Dear Readers, Editorial Board Members, and Authors,

We hope that you are enjoying your winter and that the year 2022 was safe and productive. We are excited to offer the January 2023 issue of the Journal of Special Education Apprenticeship (JOSEA). This issue celebrates ten years of JOSEA’s scholarly service to the community of early career faculty. We thank Dr. Sang Seok Nam, the Journal’s founder, and the Editorial Review Board for their continued support and tireless service as reviewers.

The last six months were very productive for the JOSEA. We received many submissions and several proposals in response to the call for the special issue (coming spring 2023). The current issue features five manuscripts. The foci of the articles in the issue are two-fold, with four articles discussing pre-service and in-service teacher training and one article examining instruction and intervention for secondary students with autism spectrum disorder. We grouped the manuscripts into two sections with a research and practice focus, respectively.

The issue opens with an exploratory article by Fisher and Norris, who examine characteristics of the field placements in special education. The authors surveyed 42 faculty members across 18 states. The article describes a variety of field placements and the responsibilities of the teacher candidates, university supervisors, and clinical supervisors, linking these to the current issues in the field of special education teacher training, including candidates’ outcomes and attrition. The paper by Evashkovsky and Osipova extends the topic of teacher training to the beginning in-service special education teachers’ experiences as they navigate the first years of the profession. The paper takes a close look at the types of the mentorship relationships that the teachers form with paraprofessionals in the classroom, challenging the notion that the teacher is always the leader in the classroom. Donehower and colleagues studied the use of a simulation environment to train pre-service and in-service general and special education teachers to conduct functional analysis (FA) procedures with fidelity. The team compared simulation training results to traditional instruction. The results indicated that simulated training experiences can be as effective as role-play experiences in training teachers to implement FA procedures. The benefits of simulation training are discussed.

The research section of this issue is concluded by a systematic review of literature by Mahoney, who examined peer-mediated interventions (PMI) as an academic support strategy for students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The study describes four models of PMI used to promote on-task academic achievement and correct academic responding. The author provides suggestions for future research and recommendations for the use of peer-mediated interventions in inclusive secondary classrooms. The issue closes with the practice piece by Higgins, Riggleman, and Lohmann. The authors discuss the critical importance of creating quality Behavior Intervention Plans (BIPs) for young children in early childhood settings. Early childhood special education teachers other team members are given guidance for writing quality BIPs for young children receiving special education services. The article provides a framework for writing an effective BIP, discusses effective strategies for BIP development, and offers recommendations for early childhood special education teachers.

We hope that you will find the January 2023 issue of the JOSEA informative and thought-provoking. We would like to thank the authors for their excellent articles and the reviewers for their detailed and timely reviews.

Looking forward to the new submissions and wishing you a great 2023,

Anna Osipova
Jemma Kim
Co-Editors

Articles