Preparing special education intern teachers remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to investigate the effectiveness of remote teacher preparation during the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically special education teachers participating at an Intern Credentialing Program in Northern California.In addition to remote teacher preparation, the study explored how intern teachers experienced delivering special services remotely, how they perceived the Intern Program prepared them compared to traditional programs, and how they experienced their preparation to become agents of change in public education. Data for this study was collected through field journals, surveys and interviews. The findings of this study revealed that Intern Teachers experienced remote Teacher Education as having more benefits than challenges, however the delivery of services to students with disabilities had more challenges than benefits. The interviews indicated that the Intern Teachers believe they are not well prepared to be agents of change.Implications of the study include recommendations to continue teacher education remotely, to develop a tool to determine student benefit from delivery of special services remotely, and to add to teacher education programs curriculum and activities that support diversity, inclusion, and belonging in the classroom through the frameworks of Emancipatory Pedagogies, Critical Race Theory, Culturally Relevant Pedagogy, Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy and Discrit. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Covid-19 Pandemisinin Otizm Spektrum Bozukluğu Olan Bireylerin Fiziksel Aktiviteye Katılımı Üzerindeki Etkileri: Yaşanmış Ebeveyn Deneyimleri

Türkiye'de olduǧu gibi, virüsün dünya çapında yayılmasını engellemek amacıyla neredeyse her ülkede katı acil durum önlemleri ve kısıtlamalar uygulanmıştır. Karahan ve diǧerleri (2021) ise OSB olan bireylerin ebeveynleri ile gerçekleştirilen görüşmeler doǧrultusunda, pandemi sürecinde 'problem davranışları ve baş etme deneyimleri' ile ilgili evde kalınan sürecin ebeveynler için zorlayıcı olduǧunu, OSB olan çocukların kendine zarar verme, agresif davranma ve kontrolsüz davranışlar sergiledikleri sonucuna ulaşmıştır. Amerikan Psikiyatri Derneǧi'nin (American Psychiatric Association, 2013) OSB tanımında;bu bireylerin ilgi alanlarının oldukça dar olduǧu, tekrarlayan davranışlarının bulunduǧu ve beklenmedik bir deǧişime ayak uydurmada oldukça zorlandıkları belirtilmektedir. Türkiye de kısıtlamaların devam ettiǧi süreçte, nüfusun önemli bir bölümünü oluşturan özel gereksinimli bireylerin ' durum belirtir belge' bulundurmaları şartıyla yanlarında refakatçi bir kişi ile birlikte sokaǧa belirli sürelerle çıkmalarına izin vermiştir.Alternate :Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic rapidly spread throughout the whole world and negatively affected individuals' participation in physical activity. In this context, the purpose of the research is to investigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the participation in physical activity of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) from the perspective of their parents. Method: Ten parents (6 mothers and 4 fathers) with children diagnosed with ASD constituted the sample group for the research designed by the phenomenological qualitative research method. A semi-structured interview form and a personal information form were used as data collection tools. The data analysis was performed using the content analysis method. Findings: In the direction of the findings obtained from the research, four inclusive themes were determined. These are a) the effects of the pandemic on life;b) the difficulties encountered during the period of the pandemic;c) the necessity of physical activity;and d) the changing events. Under these themes, there are 12 sub-themes in total. Discussion: The parents expressed that the practices performed for the sake of decreasing the propagation rate of the virus had negatively affected especially the education, parent relationships, and active lifestyles of children with ASD. According to the parents, the physical activity habits of children with ASD significantly changed, and usually, home-based events were performed during the restrictions. The parents specified that they had understood how extremely important the participation in physical activity of children with ASD was during the period of the pandemic.

MASK UP! Supporting Mask Wearing of Children With Extensive Support Needs

Since the reopening of schools after COVID-19, students and staff have been required to wear face masks. Some students, including those with extensive support needs (ESN), may have difficulty in wearing these novel protective garments. Fortunately, researchers have demonstrated the effectiveness of several procedures for supporting the wearing of similar equipment (e.g., glasses, hearing aids). In this paper, we draw upon the available research to propose a protocol for teaching students with ESN to put on and maintain the use of face masks.

Blind Special Education Students' Mathematics Psychology in the Pandemic: The Impact of Flipped Classroom Learning

Blind students' mathematics learning results during the Covid-19 epidemic will be examined in this research using a Flipped Classroom approach. This research makes use of a quasi-experimental approach that includes non-equivalent control groups. Blind kids in grades IV and V make up the study's population of 16 participants. Saturated sampling was used to collect the samples. Students in the experimental class are taught using the Flipped Classroom paradigm, while those in the control class are taught using a direct learning approach as a comparison. A p-value greater than 0.05 indicates that the data are normal and homogenous. The average of two unpaired samples from data is compared using the independent sample t-test. There is no H0 for a t-statistic of less than 0.05;if it is less than 0.05, it is not accepted. First, the Sig.t count (2-tailed) or the P-value are compared to make the first decision. After the second judgment, H0 is no longer a valid hypothesis. Learning arithmetic in a traditional classroom or without any treatment utilizing the Flipped Classroom methodology was shown to be less beneficial for blind pupils during the covid-19 outbreak © 2023, Journal for ReAttach Therapy and Developmental Diversities.All Rights Reserved.

Online versus traditional instruction: Teachers' perspectives on the challenges facing students with disabilities

As the need for virtual instruction increased due to the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers faced changes in the way they had to instruct students. This sudden change impacted the delivery of information by middle school teachers who had been accustomed to the traditional (face-to-face) method of instructing their students with disabilities. This study was designed to explore teachers' perspectives on the challenges facing middle school students with disabilities in a virtual classroom during the COVID-19 pandemic. Three research questions guided the study: (a) What were teachers' perspectives on their preparation to deliver virtual instruction? (b) What strategies were implemented to serve students with disabilities in the virtual classroom?(c) What were teachers' perspectives on the benefits and challenges of virtual instruction for students with disabilities? The researcher used data from a demographic survey and interview questions from 15 special education and regular elementary, middle, and high school teachers of students with disabilities to explore the teachers' perspectives on the transition from traditional instruction to virtual instruction. Three themes evolved: Professional Development/Training in technology and adapting virtual learning to students with disabilities, Strategies to better assist these students in virtual learning, and Challenges and Benefits of teachers' transition from traditional to virtual instruction. The results of this study showed a need for professional training to provide new strategies to assist educators as they transition from traditional to virtual instruction. The study also revealed that teachers faced challenges while instructing students virtually, although teachers acknowledged some benefits. Study implications were that teachers found the transition difficult and encountered many problems with their students not experienced in the traditional classroom. Further research is needed with larger populations to explore teachers' transitions from traditional to virtual instruction, their needs for professional development and training, and means of support for students with disabilities. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Virtual educational therapy: A case study of clinical supports and advocacy

A case study is a research approach that is used to generate an in-depth, multifaceted understanding of a complex issue in its real-life context. It is both time- and space-bound and is useful to explore, describe, and explain phenomena. It is an established research design that is used extensively in a wide variety of disciplines, particularly in the social sciences, including education. Many master's programs employ the case study methodology as the basis for the culminating project. The case study methodology is especially relevant to advancing "younger disciplines" such as educational therapy. Many do not understand the training and difference in approaches between an Educational Therapist and a tutor, so publishing case studies is crucial. This book presents a board-certified educational therapist's year-long case study of clinical supports and advocacy for a student with learning disabilities who is attending school remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic. With online and blended learning, now the norm in K-12 education, educational therapists need new models of intervention, treatment, and relationship-building for their child-age clients. The book offers detailed single-case research focused on a middle-school student who is learning virtually while challenged with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder as well as visual and verbal memory issues, but who is nonetheless found ineligible for special education services. Across eight chapters, the book describes the neuropsychological principles, research-based techniques, personal interactions, clinical approaches, and advocacy efforts that led to a vulnerable student's significant gains in academic skills and outcomes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Mothers As New Teachers During The COVID-19 Pandemic: Challenges and Opportunities

COVID-19, as a global pandemic, has generated extreme disruptions and challenges worldwide in social, economic, healthcare, and educational sys-tems. To reduce the virus's transmission, education systems moved to remote learning in the spring of 2020, with little to no time for preparation. This paper examines the educational experiences of parents of students with disabilities whose children attended PreK-6th public schools in the US during the COVID-19 pandemic using a Disability Studies in Education theoretical framework. In this qualitative phenomenological study, we interviewed 15 mothers of students with disabilities on Zoom. Using constant-comparative data analysis, we identified a theme revealing mothers' new identities as teachers of their children with disabilities at home, which brought unique challenges and opportunities. The mothers' challenges were related to the school's overreliance on them in remote learning, balancing multiple responsibilities, the need to re-learn academic content and new technology, and the colli-sion of teacher and mom identities and school and home boundaries. These challenges strained mother-child relationships and negatively influenced the mothers' mental health and well-being. However, their new identity as new teachers also generated new opportunities. Particularly, remote learning made school practices transparent, and mothers reconceptualized their children's abilities and realized their competence for learning. © 2022 Authors.

Students' Attitude to Distance Learning as a Component of Their Mobility

The presented article examines the problem of students' readiness to distance learning from the point of view of developing their mobility, as a priority characteristic of a modern specialist. The relevance of the problem is due to the processes of informatization of education as a modern trend in the development of education and the rapid introduction of distance learning in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic. In this context, mobility is a significant quality of a specialist's personality, which is manifested in readiness for various spatial movements and adaptation to different situations. The article presents the results of an empirical study of students of specialty 016 Special education, based on the results of an online survey. The results of the study showed the predominance of positive attitude of students to distance learning, the main advantages of which are convenience, time savings and the ability to get an education at home. The main disadvantage, in addition to poor-quality internet connection, is the lack of live communication, which is also the main need of students. Despite the positive assessment of distance learning, students do not consider it as high-quality and do not want to teach children with special educational needs remotely. In order to form students' readiness towards distance learning and remote work, it is advisable to define the formation of mobility as the quality of a specialist in the process of professional training, since distance or blended learning is a modern form of education and has a significant potential for further development.

An Action Research Study of Using Group-Based Remote Learning with ESL High School Students in English Language Arts

At the time of writing, New York City high schools had been working remotely for a year, with educators facing some great challenges. Working remotely marked a significant difference in the way we teach and the way our students learn. Classroom spaces were no longer room numbers on doors;they were virtual meeting room numbers on platforms like Teams or Google Classroom, and they were accessible from anywhere by Wi-Fi. According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO, 2020), school closures caused by the Covid-19 pandemic affected over 1.5 billion students and families. The Covid-19 pandemic presented multiple challenges for teaching students with English as a second language in an online instructional environment, but also opportunities for collaboration, training, and communication for inclusive educators to strive to meet the needs of their students. This article addresses the following teacher-researcher questions: 1) What opportunities do I find most rewarding teaching in an online environment to students for whom English is a second language? 2) What do I find to be most challenging teaching English second language (ESL) students in the online context? 3) How can media play a part in online teaching and learning, and how do students respond to online learning with these mixed media platforms? 4) What recommendations can be offered to other inclusive educators who are teaching online? The researcher discusses the methodological approach used to conduct the research, using methods including surveys and field notes. Further research conducted was based on the researcher's journal of field notes kept throughout teaching a unit titled "Beowulf.” An analysis of student assessment data is also provided to show progress, where applicable, for one class of English Second Language students.

Exploring the Effect of Remote Teaching on Preservice Special Education Teachers Motivation During COVID-19 Pandemic

The study aimed to explore the impact of remote teaching on the motivation towards learning of special education students in a private university in the UAE. The researchers administered a 22-item questionnaire to 150 special education students and analyzed the data collected to determine the level of their motivation towards remote teaching. The results of the study revealed that the motivation of special education students towards remote teaching was moderate. The study also found that there was no significant difference in motivation levels based on gender, academic year, and job status. The findings of this study can be beneficial for designing and implementing teacher education programs that cater to the needs of special education students. Furthermore, the study provides valuable insights into the effective use of remote teaching in special education. The implications of the study suggest that educators need to develop specific strategies to increase the motivation of special education students towards remote learning. For example, educators may consider the use of interactive and engaging teaching methods, such as gamification or multimedia tools, to increase student engagement and motivation. Finally, the study recommends further research to explore the impact of remote teaching on the academic performance of special education students. Further research can help to identify effective teaching strategies that can enhance student learning outcomes and contribute to the development of effective teacher training programs. © 2023 Otjivanda Presse.Essen. All rights reserved.

Special educators' use of culturally responsive family-professional partnership practices with refugee families

Refugee families who have children with disabilities encounter numerous systemic barriers that impact their opportunities to partner with schools and special educators. This study explored early childhood special education and elementary special education teachers use of culturally responsive family-professional partnership practices with refugee families and the impact of current events (e.g. political and immigration rhetoric and COVID-19) on special educators' partnerships with refugee families. Fourteen special educators who taught students in early childhood (n = 8) or elementary (n = 6) levels and worked with at least one student whose family was from a refugee background in the past five years completed an online questionnaire. Nine special educators also engaged in semi-structured interviews to obtain input on their experiences supporting refugee families before and during Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings. First, the data highlighted contextual factors, such as teachers' understanding of families' backgrounds, teachers' perceptions of families' experiences in special education, and access to interpreters, that highlighted the need for family-professional partnerships. Second, teachers reported high rates of using family-professional partnership practices with refugee families but reported lower rates of helping refugee families gain skills and information to assist their child in their special education programming. Third, teachers shared strategies that they used before and during IEP meetings to engage and partner with refugee families. Fourth, teachers discussed how changes to immigration laws and rhetoric had minimal impact on their partnerships with refugee families, but there was significant impact on partnerships due to COVID-19. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Translating School Faculty Experiences Using PBIS into Recommendations for Practice.

Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is a behaviorally based framework that seeks to improve student outcomes in schools. This framework is implemented at differing levels of intensity within a school based on students' unique needs. Special education teachers and school psychologists are integral pieces of PBIS implementation. Within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, these service providers may face unique challenges in implementing PBIS principles in schools, particularly due to new or adapted role demands and increased feelings of burnout. The current study examined special education teachers' and school psychologists' perceptions of their schools' practices related to PBIS in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic within five dimensions of understanding and school-based support, as well as overall satisfaction with PBIS in their school. Opportunities for professional development and the presence of PBIS teams emerged as major contributors to faculty satisfaction; however, only about half of participants indicated access to these resources. Special education teachers indicated higher levels of satisfaction with their administrative support and school communication practices when compared to school psychologists. Best practices and reflections from interview participants are discussed.

Special Education Evaluation Considerations in a Post-pandemic Era.

While disruptions to typical education, special education, and psycho-educational service delivery practices in response to the COVID-19 pandemic have dissipated, their impact magnified educational systems' overreliance on evaluations to determine eligibility for special education and related services. Given that the potential for future disruptions is now ever-present, it is imperative that service providers learn from these recent experiences to improve typical policies, procedures, and practices under normal service delivery circumstances as well as to respond efficiently and effectively to any future disruptions, should they arise. To this end, this work presents several reminders and considerations for multidisciplinary teams related to assessment, testing, special education evaluations, and closely related processes exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Stakeholder perspectives of adaptations of a burnout intervention for special education teachers

The high attrition and turnover rates of qualified special education teachers (SETs) is a significant concern exacerbated by COVID-19. Unfortunately, there are limited studies available on research-based interventions to decrease burnout. The purpose of this study was to describe our processes and results for adaptations and modifications of BREATHE, a burnout intervention originally developed for community mental health workers, into Burnout Reduction: Enhanced Awareness, Tools, Handouts, and Education: Evidence-based Activities for Stress for Educators (BREATHE-EASE) for special educators with guidance from the Framework for Reporting Adaptation and Modifications to Evidence-Based Interventions (FRAME). We applied the FRAME within a hybrid Type 1 trial for characterizing our approach. Four focus groups (N = 30;83% female) were conducted separately according to job title (SETs;school administrators), with semi-structured questions tailored to each group. Emergent thematic analysis was used to identify core themes related to adaptations, and results were presented to a subset of focus group members. Modifications involved content, context, and implementation changes for the adapted intervention, with most changes identified for content. FRAME was helpful for providing a systematic approach to integrate stakeholder-informed adaptations of a burnout intervention, addressing significant concerns of SET stress, burnout, and attrition.

Inclusive Education of Children and Youth in the First Year of Covid-19 Pandemic: Integrative Review

In order to identify the knowledge produced on inclusive education and the COVID-19 pandemic, we carried out an integrative literature review, with 22 articles, from 23 databases such as OneFile, PubMed, Web of Science, Sage Journals and Medline, published from January 2020 to January 2021. The pandemic revealed challenges such as lack of internet access, use of technologies, adapting activities to students with disabilities and limited support for children and caregivers. Negative impacts of isolation and lack of school environment reflect on future psychological and social problems. Adaptations in education systems and the development of pedagogical responses must be urgent due to the impacts on the learning and health of children and their caregivers.

The State of Childcare: Exploring Childcare Center Directors' Perceptions on the Past, Present, and Future

The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine childcare directors' perceptions of the state of childcare centers throughout southwest Ohio. Seventeen directors were surveyed regarding the changes they have witnessed over the past decade, and how they envision the future of childcare. The results indicated that the childcare field has experienced many challenging issues such as, teacher retention, a lack of professionalism, and an increase in children's behavior problems. In addition, directors discussed the need for higher pay and incentives to attract (and keep) qualified teachers. With added requirements from Ohio's Quality Rating Improvement System (QRIS), program directors were feeling overwhelmed and stressed. The COVID-19 pandemic also put a significant financial strain on programs, however, some directors believed that the pandemic also helped to recognize the importance of childcare. The article concludes with recommendations for the future, and possible strategies to address the concerns discussed by the directors.

Childcare Directors' Perceptions of the Past Decade and What the Future Holds

In an effort to learn more about childcare directors' perceptions, this study surveyed seventeen directors in southwest Ohio. The participants were asked about specific challenges they have experienced over the last decade, and how they envision the future of childcare. The results revealed that the topics most commonly discussed by directors were related to teacher shortages, retention of staff, and an increase in children's behavior problems. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated many of the issues mentioned by directors, especially with the addition of new state, federal, and licensing requirements. Many also feared the permanent closure of centers due to financial strains and a lack of resources at the state and federal level. The article concludes with implications for childcare directors to be able to move forward and continue providing high-quality care and education for children and families.

Professional development, learning and innovation in the peru's special education

This paper presents results of the exploratory phase of a study carried out in Peru between November 2021 and July 2022 with teachers who attend the modality called special education. The aim of the study was to know the aspects that these teachers accentuate as characteristic of their work as carried out under the conditions of distance-learning imposed by COVID-19. The study included a review of specialized literature on the subject, as well as the response given by 90 teachers to three open questions integrated into a digital questionnaire that was applied through Google Forms. The analysis of the information obtained allowed the authors to identify three units of meaning on which the responses were concentrated: training needs, the construction of new learnings, and the implementation of innovative practices. The findings are substantial to continue with inquiries about training processes, practical learning, and innovative solutions that allow special education teachers to have the necessary conceptual and procedural tools. Likewise, by recovering first-hand information that reveals problems that are currently faced by teachers, the study adds to the debate about how to respond to the students enrolled in this educational modality. © 2022, Associacao Iberica de Sistemas e Tecnologias de Informacao. All rights reserved.

Re-setting special education for justice: An essay on the logics and infrastructure enabling deep change in the COVID-19-era

COVID-19 shocked the education system, disrupting the policies and practices of special education over multiple school years. This essay brings together the institutional logics perspective and racialized organization theory to first examine aspects of special education and then describe how leaders and teachers can improve special education to target inequities. We illustrate features of three logics of special education: compliance, intervention, and equity. We explain how these logics are racialized structures in the special education field. Applying an agentic stance, we portray how leaders and teachers draw on multiple, competing logics of special education. Next, we highlight how infrastructure enables leaders and teachers to enact the equity model of special education. In sum, this essay encourages improving infrastructural elements and confronting racism and ableism to re-envision special education in the face of COVID-disruptions.

Using extant data to examine the lived experience of special education teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic: Coping, resilience, and changes to level of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment to determine teacher burnout occurrence level

Title: Examining the Lived Experiences of Special Education Teachers During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Coping, Resilience, and Changes to Level of Emotional Exhaustion, Depersonalization, and Personal Accomplishment to Determine Teacher Burnout Occurrence LevelTeacher burnout has become a prevalent issue in the public school system in the United States. Research about special education teacher burnout is lacking and virtually no research exists on how teachers of students with disabilities manage job-related stress. This exploratory study examines the perspectives of 18 teachers of students with disabilities and their stress-related coping strategies which incidentally occurred during a global health crisis through a mixed-method research approach (i.e., qualitative and quantitative). Specifically, the study explores teacher stress and teacher burnout (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment) as well as coping strategies, resources, and resilience. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)