The rapid growth of special education programs has exceeded the capability of teacher training programs in West Virginia to fill new positions in schools serving children with learning or behavior disorders. The focus of the Mainstream Practicum Project is to train regular educators who are currently working as untrained, uncredentialed personnel…

This paper discusses the impact that participating in a teacher preparation program has had on Navajo mothers. Mothers play a very central role in Navajo culture, and such impacts, both positive and negative, are important not only to program participants, but also to those working in Indian communities. Informal surveys were conducted with 20…

This manual and related 41-minute video was produced by a 5-year federally funded project to foster collaboration between special education and child care staff in early childhood programs. The approach is based on a structured, relationship-based, problem solving framework, "Going Around the Circle." The process involves five steps: (1)…

Two statewide Montana projects address educational needs assessed through a biennial Comprehensive System of Personnel Development survey. Although addressing different needs, the projects use similar strategies for effective implementation in a large rural state. Montana Training for Inclusive Education is a program of inservice training,…

This paper reports on a study evaluating a graduate-level distance education program that provides special education teacher preparation at rural sites throughout Utah. The program was developed by the University of Utah to address problems associated with teacher recruitment and retention in rural areas. The program uses an "integrated"…

A 4-year (1991-1994) project in New York State attempted to enhance the skills of regular and special education teachers and administrators working with students who have emotional disturbances and increase the quality of educational options statewide for this population. A 3-day training program which focused on assessment techniques,…

This paper describes Project THREADS (Transformations for Humanistic and Responsive Education for All Deaf Students), a program to develop a model for increasing the multicultural competence of inservice teachers of the deaf. Project THREADS is designed to facilitate changes in individual teachers and changes in their institutions while working to…

Graduates of professional preparation programs in special education are followed up in order to know about the status of professionals who completed their training in programs receiving federal support from the Office of Special Education Programs Division of Personnel Preparation. This bulletin discusses graduate follow-up precondition criteria…

The first of two papers compares two models (the market based model and the prevalence model) for analyzing data from annual state surveys to determine future special education personnel needs and discusses critical issues in data collection. These data are required under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act which asks states to project…

This brief paper describes a Macintosh computer program designed specifically to support the collaborative work of special education resource teachers. The increasing importance of collaboration between special and regular educators in serving the needs of students with disabilities is noted, as is the potential role of the microcomputer in aiding…

This report discusses the outcomes of a 1996-1997 review that investigated the current role of Learning Assistance Services in the delivery of special education support services to students in 115 British Columbia public schools and the students who receive these services. Learning Assistance Services are described as school-based, non-categorical…

A study compared the attitudes of 91 regular teachers, 124 second year pre-service teachers, and 91 gifted program teachers from Finland and the United States toward gifted children and gifted programs. Results indicated significant differences between cultures and among teacher types. American teachers were more favorable toward special services…

This proceedings contains approximately 92 presentations focusing on rural education and rural special education. Topics include: meeting the needs of handicapped and disabled students in rural areas; education and inservice training of special education teachers; teacher cooperation models; higher education of at-risk students; rural teacher…

This study investigated attitudes of educators from both the middle school movement and gifted education, by means of a survey of 400 members of relevant professional organizations. The survey focused on six interest clusters: (1) grouping strategies, (2) identification issues, (3) curriculum modifications, (4) teacher preparation, (5) program…

This paper reports on group discussion by 11 leaders in special education and related disciplines on research in alcohol and drug abuse, in relationship to the preparation of special education personnel. Five main themes emerged from the discussion: (1) prevention and drug education must be put into high gears; (2) systems change efforts,…