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Novice special education teachers (SETs) often report on stress and burnout in their jobs, identifying collaboration with colleagues as a factor that supports them during the first years (Belknap & Taymans, 2015). While previous research focused on teachers' support from their mentor teachers, administrators, and colleagues, in this study we examined the mentorship relationship between SETs and their classroom paraeducators. We analyzed interviews of three novice SETs who taught in a large urban school district. All participants taught in Special Day Classrooms (SDC) and worked closely with paraeducators. The findings of this comparative case study suggest that these relationships are important for teachers' assimilation in the classroom. Results show the mentorship can be bidirectional, where experienced paraeducators support the novice teacher, or where teachers take an active role in mentoring their team. In addition, findings suggest that in the absence of any mentorship, the relationship with the paraeducators becomes a burden for novice teachers as they try to navigate their new roles and duties. The paper provides recommendations for practice and future research.

In this era of reading as a priority, research has indicated that children with Down syndrome (DS) can indeed learn to read, attaining functional levels of literacy and beyond. Families of children with DS are also increasingly advocating for reading instruction for their children. However, few studies have examined what beginning educators know about reading and DS. This study explored the knowledge and perceptions of preservice special educators about the reading needs and abilities of children with DS. Participants were 225 university students, enrolled in special education teaching credential programs in two southern California universities, who completed a survey designed to assess their knowledge of teaching reading to children with DS, as well as to describe their approach to reading instruction with these students. Results showed promising knowledge on the part of these future teachers, but also highlight the importance of adequate teacher preparation in teaching reading to children with DS.

Special education teachers today must demonstrate effective skills in collaboration and often engage in co-teaching with general education colleagues to meet the needs of students with disabilities. In this study, we describe a university-based early fieldwork in which university students seeking teaching licensure in special education taught children from the local urban community, thus developing their collaboration and co-teaching skills under the supervision of university faculty. Although citing challenges such as time constraints and overcoming personality differences, the majority of these preservice special educators reported growth in their teaching skills as the main outcome of this fieldwork in co-planning and co-instructing lessons to meet the diverse learning needs of children from the local community. These preservice special educators' perceptions of this co-teaching fieldwork experience highlight the importance of special education teacher preparation programs that explicitly train students in collaboration and co-teaching skills.