Teacher Education and Special Education: The Journal of the Teacher Education Division of the Council for Exceptional Children

As scholars who study the educator workforce serving students with disabilities, we have long appreciated the role of Teacher Education and Special Education (TESE), as the premier journal addressing critical issues facing the special education workforce. We are deeply honored by the opportunity to serve as the next editors of TESE. The purpose of this article is to introduce readers to our editorial vision.

Student teaching is a powerful formative experience for special education teacher candidates. Crucial to candidate success in student teaching is the effectiveness of their mentor teacher. However, the role of mentor teacher does not occur in a vacuum and context factors into the quality of the experience. A growing body of research indicates that a placement school’s working conditions may also contribute to candidate outcomes. Yet, prior research provides little insight into how these elements may interact and relate to candidates’ development. This study investigates this potential relationship and the ways in which they may shape candidate development. Results suggest mentor teachers’ available planning time and collaborative relationships with general education colleagues are important working conditions in supporting relationships between mentors and candidates, candidate development, and candidates’ future career plans. Implications and future directions for mentorship research are discussed.

Internship is a culminating student teaching experience traditionally involving sustained mentorship in the classroom of an experienced mentor teacher with some university supervision, and as such, it is a critical component in teacher preparation. When provisionally licensed teachers complete a non-traditional internship in their own classroom, however, they must rely primarily on university supervision for mentorship. We describe a study of an eCoaching model for university supervisors who were able to successfully provide sustained mentorship to these teachers through eCoaching. After completing online training modules, the participants implemented the eCoaching model that included focused goal setting and multiple feedback loops. In this study, we examined multiple data sources to describe university supervisors’ practices when enacting eCoaching and to gain a better understanding of their perspective about the use of the eCoaching model with provisionally licensed interns.

Many special education teachers (SETs) report feeling unprepared to meet the language and literacy needs of emergent multilingual learners (EMLs). As such, it is important to consider the role of teacher educators, whose knowledge is related to their teacher candidates’ knowledge. Therefore, we have conducted a survey study investigating SET educators’ knowledge, experiences, and confidence regarding EMLs; their perceptions of the value of preparing SET candidates to support EMLs’ language and literacy development; the extent to which they incorporate EML content into literacy coursework; and the ways in which EML content is related to several factors, including teacher educators’ knowledge. Our study revealed that preparation programs and accompanying literacy courses often have a limited focus on EMLs. Although this focus is unrelated to respondents’ knowledge, experiences, and perceived value, it is correlated with their confidence and program requirements. We discuss practical implications and areas for future research based on these findings.