The production of simplified language materials (SLMs) is a widespread practitioner response to delivering a curriculum to a diverse student population across mainstream settings. This paper examines the approaches of two groups of teachers and support staff in producing SLMs. It firstly reports on SLMs produced by 33 practitioners, identifying…

To meet the needs of a diverse student population while addressing the knowledge and skills outcomes of the curriculum, faculty should develop a repertoire of instructional models. Research-based instructional models from the fields of education and health care have been developed to support various learner outcomes. Emphasis on evidence-based…

This paper presents a model for the preparation of Quebec teachers of special needs children across disability categories. The proposed model emphasizes collaborative consultation among regular and special educators, collaboration with parents, individualized intervention plans, and teaching of learning strategies. The paper recommends that a…

This report describes a training program designed to assist 15 Southeastern states in preparing quality early intervention personnel to serve young children with disabilities and their families. The goals of the project are described, including: (1) increasing states' progress in implementing the personnel preparation component of Part H of the…

Students and recent graduates of a generic undergraduate special education program based on the Direct Instruction model as a basis for methods instruction were surveyed about their attitudes toward it. Results supported previous findings with inservice teachers that experience with Direct Instruction increases positive attitudes toward it.…

Describes a multi-university model for delivering a distance-learning special-education course by compressed video to eight undergraduate and graduate student sites in rural Kentucky. Evaluation indicated the model's effectiveness. Advantages and challenges of the approach are identified. (DB)

This article describes a university-based training model for early intervention personnel in rural areas of Utah. The model uses an array of distance technologies including interactive television, Internet communications, CD-ROM, videotape, and traditional print material. Key decision-making points and the process of model development and delivery…

The Training Rural Educators in Kentucky through Distance Learning project at the University of Kentucky used team teaching in five courses in special education using distance learning technology. Describes five course delivery models: (1) lead/supplemental instructors, (2) multiple instructors, (3) guest lecture, (4) co-instructors with single…

The Southeastern Institute for Faculty Training model for preparing interdisciplinary teams of higher education faculty to provide leadership in training in early intervention for young children with disabilities and their families is described. The model includes stakeholder support, leadership commitment, needs assessment, infusion of…

This article reviews sociocultural, multicultural, and critical pedagogical theories and suggests that an adequate and sufficient theoretical framework for professional development in special education must explicitly and directly address issues of power, discrimination, and relative status that underlie dilemmas of practice. It offers vignettes…

Two groups of 35 special education teacher trainees from Caribbean nations rated the importance of a list of characteristics of effective teachers. Results suggest the value of a model of teacher education that integrates content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and practice in context. (DB)

This final report summarizes the activities and evaluation of Project Outcomes, a program developed at the University of Kentucky to prepare personnel to work with young children and their families in inclusive settings. The program was built around three unique components: (1) individual program plans were developed for each student; (2) each…

This final report discusses the activities and outcomes of a project that developed, field-tested, and disseminated eight 3-hour training modules to be used by preservice and inservice faculty in preparing early interventionists to work with young children with disabilities. The modules were designed to teach a special model of early intervention,…

This final report describes activities and accomplishments of a federally supported project at Utah State University to prepare 77 early intervention and preschool special education personnel. The project's three strands proposed to improve the existing early childhood special education certification program by preparing special educators to work…

This final report of Project Prepare, a federally funded program at the University of Tennessee, describes the critical features and specific goals of the project, as well as program evaluation methods and results. The program was funded to develop a personnel preparation program for early childhood specialists that emphasized an…