Bridging Transition for Beginning Special Educators

1. Bridging Transition for Beginning Special Educators Dissertation Study Wendy Wall-Marencik School of Education Indiana University March 4, 2011

2. Motivation • Attrition in Special Education • Challenging Roles in SPED • Limited Support for Student Teachers in the Teaching All Learners Program (TAL)(p. 71) • Development of a Student Teaching Seminar (p.72) • Integration of Developmental Psychology

3. Purpose To conduct an extensive examination of transitional development, coping resources and interventions for student teachers for the purpose of enhancing preparation, self-efficacy and adjustment into professional teaching positions in special education.

4. Research Questions • (1) What are common developmental patterns of transition during student teaching for pre-service special educators? • (2) In what ways do these developmental patterns of transition differ in special education placements when compared to general education placements?

5. Research Questions • (3) Does teacher self-efficacy for special education student teachers change as they develop during student teaching and into their induction year, and in what ways do they describe the practice of self-appraisal contributing to their teaching efficacy and adjustment? • (4) What aspects of a web-based seminar employing a transitional theoretical framework do special education student teachers identify as helpful in their development in student teaching and in later adjustment during their induction year?

6. Literature Review • Adjustment Challenges in Special Education (Brownell, 2004; Carter & Scruggs, 2001; Gersten et al., 2001; Mastropieri, 2001) • Induction Support, Strategies and Barriers (Bay & Parker-Katz, 2009; Billingsley, 2004; Smith & Ingersoll, 2004; White & Mason, 2006) • Fieldwork and Student Teaching (Cochran-Smith & Ziechner, 2005; Conderman et al., 2005; Connelly & Graham, 2009; Prater & Sileo, 2004) • Seminars for Fieldwork Support (Brockbank et al., 2002; Meyer & Sawyer, 2006; Mueller, 2003; Nagle, 2009; Stamatoplos, 2009) • Appraisal Theory (Bauer et al., 2007; Scherer, 1999) • Transition Theory (Fouad & Bynner, 2008; Schlossberg, 2005; Wendlandt & Rochlen, 2008)

7. Appraisal Theory • Ability to appraise MOST related to adjustment for newcomer socialization (Bauer, Bodner, Erdogen, Truxillo & Tucker, 2007). • Two types of appraisal • Primary: positive or negative effect on the individual. • Secondary: ability to cope with consequences of the event (Scherer, 1999).

8. Transition Theory • An individual needs to approach transition as a process of moving in, through, and out of a change and take stock of potential resources. • Developmental process: “ A transition is a transition only if it is so defined by the person experiencing it.” (Schlossberg, 1995)

9. Transition Theory(p.32)

10. Student Teaching Seminar • Increase mentoring support for student teachers in special education (TAL) during transition • Access to familiar university instructors • Adaptation of learned skills • Interactive support for student teachers, supervising teacher and university supervisors with issues in special education. • Development of skills in personal and professional appraisal, reflection, goal setting, communication and network building to improve self-efficacy and adjustment.

11. Pilot of the Seminar 4 S’s (Schlossberg Model) • SITUATION • SELF • SUPPORT • STRATEGIES “ Asset AAs Added S’s (Wall-Marencik revision) • SKILLS • SATISFACTION Appraisals”

12. Adapted Transition Model for Student Teaching Transition The Individual Transition Coping Resources-6S’s Appraising Assets (Coping Resources) • Education StudentStudent Teacher Professional Teacher SITUATION STUDENT TEACHING SEMINAR SATISFACTION SUPPORT SKILLS STRATEGIES SELF Adapted from Schlossberg (1995) Revised Wall-Marencik (2009)

13. Student Seminar Components • Coordinated with student teaching office • Two university instructors (facilitators) • Web-based seminar • Weekly Appraisal of Assets (AA) • Five Essential Experiences (EE) • Two community gatherings

14. Special Education Student Teaching Model Special Education Facilitator Support Collaborative Professional Development Supervising Teacher University Supervisor Student Teaching Triad Student Teacher Student Teacher Special Education Facilitator and Cohort Support Wall-Marencik, 2010 (Direct and Frequent Mentoring)

15. Participants • Purposeful sampling • Thirty-six student teachers from TAL • Informed consent • Evaluated during student teaching and in the middle of induction year as special education teachers (reduction in participants)

16. Methodology • Multilevel mixed methodology (Symonds & Gorrand, 2010) • Concurrent and sequential (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2007) • Two waves • Wave One: During the 16 week student teaching experience. • Wave Two: In the middle of the induction year • Triangulation

17. Triangulation and Concurrent Design Model Examining VariablesMethodologyMeasures

18. Data AnalysisQuantitative • Demographic variable (frequency) • Repeated measure of teacher self-efficacy scale (Repeated measure ANOVA) • Comparative analysis of AA ratings between general education and special education placements (Paired Sample T-tests) • Descriptive analysis of Occupational Adjustment

19. Data AnalysisQualitative • Explanatory descriptive analysis of narrative data from AA, EE and seminar evaluation for themes focused on transitional and developmental experiences and coping resources. • Interview data and observational data from four participant case studies

20. Integration and Triangulation • Separate analysis • Merging data (complementary, divergent and alternative patterns) • Triangulate data (juxtaposing with confirmation or confounding data) • Transform (interpretation, visual representation) • Conceptual (answer research questions) • Weighted (influence of elements)

21. Preliminary Quantitative Data

22. Teaching Status

23. Location (In/Out of State)

24. Teaching Self Efficacy(Repeated Measure Mean Subscores)SE=Student Engmt, IS=Instructional Str, CM=Classroom Mgmt Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk Hoy, 2001

25. Teaching Self-Efficacy Significance

26. Other Qualtitative • Asset Appraisal Comparison • Occupational Stress Inventory (packet)

27. Preliminary Qualitative Data • Asset Appraisal Data (packet) • Essential Experience • Seminar Surveys (packet) • Case Studies

28. Limitations • Limited and homogenous sample limits generalization and minimizes statistical power of the quantitative results • Self-reporting limits generalization and external validity • Researcher bias in dual role

29. Future Research After completion of my dissertation I would like to…. -Conduct a third wave providing longitudinal data on attrition rates three years later. -Experimental investigation of the seminar model with a control group. -Examine develop of cooperating teacher role -Replicate this study with larger and more diverse populations of student teachers. -Investigate the Caribbean

30. References Bauer, T.N., Bodner, T., Erdogan, B. & Truxillo, D. (2007). Newcomer adjustment during organizational socialization: A meta-analytical review of antecedents, outcomes and methods. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92 (3), 707-721. Creswell, J.W., & Plano Clark, V.L. (2007). Designing and conducting mixed method research. Thousand Oaks, CA/London: Sage. Billingsley, B. S. (2004). Promoting teacher quality and retention in special education. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 37(5), 370-376. Gersten, R., Keating, T., Yovanoff, P., & Harniss, M.K. (2001). Working in special education: Factors that enhance special educators’ intent to stay. Exceptional Children, 67(4), 549-567 Scherer, K. R. (1999). Appraisal Theory. Handbook of Cognition and Emotion. Edited by T. Dalgleish and Power. John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Schlossberg, N.K., Water, E.B. & Goodman, J. (1995). Counseling adults in transition: Linking practice with theory (2nd Ed.). Springer Publishing Co. New York, New York. Symonds J. E. & Gorard S. (2010). Death of mixed methods? Or rebirth of research as a craft. Evaluation & Research in Education, 23(2), 121-136. Tschannen-Moran, M., & Woolfolk Hoy, A. (2001). Teacher efficacy: Capturing and elusive construct. Teaching and Teacher Education, 17, 783-805.