Special education teacher preparation programs are now expected to prepare special education teachers to work in a variety of settings, teach a variety of contents, and a variety of students with disabilities, including those with severe disabilities. Scholars have argued that for individuals with severe learning needs, the acquisition of literacy skills goes beyond mandated access to general education curriculum– arguing instead that acquiring literacy skills is a quality of life issue. Although some work has been done to identify evidenced-based practices for teaching students with severe needs, including literacy skills, the research to practice gap is well documented. Importantly, there has been little emphasis on examining preservice teacher preparation that prepares teachers to meet the academic and social learning needs of these students. Teacher education programs are under increasing pressure to demonstrate the importance of preservice preparation. Thus, the purpose of this study is to examine the various influences, processes and extent of special education preservice teachers’ appropriation of pedagogical tools for teaching reading to students with moderate to severe disabilities within the context of reading methods and instructional strategies courses paired with a field experience. This study will document which components of this experience influenced preservice special education teachers’ adoption of pedagogical tools for meeting the literacy needs of school-aged students with severe disabilities.
Qualitative data included interviews with preservice teachers, course instructors, and field supervisors, as well as course artifacts data and field notes. Data were analyzed using grounded theory. Qualitative findings revealed that course and field experiences afforded preservice special education teachers access to both conceptual tools and pedagogical tools. During coursework, concepts related to evidence-based literacy instruction for students with moderate to severe disabilities were covered. In addition, conceptual tools such as the belief that every student can learn and every student deserves a functional communication system were communicated by course instructors. Practical tools such as assessing communication needs and goal setting were introduced. Notably, while all preservice special education teachers had access to tool introduction, findings suggest that individual factors interacted with contextual factors to influence preservice special education teachers’ appropriation of pedagogical tools. Preservice special education teachers varied on individual factors such as reflexivity, career direction, motivation, and prior experience with students with significant needs. Contextual factors included relationships with mentor teachers, classroom schedules, instructional practices, and on-site coaching and feedback from course instructors and field supervisors. The majority of preservice teachers adopted tools at a medium-high range, which suggests that coursework coupled with field experiences equipped the vast majority of preservice special education teachers with knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed to serve students with significant needs in the future.