Chapter 7: Mentoring and Empowering Doctoral Students Through Collaborative Co-Teaching: Lessons From a Joint Special Education Doctoral Program

The chronic national shortage of higher education faculty with expertise in special education (SPED) has been well-documented in the literature (deBettencourt et al., 2016; Peyton et al., 2021). This shortage not only impacts the continued acute deficit of qualified SPED teachers in the field, but the scarcity of leadership positions limits the field’s capacity to generate new knowledge of effective interventions and to prepare future professionals in improving outcomes for children with disabilities (Smith et al., 2011). Therefore, there is a high need for doctoral programs to produce highly qualified faculty in the field of SPED and to facilitate the retention of scholars in the completion of their degrees.