Republication of “NCLB and the Demand for Highly Qualified Teachers: Challenges and Solutions for Rural Schools”

Abstract

Teacher shortages in special education have been a source of long-standing concern for professionals and parents involved in the education of students with disabilities. Because of their geographic location, culture, and lack of resources, rural administrators have always struggled to staff their schools with qualified special education teachers. No Child Left Behind and its definition of highly qualified teachers present new challenges to rural district administrators attempting to secure adequate numbers of special education teachers. In this article, we outline the challenges rural administrators face in reducing special education teacher shortages, present strategies being used nationally and regionally to reduce strategies, and critique those strategies. We conclude our article by advocating for a more comprehensive approach to solving teacher supply and demand problems, one that is driven by personnel data.

Investigating special education teachers knowledge and skills: Preparing general teacher preparation for professional development

“…Further, the interviewees also indicated that these dispositions often led to student advocacy. Advocacy was reflected in their stated commitment to finding outside resources for students; this supports the idea that special (and general) educators will need to be successful with multiple roles to be effective with all students (Brownell et al, 2018).…”

“…However, federally mandated changes created a call for 'highly qualified teachers.' This generated a pressure to educate teacher candidates in a 'one-size-fits-all' manner which did not allow for the diverse thinking required to meet the needs of classrooms full of students who do not fit the standardized norm (Brownell, Bishop, & Sindelar, 2018;Kent & Giles, 2016). Exacerbating this issue was the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).…”

Banishing “Siberia” and Student Seclusion: Leading Trauma-Informed Systems Change in a Rural School

“…Responsibilities that would usually fall to an assistant principal, a school nurse, a school social worker, or a guidance counselor may be spread among staff or between the principal and their administrative assistant. Therefore, faculty and school leaders are often stretched thin within the context of their school’s organizational and student needs (Brownell et al, 2018).…”

Taşimali Eği̇ti̇mle Öğreni̇m Gören Öğrenci̇leri̇n Başarilarina İli̇şki̇n Eği̇ti̇mci̇leri̇n Görüşleri̇

“…(Sindelar, Pua, Fisher, Peyton, Brownell ve Mason Williams, 2018). Bunun sonucunda da kırsal bölgede eğitim alan öğrencilerin problemleri artabilmektedir (Brownell, Bishop ve Sindelar, 2018). Bu bölgelerde yaşayan öğrencilere eşit eğitim-öğretim şansının sağlanması için kaynaklara ulaşabilmeleri ya da onlardan yararlanabilmeleri amacıyla (Kaya ve Aksu, 2009), hizmet sağlayıcılar yatılılık ve pansiyon hizmetleri sunma, taşımalı eğitim uygulaması gibi birtakım yöntemlere başvurmaktadırlar (Kefeli, 2005).Bu yöntemlerden biri olan taşımalı eğitimde; okulu bulunmayan, çeşitli nedenlerle okulu eğitim-öğretime kapalı, birleştirilmiş sınıf uygulaması yapan ilköğretim okullarındaki öğrencilerin, taşıma merkezi ilköğretim okullarına günü birlik taşınarak kaliteli bir eğitim-öğretim görmelerini sağlama yollarından biridir (MEB, 2000:3).…”