Special Education
The National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality offers abundant special education resources to support teachers in their role of educating both general needs learners and students with disabilities. Propelled by the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), we compiled the following special education resources.
Publications
Lessons Learned: New Teachers Talk About Their Jobs, Challenges, and Long-Range Plans. Issue No. 3—Teaching in Changing Times (2008) 
(Adobe Reader PDF 1 MB)
The final report in this series by the National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality and Public Agenda focuses on the strengths and possible deficits of new teacher training. The research described in this report points to two specific areas in which teacher training may be lacking: preparedness for the diversity of the contemporary American classroom and teaching students with special needs.
Navigating Highly Qualified Teacher Requirements for Special Education Teachers: State Challenges and Responses (2009) ( Adobe® Reader® PDF)
This report presents information on state-level policy governing the requirements for initial special education teacher certification and indicates how these policies align with federal highly qualified teacher (HQT) mandates. It provides a foundation from which states can access a common vocabulary to discuss special education teacher requirements and to compare and contrast alignment with federal definitions and mandates.
America's Challenge: Effective Teachers for At-Risk Schools and Students (2007)
This inaugural biennial report includes a tremendous amount of information regarding the availability, recruitment, and retention of teachers for at-risk schools and students. Findings also include a nationally representative public opinion survey of first-year teachers conducted in spring 2007.
Barriers to the Preparation of Highly Qualified Teachers in Reading (2007) ( AdobeReader PDF)
This brief discusses scientifically based reading instruction in relation to federal policy mandates. It focuses on strategies and standards for ensuring that teachers are qualified to teach reading and provides recommendations for improving the teaching of reading.
The Teacher Preparation > Teacher Practices > Student Outcomes Relationship in Special Education: Missing Links and New Connections (2007) ( AdobeReader PDF 1MB)
This brief examines the relationship between preservice teacher preparation, teacher inservice practice, and outcomes for students with special needs. Specific recommendations for program improvement and further research are provided.
Lessons Learned: New Teachers Talk About Their Jobs, Challenges and Long-Range Plans. Issue No. 2—Working Without a Net: How New Teachers From Three Prominent Alternate Route Programs Describe Their First Year on the Job (2007) ( Adobe® Reader® PDF 1.3 MB)
Working Without a Net provides additional results from the new-teacher survey conducted by Public Agenda. It focuses on new teachers in high-needs schools, comparing the perspectives of those from traditional teacher education versus those from three alternate-route programs: Teach for America, Troops to Teachers, and The New Teacher Project.
Lessons Learned: New Teachers Talk About Their Jobs, Challenges and Long-Range Plans. Issue No. 1—They're Not Little Kids Anymore: The Special Challenges of New Teachers in High Schools and Middle Schools (2007) ( Adobe Reader PDF 1.4 MB)
Generation Y teachers want to shake up the stagnant education system, according to a survey of first-year teachers commissioned by the National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality, funded by the U.S. Department of Education. The freedom to be creative, the power to make a difference, opportunities to grow, rewards, and an end to the one-size-fits-all model of instruction is what new teachers say will improve the quality of education, according to the nationwide survey of 865 teachers in their first year in the classroom conducted by Public Agenda. Most telling is that 79 percent of the respondents would choose supportive administrators over significant salary increases. Most of the survey sample is younger than 29 years.
Recruiting Quality Teachers in Mathematics, Science, and Special Education for Urban and Rural Schools (2007)
This publication focuses on six strategies for recruiting highly qualified teachers in mathematics, science, and special education.
The Teacher Preparation > Teacher Practices > Student Outcomes Relationship in Special Education: Missing Links and New Steps. A Research Synthesis (2006)
This research synthesis is an in-depth review of the literature on the links between the content and form of preservice teacher preparation in special education, teachers' practice in classrooms, and the achievement outcomes of students with special needs. It documents the need for more research in this important area.
Recruiting Quality Teachers in Mathematics, Science, and Special Education for Urban and Rural Schools
This publication focuses on six strategies for recruiting highly qualified teachers in mathematics, science, and special education.
TQ Research & Policy Update Vol. 4, No. 1 (January 2009) ( Adobe Reader PDF 132 KB)
Webcasts
The Use of Innovation Configurations to Improve Teacher Preparation in Critical Areas (January 16, 2009)
The Use of Innovation Configurations to Improve Teacher Preparation in Reading Instruction (December 19, 2008)
America's Challenge: Effective Teachers for At-Risk Schools and Students (October 11, 2007)
In the two short years since the launch of the National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality , a tremendous amount of information has been compiled about the availability, recruitment, and retention of teachers for at-risk schools and students. The National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality has compiled much of this learning in its inaugural biennial report, America's Challenge: Effective Teachers for At-Risk Schools and Students, which was released on October 11, 2007.
Focusing Teacher Preparation for At-Risk and Hard-to-Staff Schools
On Thursday, September 21, 2006, the National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality hosted a live, interactive webcast on the topic of preparing teachers for at-risk and hard-to-staff schools.
Events
National Issue Forum: Roundtable Discussion: Preparing Special Educators: Critical Issues and Emerging Needs
The National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality convened an invitational issue forum for the regional comprehensive centers on June 27, 2007, in Arlington, Virginia. The roundtable discussion focused on special education issues including recent policy, research, and practice—with an emphasis on teacher preparation. Information and materials from the event are available online.
National Issue Forum: Addressing Personnel Shortages and the Recruitment of Special Education, Mathematics, and Science Teachers in At-Risk Schools
On May 24–25, 2006, the National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality hosted its inaugural issue forum, "Addressing Personnel Shortages and the Recruitment of Special Education, Mathematics, and Science Teachers in At-Risk Schools." The primary goals of the meeting were to build knowledge and resource foundation; to learn emerging strategies and practices; to build capacity to share and apply knowledge base; and to use applicable tools and resources to identify data trends regarding special education, mathematics, and science. The meeting summary, agenda, presenter bios, presentations, and topical resources are available online.
2007 What Works Conference: Advancing Student Achievement Through Effective Teaching and Leadership
The National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality hosted its second annual What Works Conference, "Advancing Student Achievement Through Effective Teaching and Leadership," on November 4–5, 2007. The primary goals of the meeting were to build capacity to share and apply knowledge base, resources, and best practices and use applicable tools and resources to affect the quality of both teachers and leaders—specifically in at-risk schools and for students with special needs. Information and materials from the event are available online.
2006 What Works Conference: Increasing Student Achievement in High-Need Schools Through Teacher Quality
The National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality hosted its first annual What Works Conference, "Increasing Student Achievement in High-Need Schools Through Teacher Quality," on November 8–9, 2006. The primary goals of the meeting were to build capacity to share and apply knowledge base, resources, and best practices and use applicable tools and resources to affect the supply of high-quality teachers through preparation, recruitment, and retention—specifically in at-risk schools and for students with special needs. The meeting summary, agenda, presenter bios, presentations, and topical resources are available online.
Online Resources
Highly Qualified Teacher Requirements for Special Education Teachers Under the No Child Left Behind Act ( Adobe® Reader® PDF 156 KB)
This technical assistance response brief describes how seven states address the requirements for identification, documentation, and notification of highly qualified status for special education teachers as established through the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
TQ Connection
This online resource provides current research-based practice and policy strategies for teacher preparation programs that support general education teachers who are preparing to teach students with disabilities as well as for special education teachers who may coteach in general education classrooms.
Recruiting Quality Teachers for Mathematics, Science, and Special Education
This TQ Source Tips & Tools topic area offers two key issues for recruiting highly qualified special education teachers in urban and rural schools.
Improving Teacher Quality Through the Implementation of a Multi-Tiered Intervention System
This TQ Source Tips & Tools topic area presents an overview document on teacher quality and multitiered interventions, and a key issue about improving student outcomes in general and special education with effective classroom management practices.
Highly Qualified Special Education Teacher Requirements Database
The Highly Qualified Special Education Teacher Requirements database includes state statute, administrative code, rules and regulations, and education rules. These data provide a more complete and accurate picture of activity surrounding special education teacher requirements and give specific attention to state activity with regard to aligning practice and policy to meet the mandates of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) 2004.
Special Education Teacher Certification and Licensure Policy Database
The Special Education Teacher Certification and Licensure Policy database includes information about policies in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. territories pertaining to special education teacher certification, licensure, and endorsements.
 |
