The Special Educator\ s Guide to Distance Education: Adapting Your Instruction for the Virtual Classroom

Distance education services are an effective way to meet the needs of students with disabilities, but few special educators get the preparation they need to conduct high-quality instruction remotely. All the fundamentals are in this one-of-a-kind guide, the first dedicated book on distance learning for special educators.

With contributions from more than 35 experienced educators, this guide covers all types of distance learning from Grades PreK through 12—both real-time and asynchronous, from higher-tech online teaching to instruction with prepared materials. Special educators will get foundational knowledge on the principles and recommended practices of virtual learning, and then discover specific strategies for delivering behavioral, academic, and social supports at a distance. Up-to-date research blends seamlessly with practical action steps, giving educators a reliable and immediately useful guide to the most successful virtual learning practices.  

Required reading for both pre- and in-service special education teachers, this timely book clarifies what effective and engaging distance education looks like from preschool through high school—and how to maximize its benefits for students with a wide range of disabilities.

 LEARN HOW TO:

• adapt your curriculum and instruction for virtual learning
• select and use technology to support learners and families
• make skillful adaptations for students with physical, sensory, and communication challenges
• teach both reading and STEM skills at a distance
• respond to challenging behavior and mental health needs in a virtual environment
• collect student data and monitor IEP objectives
• meet the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse students
• plan smooth student transitions at a distance

SPECIAL FEATURES: Reinforce and enhance your learning with chapter objectives, case studies, reflection questions, and lists of helpful tools, apps, and resources to explore.

Belva C. Collins, Ed.D., served as a professor and chair in the Department of Special Education and Child Development at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and in the Department of Early Childhood, Special Education, and Counselor Education at the University of Kentucky. She now holds the title of Professor Emeritus at both institutions. Dr. Collins began her career as a teacher of students with intellectual disability in rural Southwestern Virginia before coming to the University of Kentucky to work as a research assistant on several federally funded grants to validate the use of response prompting strategies in special education. She continued this line of research throughout her career in higher education and was successful in guiding the applied research of her students in investigating variations of systematic instruction in classroom and community settings. This work provides the foundation for this text. In addition to disseminating her own scholarly writing, Dr. Collins served as the executive editor of Rural Special Education Quarterly, the primary publication of the American Council on Rural Special Education (ACRES). Recent awards include the ACRES Eagle Award for service to rural special education, the North Carolina Teacher Educator Award, and the TED-Pearson Award for excellence in teacher education. She now devotes her time to writing and presenting on the topics of systematic instruction and special education teacher leadership.

Dr. Spooner is Professor of Special Education, Coordinator of the Adapted Curriculum (Severe Disabilities) Program, and Principal Investigator on a personnel preparation project involving distance delivery technologies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Dr. Spooner has more than 2 decades of experience with research and writing instructional practices for students with severe disabilities. He is co-editor for Teacher Education and Special Education and serves as an associate editor for Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities. He was a co-editor for TEACHING Exceptional Children and an associate editor for Teacher Education and Special Education. Recently, he has focused on alternate assessment and linking assessment and instruction to the general curriculum and serves as a Senior Research Associate for an Institute of Education Sciences—funded center with a focus on teaching students with moderate and severe disabilities to read.

Dr. Cindy M. Gilson is an Associate Professor of Gifted Education at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She is also the Director for the Graduate Certificate in AIG (Academically or Intellectually Gifted) Program and Co‑Director for the Honors in Education Program at the Cato College of Education. Her professional and research interests include differentiated curriculum and instruction for gifted students, enhancing rigorous classroom discourse, and differentiated professional learning.

LuAnn Jordan is a special educator who first connected with distance education when she became a coordinator and professor in a teacher education program delivered using live interactive television. While the technologies have changed over the years, her interest and passion in supporting students and developing community in distance environments has only grown. A native of eastern North Carolina, Dr. Jordan knows the value of distance education in promoting equity of opportunity for learners. She currently serves as Associate Professor and SPED Adapted and General Curriculum Graduate Certificate Director in the Special Education Program at UNC Charlotte. Her research and interests include written expression for students with disabilities and students at risk for academic failure, learning strategies and supports, inclusion of students with disabilities in general education settings, and distance education.

Dr. Walte is an assistant professor in the Department of Special Education, Early Childhood, and Prevention Science at the University of Louisville, specializing in supporting students with extensive support needs (ESN). Prior to working in higher education, she taught students with ESN in neighborhood and alternative schools in the Chicagoland area. Her current focus is working with districts to increase equity in postschool outcomes for students with disabilities.

Brandy Brewer is an Office of Special Education Programs scholar in her final year of doctoral study at the University of Louisville (UofL) in the UofL Evidence-Based Practice Project. She is pursuing a Ph.D. degree in curriculum and instruction with specialization in special education. Ms. Brewer is passionate about serving stu_dents with extensive support needs and their families and is pursuing this work in her dissertation proposal, “Using Remote Teaching to Improve Caregiver Imple_mentation of System of Least Prompts.”

Melinda Jones Ault is an associate professor of special education at the University of Kentucky. Her area of expertise is in the education of learners with extensive support needs. Her research interests are in effective teaching methods and the inclusion of individuals with disabilities in their places of worship. 

Dr. Amy Spriggs is an associate professor in the Department of Early Childhood, Special Education and Counselor Education. Her research interests include practical systematic instructional strategies for individuals with ASD and moderate/severe disabilities, increased independence, evidence‑based practices, and technology. Currently, her research focuses on teaching self‑instructional skills using video technology presented on mobile devices (e.g., smartphones, tablets) to adolescents with ASD and intellectual disability.

Kaitlin M. O’Neill is a doctoral student in the University of Kentucky’s Special Education Leadership Personnel Preparation Program and is a current LEND (Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities) trainee. She is currently working towards completing the requirements to obtain her certification as a board‑certified behavior analyst (BCBA). She has a master’s degree in Special Education for Moderate and Severe Disabilities from the University of Kentucky and holds a Rank 2 KMSS Kentucky Educator License Teaching Certification for Teaching Exceptional Children, Moderate and Severe Disabilities, grades primary through twelve. Kaitlin’s primary area of research involves improving the efficiency of established, effective, evidence‑based systematic instructional procedures for teaching students with moderate to severe disabilities; this research involves determining whether different procedural variations in implementation yield differential efficiency measures (e.g., percentage of student errors, number of sessions to reach mastery, amount of instructional time, extent of generalization, extent of maintenance).

Dr. Kristen Beach is an Associate Professor of special education in the Department of Special Education and Child Development at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Her university teaching and research centers on the prevention and intervention of reading difficulties for elementary and middle‑grade students. Dr. Beach has directed a summer reading program in Charlotte since 2016, and led the development, training, and evaluation of the reading program as delivered virtually in Summer 2020.

Erin K. Washburn is an Associate Professor in the Reading and Elementary Education department at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte where she teaches courses in literacy assessment and intervention. Prior to her work in teacher education, Dr. Washburn served as a Pre‑K literacy teacher and interventionist. Dr. Washburn’s research is focused on investigating teacher knowledge related to teaching literacy, the impact of literacy teacher preparation and professional learning, and the efficacy of literacy interventions for students with and/or at‑risk for learning disabilities. 

Ann C. Jolly is a Faculty Site Coordinator at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte where she supports elementary and special education student teachers/residency candidates, faculty, and clinical educators during the student teacher and internship experiences. She also teaches seminar classes for teacher teachers and the Supervision of Student Teaching of Special Education for Doctoral Students. Dr. Jolly’s research is focused on literacy, coaching, and implementation of evidence‑based practices with fidelity for students with disabilities. 

Dr. Root is an associate professor of special education at Florida State University and affiliate faculty at the Florida Center for Reading Research. She is a board_certified behavior analyst (BCBA) and former classroom teacher of middle school students with disabilities. Her research focuses on instructional methods for teaching meaningful academic skills to students with extensive support needs. Dr. Root has over 40 peer-reviewed publications and a dozen book chapters on instruction and assessment of students with disabilities. She was the 2019 recipient of the Tom E. C. Smith Early Career Research Award from the Division on Autism and Developmental Disabilities.

Bree A. Jimenez, Ph.D., studies general curriculum access and assessment for students with moderate and severe intellectual disabilities. Specifically, she investigates math and science instruction aligned to grade-level standards.

Dr. Wood is an associate professor of special education at California Polytechnic State University. She is a former classroom teacher of elementary students with extensive support needs. Her research focuses on access to the general curriculum for students with disabilities, particularly in the area of comprehension across con_tent areas and technological supports in academic learning.

Dr. Grisham is Professor Emeritus in the Interdisciplinary Early Childhood Education program at the University of Kentucky, Lexington. She received her doctorate in education from the University of Kentucky. She is also the former Faculty Director of the Early Childhood Laboratory at the University of Kentucky, an inclusive early childhood program for children from birth to 5 years of age.

Dr. Grisham has directed research projects on topics including linking assessment and instruction, early care and education program quality, and individualizing instruction for young children with disabilities. In addition, she has conducted research on the effectiveness of instructional procedures that are embedded into developmentally appropriate activities, the application of multi-tiered systems of support in early childhood settings, and coaching teachers and caregivers to implement evidencebased instructional strategies with fidelity. Dr. Grisham is Project Director for the Kentucky Deaf-Blind Project, which provides technical assistance to families and service providers of infants, toddlers, children, and youth with deaf-blindness. She coauthored a book titled Reach for the Stars: Planning for the Future (with D. Haynes; American Printing House for the Blind, 2013), which is used to support families of young children in planning for their children’s future and articulating their priorities to educational team members, as well as Blended Practices for Teaching Young Children in Inclusive Settings, Second Edition (with M. L. Hemmeter; Brookes Publishing Co., 2017), and Assessing Young Children in Inclusive Settings: The Blended Practices Approach, Second Edition (with K. Pretti-Frontczak and L. Sullivan; Brookes Publishing Co., 2023).

Finally, Dr. Grisham directed the nationwide field test for AEPS-3. Dr. Grisham is frequently asked to provide professional development to state departments of education, universities, and local education agencies on topics for which she conducts research throughout the country. Dr. Grisham is co-founder of a children’s home and preschool program in Guatemala City, Hope for Tomorrow, where she accompanies students for the education abroad program. Dr. Grisham also works internationally in other locations to promote inclusion of young children with disabilities.

Sarah Hawkins-Lear, Ed.D. is Associate Professor at Morehead State University. She received her Ed.D. in Moderate to Severe Disabilities from the University of Kentucky.

Margaret Bausch is a professor of Special Education. Currently, she is serving as the Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Student Success in the College of Education at the University of Kentucky. She has been teaching Assistive Technology courses for over 25 years and her research interests are in the area of Assistive Technology implementation.

Dr. Lee is a clinical associate professor in the Department of Early Childhood, Spe_cial Education, and Counselor Education at the University of Kentucky. She over_sees the Visual Impairment Program, having established the Teacher Preparation Program in Visual Impairments in 2013 and the Orientation and Mobility Program in 2020. Dr. Lee received her doctoral degree from the University of Louisville. She has a passion for technology and her research interests include braille, tactile graphics, electronic travel aids (ETAs), and early childhood education.

Robert Pennington, Ph.D., is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and has more than 20 years of experience working with students with intellectual disabilities and autism spectrum disorders. His research interests are writing and communication, computerassisted instruction, and the application behavior analytic instructional procedures.

Barbara Fiechtl is on faculty in the Department of Special Education at Utah State University where she has been involved in the development of on campus and distance early childhood licensure programs. In her years in the field, she has worked with individuals with disabilities and their families from birth to 21 years in the public schools and as a university birth to five program coordinator. Her research interests include personnel preparation, teacher supervision and evaluation, and virtual home visiting with children birth to five and their caregivers.

Donald M. Stenhoff, PhD, BCBA‑D is a Clinical Associate Professor in Psychology and Director of the Master of Science in Applied Behavior Analysis program at Arizona State University. He teaches solution identification and performance improvement using applied behavior analysis in school, clinical, and business industries. Donald has worked with persons who require specialized behavior interventions, their families, and staff for over 30 years. He continues to consult to local, state, and national agencies and participate in service related to behavior analytic practices.

Melissa Tapp is a doctoral student in special education at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She has over 15 years of experience working directly with students, families, and teachers. She studies practices for improving outcomes for students with extensive support needs.

Ya-yu Lo, Ph.D., Dr. Lo's research focuses include applied behavior analysis, social skill instruction, effective academic and behavioral interventions, urban students with culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, functional behavioral assessment, and positive behavior support. She is a co-principal investigator of an IES grant, The solutions project: Teaching students with moderate/severe intellectual disability to solve mathematical problems (2013–2016).

Dr. Lusa Lo is a faculty member at University of Massachusetts Boston. Her research focuses on family‑school‑community partnerships and educational planning and practice for English learners with disabilities. Dr. Lo works closely with schools, communities, and state agencies to develop parent training programs and make policy changes nationally and internationally.

Lefki Kourea is a faculty member of Special Education at the University of Nicosia. Her research interests focus on schoolwide positive behavior interventions and supports, culturally responsive pedagogy, and academic and behavioral interventions for students with disabilities as well as at‑risk students.

Dr. Wen‑hsuan Chang is a Postdoctoral Associate in Young Adults Empowerment, Leadership and Learning (YELL) lab at the University of Florida. She received her doctoral degree in Special Education at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Her research aimed to understand parents' perceptions of existing challenges and to develop family‑focused evidence‑based practices.

Valerie L. Mazzotti, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor of Special Education at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina. Dr. Mazzotti received her doctorate in special education from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. As a classroom teacher, Dr. Mazzotti taught students with disabilities in resource and inclusion settings. Her current research interests include students with high-incidence disabilities, self-determination, positive behavior supports, and evidence-based practices.

Catherine Fowler is co‑Director of the National Technical Assistance Center on Transition: The Collaborative, housed in UNC Charlotte’s Cato College of Education, Department of Special Education and Child Development. Dr. Fowler serves as an Adjunct Instructor in the College, teaching graduate and undergraduate courses related to secondary transition and collaboration. She has served as a national technical assistance provider to state and local agencies since the early 2000s.

Dr. Stewart-Ginsburg is an assistant professor of education in the School of Education at Francis Marion University. His research focuses on increasing community support for youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities. He is also passionate about discovering creative ways to prepare all teachers to support all students.

Dr. Kwiatek is a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Illinois Urbana_Champaign. His research interests focus on three strands: 1) general education teacher involvement in college and career readiness efforts, 2) secondary transition evidence-based practices and predictors of postschool success, and 3) interagency collaboration. Previously, Dr. Kwiatek taught students with low- and high-incidence disabilities in Illinois and ran his district’s work program to prepare students for postschool employment. He earned his doctorate from the University of North Car_olina at Charlotte, where he was a graduate research assistant for the National Tech_nical Assistance Center on Transition (NTACT; now NTACT: The Collaborative).

Dr. Kelly Anderson is a Professor and the Program Director for the BA in Special Education & Elementary Education K‑6 Dual Major in the Department of Special Education & Child Development, University of North Carolina Charlotte. Dr. Anderson teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on individualizing instruction for diverse learners, instructional planning, and collaboration and consultation. Special research interests for her are differentiating instruction, collaboration among general and special education and families, and dual preparation.

Dr. Sejal Parikh Foxx is a Professor in the Department of Counseling at UNC Charlotte. She is a former elementary and high school counselor. Her research interests include urban school counseling, equity and and access to college and career, and multicultural and social justice counseling.

Ronda Rudd Menlove began her career in public education as a teacher and school administrator at both the elementary and secondary levels. After completing her doctoral degree, she held faculty and administrative positions at Utah State University including Associate Professor, Assistant Dean of Independent and Distance Education, and Senior Vice Provost. Dr. Menlove also served 10 years in the Utah House of Representatives where she successfully sponsored legislation related to special education and persons with disabilities. 

Ross Menlove began his career as a First Grade public school teacher. After completing an Master in Business Administration and a Master is Education Administration, he held faculty and administration positions such as school‑level Digital Instructional Coach, district‑level Administrator of Digital Teaching & Learning, and Elementary School Principal. Mr. Menlove led a district‑wide remote learning initiative for 5,000+ elementary students during the 2020‑2021 COVID‑19 school year.

Denise Dennis is a doctoral student supported and funded through an OSEP grant, Project RAISE (Research‑based Academic Interventions for Students with Extensive Support Needs) at Florida State University. Her previous experience includes supporting new teachers and their mentors online through her work with an educational non‑profit. She taught elementary and preschool students with a wide range of support needs in a variety of settings for 20 years. Denise received her B.S. in Elementary Education and Exceptional Student Education at Flagler College Tallahassee Campus (2005) and her M.S. in Special Education at Florida State University (2014).