A sample of 212 Mississippi special education teachers responded to a questionnaire concerning their education, adequacy of their coursework, and their training needs in relation to PL 94-142. Identified inservice needs focused on individual education plans (IEPs), working with the emotionally disturbed, and cooperating with parents. (SJL)

A literature review suggests that teachers' attitudes strongly influence the success of inclusion programs and that training can affect those attitudes. Surveys of 110 rural Midwest K-12 special and regular education teachers found that most regular education teachers did not want special education students in their classrooms and saw few benefits…

Defines inclusion as the placement of students with disabilities in age-appropriate regular educational settings with the bringing of special services to them in the classroom. Describes a wide variety of characteristic behaviors common to children with neurological dysfunctions. Includes suggestions for accommodating behaviors. (MJP)

More students than ever are receiving their special education services in general education classrooms as a result of the Individual with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) (President's Commission on Excellence in Special Education, 2002). Among the most common delivery systems for those services is…

The hallmark of inclusive education is the teachers' willingness to accept students with special needs. Their attitudes and knowledge about inclusive education are important as these are indicators of such willingness. The purpose of this study was to examine teachers' attitudes and their perceived knowledge towards inclusive education in…

This paper includes a qualitative study of the role of "inclusion specialists" in schools, a review of the history of special education, accounts of interviews with 17 special and 7 regular educators, accounts of day-long observations of four specialists, and the author's reflections. The literature review focuses on the relationship of…

A 1991 survey of Directors of Special Education in Kansas indicated a shortage of deaf education teachers and problems with retention of deaf education teachers in rural areas. In addition, 15 of 22 respondents documented an increase in the number of deaf and hard-of-hearing (D/HH) children in their districts. Project Rural Education is a program…

In this study 83 regular class teachers (RCTs) evaluated potentially irritating behaviors of special educators. In addition 64 special educators also attempted to predict these ratings using a parallel instrument. Results indicated that RCTs' ratings of special educators' irritating behaviors were lower than predicted by the special educators…

A survey was conducted of 174 certified school personnel (including special education teachers, administrators, regular classroom teachers, vocational teachers, counselors, and aides) in the Mississippi Delta concerning their attitudes toward special education and toward students with disabilities. Overall, the educators expressed slightly…

This survey of 204 regular classroom teachers sought to determine to what extent 65 competencies (identified as essential for special education teachers of the severely handicapped) are necessary for teachers who have special education students mainstreamed into their classrooms. The mainstream teacher sample in this study and a special education…

The paper examines problems in the utilization of the Resource Specialist Teacher (RST) mandated by California law to serve handicapped students. The study evaluated whether the RST certificate mandate effectively altered the implementation of the least restrictive environment policy for disabled students in a rural area of northeastern…

A brief description is provided of a successful peer tutoring model implemented by Portsmouth High School (New Hampshire) in which student tutors volunteer to work under the direct supervision of the special educator on reading, math, science, and pre-vocational skills. Peer tutor responsibilities on assisting students in reading are presented,…

This report describes a secondary mainstreaming program in Pine County, Minnesota, which successfully used a team approach and consultation between regular and special education teachers to adapt regular content-area classes to accommodate mildly handicapped students. (Author/JDD)

The purpose of this study was to investigate possible changes in the dispositions of preservice educators toward the inclusion of students with disabilities after participation in a required introductory inclusion class. The sample included 479 students (207 secondary/content specialists; 272 elementary/generalists: early childhood educators,…

This study used a single-subject design to investigate the feasibility of using computer access technology by Braille reading students who are mainstreamed. The technology would reduce the time that vision teachers spend transcribing Braille work for mainstream teachers and thereby increase the time vision teachers spend in direct instruction and…