The Alaska Comprehensive System of Personnel Development (CSPD) Committee sought to develop a coordinated plan of action to deal with the recruitment and retention of special education teachers, a significant problem for such a rural state with immense distances and widely diverse population centers. Two subcommittees were formed to work on…

To address the shortage of special education teachers, California State University (CSU), Chico in collaboration with rural, isolated school districts in CSU's service area, designed a two-year, on-the-job training program that recruited, prepared, and supported new special education teachers. Candidates, selected collaboratively by the University…

This federally funded study investigated Virginia special education program standards, focusing on local applications of the standards for class size and class mix and the effect of varying class size and class mix on student outcomes. The study concentrated on students with educable mental retardation, severe emotional disturbance, and specific…

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…

This paper focuses on possible solutions to the problem of special education personnel recruitment and retention. Options for increasing the supply of direct service personnel include: augment salaries and benefits for educational personnel; facilitate improved working conditions and status for personnel involved in direct service; train…

While most rural special education leaders agree on the universality of certain problems (funding inadequacies, personnel recruitment/retention, transportation, low-incidence handicapped populations, staff development needs, resistance to change) in rural areas, no agreement exists regarding generalizable solutions which will work in all rural…

Deans of schools of education (N=249) answered a survey probing current resources, plans for expansion, incentives needed for expanding personnel resources, and barriers to program development in special education programs covering the needs of infants and toddlers. Almost half reported no special education program at any level, but 40% reported…

The study compared perceptions of high school and college faculty regarding the characteristics and preparatory needs of secondary learning disabled (LD) students. The analysis was based on a survey of 288 high school teachers (246 regular and 42 special education) and 82 college teachers. Separate factor analyses identified three academic factors…

The proceedings of the 1986 Symposium on the Future of Special Education contains 12 papers. Presenters represented the following groups: state education agency directors, large school district directors, small school district directors, teachers, parents, teacher educators, researchers, and Canadian school administrators. An initial paper by F.…

This module is designed to familiarize students preparing to be special education teachers with the physical needs of the exceptional student. Information is given on how to structure an adaptive physical education program designed to meet those needs, including development of an individualized education program (IEP). The module covers such…

To explore the perceptions of special education administrators regarding the anticipated effects of restricted funding, survey questionnaires were mailed to a random sample of 200 directors of special education in Texas. Questions regarding demographics, funding sources, staff and program concerns, and assistance needed for coping were asked.…

The Mental Health Project of the Albuquerque (New Mexico) Public Schools (APS), which was initiated in August of 1985, was evaluated. Funded by Public Law 94-142, the program focused on providing an interdisciplinary team approach to deliver direct and indirect counseling services to selected special education students, families, and staff.…

A final project report of the Project on Cooperative Manpower Planning in Special Education of the University of Missouri-Columbia is presented, along with the introductory sections of seven reports and handbooks produced as part of the project. The objective of the project was to provide technical assistance to State Education Agencies during…

Average salary increases for 1,223 faculty in the field of special education are reported for 1983-1984 and 1986-1987, as part of the College and University Personnel Association's annual faculty salary studies. Included are comparative data for 120,580 faculty at 167 public colleges and 235 private colleges, representing 44 academic disciplines.…

This document is a monograph in a personnel development series addressing issues that are pertinent for policy-making personnel concerned with preservice personnel preparation of vocational/special educators. Section 1 presents a review of the selected literature related to the development of personnel preparation programs and the results of a…