Responses from 143 individuals to a questionnaire mailed to 180 special education administrators from all regions of the country found that many first-year teachers enter the profession lacking skills critical to successful teaching and that those with only undergraduate degrees are at greater risk for failure than those with graduate training.…

This handbook presents information on the minimum requirements for teacher certification in the state of Illinois. Requirements are listed for: (1) certification by transcript evaluation; (2) application procedures for individuals with foreign credentials; (3) qualification of teachers--utilization of certificates; (4) waiver of additional student…

A needs assessment determined the need for independent living skills for high school students with severe disabilities, as perceived by the students (n=45), their parents (n=38) and their teachers (n=7). Results revealed that the students believed that their lives were steadily improving, that they were more satisfied than dissatisfied with the…

Teachers who have been trained to work with normal young children (early childhood certification) or with older handicapped children (special education certification) are often unprepared to assume the multiple responsibilities of the teacher of preschool handicapped children. The purpose of this project was to address this need by implementing…

A study determined the existing vocational/special education certification policies and practices in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and trust territories. A survey instrument collected data from the 55 state vocational special-needs consultants. The response rate was 85 percent (47 persons). Conclusions were that most states do not issue…

This document presents an evaluative description of the evolution of a competency based methods course in special education. The course evolved as a function of continuous process evaluation developed out of the realization that it was unnecessary to teach completely separate methods courses in special education for teacher certification in the…

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…

Problems encountered in vocational education mainstreaming and recommended improvements are presented in this paper. A brief history introduces the concept followed by specific definitions of "training,""education," and "mainstreaming," as applied to vocational schooling. Three general operational models are described and graphically presented.…

The United States Congress and the individual states are now placing high priorities on supplying school facilities for the handicapped. This book is a comprehensive synthesis of what is unique and different about exceptional children and youth, of what modes of teaching and learning are necessary for their instruction, and of what contributions…

An evaluation of the fifth year of the More Effective Schools Program, this study utilized observations, interviews, central office and school records, and questionnaires administered to parents, teachers, specialists, students, and paraprofessionals for evaluation purposes. In this 1968-69 program, 1,422 teachers supplemented by 485 special…

To address the need for special education teachers trained in rural and culturally diverse settings, a field-based special education program was implemented in Kayenta Unified School District (KUSD), Arizona, on the Navajo Nation. KUSD provided teacher housing, classroom space, sites for practicum coursework, and some student teaching placements.…

This book is intended to facilitate the development of reflective problem solving in preservice and novice special educators through the presentation of cases illustrating issues commonly experienced in student teaching and beginning employment experiences in special education settings. Each of the eight chapters begins with a brief introduction…

This monograph features four papers that highlight school-based teacher training programs through Northern Arizona University's (NAU) Center for Excellence in Education (CEE). The first paper, "Reflection, Research, and Practice in a School-based Teacher Education Program (Peggy Ver Velde, Sherry L. Markel, Jeanne Dustman, Barbara Campbell,…

This paper discusses the role of resource center teachers in helping students with attention deficit disorder (ADD) successfully make the transition to secondary school. It addresses: (1) characteristics of ADD, including academic underachievement, cognitive fatigue, fine motor dysfunction, lack of self-monitoring skills, poorly developed…

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)…