Examining the Impact of Professional Development and Coaching on Mentoring of Novice Special Educators

The similarity of teaching assignments between mentor and novice teachers are typically regarded as necessary prerequisites for successful mentoring relationships. Yet, due to the personnel shortages and specialized teaching assignments in special education, it is not always possible to match novice special educators with veteran special educators. This multiple-baseline across behaviors study investigated specialized professional development and individualized coaching for general education teacher mentors. Outcomes assessed included the intervention’s impact on the mentors’ special education knowledge, mentors’ ability to identify needed components of special education lesson delivery, and novice teachers’ improvements in instructional practice. Results indicated a functional relationship between the intervention and mentor knowledge as well as the ability to identify components of specialized instruction. Most important, novice special educators improved their instructional practices after being mentored by those who received the professional development and specialized coaching

Lessons Learned from Implementing Self-Regulated Strategy Development with Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders in Alternative Educational Settings

Self-regulated strategy development (SRSD) is an evidence-based intervention for use with students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). To date, there are nine studies investigating SRSD in alternative education settings, including self-contained day and residential schools, with 113 students with EBD in grades 3 through 12. A brief synthesis of this body of SRSD research is presented, which represents SRSD implementation in individualized, small-group, and class-wide formats using group and single-case research design methodology. Lessons learned from this research are presented to inform both practitioners and researchers, including guidelines for overcoming the unique barriers to SRSD implementation that students with EBD in alternative education settings may present. Lessons learned include the need for (a) developing strategies for increasing students’ academic engagement, (b) further addressing behavioral and academic needs, (c) overcoming issues of truancy and transience, (d) promoting maintenance and generalization, and (e) increasing teacher buy-in. Future directions for this line of research are also outlined

Illuminating growth and struggles using mixed methods: Practice-based professional development and coaching for differentiating SRSD instruction in writing

In this mixed methods study, qualitative, quantitative, and single-case methods were combined to provide a comprehensive investigation of teacher and student outcomes following practice-based professional development (PBPD) for self-regulated strategy development (SRSD) in writing. Qualitative observations were used to determine outcomes among the three-fourth grade teachers involved, a nested quantitative model was used to analyze classwide student writing outcomes across 53 students in the three classes, and single case design was used to determine differential outcomes among randomly selected struggling and average writers in each class. PBPD was followed by coaching for differentiation based on student performance and fidelity as teachers taught their students strategies for writing timed imaginary stories (with self as main character), as required by the state writing test. Qualitative results indicated two teachers did not differentiate writing instruction without coaching; one teacher was unresponsive to coaching and did not differentiate instruction. Classwide analysis demonstrated significant growth in writing at the class level for students from baseline to posttesting. Single case design results indicated mixed outcomes among struggling and average writers and instances where instruction was not effective. Teachers indicated high social validity for PBPD and for SRSD; students indicated high social validity for SRSD. Results across the multiple methods illuminate growth and struggles often disguised in group data and are addressed to aid in understanding and enhancing PBPD as well as instruction in SRSD and other evidence-based practices. Limitations and future research directions are discussed