Identifying appropriate evaluation strategies for students who are English Language Learners (ELL) and have a learning disability is of critical importance in today's schools. A lack of sensitivity to the differences in ELL characteristics and those of learning disabilities has often resulted in over-identification for special education services.…

Creating accessible and engaging lessons for students with reading disabilities (RD) in inclusive classrooms is particularly challenging for special educators in upper elementary and middle school settings. Older students with RD have difficulty accessing the texts that serve as the basis for instruction, and years of repeated failure can leave…

This monograph describes results of focus group interviews with 16 regular and special education teachers in Kentucky concerning their experience with including students with disabilities in regular education classrooms. An introduction notes the trend away from selective mainstreaming toward increased inclusion of students with disabilities in…

This study examined the involvement of special education teachers with school-linked services (SLS) programs at their California schools. Telephone interviews were conducted with 25 resource and 8 special day teachers at 33 Healthy Start elementary schools, as well as from focus groups conducted with special education teachers at 2 case-study…

This paper describes an alternative certification program that was developed to address the shortage of certified special education teachers in West Virginia. The goal of the program is to provide students from a noneducational background with opportunities at the master's degree level to become special education teachers in one of three…

Two projects in the teacher education program at Seton Hall University gave assignments involving basic qualitative research methods as applied to a focused goal of interaction between future teachers and their students. The first project focused on life in community residential programs for adults with developmental disabilities, and the second…

This document contains 13 papers presented at a national forum on special education teacher satisfaction, retention, and attrition. The forum focused on results and implications of three studies: (1) the San Diego State University/American Institute for Research (California) study of variables related to the satisfaction, attrition, and retention…

This study documents the needs of Alabama's secondary educational programs and services for youth with disabilities. A short history of secondary school programs for youth with disabilities introduces the study. Areas examined are: curriculum and instruction, vocational/occupational opportunities, vocational education, independent living,…

This report characterizes the problem of shortage of qualified special educators in rural schools and describes the Rural Special Educator Project developed to address this problem in Maine. The traditional model demanding that individuals wishing to broaden their skills must leave their community to receive training works in direct opposition to…

This publication describes the high teacher attrition rate in special education and the importance of teacher retention, and provides teacher retention strategies and activities for educators and administrators. Information for the guide was obtained through discussion groups, interviews, and a written survey. Three sections identify strategies…

This paper describes a study by Project ACCESS (Addressing Computer Concerns of Educators of Special Students) in Michigan to ascertain the existing level of knowledge and use of technology in special education. Analysis of questionnaires returned by 266 local education agency personnel and 266 intermediate school district (ISD) personnel…

Difficulties in recruiting and retaining rural special educators relate directly to deficiencies in teacher preparation programs, which are not providing their budding professionals with appropriate instruction to insure success and survival as rural special educators. In December 1982, a National Consortium of Universities Preparing Rural Special…

A special education teacher and an administrator in each of 17 small rural public school districts in New Mexico were interviewed to identify problems with and strategies for providing special education services in the districts. According to teachers, the most severe problems involved acquiring appropriate equipment and materials, recruiting…

This self-instructional module, one of 16 on techniques for coordinating work experience programs, provides preservice and inservice educational materials for teacher-coordinators supervising on-the-job training. The four goals for this module are (1) to understand the background and concepts of cooperative vocational education, (2) to understand…

This document contains tabular displays of data pertaining to the number of handicapped pupils served by South Carolina public schools for the 1985-86 academic year. Charts provide information on: (1) public school programs for handicapped children (reported by category of handicapping condition and program model); (2) handicapped children…