Supporting rural special educators working toward licensure: Creation of virtual professional development
Wilkerson, Kimber L. Olsen, Rebekka Leko, Melinda M. Ruppar, Andrea Dai, Rui
Wilkerson, Kimber L.
Olsen, Rebekka
Leko, Melinda M.
Ruppar, Andrea
Dai, Rui
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Original Date
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Issue Date
2025-02-13
Type
Article
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Keywords
Professional/staff development,Personnel preparation,Recruitment/retention,Rural,Education
Subjects (LCSH)
Citation
Wilkerson, K. L., Olsen, R., Leko, M. M., Ruppar, A., & Dai, R. (2025). Supporting Rural Special Educators Working Toward Licensure: Creation of Virtual Professional Development. Rural Special Education Quarterly, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/87568705251318372
Abstract
The article describes a promising new, fully virtual, multicomponent professional development intervention to support special education teachers in rural schools who enter the profession without full state licensure. The intervention seeks to strengthen special educators’ self-efficacy in relation to classroom and behavior management, and their desire to stay in the profession, by focusing on three specific special education high-leverage practices. The iterative design and development process was completed over three school years with diverse stakeholders, culminating in a feasibility trial and demonstration of the intervention’s promise of effectiveness. The 6-month intervention, which includes virtual coaching and an online community of practice, and is accompanied by a website for resources, is designed to reduce attrition among rural special educators who are not fully licensed, increase their skills, and ultimately result in higher engagement for the students with disabilities who they serve.
Table of Contents
Description
Open access
Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Journal
Rural Special Education Quarterly
Book Title
Series
Digital Collection
Finding Aid URL
Use and Reproduction
Archival Collection
PubMed ID
ISSN
8756-8705
2168-8605
2168-8605