Preparing Special Educators Through Practice, Coaching, and Community

Across Tennessee, and especially in Nashville, schools continue to face a critical shortage of qualified special educators. Meeting that need requires more than recruiting teachers. It requires preparing educators in ways that reflect the realities of today’s classrooms.

That’s the vision behind the Special Education Job-Embedded Pathway, a partnership between Diverse Learners Cooperative (DLC) and Nashville Teacher Residency (NTR). The pathway blends coursework, coaching, and job-embedded practice so educators can immediately apply what they’re learning with the students they serve.

The pathway was created in response to a need consistently voiced by school leaders: they needed more licensed special educators, but they also needed a preparation model that allowed teachers to remain in the classroom while earning their credentials. Rather than separating learning from practice, the pathway intentionally connects every coaching conversation, assignment, and learning experience back to educators’ daily work.

At the heart of the program is the belief that teachers grow the same way students do; through practice, feedback, and reflection. Participants don’t just learn about evidence-based instruction. They model new strategies, implement them in their classrooms, receive coaching, and refine their practice over time.

That approach helps educators move beyond simply supporting students to becoming specialists who can identify learning barriers, analyze data, and design instruction that builds independence.

Kristin Gossard, a program participant and special education teacher at William Henry Oliver Middle School in Metro Nashville Public Schools, saw that growth reflected in her own work. While completing the pathway, she wrote a literacy capstone alongside an IEP for one of her students.