Mentoring Partnerships: A Guidebook for Inclusive Special Education

Special education across education programs nationwide is an incredibly high-need teacher shortage area, and mentoring can make a profound difference in teacher retention and effectiveness. Within this handbook, mentoring partnerships will be guided through the first year of a new special education teacher from start to finish. A month-to-month resource for both mentors and mentees, this resource focuses on self-reflection cycles of growth and goal-setting, including self-care strategies. Additionally, the handbook focuses on evidence-based practices in special education tying resources to the High Leverage Teaching Practices (Council for Exceptional Children) providing templates to be adapted to local school districts for K-12 special education program use. The framework of this handbook is to provide evidence-based practices to promote inclusive special education programs where all K-12 students have equity, access, and achievement. New and experienced special education teachers will learn how to effectively promote and integrate inclusive special education programs, emphasizing that special education is not a "place" but instead a "service" comprised of intensive support, collaboration, and accessibility.

Dr. Tara Mason is a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Consultant for the Center for Teaching and Learning at the University of California, Berkeley. She is passionate about working on teams focused on equitable and inclusive learning environments that uplift student voice, identity, and access to educational opportunities. She holds a Ph.D. in Special Education from Texas Tech University, specializing in assistive technology, serving students with multiple disabilities and visual impairments. Her Master of Education (M.Ed.) focused on Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Before joining UC Berkeley, she served as a faculty member directing a graduate and undergraduate special education teacher preparation program at a university in Colorado. While working in CO, Dr. Mason held leadership roles within the Teacher Education Division of the Council for Exceptional Children (CO-TED), and secured funding for teacher preparation grants to support paraprofessional and alternative special education teacher pipelines. Dr. Mason has an extensive background working within K-12 special education, spanning more than two decades. Her special education teaching background encompasses working in K-12 special education settings from elementary through teaching in 18+ transition programs. She has also led coaching teams to support new special education teachers at the school district level. In addition, Dr. Mason has taught as a self-contained special education teacher and worked as a teacher of students with visual impairments (TSVI) at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired. Dr. Mason's research interests primarily relate to UDL, special education, promoting equity and inclusion, disrupting bias and disproportionality in special education, mentoring, and teacher preparation. She lives in California with her family.