Breaking the Mold: Lessons Learned from a Teacher Education Program’s Attempt to Innovate

The rationale, process, critical features, and lessons learned by faculty members during the redesign and implementation of our previously existing special education teacher education program into an innovative program integrating research-supported effective teacher education practices are described in this article. We begin with the rationale for our revised program, including the research underpinnings, and then outline the process used to gain feedback from multiple stakeholders about elements from the previous program that were working, needed to be changed, and should be added. The redesigned program is presented, along with a description of the initial conceptual model that drove the innovation, the curriculum, and the instructional delivery format. We end with a discussion of lessons learned and recommendations for others interested in innovating their teacher education programs, regardless of area of emphasis.