Elizabeth Bettini
Biographic Data
| ID | 6739133 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Elizabeth Bettini |
| GIVEN NAMES | Elizabeth |
| FAMILY NAME | Bettini |
| SIGNATURE | BETTINI E |
| AFFILIATIONS | Boston University, MA, USA |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-4435-9368 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 22 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 0 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 22 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2013 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 0 |
Special Educators’ Experiences Navigating Tensions When Serving Students Labeled With Emotional/Behavioral Disorders
Special educators often work in school contexts that are not oriented toward their students’ strengths and needs, resulting in tension–misalignment between their responsibility to students and their schools’ resources and expectations. Using grounded theory, we explored five U.S. teachers’ experiences of tension when serving students labeled with emotional/behavioral disorders in self-contained classes. We found teachers experienced tensions rega…
Sustaining Special Educators to Serve Students with Emotional/Behavioral Disorders
Special education teachers’ working conditions are associated with instructional practices, burnout, and retention. As such, working conditions represent a malleable factor which can support a robust special education teacher workforce. To our knowledge, however, there exist no comprehensive interventions designed to both identify challenges for special educators’ working conditions and generate feasible solutions. We provide an overview of the p…
Burnout and Occupational Wellbeing of Special Education Teachers
Teacher burnout and wellbeing are crucial to address as chronic teacher shortages persist, especially for special education teachers (SETs). Extending Brunsting et al.’s prior review on special educator burnout published in 2014, we synthesize 29 studies from 2013 to 2023 assessing factors associated with SETs’ work wellbeing or burnout. Most studies were quantitative, used cross-sectional analyses of convenience samples of SETs, and explored a r…
Examining the Supply of New Special Educators
U.S. schools have long experienced shortages of special education teachers (SETs), challenging the nation’s capacity to ensure qualified SETs for students eligible for special education services. Addressing SET shortages requires preparation programs to supply sufficient numbers of new SETs to meet demand, yet prior research provides few insights into trends in the supply of new SETs. Thus, we examined how the supply of new SETs changed over time…
What Are Special Educators’ Working Conditions
Improving special education teachers’ (SETs’) working conditions will require a shared definition of working conditions. Thus, we aimed to develop a definition of SETs’ working conditions and relevant subconstructs, as a foundation for future efforts to assess and improve SETs’ working conditions. We developed a definition based on prior research, which we iteratively revised through feedback from focus groups and interviews with SETs. Based on t…
Principals’ Conceptions of Their Roles Supporting Self-Contained Programs for Students With Emotional/Behavioral Disorders
Special educators serving students with emotional/behavioral disorders (EBD) depend on their principals’ support, yet prior research has not explored principals’ roles in supporting these programs. Using constructivist grounded theory methods, we analyzed interviews with five U.S. elementary school principals about their roles in supporting self-contained programs for students with EBD. Principals held widely varying conceptions of students with …
Educators’ Perspectives of Working Conditions in Inclusive Elementary Schools
Educators need supportive working conditions to fulfill their responsibilities to students, families, and colleagues. Given the crucial role of working conditions in teacher effectiveness, we sought to understand educators’ (including general educators, paraeducators, specaial educators, and principals) perspectives about their working conditions as they included students with disabilities. We analyzed 28 primarily qualitative studies, conducted …
No Child Left Behind and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
Drawing on eight waves of the Schools and Staffing Survey and the National Teacher and Principal Survey, we used a difference-in-differences research design to examine special education teachers’ (SETs) responses to No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and the subsequent reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). IDEA was associated with decreases in the proportion of SETs with special education as a field of study and grad…
Disparities in Teachers’ Access to Schools’ Collective Social Assets Based on Role, Race, and Poverty
A schools’ collective social assets (i.e., school culture, administrative support, and satisfied colleagues) are especially important for beginning teachers at higher risk of attrition, including special educators, teachers of color, teachers in high-poverty schools, and teachers in schools serving predominantly students of color. These teachers often report experiencing less social support than general educators, White teachers, teachers in low-…
The Shifting Context of Special Education Teachers’ Work
We used five waves of nationally representative data over 16 years from the Schools and Staffing Survey, National Teacher Principal Survey, and Teacher Follow-up Survey to descriptively examine how the roles, responsibilities, preparation, and supports for special educators have changed over time. We then used regression to investigate how these variables were associated with special educator attrition. This information is essential to ensure tea…
Momentary Affective Experiences of Teachers Serving Students With Emotional and Behavioral Disabilities in Self-Contained Settings
Emotions play an important role in the work of teachers serving students with emotional and behavioral disabilities (EBD), yet little is known about teachers’ momentary affective experiences. In this study, we collected 710 surveys regarding momentary affect from 14 teachers of students with EBD. We used descriptive analysis and variance decomposition to examine the frequency, intensity, and variability of these experiences. We then tested a seri…
Measuring Special Educators’ Working Conditions
Special education teachers’ (SETs) working conditions play a crucial role in shaping the size, quality, and effectiveness of the U.S. SET workforce and thereby shape the quality of instruction provided to students with disabilities. Valid measures of SETs’ working conditions are essential for conducting robust research on how to improve working conditions. We systematically reviewed measures of SETs’ working conditions across 44 studies, assessin…
Relationships between Organizational Factors and Teachers’ Knowledge and Use of Culturally Relevant Education
Background/Context: Culturally relevant education (CRE) is a powerful tool for improving students’ educational experiences and outcomes. Yet CRE is not the norm in U.S. public education systems (Achinstein & Ogawa, 2011, 2012; Borrero et al., 2016; Coffey & Farinde-Wu, 2016), perhaps because teachers are socialized into systems that reproduce and uphold white-normed practice (Leonardo & Manning, 2017). The organizational contexts and conditions s…
Untying the double bind
Racially and ethnically minoritized students are now the majority in U.S. public schools. This demographic change, along with heightened attention to racial injustice and evidence regarding the importance of Black teachers, has renewed a decades-old push to increase their numbers. Redesigning teacher education and development to support the recruitment and retention of Black teachers requires ongoing critical understanding of their racialized exp…
Special Educators’ Experiences of Interpersonal Interactions While Serving Students With Emotional/Behavioral Disorders
Students with emotional/behavioral disorders are increasingly included in general education settings, requiring their special educators to coordinate with other educators. Yet, research provides limited insights into their interactions with other educators. Thus, we qualitatively examined how special educators experienced and navigated interactions with other educators when serving students with emotional/behavioral disabilities in self-contained…
Burnout of Special Educators Serving Students With Emotional-Behavioral Disorders
We examined changes in burnout across three timepoints in one school year, in a sample ( N = 230) of special educators serving students with emotional-behavioral disorders, in 15 school districts selected through stratified random sampling at the national level. Emotional exhaustion decreased at each timepoint in the school year and personal accomplishment increased from fall to spring. Latent growth curve modeling did not produce latent trajecto…
Observation Studies in Special Education
Classroom observation research plays an important role in policy, practice, and scholarship for students with disabilities. When interpreting results of observation studies, it is important to consider the validity evidence provided by researchers and how that speaks to the intended use of those results. In this literature synthesis, we used Kane’s argument-based approach to validity to describe evidence of validity for uses of observation instru…
Navigating the Double Bind
A robust body of U.S.-based research demonstrates the importance of teachers of color to promote positive outcomes among students of color, and recent policies aim to increase the proportion of teachers of color. These policies are unlikely to succeed if they ignore how educational systems currently marginalize teachers of color, particularly early in teachers’ careers, when they are more likely to leave. Thus, we conducted a systematic narrative…
Special Educators’ Working Conditions, Self-Efficacy, and Practices Use With Students With Emotional/Behavioral Disorders
Students with emotional/behavioral disorders (EBD) in self-contained settings depend on special educators to deliver high-quality instruction and behavior management, and special educators depend on administrators to create supportive working environments. Yet, to date, no studies have examined how working conditions relate to special educators’ provision of effective instructional or behavior management practices for students with EBD in self-co…
Special Education Teacher Attrition and Retention
High rates of attrition make it challenging for schools to provide qualified special education teachers for students with disabilities, especially given chronic teacher shortages. We synthesize 30 studies from 2002 to 2017, examining factors associated with special educator attrition and retention, including (a) teacher preparation and qualifications, (b) school characteristics, (c) working conditions, and (d) teacher demographic and nonwork fact…
Novice Teachers’ Experiences in High-Poverty Schools
Retaining teachers in high-poverty schools is essential for ensuring students who live in poverty have equitable educational opportunities. Understanding novices’ experiences can help school leaders improve novices’ retention in high-poverty schools throughout their careers. This integrative review of studies investigates novices’ experiences teaching in high-poverty schools. We identified common themes in extant studies, as well as several impor…
Literacy-related school readiness skills of English language learners in Head Start
The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of Head Start on early literacy skills relevant to school readiness of English language learners compared to their peers. The comparisons of literacy outcomes were conducted between English language learners and non-English language learners when both groups participated and were not in Head Start. A total of 47 covariates were involved in propensity score analysis, and average treatment effects…
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Literacy-related school readiness skills of English language learners in Head Start
The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of Head Start on early literacy skills relevant to school readiness of English language learners compared to their peers. The comparisons of literacy outcomes were conducted between English language learners and non-English language learners when both groups participated and were not in Head Start. A total of 47 covariates were involved in propensity score analysis, and average treatment effects…
Novice Teachers’ Experiences in High-Poverty Schools
Retaining teachers in high-poverty schools is essential for ensuring students who live in poverty have equitable educational opportunities. Understanding novices’ experiences can help school leaders improve novices’ retention in high-poverty schools throughout their careers. This integrative review of studies investigates novices’ experiences teaching in high-poverty schools. We identified common themes in extant studies, as well as several impor…
Special Education Teacher Attrition and Retention
High rates of attrition make it challenging for schools to provide qualified special education teachers for students with disabilities, especially given chronic teacher shortages. We synthesize 30 studies from 2002 to 2017, examining factors associated with special educator attrition and retention, including (a) teacher preparation and qualifications, (b) school characteristics, (c) working conditions, and (d) teacher demographic and nonwork fact…
Special Educators’ Working Conditions, Self-Efficacy, and Practices Use With Students With Emotional/Behavioral Disorders
Students with emotional/behavioral disorders (EBD) in self-contained settings depend on special educators to deliver high-quality instruction and behavior management, and special educators depend on administrators to create supportive working environments. Yet, to date, no studies have examined how working conditions relate to special educators’ provision of effective instructional or behavior management practices for students with EBD in self-co…
Special Educators’ Experiences of Interpersonal Interactions While Serving Students With Emotional/Behavioral Disorders
Students with emotional/behavioral disorders are increasingly included in general education settings, requiring their special educators to coordinate with other educators. Yet, research provides limited insights into their interactions with other educators. Thus, we qualitatively examined how special educators experienced and navigated interactions with other educators when serving students with emotional/behavioral disabilities in self-contained…
Burnout of Special Educators Serving Students With Emotional-Behavioral Disorders
We examined changes in burnout across three timepoints in one school year, in a sample ( N = 230) of special educators serving students with emotional-behavioral disorders, in 15 school districts selected through stratified random sampling at the national level. Emotional exhaustion decreased at each timepoint in the school year and personal accomplishment increased from fall to spring. Latent growth curve modeling did not produce latent trajecto…
Observation Studies in Special Education
Classroom observation research plays an important role in policy, practice, and scholarship for students with disabilities. When interpreting results of observation studies, it is important to consider the validity evidence provided by researchers and how that speaks to the intended use of those results. In this literature synthesis, we used Kane’s argument-based approach to validity to describe evidence of validity for uses of observation instru…
Navigating the Double Bind
A robust body of U.S.-based research demonstrates the importance of teachers of color to promote positive outcomes among students of color, and recent policies aim to increase the proportion of teachers of color. These policies are unlikely to succeed if they ignore how educational systems currently marginalize teachers of color, particularly early in teachers’ careers, when they are more likely to leave. Thus, we conducted a systematic narrative…
Disparities in Teachers’ Access to Schools’ Collective Social Assets Based on Role, Race, and Poverty
A schools’ collective social assets (i.e., school culture, administrative support, and satisfied colleagues) are especially important for beginning teachers at higher risk of attrition, including special educators, teachers of color, teachers in high-poverty schools, and teachers in schools serving predominantly students of color. These teachers often report experiencing less social support than general educators, White teachers, teachers in low-…
The Shifting Context of Special Education Teachers’ Work
We used five waves of nationally representative data over 16 years from the Schools and Staffing Survey, National Teacher Principal Survey, and Teacher Follow-up Survey to descriptively examine how the roles, responsibilities, preparation, and supports for special educators have changed over time. We then used regression to investigate how these variables were associated with special educator attrition. This information is essential to ensure tea…
Momentary Affective Experiences of Teachers Serving Students With Emotional and Behavioral Disabilities in Self-Contained Settings
Emotions play an important role in the work of teachers serving students with emotional and behavioral disabilities (EBD), yet little is known about teachers’ momentary affective experiences. In this study, we collected 710 surveys regarding momentary affect from 14 teachers of students with EBD. We used descriptive analysis and variance decomposition to examine the frequency, intensity, and variability of these experiences. We then tested a seri…
Measuring Special Educators’ Working Conditions
Special education teachers’ (SETs) working conditions play a crucial role in shaping the size, quality, and effectiveness of the U.S. SET workforce and thereby shape the quality of instruction provided to students with disabilities. Valid measures of SETs’ working conditions are essential for conducting robust research on how to improve working conditions. We systematically reviewed measures of SETs’ working conditions across 44 studies, assessin…
Relationships between Organizational Factors and Teachers’ Knowledge and Use of Culturally Relevant Education
Background/Context: Culturally relevant education (CRE) is a powerful tool for improving students’ educational experiences and outcomes. Yet CRE is not the norm in U.S. public education systems (Achinstein & Ogawa, 2011, 2012; Borrero et al., 2016; Coffey & Farinde-Wu, 2016), perhaps because teachers are socialized into systems that reproduce and uphold white-normed practice (Leonardo & Manning, 2017). The organizational contexts and conditions s…
Untying the double bind
Racially and ethnically minoritized students are now the majority in U.S. public schools. This demographic change, along with heightened attention to racial injustice and evidence regarding the importance of Black teachers, has renewed a decades-old push to increase their numbers. Redesigning teacher education and development to support the recruitment and retention of Black teachers requires ongoing critical understanding of their racialized exp…
No Child Left Behind and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
Drawing on eight waves of the Schools and Staffing Survey and the National Teacher and Principal Survey, we used a difference-in-differences research design to examine special education teachers’ (SETs) responses to No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and the subsequent reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). IDEA was associated with decreases in the proportion of SETs with special education as a field of study and grad…
Examining the Supply of New Special Educators
U.S. schools have long experienced shortages of special education teachers (SETs), challenging the nation’s capacity to ensure qualified SETs for students eligible for special education services. Addressing SET shortages requires preparation programs to supply sufficient numbers of new SETs to meet demand, yet prior research provides few insights into trends in the supply of new SETs. Thus, we examined how the supply of new SETs changed over time…
What Are Special Educators’ Working Conditions
Improving special education teachers’ (SETs’) working conditions will require a shared definition of working conditions. Thus, we aimed to develop a definition of SETs’ working conditions and relevant subconstructs, as a foundation for future efforts to assess and improve SETs’ working conditions. We developed a definition based on prior research, which we iteratively revised through feedback from focus groups and interviews with SETs. Based on t…
Principals’ Conceptions of Their Roles Supporting Self-Contained Programs for Students With Emotional/Behavioral Disorders
Special educators serving students with emotional/behavioral disorders (EBD) depend on their principals’ support, yet prior research has not explored principals’ roles in supporting these programs. Using constructivist grounded theory methods, we analyzed interviews with five U.S. elementary school principals about their roles in supporting self-contained programs for students with EBD. Principals held widely varying conceptions of students with …
Educators’ Perspectives of Working Conditions in Inclusive Elementary Schools
Educators need supportive working conditions to fulfill their responsibilities to students, families, and colleagues. Given the crucial role of working conditions in teacher effectiveness, we sought to understand educators’ (including general educators, paraeducators, specaial educators, and principals) perspectives about their working conditions as they included students with disabilities. We analyzed 28 primarily qualitative studies, conducted …
Special Educators’ Experiences Navigating Tensions When Serving Students Labeled With Emotional/Behavioral Disorders
Special educators often work in school contexts that are not oriented toward their students’ strengths and needs, resulting in tension–misalignment between their responsibility to students and their schools’ resources and expectations. Using grounded theory, we explored five U.S. teachers’ experiences of tension when serving students labeled with emotional/behavioral disorders in self-contained classes. We found teachers experienced tensions rega…
Sustaining Special Educators to Serve Students with Emotional/Behavioral Disorders
Special education teachers’ working conditions are associated with instructional practices, burnout, and retention. As such, working conditions represent a malleable factor which can support a robust special education teacher workforce. To our knowledge, however, there exist no comprehensive interventions designed to both identify challenges for special educators’ working conditions and generate feasible solutions. We provide an overview of the p…
Burnout and Occupational Wellbeing of Special Education Teachers
Teacher burnout and wellbeing are crucial to address as chronic teacher shortages persist, especially for special education teachers (SETs). Extending Brunsting et al.’s prior review on special educator burnout published in 2014, we synthesize 29 studies from 2013 to 2023 assessing factors associated with SETs’ work wellbeing or burnout. Most studies were quantitative, used cross-sectional analyses of convenience samples of SETs, and explored a r…
Psychology (19 works) · Pedagogy (14 works) · Special education (13 works) · Teacher Education and Leadership Studies (12 works) · Medicine (11 works) · Social Psychology (10 works) · Disability Education and Employment (9 works) · Mathematics education (9 works) · Medical education (9 works) · Collaborative Teaching and Inclusion (8 works)