This article describes a number of internal organizational initiatives within an urban teacher education program designed to foster inclusive, responsive practices by newly licensed general and special education teacher candidates. After implementing a merged preparation program for both special and general educators, we captured faculty and…

The Chapter 2-Carnegie Middle School Project was designed to develop educational programming and to provide appropriate services to advanced and gifted learners within the restricted middle school environment. This study examined the extent to which trained teachers could effectively implement advanced instructional techniques and curricula for…

This paper describes a practicum designed to increase the stress management skills of 10 special educators working in a juvenile detention center. Teachers at the juvenile detention center were taking an inordinate amount of sick leave and engaging in behaviors that were counter-productive to their delivery of educational services to detained…

A study of 150 regular and special education teachers assessed teacher attitudes toward the inclusion of students with disabilities in the regular classroom and toward co-teaching and collaborative planning to meet the instructional needs of students with disabilities in the regular classroom. Analysis of the findings reveal a strong positive…

This summary report presents an integration of major findings on teachers' perceptions of working conditions, based on survey and interview data from about 375 special educators in six large urban districts. The report focuses on special educators' perceptions of administrative support at two levels--building and central office. Major findings…

This report evaluates a program developed to address the shortage of qualified special education teachers in rural school districts in Maine. The goal of the program is to offer accessible special education training at the baccalaureate degree level to transitionally and conditionally certified special education teachers and to educational…

This paper reviews several studies on attitudes of regular and special educators toward inclusion of all children, regardless of disability, in the regular education environment and on attitude changes occurring as a result of staff development activities. Special education teachers (n=100) and regular education teachers (n=100) who were working…

In response to findings that 50-80% of handicapped adults nationwide are unemployed, the state of South Dakota has mandated transition planning for handicapped secondary students. A statewide mail survey examined the awareness and attitudes of special education teachers about the need for transition services, the extent of current teacher training…

Results of a 1982 survey to assess competencies that were developed for special education teachers in Kansas are presented. The 61 competencies covered the role of special education personnel with regular educators and the involvement of parents in the special education process. The objective of the competency-development project was to reduce the…

The therapeutic swimming program of the Albuquerque (New Mexico) Public Schools (APS) for severely handicapped students was evaluated to determine its impact and effectiveness. The program is funded under Public Law 94-142, Education for All Handicapped Children Act. Data were collected by interviews, surveys, review of records, and observation. A…

A 2-year evaluation of the Honolulu (Hawaii) District Instructional Assistance and Assessment Component involved placement of part-time teachers in selected specific learning disabilities classrooms to work with special education teachers. Twelve elementary school classes were involved during the first year (six project and six comparison…

The paper describes a behavioral-ecological assessment system called AIMS (Assessment for Integration into Mainstream Settings) and presents the results of a comparative study of the responses of four Australian (N=179) and two U.S. (N=72) elementary teacher groups on two of the AIMS assessment instruments, the Social Behavior Standards Inventory…

Reports a study that examined the relationship of demographics and computer accessibility variables to special educators' perceived computer competency levels. Surveys of 234 special educators indicated that computer ownership and access to computers were the best predictors of perceived computer competence. The study found that student access to…

Survey of 256 administrators and teachers from rural midwestern schools revealed that most respondents, particularly special education teachers, strongly supported inclusion on a case-by-case basis as opposed to supporting full inclusion of all students. Stresses the importance of general and special educators being prepared to work…

Constructed and tested three inventories of teacher beliefs: Teachers' Beliefs About Parents, Teachers' Beliefs About Administrators, and Perceptions of Parental Beliefs Concerning Teachers. Inventories were completed by 462 elementary, secondary, and special education teachers. All measures seemed to possess reasonable construct validity and…