Teaching and Learning

The rise of the internet and the emergence of new digital devices require information users for information needs, access information effectively and efficiently, applies information, and use information effectively and efficiently. This study aims to develop a model for integrating information and media literacy into pre-service exceptional education learning. The researcher applied the ADDIE approach. This research was conducted with 214 students of the Pre-service Teacher Special Education Program. The methods used to collect data are observation and questionnaires. The instrument used to collect data is a questionnaire. The technique used to analyze the data is quantitative with a rating scale format. The results of the research are that most students have excellent or good information and media literacy skills, both in recognizing to be able to find, access, and retrieve information and media content, understand, assess, and develop information and media, as well as create, utilize needs, and bringing together information and media content. 25.70% of students have very good information and media literacy skills. Most students already have computers with various operating systems and mobile devices such as smartphones, iPods, tablets, and electronic dictionaries. Students consider it essential to improve their digital tools skills because it can enhance learning. It was concluded that the five components of the 5MIL learning model could be used so that students have the competencies needed for 21st-century life.

Changing Needs of Special Education Preservice Teachers in the Practicum

Self-determination theory (SDT) suggests that people strive to fulfill three basic needs of competence, autonomy, and relatedness. In teacher education research, fulfilling those needs is connected to positive skill development and increased wellbeing of preservice teachers and their students. Teacher education programs for special education preservice teachers (SEPT) include a professional experience in various school settings with neurodiverse students. This professional experience gives rise to specific needs for these SEPT. In-depth interviews were conducted with 12 SEPT, studying at various stages of two teacher education programs. The findings were analyzed qualitatively. Results revealed developing and changing needs throughout the educational program, reflecting different settings and phases of the professional experience. SDT was found to be useful framework to interpret the findings. Implications for designing teacher education programs are discussed.

Mathematics Questioning Practices of Pre-Service Special Education Teachers Providing Algebra Tutoring for Students With Learning Disabilities

Posing questions is a direct way for teachers to push students to verbalize justifications and make connections among ideas—a crucial component of giving students with learning disabilities access to high levels of mathematical reasoning—but this skill is difficult to learn. We recruited four pre-service special education teachers to provide 1-1 algebra tutoring to students with learning disabilities while receiving instruction related to posing mathematics questions and supporting students’ reasoning. The pre-service teachers increased their frequency of questions overall and of questions that probed students’ thinking or explored mathematical relationships. Students gave correct and complete responses to these more complex questions approximately half of the time; however, pre-service teachers most often reduced the complexity of their questions when students gave incomplete responses. The findings of this study illustrate the potential for pre-service special education teachers to develop questioning routines that engage students with learning disabilities in mathematical reasoning while scaffolding their progress toward new understanding.

Special education preservice teachers’ mathematics teaching self-efficacy beliefs

ABSTRACT Self-efficacy belief in mathematics teaching is important for special education teachers to manage classroom practices and ensure disabled students’ success. This study examines the level and predictors of mathematics teaching self-efficacy beliefs among 156 preservice teachers enrolled in the Special Education Department of a private university in Northern Cyprus. Using the Mathematics Teaching Self-Efficiency Scale (MTSE) as a data collection instrument, the study shows that preservice teachers possessed an adequate level of mathematics teaching self-efficacy beliefs. Multiple regression analysis indicates that taking a course on Mathematics Teaching in Special Education and having experience in mathematics teaching were significant predictors of the mathematics teaching self-efficacy beliefs.

Preservice Teachers’ Preparation in Communication Instruction for Students with Extensive Support Needs

Many students with extensive support needs (ESN) benefit from specific instruction as well as a range of communication supports to develop effective communication repertoires and fully participate in their educational experience. Although evidence-based practices and supports addressing the communication needs of students with ESN have been identified, there remain concerns about whether preservice special education teachers have been adequately prepared to implement them. The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of preservice special education teachers related to their preparation in communication instruction for students with ESN. Participants reported varying levels of preparedness and a range of experiences in terms of the quantity and content of coursework and opportunities to apply knowledge and skills within their programs. We present implications for future research directions and teacher preparation programs.

Analysis of Differences in the Levels of TPACK: Unpacking Performance Indicators in the TPACK Levels Rubric

Since the development of the technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) framework, researchers have been developing a variety of instruments to measure the TPACK of pre-service and in-service teachers. The task of developing an efficient, reliable, and valid instrument is difficult. Even validated instruments require guidance for consistent use that preserves the instrument fidelity. The purpose of this study is to provide guidance for using the TPACK Levels Rubric, a validated instrument that was developed on the basis of the model for the progressive levels of TPACK. The authors systematically examined the criteria of the rubric in order to understand the differences in the levels of TPACK for each rubric component, and developed lesson exemplars to create guidelines for educators using this tool in assessing the TPACK levels of teachers. The iterative instrument analysis also led to the revision of the original rubric to establish the horizontal and vertical alignments and the consistency of the rubric, for each level across four components, and for each component across five levels. The construct validity of the revised rubric was confirmed on the basis of a exploratory factor analysis of 175 mathematics lesson plans and videos of taught lessons developed by graduate special education pre-service and in-service elementary school teachers.

Support through Social Media and Online Class Participation to Enhance Psychological Resilience.

Social support was an important factor in minimizing the effect of social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. This research aimed to study the role of online class participation and social media usage to link the social support available from family and friends to psychological resilience among pre-service special education teachers against the negative psychological effects of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. A survey was conducted with 377 pre-service special needs education (SNE) teachers enrolled at universities in Pakistan. Partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was applied using Smart-PLS 3.2.8. Results revealed that social media and online class participation played a mediating role between social support and psychological resilience in the pre-service special needs education (SNE) teachers studied. Teacher education institutions can devise strategies to develop social media platforms for student socialization during an emergency to help build resilience against the negative psychological effects of social isolation. Future studies could be conducted to adapt instructions and curricula to social media environments for education in an emergency.

Examination of the Relation between the Possession of Compassion and Effective Teaching Qualities of Special Education Pre-Service Teachers in Special Education

The purpose of this study is to examine the relation between possession of compassion and effective teaching qualities of special education pre-service teachers. The study group of the research consisted of special education pre-service teachers enrolled at special education departments of universities in Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in 2019-2020 spring semester. Relational survey method, a qualitative research method, was used in the study. 315 pre-service teachers participated in the research. “Personal Information Form”, “Compassion Scale” and “Effective Teaching Qualities” scales were applied to the special education pre-service teachers. It has been found out that there is statistically significant and positive relation between the scores obtained by students from Effective Teaching Qualities Scale and the Tenderness, Being Aware of Sharing and Conscious Awareness sub-dimensions. Accordingly, as the scores of the students on the Effective Teaching Qualities Scale increase, their Tenderness, Being Aware of Sharing and Conscious Awareness scores also increase. It was determined that there is a statistically significant and negative relationship between the scores of the students within the scope of the study from the Effective Teaching Qualities Scale and the Apathy, Disconnection and Disengagement sub-dimensions of the Compassion Scale. Accordingly, as the scores of the participants on the Effective Teaching Qualities Scale increase, their Apathy, Disconnection and Disengagement scores decrease.

Teachers’ perceptions of assistive technology use for students with disabilities

Since assistive technology (AT) may help meet the educational needs of students with disabilities, this study investigates pre-service and in-service special education teachers’ perceptions of using AT for students with disabilities. The participants included 97 teaching candidates from one university in an urban US city. A self-assessment survey was administered to explore the teachers’ knowledge, ability, and confidence levels when using AT. The results demonstrated that the variables of time spent in a college program, work assignment, and AT courses taken were all related to the respondents’ levels of confidence. These findings suggest the need for additional courses and preparation programs specialized in AT for facilitating its effective integration into the classroom.

Preservice special education teachers’ perceptions of mixed-reality simulation experiences

Special educators are expected to implement High-Leverage Practices to support diverse learners. This article describes the findings from a mixed-reality simulation project structured around the framework of connected learning. The project sought to evaluate how 30 preservice teacher candidates in special education feel about mixed-reality simulation compared to traditional classroom practice (i.e., role playing) in learning the High-Leverage Practice of system of least prompts. Results of this study indicate that those who participated in the mixed-reality simulator had significantly different social validity survey responses from the live practice group on items related to perceived performance, perceived tool value, and treatment experience; these findings can help inform teacher educators on how to incorporate mixed-reality simulation. Limitations and future research are discussed.

Recommendations for Teacher Education Programs to Prepare Practitioners for Diverse Urban Schools

The focus of this article is to provide teacher education programs with recommendations for meeting the educational needs of students with emotional and behavior disorders (EBD) and learning disabilities (LD) in urban communities. Recommendations include preparing preservice special education teacher educators to effectively implement culturally responsive approaches. The article outlines critical features of teacher education programs that can be modified using culturally responsive approaches to design field experiences and collaboration between schools and teacher education programs to meet the distinctive needs of students in urban environments. Teacher education program leaders can incorporate and use the recommendations to modify programs so that preservice special education teacher educators can be better prepared to be inclusive of all learners and meet their diverse needs.