A shortage of certified teacher candidates nationwide is especially challenging in the field of special education. U.S. rural school districts are even more impacted due to limited access to universities because of geographical distance. In this program description, we look at the University Louisville’s fully online special education alternative teacher preparation (ATP) program in moderate to severe disabilities, which was developed to lessen the teacher shortage and meet the needs of teacher candidates in school districts in Kentucky. Both the program mentoring structure and course information are provided. Feedback regarding ATP candidates’ perceptions of the mentoring support they received are shared based on school setting (rural or urban) as well as data highlighting the growing increase in enrollment since adapting to an online format. Limitations of the current program and future directions are described.

中文翻译：

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缩小农村特殊教育工作者的差距：指导支持替代教师预备候选人

全国范围内认证教师候选人的短缺在特殊教育领域尤其具有挑战性。美国农村学区由于地理距离而受到大学入学机会的限制，因此受到的影响更大。在本计划描述中，我们介绍了路易斯维尔大学针对中度至重度残疾的完全在线特殊教育替代教师准备 (ATP) 计划，该计划旨在缓解教师短缺并满足肯塔基州学区教师候选人的需求。提供了项目指导结构和课程信息。关于 ATP 候选人对其所获得的指导支持的看法的反馈是根据学校环境（农村或城市）以及强调自适应在线格式以来入学人数不断增加的数据而共享的。描述了当前计划的局限性和未来的方向。