Evaluated a five-month effort to prepare students with disabilities to move from a resource room into a regular classroom for math instruction. Preparation included use of curriculum-based measurement and transenvironmental programing. Results indicated that the experimental procedures contributed to students' positive attitudes and confidence.…

At the Bridge School (Hillsborough, California), children with severe speech and physical disabilities are trained in the use of augmentative and alternative communication technologies, transitioned back to their home school districts, and given continuing support. Outreach and research endeavors keep the broader community informed and educated…

A reference work that presents a chronology focusing on special education, its development, and the important issues that both positively and negatively affect the field. Updated through current events, this second edition provides an excellent introduction to special education in all of its practical aspects--how it developed, its curriculum,…

Countless reports have analyzed the impact of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 on teacher quality and student achievement. What many of these reports truly leave behind, however, is the reality that state governments--not the federal government--have the strongest impact on the work of America's 3.1 million teachers. With that in mind, three…

The "State Teacher Policy Yearbook" examines what is arguably the single most powerful authority over the teaching profession: state government. This Colorado edition of the National Council on Teacher Quality's (NCTQ's) "State Teacher Policy Yearbook" is the first of what will be an annual look at the status of state policies…

Concerns for social justice have called Catholics and others to be compassionate and supportive to children with disabilities by establishing schools and other learning opportunities to nurture this population. Special education as a field has developed over the past 40 years. This study examines the incidence, context, and nature of special…

The research study presented here was conducted by two educational technology faculty members, one from special education and the other from general education, and their respective undergraduate classes. This study applied an action research model (Hubbard & Power, 1999; Mills, 2000), coupled with a pre and posttest design, in examining the…

The primary intent of this program evaluation was to determine the degree of inclusion of students with disabilities in general education classes in four elementary and four secondary schools; the similarities and differences in how special education services were offered; and the ways in which students with disabilities were supported in the…

The 1998 reauthorization of the Higher Education Act requires states to report annually to the U.S. Department of Education the number of prospective teachers at each of their teacher training institutions who pass the state's tests for licensure. However, the law left decisions on what licensure tests to require, what to assess on them, and their…

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLBA) requires all children to meet state standards of proficiency. Nowhere does this seem more absurd than the requirement for subgroups of students with disabilities to meet the same standard as children without disabilities. Educators, parents, and students alike protested that to be labeled as a child with an…

Project RAISE (Rural America Institute for Special Educators) was a preservice teacher training program specifically designed for preparing special educators for the demands of rural settings. The project was conducted by the Department of Special Education at Bowling Green State University (Ohio) and concentrated on training special educators in…

This project addressed the need for training materials for paraeducators in their roles as members of the instructional team, and for teachers as classroom executives who lead that team. Paraprofessional personnel in this project include paid aides, volunteers, cross-age tutors, and parents instructing children in the schools. The three objectives…

This paper describes a process that empowered special education teachers in Greenville Independent School District (Texas) to begin moving toward an inclusive model of special education. Specifically, the paper examines special education teachers' levels of concern regarding inclusion during this process. During the summer, 26 special education…

Key facts are provided about the Northeast Regional Credential program which allows greater transportability of teacher certification across state lines. Tight and exclusionary teacher certification rules are seen as related to the high numbers of teachers leaving the profession. This regional credentialling program is an agreement among seven…

In West Virginia, an alternative special education program allows students with bachelor's degrees in fields other than education to become teachers of exceptional children. This program provides a route to certification in mental retardation, specific learning disabilities, or behavior disorders, as well as to a master's degree in special…