The Effects of Specialized Mentor Preparation and Coaching for General Education Teacher Mentors Supporting Early Career Special Education Teachers

Special Education Induction;Mentors;Instructional Practices;not listed

Cornelius, Kyena E.Sandmel, Karin ;

Johns Hopkins University

关键词: Special Education Induction;    Mentors;    Instructional Practices;    not listed;   

Others  :  https://jscholarship.library.jhu.edu/bitstream/handle/1774.2/39508/CORNELIUS-DISSERTATION-2015.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

瑞士|英语

来源: JOHNS HOPKINS DSpace Repository

【 摘 要 】

A multiple-baseline across behaviors research design was conducted to investigate the effects of mentor training and individualized coaching on general education mentors assigned to support early career special education teachers. Mentors have been credited with influencing early career teachers’ practice and intent to remain in the field. This influence is thought to be a positive one. However, one-third of early career teachers did not find their mentor helpful. It is also believed that similarity of teaching assignments between mentor and early career teacher is necessary for effective mentoring relationships. Yet, due to personnel shortages and the uniqueness of special education assignments, it is not always possible to match early career special education teachers with mentors who have experience in special education. Until now, the majority of special education induction literature has focused on the experience of early career special education teachers. This information has been extracted from surveys and qualitative interviews. The study investigated a specialized training for mentors to determine if general education mentors can improve their knowledge of special education, identify needed components of special education lesson delivery (i.e., proactive behavior management, assessments, and differentiation), and if the early career special education teachers being mentored by the specially trained mentors can improve their practice as measured by increasing observable components of special education lesson delivery. The study also examined the favorability (i.e., social validity) of the training and changes in behavior of the participants.