ABSTRACT

For decades, school districts have relied on unlicensed teachers to fill vacancies in special education, leaving students with disabilities to receive educational services from individuals without the necessary preparation, resulting in inequitable educational opportunities. An emergency certification, granted in numerous states, allows unlicensed teachers to provide students’ instruction. We utilized teacher licensure data from a state education agency to examine the preparation pathways of emergency certified special educators in one Midwestern state. Through our descriptive analysis of 798 special educators, 62.5% obtained a full special education teaching license. Traditional educator preparation programs (50.4%) and alternative programs (48.9%) were completed at comparable rates, and special educators worked most frequently on an emergency certification for one year before obtaining full licensure. We provide implications for future research and practice to increase students’ access to qualified special educators.

摘要

几十年来，学区一直依靠无证教师来填补特殊教育的空缺，让残疾学生在没有必要准备的情况下接受个人的教育服务，导致教育机会不公平。许多州授予的紧急认证允许无证教师为学生提供指导。我们利用州教育机构的教师执照数据来检查中西部一个州的紧急认证特殊教育工作者的准备途径。通过我们对 798 名特殊教育工作者的描述性分析，62.5% 的人获得了完整的特殊教育教学许可。传统教育预备课程 (50.4%) 和替代课程 (48.9%) 的完成率相当，和特殊教育工作者在获得正式执照之前最频繁地工作了一年的紧急认证。我们为未来的研究和实践提供启示，以增加学生接触合格的特殊教育工作者的机会。