This district-university partnership program is meeting the personnel needs of a 17-district region in the California desert where over 40% of their special education teachers had been employed without appropriate credentials. The program was designed to respond to the geographic and population (68% Hispanic) demographics of the region. Utilizing an alternative credential option (the Internship Credential), courses, extensive practica support, assistance and supervision, and continuing professional development opportunities were provided for teachers in this rural desert region. Preliminary results indicate that 70 teachers completed their Specialist Credential, and the retention rate of these professionals has been approximately 85%. It has been indicated, too, that coaches who provide extensive mentoring of Intern teachers during their two years of working toward full certification have favorable views of the program.

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This study addressed the rationale that teachers of students with emotional or behavioral disorders, specific learning disabilities, and moderate to severe academic difficulties offer for deviating from mathematics lesson scripts and the alternative procedures they use during script deviations. Results from analysis of interviews indicated that teachers deviated from lesson scripts so that lessons would become “their own” and they could employ their own personal style of delivery. However, when these instructors deviated from scripts, they primarily engaged in academic behaviors and delivered instruction using wording similar to the lesson scripts, and they maintained a similar style of lesson presentation. The rationales that teachers offered for engaging in script deviations were grouped into four distinct themes: student level of performance, set-up for success, prevention, and management. Teachers’ supplementary procedures were categorized into (a) academic and (b) disciplinary. This study provided insight into the thought processes that teachers engaged in as they considered script deviations and the methods they used to integrate effective instructional and management practices into their mathematics instruction.

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