WhatdoHighQualitySpecialEducationTeachersKnowandDo.pdfVIP

What do High Quality Special Education Teachers Know and Do to Improve Reading Achievement? Mary Brownell and Diane Haager Center for Personnel Studies in Special Education University of Florida 1 Our Research Team ? Anne Bishop ? Janette Klingner ? Shailaja Menon ? Randy Penfield ? Russell Gersten ? Joseph Dimino ? Mary Dingle ? Michelle Windmueller 2 Why Study Teacher Quality? . Research demonstrates that teachers make a difference: – Some teachers secure better student achievement gains than others (Ross, Stringfield, Sanders, Wright, 2003) – Explicit, engaging literacy instruction within a literature rich context makes a difference (Pressley Allington, 1998) – More subject matter knowledge and stronger verbal ability makes a difference in student achievement (Darling-Hammond, 1999; Rice, 2003) 3 Why Study Teacher Quality? . Research demonstrates that teachers make a difference: – Certain literacy practices are linked to the learning of 1st grade students (Haager, Gersten, Baker, Graves, 2003; Scanlon et al., 2005) – Pedagogical content knowledge linked to student achievement gains in mathematics and reading (Phelps, 2006; Rowan, 2001) 4 Teacher Quality Research in Special Education What do we need? . A richer conceptualization of teacher quality in special education . Valid and reliable measurement that can be used to assess the dimensions of teacher quality . Studies linking dimensions of special education teacher quality to each other and student achievement 5 Teacher Quality Research in Special Education Why is this important? . In a policy context that emphas