
Elizabeth Bettini
Associate Professor
Recent News
- What Schools Can Do about the Special Education Teacher Shortage
- Four BU Wheelock Faculty Promoted with Tenure
- Partnership to Prepare Doctoral Students in Special Education and School Psychology
- BU Wheelock Team Examines Self-Contained Special Education Classrooms
- Study Finds Disparities in Educational Placement for Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders
- BU Wheelock Joins AACTE to Address Shortage of Special Education Teachers
- BU Wheelock and UConn Neag Partner to Prepare Doctoral Students
- New Community Partnership Forged with Boston Public Schools
In the Media
- Three BU Researchers Win National Honor for Early-Career Scientists and Engineers
- Concussions, Bruises, Bite Marks: San Antonio Special Education Teachers Say They Often Get Hurt at Work
- Why Special Education Teachers Quit—and What Schools Are Doing About It
- Retention Is the Missing Ingredient in Special Education Staffing
- Teacher Stress Is Not Inevitable
- Almost Every State Needs More Special Ed Teachers. How Can They Get Them?
- Special Ed Programs in Public Schools Plagued by Staffing Shortage
- Teacher Burnout Hits Record High
- Schools are Struggling to Hire Special Education Teachers. Hawaii May Have Found a Fix
- Why Most Teachers Who Say They Plan to Leave the Profession Probably Won’t Do So Anytime Soon
Education
PhD, Special Education, University of Florida
MA, Special Education with a focus on Emotional and Behavioral Disabilities, University of Arizona
BS, Cognitive Science with a focus on Neuroscience, University of California, San Diego
BA, English Literature, University of California, San Diego
Selected Publications
Billingsley, B. S. & Bettini, E. (accepted). Special education teacher attrition research: A systematic literature review. Review of Educational Research.
Trainor, A. A., Bettini, E., Scott, L. A. (accepted). Introduction to the special issue. A necessary step in pursuit of equity: Developing a racially/ethnically diverse special education teaching force. Remedial and Special Education.
Billingsley, Bettini, E., & Jones, N. D. (in press). Supporting special education teacher induction through high-leverage practices. Remedial and Special Education.
Bettini, E., Mason-Williams, L., & Barber, B. (online). Access to qualified, well-supported principals across neighborhood and exclusionary schools. Journal of Special Education.
Jones, N. D., Bettini, E., & Brownell, M. T. (online). Competing strands of educational reform policy: Can collaborative school reform and teacher evaluation reform be reconciled?. Elementary School Journal.
Billingsley, B., Bettini, E., & Williams, T. O. (online). Teacher diversity in special and general education: Composition and distribution of teachers of color across schools. Remedial and Special Education.
Leite, W., Stapleton, L., & Bettini, E. (online). Propensity score analysis of complex survey data with structural equation modeling: A tutorial with MPlus. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal.
Bettini, E., Jones, N. D., Brownell, M. T., Conroy, M., & Leite, W. (2018). Relationships between novices’ social resources and workload manageability. Journal of Special Education, 52, 113-126.
Bettini, E., Wang, J., Cumming, M., Kimerling, J., & Schutz, S.* (2018). Special educators’ experiences of roles and responsibilities in self-contained classes for students with emotional/behavioral disorders.Remedial and Special Education, 31, 126 - 142.
McKenna, J. & Bettini, E. (2018). Reading instruction for students with and at-risk for emotional and behavioral disorders: Challenges, key considerations, and future directions. Beyond Behavior, 27, 74 – 81.
Selected Presentations
Bettini, E. (2019, March). Special educators’ working conditions: A lever for improving the quality and effectiveness of the special education teacher workforce. Invited presentation at the University of Virginia Curry School of Education, Curry Research Conference, Charlottesville, VA.
Ansley, B., Bettini, E., Cumming, M., O’Brien, K., Brownell, M., & Leko, M. (2019, January). Attending to Special Educators’ Working Conditions: Current Research and Future Directions. Panel presentation at the Council for Exceptional Children Conference, Indianapolis, IN.
Cumming, M., Bettini, E., O’Brien, K., & Brunsting, N. (2019, January). Special Educators’ Working Conditions and Commitment to Teaching Students with EBD. Moderator for multi-presentation session at the Council for Exceptional Children Conference, Indianapolis, IN.
Mason-Williams, L., Bettini, E., Boveda, M., & Mathews, H.M. (2019, January). Novice Teachers’ Commitment and the Relationship between Role, Social Resources, and School Poverty. Presentation at the Council for Exceptional Children Conference, Indianapolis, IN.
Bettini, E., Brunsting, N., Lillis, J.*, & Stark, K.* (2019, January). Interpersonal Dynamics among Adults Serving Students with EBD in Self-Contained Classes. Poster presentation at the Council for Exceptional Children Conference, Indianapolis, IN.
Bettini, E., Ansley, B., Cumming, M., O’Brien, M., Garwood, J., Brunsting, N., & Ruble, L. (2019, January)Supporting Special Education Teachers’ Well-Being: Current Research and Future Directions. Moderator for panel presentation at the Council for Exceptional Children Conference, Indianapolis, IN.
Bettini, E. (2019, January). Special Education Teachers’ Well-Being: Mediating the Teacher Shortage. Moderator for multi-presentation session at the Council for Exceptional Children Conference, Indianapolis, IN.
Bettini, E., Cumming, M., & Sutton, R.* (2018, November). Special educators’ working conditions, stress, and commitment to continue teaching. Paper presented at the annual Teacher Education Division of CEC Conference, Las Vegas, NV.
Bettini, E. (2018, November). Interpersonal dynamics among adults serving students with emotional/behavioral disorders in self-contained classes. Paper presented at the annual Teacher Education Division of CEC Conference, Las Vegas, NV.
Leko, M., Bettini, E., McLeskey, J., Rock, M., & Ziegler, D. (2018, November). Research Committee Panel Presentation: Examining and Responding to Personnel Shortages in Special Education. Invited panel presentation at the annual Teacher Education Division of CEC Conference, Las Vegas, NV.
Sindelar, P., Bettini, E., Fisher, T., & Mason-Williams, L. (2018, November). Back to the Future: Special Education, Teacher Supply, and Dynamic Labor Markets. Paper presented at the annual Teacher Education Division of CEC Conference, Las Vegas, NV.
Cumming, M., Bettini, E., & Smith, S. (2018, November). Preparing educational professionals to address disruptive behavior in middle school. Paper presented at the annual Teacher Education Division of CEC Conference, Las Vegas, NV.
Bettini, E., Brunsting, N., Lillis, J.*, & Stark, K.* (2018, October). Interpersonal dynamics among adults serving students with emotional/behavioral disorders in self-contained classes. Paper presented at the annual Teacher Educators for Children with Behavioral Disorders Conference, Tempe, AZ.
Bettini, E., Cumming, M., Brunsting, N., & Sutton, R.* (2018, October). Special educators’ working conditions, stress, and commitment to continue teaching in self-contained settings for students with emotional/behavioral disorders. Paper presented at the annual Teacher Educators Conference for Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, Tempe, AZ.
Oblath, R.*, Green, J.G., Bettini, E., Pincus, D., Lawry, C., & Faraci, N. (2018, October). Summer support service provision for urban youth. Paper presented at the annual Teacher Educators Conference for Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, Tempe, AZ.