Teaching self-determination to students with disabilities has long been a focus of the fields of special education and psychology, with much of the research focusing on why self-determination is important, the effects of self-determination skills on academic and adult outcomes, and identifying strategies teachers can use to teach self-determination in the classroom. The current study attempted to develop a greater understanding of how special education teacher candidates define and discuss self-determination within the context of a course on secondary special education and transition planning for students with significant intellectual disabilities. Researchers examined teachers' understanding of self-determination, their ability to incorporate self-determination into their daily instruction, and if their understanding reflected common misconceptions and misinterpretations.
Meeting the needs of students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds is a serious concern that schools are facing. This article describes an evaluation of embedding culturally and linguistically diverse evidence-based practices in a master's program for teacher candidates seeking endorsement in special education. A cooperative-agreement was developed between one urban university and the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) to focus on infusing culturally and linguistically diverse evidence-based practices in a teacher preparation program. This study employed a mixed-method approach to describe the methodology, instrumentation, and progress made towards program improvements related to culturally diverse practices are discussed. Results suggest that while more opportunities for improvements to the program structure and program evaluation data collection are necessary, candidates are showing some evidence of improving skills related to culturally and linguistically diverse evidence-based practices. Although preliminary, the project methods of program revision provide helpful information for other programs on program revision and provide insight on the evaluation of program updates and interventions.
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