Using low-intensity strategies to support engagement: practical applications in remote learning environments for teachers and families

In this introductory article, we explain the rationale for this special issue: to provide educators and families with effective, practical strategies to increase student engagement and minimize disruption in remote, in person, and hybrid learning environments. We offer this special issue out of respect for the complexities educators and families face in maintaining continuous learning for students during ongoing COVID related school disruptions. We recognize the emotional well-being of today's educators, family members, and students must be prioritized as we collaborate to mitigate learning loss during this tumultuous time in history. We attempt to meet a need for educators and family members–providing effective, feasible tools–as they strive to engage students using online or remote technologies and navigate the often-turning tides in the COVID era. Therefore, we adapted traditionally in-person use of these strategies (i.e., behavior-specific praise, precorrection, active supervision, and instructional choice) to apply to remote learning. These strategies are often incorporated as foundational elements of tiered systems of support such as Comprehensive, Integrated, Three-tiered (Ci3T) models of prevention and can be used by teachers and families in schools without tiered systems in place. © 2023 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Working Conditions and Burnout of Special Educators of Students With EBD: Longitudinal Outcomes

Special education teacher (SET) burnout is a significant concern, especially for SETs serving students with emotional–behavioral disorders (EBD), as they tend to experience higher burnout than other teachers. Working conditions, especially social support, have the potential to ameliorate burnout, but prior research has not articulated the sources and types of social support that are most important. The authors conducted a longitudinal study, surveying 230 SETs serving students with EBD at three time points across one school year. Data revealed administrative support, adequacy of planning time, and autonomy in fall predicted emotional exhaustion and personal accomplishment in winter and spring. Associations between working conditions and burnout components were partially mediated by SETs' perceptions of workload manageability. SET change in well-being due to COVID-19 during the early months of the pandemic was not associated with burnout. The authors discuss implications, limitations, and directions for future inquiry. © 2022 Teacher Education Division of the Council for Exceptional Children.