Designing Effective Professional Development for Emergency-Licensed Special Education Teachers in Rural Settings

• In Event: Teacher Preparation in Special and Inclusive Education

Abstract

Many rural school districts seek an emergency or provisionally-licensed option to fill special education vacancies within schools. In some states, these licenses do not require participation in a traditional teacher preparation program on the path to full licensure. The result is a significant gap in training to ensure positive outcomes for students with disabilities. Project ACRES (Addressing Emergency Certification in Rural Education Settings) is an IES-funded, entirely virtual professional development intervention that is designed to address this need through coaching and a community of practice. Teachers who have participated in Project ACRES shared that they found value in professional development that increases their network outside of their districts and is flexible to their unique contexts and backgrounds.

Authors

• Rachel Chamberlain, University of Wisconsin - Madison

• Kimber L. Wilkerson, University of Wisconsin - Madison

• Melinda Leko, University of Wisconsin - Madison

• Andrea Ruppar, University of Wisconsin - Madison