An Exploratory Study into the Perceptions of Special Education Instructional Coaches on Their Roles of Retaining Alternative Licensure Special Educators

Overview & Synopsis

This is an exploratory study to examine the perceptions of special education instructional coaches on their role in retaining alternative licensure special education teachers. As public education is an area experiencing hard to fill open positions for special education teachers, many districts are hiring special education teachers on alternative license. There is little research to demonstrate the role and impact of instructional coaching in special education to retain the special education teachers who have alternative license to be able to teach in the classroom setting. This is a multiple-case study conducted among special education instructional coaches in Colorado. The main focus of the research questions is to first understand the perceptions of instructional coaches on how to support and retain alternative licensure special education teachers and then to understand the beliefs of special education instructional coaches have about the preparation standards delivered through alternative licensure programs at the university level. The results of this qualitative study demonstrate that instructional coaches who support novice alternative license special education teachers share a passion for their profession. The study identified that this specific group of new teachers needs layers of support upon entering the classroom and more connections are needed between the alternative license programs in higher education and the public school districts. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]