This brief introduction to the career of early childhood special educator first describes the nature of the special educator's work with infants and preschool children, and then discusses the educator's role in involving families to develop and implement an individualized plan and work as part of a team of professionals and family members. The…

This brief introduction to the career of elementary level special education resource teacher first describes the nature of the work and the variety of settings in which these educators work. The pamphlet explains the education required, desirable personal qualities, the job outlook and possibilities for advancement, and some ways for high school…

Research suggests that training programs for early intervention practitioners are not providing sufficient field experience and are not meeting actual training needs perceived by practitioners. Opinions about the roles of early childhood special educators and needs for training relevant to practice were obtained through interviews with 11…

This report describes a project which examined special education teacher stress and burnout during the trainee (N=358) and inexperienced teacher (N=357) periods. The project's two goals were: (1) documentation of the relationships among teacher background, preparation, organizational variables, and occupational stress and burnout variables through…

Intended for all those working with handicapped children, the manual provides guidelines for the understanding and implementation of P.L. 94-142, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act. Chapter 1 contains an introduction to the highlights of the law and a statement of what is required of the educational community for compliance. The next…

The "special" quality of special education is the body of knowledge, skills, and attitudes which are used in the education and training of exceptional school children. In practice, these children have been those who public school systems could not or would not teach. The history of education for exceptional children is a simple story of massive…

In response to Kenneth Kavale's theoretical objections to the model of severe discrepancy in determining the existence of learning disabilities, this article describes advantages of discrepancy considerations and presents a model that emphasizes the role of the learning disabilities teacher in diagnosing and remediating specific learning…

This paper provides an overview of collaborative consultation, a service delivery model emphasizing mediated joint problem-solving efforts between individuals from different fields. Of special emphasis is the role of teachers of mainstreamed hearing-impaired students in providing ongoing support to regular classroom teachers, speech-language…

An educational diagnostician who served as mentor to a first-year special education teacher describes her experiences, focusing on her overwhelming sense of responsibility, mentorship training, and critical incidents. The mentor's role in providing guidance without being evaluative is stressed, and development of the mentor/protege relationship…

This study analyzed and compared the perceptions of elementary-level learning disabilities resource teachers (n=83) and general education teachers (n=64) regarding actual and ideal performance of collaborative roles. Results indicated significant differences in teacher perceptions of actual and ideal performance of collaborative roles. Constraints…

Asserts that, as identification of hearing loss in infancy becomes increasingly common due to universal newborn screening, early interventionists will need to forge links to health-care providers, to have specialized training in deafness and hearing loss, and to have expertise in providing services to very young children and to children with mild…

Students with special needs share the same basic needs for literacy instruction. General-education teachers should maintain primary responsibility for literacy education for all students, while special educators and reading specialists provide support. This paper examines obstacles to quality literacy instruction, offering a school-based case…

The Council for Exceptional Children's 1996 Teacher of the Year, Donald Butzko, a high school teacher of students with learning disabilities and mental retardation, is profiled. Characteristics of Butzko that have enhanced his effectiveness are identified, including his relationship with parents, his attendance at students' extracurricular…

Results from a survey of 199 secondary special education teachers indicate they employ a variety of instructional strategies, some judged more effective than others, and that their use of instructional methods does not appear to significantly change with the number of years of their experience nor necessarily parallel effective practice. (Contains…

Meeting the needs of students with disabilities in general education classrooms requires collaboration between general and special education teachers. In this article, the challenges of co-teaching at the secondary level are explored through the voices of general and special education teachers who co-taught in inclusive classrooms at a large…