The roles and obligations of teacher educators have expanded substantially in recent years. Expectations have increased because of national concerns about the overall achievement results of all students and because of specific federal mandates-expressed in reauthorizations of the No Child Left Behind Act and the Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004-about students with disabilities and their access to the general education curriculum and their increased, successful participation in inclusive educational settings. Complicated by the chronic and persistent shortage of special educators and the imperative that general educators have increased skills to address the needs of all struggling learners, demands on special education college and university faculty have magnified. However, the nation continues to face a shortage of faculty who can generate new knowledge about effective practices, translate such research findings into teacher preparation programs' curriculum, and prepare a sufficient supply of new and highly skilled teachers. In this article, the authors discuss the current policy landscape, connections between the shortage of teachers and the shortage of special education faculty, and the role of the federal government in addressing these shortages. They conclude with a call for national dialogue-necessary so that the continuing cycle of faculty shortages and resulting shortages of those who directly serve students with disabilities may finally be resolved.Keywords special education faculty shortage, supply and demand of highly qualified teachers, higher education policy, federal role in leadership (doctoral) preparationThe connection between teacher educators working in colleges and universities and education professionals working in school settings is clear, although often underestimated. Most practitioners receive their training from college faculty, either through traditional undergraduate and graduate degree programs or through university-based nontraditional

Current political polarization and competing priorities complicate development of sound education policy. Particularly troubling is the disconnect between research and policy, as decision makers rely more on the work of think tanks and advocacy groups than the knowledge base of the profession. The mismatch between higher education and policy cultures is examined in terms of pace, career cycles, communication styles, information sources, and other factors. Implications for the scholarly community are discussed within a policy process framework with specific examples of effective advocacy. Recommendations include partnerships with strategic allies to gain resources and credibility, use of new communication styles and media, and preparation of leadership personnel for policy engagement.

Comparative studies offer a means for developing more robust theory, but they are plagued by problems of decontextualization of data and marginalization of the voices of the researched. This article introduces pooled case comparison, a means of cross-study comparison that has the potential to minimize some of the limitations often inherent in such comparisons. In pooled case comparison, raw data from separate studies are combined for a fresh analysis. This article provides a rationale for pooled case comparison and situates the method within a framework of other approaches. A detailed example from one pooled case comparison is offered. This example, in the form of a playlet, juxtaposes voices of participants from two separate studies. The example illustrates how this particular form of data presentation maintains the centrality and integrity of participants' voices within their specific contexts. Finally, the authors consider potential contributions of pooled case comparison as well as possibilities for other applications of this method.

A metaphor of qualitative research as jazz is developed to illuminate qualities embedded in processes of qualitative inquiry. The jazz metaphor creates a pathway for making explicit the tacit understandings that enable us to make our way as researchers without fully orchestrated scores. As jazz is guided by a deep structure of chord progressions and themes, qualitative inquiry is guided by epistemological principles, socially constructed values, inquiry focuses, and findings emerging through analytic methodologies such as constant comparison.The horn played a phrase. Soft and short. The drums answered. The horn said the same thing all over again. The drums repeated it. The next time it was more intricate.

The federal government plays an indispensable role in preparing special education personnel to become teacher educators in higher education. The 2011 Special Education Faculty Needs Assessment study documents a continued supply-demand imbalance of special education faculty. It also documents effectiveness and impact of the Office of Special Education Program's leadership (doctoral) preparation initiative. To prevent diminished academic improvement for students with disabilities, recommendations are provided to strengthen the federal role as the nation moves forward to abate a pending special education faculty of unprecedented magnitude. A rationale and strategy for continued federal investment during challenging budget times are presented.