Special Education Candidates' Opportunities to Learn Instructional and Collaborative Practice: An Examination of Professional Formation

• In Event: 34.096 - MTCC Roundtable Session 12
  In Roundtable Session: 34.096-1 - Conceptualizing and Measuring Opportunity to Learn in Teacher Education

Abstract

Objective. In order to prepare special education teaching candidates (SETCs) for complex and multidimensional roles, it is necessary to provide them with rich preparation experiences. This paper focuses on SETCs’ opportunities to learn (OTL) high leverage practices across instructional and collaborative domains. Using survey data, we highlight how SETCs’ report extensive opportunities to learn instructional practice, but fewer opportunities to learn the collaborative work necessary to promote inclusion. Drawing on interview data, we highlight how the nature of OTL varies across these two domains. Implications point to a need for careful examination of the pedagogies used to prepare special educators for multiple, simultaneous roles.

Theoretical Framework. We use two theories to frame this paper: high leverage practice for special education (McLesky et al., 2017) and pedagogies of practice (Grossman et al., 2009). Drawing on the work conducted by the Council for Exceptional Children, the survey and interview instruments probe the extent of SETCs’ reported OTL high leverage practice for collaboration and instruction. To understand the nature of SETCs’ OTL across these domains, we examine the pedagogies through which candidates learn practice during pre-service including representations of practice (how practice is represented), decompositions of practice (how practice is broken down into constituent parts) and approximations of practice (enactments of practice).

Methods and Data Sources. In 2017 and 2018, we collected survey data from 160 SETCs at six university-based preparation programs in three states. Surveys focused on OTL collaborative and instructional practice across coursework and field experiences. A purposeful subsample of 20 SETCs participated in interviews regarding their preparation experiences, including OTL instructional and collaborative practices. Interview data was coded using the pedagogies of practice framework to evaluate how candidates’ experiences reflected the range of pedagogies across both domains.

Findings. When comparing the two domains, survey analysis revealed SETCs experienced more extensive OTL and feedback on instructional than collaborative practice. Though candidates reported opportunities to enact collaborative practice, they did not report receiving feedback. Qualitative analysis revealed that SETCs’ OTL instructional practice encompassed an array of representations, decompositions, and approximations of practice across university and K-12 settings. In contrast, SETCs’ OTL collaborative practice were characterized by approximations of practice in K-12 settings but rarely included purposeful representations or decompositions.

Significance. The work of special educators is changing rapidly. Though instructional roles are foregrounded in special educators’ work, research highlights that the profession is an increasingly collaborative enterprise (Jones, Bettini, & Brownell, 2016; Vannest, Hagan-Burke, Parker, & Soares, 2011; Wasburn-Moses, 2005). Policy changes promoting inclusive education and accountability require that special education teacher preparation programs focus on preparing special education teachers who are ready to take on demanding instructional and collaborative roles (Brownell, Sindelar, Kiely, & Danielson, 2010). Yet, in special education teacher preparation empirical examinations of OTL across these domains are scarce. This study provides needed empirical evidence regarding the opportunities SETCs have to learn the range of professional practice necessary to effectively meet the instructional and collaborative demands of special education.

Authors

• Hannah Morris Mathews, Boston University

• Wendy J. Rodgers, University of Nevada, Las Vegas