About Our Editing Team
Rose Sebastian, EdD: Founder, Author, and Special Educator
Expertise & Credentials
Dr. Rose Sebastian is the founder and content creator for Spedhelper.org and a leading expert in special education and inclusive technology. Her focus is on creating evidence-based, practical resources that support educators in navigating complex legal and instructional environments.
| Credential | Institution | Focus |
| Doctorate of Education (Ed.D.) in Curriculum and Instruction | University of Virginia | Advanced research on equity-focused teaching practices. |
| Masters in Special Education and Elementary Teaching Credential | University of San Diego | Focused on managing complex caseloads and implementing effective special education programs. |
| Level II Education Specialist Credential | San Diego State University | Received advanced behavioral supports training |
| Bachelor of Arts in Psychology | Wellesley College | Studied educational psychology and child development |
Professional Experience
Rose’s work is grounded in 12 years of special education teaching experience and 4 years of special education paraprofessional experience, spanning public and non-public settings, preK through 12th grade, in both urban and rural environments.
Founder of Spedhelper.org, Campton, NH (2016 – Now): Founder and content creator for a resource website now serving 21,000 monthly site users. Developed easy-to-use assessment tools and digital content based on real classroom needs.
Special Education Teacher, Dover, NH (2023 – Now): High school special education case manager. Manages diverse caseloads, develops IEPs, and creates executive functioning supports, ensuring Spedhelper content remains current and practical.
Adjunct Professor (Plymouth State University): Teaches future educators in Inclusive Education and Technology (ED2800), ensuring all resources reflect current pedagogical best practices.
Education Specialist, Mild/Moderate (Ibarra Elementary, San Diego, CA, 2011–2016): Served as lead special education teacher for a Title 1 school, managing complex caseloads, supervising paraprofessionals, and overseeing cross-functional, multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) committees.
- Education Specialist, Mild/Moderate (Oak Park Elementary, San Diego, CA, 2010-2011): Led a site-based transformation to becoming an inclusive school.
- Special day classroom teacher, emotional and behavioral disorders (Cubberly Elementary, San Diego, CA, 2007-2010): Developed a specialized program for students with behavioral challenges
- Child care worker (New Alternatives, El Cajon, CA, 2005-2007): Supported children in residential foster care placements with socioemotional development.
- Assistant teacher (Walker Home and School, Needham, MA, 2003-2005)
Research & Publications
Rose is an active researcher in teacher education, studying how teachers can thrive in their profession while supporting diverse learners.
Academic Publications
Sebastian, R. & Paulick, J. (2024). “Build that relationship”: Supporting preservice teachers’ engagement with families. School Community Journal, 34(2), 179-199.
Thomas, C., Berry, R., & Sebastian, R. (2024). Examining the elements of culturally relevant pedagogy captured and missed in a measure of high-quality mathematics instruction. ZDM, 1-12.
Sebastian, R., & Krishnamachari, A. (2023). Unlocking the potential of introduction to teaching courses through simulations. Teaching and Teacher Education, 133, 104276.
Sebastian, R., Krishnamachari, A., & McCartney, A. (2023). Understanding teacher candidates’ strengths and areas of need in simulated parent-teacher conferences. Journal of Education for Teaching.
Sebastian, R. (2023). The path to change: How change-making teachers create bottom-up reforms. Phi Delta Kappan.
Thomas, C. A., & Sebastian, R. (2023). Increasing test scores or fighting injustice: Understanding one district’s culturally responsive teaching certification program. International Journal of Educational Research Open, 4, 100235.
Sebastian, R. (2022). “If you want to go far”: Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy in a co-taught classroom. Urban Review, 1-23.
Sebastian, R. (2021). How one school district’s inequitable “Yale or Jail” tracking system began to change. High School Journal, 105(1), 60-81.
Nikseresht, F., Yan, R., Lew, R., Liu, Y., Sebastian, R. M., & Doryab, A. (2021). Detection of Racial Bias from Physiological Responses. In Advances in Usability, User Experience, Wearable and Assistive Technology: Proceedings of the AHFE 2021 Virtual Conferences on Usability and User Experience, Human Factors and Wearable Technologies, Human Factors in Virtual Environments and Game Design, and Human Factors and Assistive Technology, July 25-29, 2021, USA (pp. 59-66). Springer International Publishing.
Sebastian, R., & Datta, D. (2021). Scaling Teacher Candidates’ Family Engagement Training Through Simulations and Artificial Intelligence. In Proceedings of the 15th International Conference of the Learning Sciences-ICLS 2021.. International Society of the Learning Sciences.
Popular Press Publications
Kreamer, H.M. & Sebastian, R. (2024, June 25). Shortcut teacher certification programs are shortchanging students. The Richmond Times, https://richmond.com/article_1f180298-2cde-11ef-bef9-1b5dc829dd67.html
Sebastian, R. (2024, June 23). Let’s get cell phones out of New Hampshire classrooms. The Union Ledger, https://www.unionleader.com/opinion/op-eds/rose-sebastian-lets-get-cellphones-out-of-nh-classrooms/article_020903fe-2e83-11ef-837a-47545feae51c.html
Scholarly Presentations
Thomas, C., & Sebastian, R. (2023). Increasing test scores or fighting injustice: Understanding one district’s Culturally Responsive Teaching certification program. Paper accepted at the annual meeting of the American Education Research Association.
Sebastian, R. & Paulick, J. (2023). “You’re both humans”: Supporting teachers’ engagement with families. Paper accepted at the annual meeting of the American Education Research Association
Sebastian, R. & Debajyoti, D. (2022). Leveraging simulated practice to build pre-service teachers’ family engagement skills. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Education Research Association, San Diego, CA
Debajyoti, D. & Sebastian, R. (2022). Using interpretability techniques and deep learning to understand nuances in family engagement. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Education Research Association, San Diego, CA
Paulick, J., Sebastian, R., & Blain, C. (2022). Using simulations to prepare teachers for equitable education. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Education Research Association, San Diego, CA
Sebastian, R. (2022). The chicken or the egg: Comparing general and special education teacher candidates’ responses to student behaviors. Poster accepted at the Council for Exceptional Children, Orlando, FL
Sebastian, R., & Cohen, J. (2021). Listening to teacher candidates: Pre-service teachers’ perspectives on simulations in teacher education. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Education Research Association
Sebastian, R., & Datta, D. (2021). Scaling teacher candidates’ family engagement training through simulations and artificial intelligence. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the International Society of Learning Sciences, Bochum, Germany
Nikseresht, F., Yan, R., Lew, R., Liu, Y., Sebastian, R., & Doryab, A. (2021). Detection of implicit racial bias from physiological responses: A measurement during IAT test. Paper presented at the annual meeting of Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics, New York, New York
Sebastian, R. (2020). “If you want to go far”: Culturally Relevant Teaching in a co-taught classroom. Round-table paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Education Research Association, San Francisco, CA, http://tinyurl.com/u4euwnh (Conference Canceled)
Sebastian, R., Thornton, M., & McCartney, A. (2019). Leveling up: State- and division-level barriers to advanced studies in Virginia. Round-table paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Education Research Association, Toronto, Canada
Sebastian, R. (2018). Changing ‘Yale or Jail’: The evolution of tracking at one high school. Paper presented at the Diversifying Scholarship Conference, Charlottesville, Virginia