Kenneth Luterbach

The Predictive Validity of Measures of Teacher Candidate Programs and Performance: Toward an Evidence-Based Approach to Teacher Preparation

Calls for evidence-based reform of teacher preparation programs (TPPs) suggest the question: Do the current indicators of progress and performance used by TPPs predict effectiveness of their graduates when they become teachers? In this study, the indicators of progress and performance used by one program are examined for their ability to predict value-added scores of program graduates. The study finds that rating instruments, including disposition surveys, clinical practice observation ratings, and portfolio assessments, each measure a single underlying dimension rather than the multiple constructs they were designed to measure. Neither these instruments nor teacher candidates’ scores on standardized exams predict their later effectiveness in the classroom based on value-added models of student achievement. Candidates’ grade point averages during their preparation program and number of math courses were positively associated with their students’ math score gains. These findings suggest a need for better instruments to measure prospective teachers’ progress toward proficiency.

Instructional Uses of Podcasting in Online Learning Environments: A Cooperative Inquiry Study

A report on the results of a year-long cooperative inquiry study in which 11 faculty members at a southeastern university examined their various uses of podcasting for instruction. Through participation in the study, members developed insights into what technologies are most commonly applied to the task of podcast production and dissemination as well as instructional purposes and tasks commonly addressed when using podcasting as a teaching strategy. The benefits of using podcasting instead of traditional text-based media were explored. The group discovered the faculty members involved were making use of 4 distinct podcasting technologies to apply 8 discrete instructional strategies.

Special Education Today in Guatemala

Abstract Special education in Guatemala started in the 1940s with the establishment of schools for the blind. While there is a relatively large population of persons with disabilities, the country has an insufficient number of educational and rehabilitation programs because the country is very impoverished. Guatemala has enacted a number of disability laws in the 1990s and early 2000s that enable persons with disabilities to participate in educational services to develop their capabilities and to deter discrimination. The government has three categories of disability, namely, physical, sensory, and intellectual. Most of the special education schools and rehabilitation workshops are in the capital city with few programs in rural areas. Many children with special education needs do not attend school. The government offers public service to families of children with disabilities. In the 1980s, the government formed partnerships with United States universities to help develop service plans for students with disabilities as well as train school personnel in effective instructional methods due to a shortage of licensed teachers. While special education is improving it has a long way to go.

Doctoral Programs in Special Education

Today we begin in earnest the work of making sure that the world we leave our children is just a little bit better than the one we inhabit today. President Barack Obama Individuals involved in the education of children with special needs are concerned about the shortage of personnel in higher education in the field of exceptionality. This has been true for the past quarter century. In the early 1990s, researchers had noted that for over a decade, authorities in the field of special education have been shouting out loud about the shortage of, and need for, personnel in special education (Sindelar, Buck, Carpenter, and Wantanabe 1993; Smith and Pierce 1995). Calls for attention to this issue continue today. Wasburn-Moses (2008) stated: “despite the growing demand for professionals with doctoral degrees in special education, doctoral programs are not producing enough graduates to fulfill this need” (p. 259). Addition–ally, educators are equally concerned about the quality and design of doctoral special education programs across the United States. As the number of children with special needs continues to increase, school districts must respond to the needs of teaching and preparing these young individuals for society.