Lori Tanner may have come to academia via a circuitous career route—dairy farmer, owner of a beauty shop, English teacher, owner of a computer training company—but her current academic research is making a major splash, particularly when you consider she just earned her doctorate in educational leadership in May 2007.

Tanner’s dissertation closely studied two cohorts participating in an innovative alternate special education licensure program for Ohio teachers that Professor W. Thomas Southern of Miami’s educational psychology department created in partnership with the Ohio Department of Education via a $400,000 grant.

Less than a month after earning her PhD in educational leadership, she received an email from a publisher seeking to publish her dissertation.  Tanner was skeptical, until Professor Southern assured her the company was not only reputable, but prestigious.

Her book, Critical Challenges and Barriers to Online Learning: Nontraditional Adult Students in a Nontraditional Teacher Licensing Program  (VDM Verlag Dr. Müller) will  be available this fall.

“It’s an extraordinary honor,” said Southern.

While Tanner attributes her success to the timeliness of her topic, Southern calls her “one of the most organized, most thorough researchers that I’ve ever been associated with.” But both agree that there are severe shortages of special education teachers nationwide, due at least in part to the increased need created by the No Child Left Behind Act and the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act.

So a cutting-edge program like Miami’s, that allows already licensed teachers to obtain special education certification via online coursework, opens possibilities both for school districts struggling with finding qualified staff and for teachers seeking to enhance their credentials with the least possible disruption to already busy lives. 

Adding to the interest in the program is its success rate.  Of the 25 teachers in the initial phase, 22 successfully completed the program and went on to obtain special education licensures. The second group just completed their course work with 27 teachers adding the special education license to their credentials. To date, the program boasts a 100% Praxis II pass rate.

While the online licensure program is an acknowledged success, challenges remain, including finding funding to continue the pilot project and helping non-traditional students cope with often unfamiliar technology. Additionally, faculty must learn to update their courses to fit the online format.
Tanner is now working with Miami’s Alternative Special Education Licensure Program as its curriculum and technology program director. More than 50 teachers from six counties have expressed interest in enrolling.