Johns Hopkins University (Maryland) has developed a field-based two-year experimental program leading to alternative certification (AC) and a master's degree in special education. The program features special recruitment procedures, intensive on-the-job university-based supervision, and local school mentoring. Evaluation of the AC teachers during…

This article briefly describes a two-week course on the education of deaf-blind students, offered as part of a special education degree program at the University of Zimbabwe. The article summarizes course emphases (such as combining education and rehabilitation over the life cycle) and the course's coverage of diagnosis and assessment,…

Describes Project NETWORC, a three-year Nevada program that uses an audio teleconferencing system to provide early childhood special education courses from the University of Nevada-Reno to preservice students and professionals in rural areas. Discusses educational objectives, telecourse content and technical components, student population, and…

This article introduces the papers in this theme issue on special education teachers' use of strategies. The article notes competencies that teachers need to master to become effective teachers of strategies, such as creating strategic environments and embracing a philosophy that facilitates independence in students. (JDD)

Describes a model for providing individualized and comprehensive support for beginning special educators in the face of acute personnel shortages. Describes the interacting factors in the model specific to the individual teacher and to the teaching environment and tasks. Provides recommendations for implementation of the beginning-teacher support…

Describes the relationship between a graduate-level program to train special-education teachers in technology skills and the attempts of six graduates to use these skills in their work. Presents descriptive data from interviews, observations, document analysis, and survey methods and discusses implications for teacher education. (Author/LRW)

Discusses why special education teachers pursue professional development opportunities by focusing on three needs for the selection of curriculum content: felt, normative, and comparative needs. Conveys that distance education provides these teachers with a means for professional development and reviews teachers' distance education experiences.…

This introduction discusses how creative programmatic activities can be designed to address the needs of preservice and inservice educators. It describes a practicum that provided preservice students in early childhood special education opportunities to apply consultation skills to teachers working with children with disabilities and an inservice…

University training programs and public school systems must address the development of beginning teacher assistance programs which include the use of mentors. This paper describes Project RAISE (Rural America Institute for Special Educators), a masters level program that trains preservice and practicing special education teachers. This project…

A graduate special education teacher training program delivered via telecommunication instruction helped meet training needs in rural Alaska. Teachers in four areas were identified and their needs ascertained. The project promoted a flexible class design yet incorporated 7 of 10 courses required for special education certification. The distance…

The paper describes the Rural Special Education Preservice Project which is intended to increase the number of appropriately certified teachers in rural districts and special education cooperatives in Kansas. Problems in the state include a shortage of special education teachers, increased numbers of students qualifying for special education, high…

The document is part of the final report on Project STEEL (Special Teacher Education and Evaluation Laboratory) intended to extend the utilization of technology in the training of preservice special education teachers. This volume focuses on the third of four project objectives, the development and implementation of a computer-based testing…

Observations on teacher education are offered from the point of view of a parent of a learning disabled child who is also supervisor of student teachers in elementary and special education. Implications of a movement which advocates phasing out traditional 4-year undergraduate teacher education academic programs and substituting graduate programs…

A breakdown of data on the number of students completing preparation for standard teaching certificates for the first time in the state of Arkansas for 1977 and estimates for 1978 is provided. Data are categorized for each of the state's 16 teacher education institutions according to total number of teachers, numbers of elementary, secondary, and…

The review focuses on the issues surrounding the use of competency based teacher education (CBTE) by special education teachers. An introductory chapter covers a definition of CBTE, historical background of CBTE, competency based teacher certification, and research in teacher education. A second chapter provides a review of teacher behavior…