Stuttering is a common disorder addressed by speech-language pathologists in elementary schools. Although students who stutter likely receive specialized services from speech-language pathologists, other school personnel, including special and general educators, play a key role in creating supportive and positive learning environments for these…

Background: Upon completion of their undergraduate educator preparation program (EPP), early childhood special educators obtain roles within inclusive school settings. As part of these roles, they will participate in collaborative interactions with other educators, related service providers, paraprofessionals, and their students' family members.…

The growing expectations and demands for teacher education highlight the need to provide future teachers with more knowledge and to prepare teachers as expert collaborators who can learn from each other. This qualitative case study based on video-recorded reflective assignments investigated how Finnish pre-service special education teachers'…

This article illustrates how two teachers, a general educator and a special educator, used an interactive process in planning an interdisciplinary science unit for an inclusive Kindergarten classroom and how they addressed Universal Design for Learning (UDL) components. This planning process included capitalizing on each teacher's knowledge and…

U.S. national data indicate that approximately 90% of rural students with a reading disability read at or below basic levels of reading proficiency. A growing body of research demonstrates that the ability to make inferences is essential for reading comprehension but particularly difficult for students with reading disabilities. Compounding…

The primary purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate whether special education and general education teacher perceptions of collaboration, leadership, and efficacy beliefs influenced student performance on STAAR. Quantitative data were collected using a Qualtrics survey consisting of 56 items regarding special education and general…

Team collaboration is an essential component of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) services that directly impacts outcomes for students in special schools. Given the central role of the Special Education Teacher (SET) in the AAC team, there is a need to explore and understand SETs' perceptions to support effective team collaboration.…

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to investigate how general and special educators' attitudes, efficacy, and collaboration promote co-teaching relationships that benefit exceptional students in urban middle schools. The impacts of co-teaching on the attitudes, efficacy, and collaboration of secondary teachers were explored. A…

Considering the significance of integrating students with disabilities into general education classes in Mississippi, it is critical to identify the methods by which co-teachers report working together, whether they have obtained the needed professional development, and which teaching model they employ in the inclusion classroom. This data can…

As more students consistently access the general education classroom as their least restrictive environment (LRE), the responsibility of Individual Education Plan implementation (IEP) is up to the general and special education teachers. Previous studies indicated that communication characteristics between general and special education teachers…

This dissertation explores the communication and collaboration between Local Education Agency's (LEA) special education staff and Career and Technical Center (CTC) staff in supporting students with disabilities (SWD). Given the critical role of effective interagency communication in providing comprehensive support to SWD, this study seeks to…

Districts may have limited internal capacity to provide teachers with sustained, systemic professional learning that is relevant to every teacher due to a lack of funding, inadequate staffing, insufficient time, and competing demands. Educational service agencies, which work at the regional level to support multiple districts, can address those…

In the increasingly common inclusive classroom setting, paraprofessionals have been called to provide Specialized Academic Instruction for Special Education students in the secondary (middle and high school) General Education classroom. Current prior research on paraprofessionals often focused on the training, responsibilities, and role…

The persistent challenge of teacher attrition, particularly in special education positions, is examined within the context of the East Dillon School District in Dillon, IL. Despite efforts to recruit and retain special education teachers, vacancies remain unfilled, leading to a disruption to the educational experiences of students with…

This qualitative dissertation study examined the complex dynamics and structures (i.e., people and/or explicit/implicit classroom-, school-, and district-wide behaviors and practices and school-wide structures) that influence collaboration between teachers of students with disabilities (TOSD) and teaching assistants (TAs). Specifically, I wanted…