Bridging the Rural Special Educator Gap: Mentoring to Support Alternative Teacher Preparation Candidates.

This article focuses on the University of Louisville’s fully online Alternative Teacher Preparation (ATP) program in moderate to severe disabilities (MSD), developed to address the shortage of certified special education teachers in Kentucky, particularly in rural areas. The program offers a two-year, 36-credit-hour curriculum delivered through synchronous and asynchronous online courses, combined with a structured mentorship model involving university-based, school-based, and administrative mentors. Since transitioning to an online format in 2019, the program has seen significant enrollment growth and positive preliminary feedback from candidates regarding mentoring support, especially among rural participants. Limitations include a lack of long-term retention data and small sample sizes for feedback surveys, with future directions aimed at enhancing mentor collaboration and securing funding to sustain and expand the program’s impact on rural special education teacher shortages.