Stephanie A. Kurtts

Dr. Stephanie A. Kurtts received her Ph.D in Curriculum and Teaching from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 1998 with an emphasis in inclusive and special education. She received her M.A.Ed. in Special Education at East Carolina University, Greenville, NC in 1975. She is an experienced special education teacher who has worked in the classroom at the elementary, middle, and secondary level. Dr. Kurtts has taught graduate and undergraduate courses in instructional methods for children with disabilities, assessment for children with disabilities, issues in special education, and consultation and collaboration. She has been a facilitator of on-line courses for teachers receiving add-on licensure in learning disabilities and behavioral and emotional disabilities. In addition to teaching, she has extensive experiences with planning and implementing programs for community service agencies for special needs populations including directing a North Carolina Department of Human Resources grant providing collaborative programs for individuals with mental handicaps. Dr. Kurtts has presented papers and published on preparing preservice teachers to meet the needs of children with disabilities in inclusive settings. Along with Dr. Ada Vallecorsa, she recently presented on online teacher preparation for the national conference of the Teacher Education Division of the Council for Exceptional Children. She has frequently presented papers at the national meeting of the American Education Research Association, the Eastern Educational Research Association, the North Carolina Teacher Education Forum, and the international conference on Technology and Individuals with Disabilities-California State University, Northridge. Her most recent article on peer coaching with preservice teachers appeared in Teaching Education, an international education journal. Dr. Kurtts’ research interests include teacher preparation for inclusion, preservice experiences that impact teacher attitudes and beliefs toward inclusion, and peer coaching.

There are 12 included publications by Stephanie A. Kurtts :

TitleDateViewsBrief Description
Collaborative Online Problem Solving with Preserves General Education Teachers and Special Education Teachers 2005 2490 This study examined the online collaboration and problem solving processes of preservice general education and special education teachers from two teacher education programs in different states as they designed instruction to provide access to the ge...
(Dis)Solving the Differences: A Physical Science Lesson Using Universal Design 2009 7141 Universal design for learning (UDL) holds promise for teachers who are struggling with creating lessons that allow all students access to and engagement with the general science curriculum. In this article, the authors demonstrate how a secondary phy...
Imagery and Utilization of an Area Model as a Way of Teaching Long Division: Meeting Diverse Student Needs 2010 10751 The teaching and learning of long division at the elementary level and beyond has presented a longstanding challenge for teachers and students alike. As mathematics teacher educators and as a specialized educator, we address the issue by analyzing so...
A model for examining teacher preparation curricula for inclusion. 2008 2787 There is an increasing need for highly qualified teachers as described by the current legislation in No Child Left Behind (2002). Since this legislative mandate has been enforced, recent initiatives have signaled teacher education programs to examine...
Project RESTART: Preparing Nontraditional Adult Teacher Education Candidates to Become Special Education Teachers 2007 1267 In North Carolina, where the state must hire 10,000 teachers every year just to fill existing classrooms, highly qualified special education teachers are included in the top three areas of greatest teacher shortage, behind math and science. Such need...
Response to Intervention: Right on Track 2010 711 The purpose of response to intervention, or RTI, is founded on the premise that, with data-based decision making and evidence- based practices, children who otherwise may have been identi?ed with a mild educational disability will receive early instr...
Successful Induction for New Teachers: A Guide for NQTs & Induction Tutors, Coordinators, and Mentors [book review] 2011 454 Even on the best of days, teaching is a demanding profession that requires countless hours in and outside of the classroom to meet the educational needs of increasingly diverse student populations. Most teachers arrive to work at least an hour early,...
The Trouble with Textbooks 2001 5423 Some of these dilemmas are under close scrutiny. According to the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), 12 of the most popular middle school science textbooks used across the nation are riddled with errors and do not have an acc...
Understanding (dis)abilities through children’s literature 2008 5282 The authors of this article examined how pre-service teachers can use children’s and young adult literature about disabilities to enhance understanding of individual differences through a bibliotherapeutic approach. An introduction to bibliotherapy i...
Universal design for learning in inclusive classroom 2006 2615 The authors of this paper describe how teams of preservice and inservice special and general education teachers implemented universal design for learning (UDL) in inclusive classrooms. An examination of the teachers’ perceptions concerning UDL contri...
Universal Design for Learning with Elementary Science 2014 2894 Universal design for learning (UDL) continues to be a topic of interest as teachers search for instructional strategies and activities to differentiate the general curriculum. This differentiation should provide access to and successful engagement wi...
Using Peer Coaching with Preservice Teachers to Develop Reflective Practice and Collegial Support 2000 7482 This research describes the impact of learning and practicing peer coaching techniques based on McAllister and Neubert’s (1995) model. The 27 undergraduate elementary education majors who participated in this study were found to have an increased und...