The issue of special education services for culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students is generally discussed in relation to geographic areas with large minority populations. However, CLD students in less populated areas are also in need of special services. This study reports on a survey that was conducted to determine the perceptions…

Results of an assessment of 50 ecological and stress management competencies that were developed as part of a Kansas project to improve retention of special education personnel are presented in narrative and data sections. Ecological considerations include those that contribute to job success, such as job challenge and community atmosphere, while…

A special education teacher's views on the 10 years since enactment of P.L. 94-142, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, and thoughts about the future of special education are offered. Characteristics of the first years following P.L. 94-142 included an exuberant pioneer spirit among teachers, informal curricula, and lack of rigor in…

The Minnesota Gifted Education Master's Program (MGEMP) was designed to provide practicum experience, leadership training for program implementation, and teaching techniques for achieving and underachieving gifted students. To evaluate the second summer of this four-year program, the twenty-five participants were administered two cognitive tests…

Teachers' decisions about staying in a position are influenced by three classes of variables: employment, personal, and external. In a North Dakota study of the relationship between these variables and job retention in rural areas, 42 special education teachers and related service personnel who had left their positions in the past year (leavers)…

This paper reports results of a survey of 237 Massachusetts special education teachers in programs for students with significant disabilities as the teachers work to learn and use unitary standards-based curriculum. The study examined: familiarity of the teachers with the state's curriculum frameworks; variations in teachers' experiences and views…

A study investigated the perceptions and level of knowledge of special education law, policies, and procedures among regular education teachers (n=303) and special education teachers (n=52) in Mississippi. The seven principles of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) that ensure the delivery of educational services for students…

Discusses the barriers that impede special education teachers from adopting research findings in the field of special education. The lack of communication between educators and researchers, the need to teach teachers how to evaluate research using scientific criteria, and teacher resistance to change are discussed. (CR)

Supportive learning activities were implemented in a multiple-baseline time series design across four fifth-grade classrooms to evaluate the effects of a cooperative teaching alternative (supportive learning) on teaching behavior, the behavior and grades of general and special education students, and the opinions of general education teachers.…

Describes the beliefs, knowledge, and classroom practices of a successful bilingual special educator, noting factors that shaped her teaching, including her own experiences as a second-language learner. Notes the teacher's emphasis on interactive teaching that weaves students' first language and culture with direct instruction, practice, and…

This study found that 246 regular and 42 special education high school teachers had dissimilar views of their ability to provide learning-disabled students with competencies considered important for college entry by 82 college faculty. Special educators and college faculty were quite similar in perception of students' needs. (Author/JDD)

A graduate course at the University of New Hampshire is intended to help special educators of young children to develop communication and collaboration skills. Program evaluation has indicated that attitudes of professionals and their interactions with parents were changed in the direction of greater empathy, increased respect, and more…

A study involving 40 experts in teaching literacy skills to students with low vision identified the levels of direct and consultative instructional services needed for teaching literacy skills to such students. Findings support the need to provide consistent, direct instruction in almost all areas of literacy and literacy-related skills. (Contains…

This study examined a national sample of classroom teachers, teachers of the gifted, administrators, and consultants from rural, suburban, and urban areas regarding their assumptions about the gifted identification process. Respondents indicated the degree to which they agreed or disagreed with 20 items that reflected guidelines for a…

Interviews with 16 general special education teachers from the Chicago area were conducted in order to obtain information on their views and experiences with collaboration. An open-ended questionnaire consisting of nine items was utilized during the interviews, which required the participants to give multiple sentence responses to each question.…