Special Education Teacher Preparation, Literacy Instructional Alignment, and Reading Achievement for Students With High-Incidence Disabilities

• In Event: Effective and Equitable Literacy Instruction

Abstract

We used survey and administrative data from Washington State to assess the degree to which special education teacher preparation, district literacy instructional practices, and the alignment between preparation and practice were associated with the reading test score gains of students with high-incidence disabilities taught by early-career special education teachers in grades 4-8. These students tended to have larger reading gains when their district emphasized evidence-based literacy decoding practices (e.g., phonological awareness, phonics, and reading fluency) and when their special education teacher graduated from a teacher education program that also emphasized these practices. Students with high-incidence disabilities in districts that emphasized balanced literacy practices tended to have lower reading gains.

Authors

• Roddy Theobald, American Institutes for Research

• Dan Goldhaber, American Institutes for Research

• Kristian Holden, American Institutes for Research

• Marcy Stein, University of Washington - Tacoma