A Promising Practice: Low Incidence Teacher Education in Rural and Remote California

Rural Special Education Quarterly, Summer 2005 by Larwood, Lou

Program Efficacy and Evaluation

The distance learning option in the SJSU Program is still in its evolutionary stages. In May 2005, the first groups of distance learning teacher candidates will have completed the Deaf Education Credential Program. A survey was given to distance teacher candidates upon exiting the program. Ninety percent of the distance teacher candidates expressed concern about the absence of ongoing administrative understanding and support of low incidence students' needs in remote locations in northern California. Rural employers conversely expressed a high level of satisfaction of being able to fill the positions of low incidence teachers of deaf and hard of hearing. Rural employers expressed the need for a larger resource of teacher mentors who understand deafness to support and help novice teachers entering the profession. The SJSU Deaf Education Credential Program is going to address these needs in the coming year 2005-2006 academic year by providing professional mentor training with Dr. Laura Lipton and Miravia, Inc. All mentors and program administrators will go through a four-day training regarding the vast and individual needs of new teachers. All employers expressed a high level of commitment and interest in completing the training that will take place in Fall 2005 at San Jose State University. The advantage of providing this type of professional development would be a means to prevent further teacher attrition for these hard go fill jobs and provide comprehensive support and teacher induction programs that motivate and inspire new teachers to remain in the classroom.

Next Steps

Retention rates of the campus based and distance learning teachers will be surveyed after the first, third and fifth year following the Mentoring Training. Surveys will inquire about the quality and quantity of mentoring and support during the first five years on the job. As a result of this project and inquiry, rural employers have already requested support for the following in the upcoming years: (1) how to access low incidence funding more effectively, (2) resources for alternative fiscal support for programs that are impoverished with lack of technology and materials and, (3) how to develop a regional support system after the program is completed for rural teachers so that attrition is reduced. The impact on rural regions is far different from those of urban areas. There will continue to be a need for teachers of the deaf and accessibility to teacher training programs in order to provide highly qualified teachers and retain them over time (Collins, Hawkins, Keramidas, McLaren, Schuster, Slevin, & Spoelker 2005).

Conclusion

The SJSU Deaf Education Program continues to provide a promising innovative form of distance teacher education. The distance-learning component has evolved rapidly over the past six years (1999-2005). As further program evaluation takes place, the accuracy of providing a stronger alternative to teacher preparation will evolve. Access to highly qualified teacher training is essential and is even more the case when a teacher wishes to teach a child with low incidence disabilities. With the growing number of students expressing interest in distance learning, this program and others like it will allow teachers to get the training they need and the programs will have the resources to support these teachers once they enter the teaching profession.