Systematic prompting is a versatile evidence-based practice that can improve a range of outcomes for students with disabilities, but many teachers and paraeducators are not familiar with systematic prompting or may struggle with implementation. In this systematic review, the authors identified 28 articles that evaluated training practices for…

People with disabilities consistently advocate for their right to be self-determined. Decades of research highlight the positive impacts of self-determination intervention on in-school and post-school outcomes of secondary students with disabilities. Increasingly, self-determination interventions are being implemented in inclusive contexts for…

Paraprofessionals are often tasked with providing instruction to students with severe disabilities despite little or no training in evidence-based practices. Previous studies have demonstrated that specific strategies (i.e., didactic instruction, modeling, and immediate performance feedback) in a 1-to-1 format can enable paraprofessionals to…

Given the critical importance of discrete instructional practices in special education, teacher candidates must be prepared to implement them upon entering the classroom. In preservice teacher education programs, field placements and clinical experiences rarely provide enough opportunities for preservice teachers to gain the proficiency needed to…

Classroom Pivotal Response Teaching (CPRT) is a naturalistic behavioral intervention for students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) that was systematically adapted for teacher use. In this study, the authors evaluate outcomes of a large randomized trial training teachers (n = 126) to use CPRT. Training involved 12 hours of small group sessions…

High-quality, effective vocabulary instruction is essential for supporting all students' academic success, and it is particularly important for students with disabilities. Teacher preparation programs are faced with the challenge of not only training preservice teachers to provide effective vocabulary instruction across grades and content areas,…

The adoption of highly scripted curricular programs to promote literacy has become increasingly widespread. Little is known, however, about the extent to which teachers implement these programs as prescribed or, instead, make adaptations to the curriculum and its delivery. Even less is known about teachers' reasoning behind this decision-making.…

Family--professional partnerships (FPPs) are an important, federally mandated part of the American education system that benefit all students, but especially students with disabilities. Although special education teacher preparation programs offer a viable and sustainable way to enhance FPPs, little is known about the degree to which these…

In this investigation, we surveyed 51 faculty members who were involved in teacher preparation programs in the area of extensive support needs (ESN) across a range of institutions of higher education. We asked participants to respond to questions related to the quality and quantity of program content focused on communication instruction and…

Teachers in inclusive preschool classrooms are required to provide supports and instruction to children with and without developmental delays. In addition, teachers are required to use research and evidence-based practices, such as naturistic instructional procedures. Despite a plethora of research on the effectiveness and utility of naturalistic…

The Teacher Performance Assessment (edTPA) has been widely adopted in schools of higher education across the United States. Different state education departments have set policies, to varying degrees, that determine the outcomes for passing the edTPA, with some requiring a passing score to obtain licensure. As a result of the high-stakes nature of…

One of the challenges facing educators who teach students with autism spectrum disorders is implementing evidence-based practices (EBPs) with fidelity. One EBP used to help such learners in acquiring targeted behavioral or academic skills is prompting. In this study, the authors examine the efficacy of individualized clinical coaching (ICC) of…

Supporting special educators' sustained use of evidence-based practices (EBPs) is a priority for the field. In this study, the authors used multiple measures to evaluate the first graduated cohort from a university program 6 years after graduation with a master's degree with a specialization in autism, and at least 8 years working as…

The authors supervised and trained pre-service teachers while conducting extended school year (ESY) services for pre-kindergarten and elementary students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other developmental disabilities (DD). Each classroom was responsible for conducting communication assessments and developing interventions focused on…

In this article, the author details the findings of a study of completers during their last semester of a Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program in special education. The purpose of this multiple-case study was to understand how the extent to which the program was implemented, the participants' background and career trajectories, and the…