Despite the availability of disability resource centers and reasonable accommodations to facilitate access among teacher candidates with disabilities, research has shown that access alone may not be conducive to equitable educational experiences that promote program retention and completion. The purpose of this systematic review of the literature…

The present qualitative interview study explored disability identity development, a unique aspect of identity, and its relationship to school and special education. Adults with disabilities (n = 9) reflected on their schooling experiences in special education through a life history interview and semi-structured interview about their schooling…

In this article, we present findings that examined special education teachers' perception of students' with disabilities ability, instructional needs, and difficulties for using visual representations (VRs) as a strategy to solve mathematics problems. In addition, whether these perceptions differed by instructional grade or setting currently…

Teacher preparation has been under intense scrutiny in recent years. In order for preparation of special education teacher candidates to remain viable, candidate assessment practices must apply practices identified in the extant literature base, while special education teacher education researchers must extend this base with rigorous efforts to…

Many students with disabilities (SWD) are not meeting proficiency, and achievement scores disaggregated by disability status show that SWD are often not meeting progress targets established by states. A survey was developed to collect data from 218 general and special educators to analyze trends in teachers' attitudes and practices that may be…

In 2006, the authors' college joined the ranks of those offering programs for young adults with intellectual disabilities on campus. The program includes several inclusive courses in which typical students study together with their peers with intellectual disabilities. This article describes how 12 pre-service teachers who participated in an…

An investigation on the use of literature as part of the teacher preparation process probed the impact of book talks on teacher candidates' attitudes toward people with disabilities. Candidates in a 4-year undergraduate program participated in book talks reflecting subjects relevant to course work. Books reflected various effects of disability,…

The goal of this mixed methods study was to explore differences among teachers (n = 52 special education teachers, n = 195 general education teachers, and n = 30 gifted education teachers) on their perceptions of students with disabilities and their willingness to refer them to a gifted and talented program. In this follow-up to an earlier work,…

Previous investigations suggest that in addition to positive attitudes toward inclusion, high-level beliefs about knowledge and learning (i.e., epistemological beliefs) are essential for all teachers of students with disabilities in inclusive settings. This study examined the attitudes toward inclusion and epistemological belief status of 71…

Of 100 graduate students in an introductory special education course, 70 felt that reading about handicapped individuals was enjoyable and effective in increasing their knowledge and improving their attitudes toward handicapped persons. (CL)

One-hundred twenty-eight regular and 133 special educators responded to a questionnaire on mainstreaming. The two groups were similiar in their attitudes. Regular educators displayed more negative attitudes, but the differences rarely reached significance. Group differences became more apparent when attitudes concerning specific handicapping…

In the last 20 years, teacher preparation programs have come under close scrutiny by the public and governmental agencies charged with monitoring teacher quality and the academic achievement of American students. Both regular and special education teacher preparation programs struggle with the requirement to collect valid and reliable evidence of…

Reviews the role of the Council for Exceptional Children's (CEC) Teacher Education Division (TED) in improving the opportunities available to children with diverse needs and characteristics and in changing societal views of individuals with diverse needs. Also addresses the future role of CEC in developing and maintaining appropriate teacher…

This study investigated changes in attitudes toward persons with disabilities among students in an introductory special education class (n=49) and a control group of students (n=53) in a general education class. Intervention involved information, contact, and persuasive messages over 10 weeks. Experimental students reported that contact was the…

A study compared perspectives of 78 teachers in inclusive schools and 84 teachers in non-inclusive schools. The inclusion teachers had significantly more positive perspectives regarding inclusion. The groups differed regarding how well prepared their school was for inclusion, concern with teachers' roles, and concern with the effect of inclusion.…