The federal government plays an indispensable role in preparing special education personnel to become teacher educators in higher education. The 2011 Special Education Faculty Needs Assessment study documents a continued supply-demand imbalance of special education faculty. It also documents effectiveness and impact of the Office of Special…

Teachers of students with moderate and severe disabilities must possess the skills and knowledge to address a unique set of needs and challenges. These may include, but are not limited to, management of challenging behaviors, performance of health-related procedures, use of assistive technology, and instruction using evidence-based strategies.…

The first article in this special issue is about the doctoral programs, the suppliers of new doctoral graduates in special education. It focuses on one component of a larger effort, the Special Education Faculty Needs Assessment (SEFNA) project, which investigated many aspects of the supply of new doctoral graduates as well as the demand for new…

The current prevalence rates for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) coupled with the mandate to provide services to students with disabilities in inclusive classrooms warrants the need to examine the dynamics of inclusion for students with ASD. Focus groups were conducted with special and general educators at the elementary, middle, and high school…

Understanding the context of the demand for special education (SE) teacher education (TE) faculty is important because it can provide faculty at doctoral-granting universities with useful information for program planning. Knowing more about SE teacher preparation programs currently in place and program revisions being planned allows doctoral…

As the field of special education (SE) examines issues related to supply and demand of SE teachers and faculty, an investigation of students currently enrolled in doctoral programs and doctoral graduates is an important perspective to consider. The results of two components of the "Special Education Faculty Needs Assessment" (SEFNA), focused on…

The roles and obligations of teacher educators have expanded substantially in recent years. Expectations have increased because of national concerns about the overall achievement results of all students and because of specific federal mandates--expressed in reauthorizations of the No Child Left Behind Act and the Individuals With Disabilities…

This exploratory study inquires into the types of preservice and inservice preparation practicing elementary school general and special educators have received to facilitate the social functioning of students with and without disabilities. Sixty teachers serving students with learning disabilities who were educated in inclusive environments for at…

A survey of 120 educators in secure juvenile detention institutions indicated inservice training needs in management of violent and aggressive behavior, affective education, counseling, and knowledge about behaviorally disordered youth. Ss indicated dissatisfaction with their undergraduate programs and strongly favored special training for…

The article presents the Special Education Needs Assessment Priorities model which establishes training priorities for both regular and special educators. The model consists of four stages: identification of competencies, development of discrepancies, setting training priorities, and resource allocation. (SB)

The authors define a needs assessment, consider issues involved in conducting a problem-focused needs assessment, and outline practical considerations in conducting needs assessment for inservice training in regular education. (CL)

Longitudinal analysis of inservice needs and perceptions of regular class teachers revealed that over 72 percent had been exposed to activities designed to increase awareness of P.L. 94-142 and the disabled population. Although desire for skill acquisition experiences outweighed the desire for information/awareness inservice, 87 percent reported…

The components of the Comprehensive System of Personnel Development (CSPD) in special education are reviewed. CSPD structure is seen to include four aspects directly applicable to the provision of a free appropriate public education: needs assessment, inservice training, preservice training, and dissemination and adoption. (CL)

The interview with Dr. Reid Lyon examines questions concerning the relevance of teacher education practices, effects of the regular education initiative, suggestions for improving teacher preparation, university faculty accountability, and future trends in teacher preparation. (DB)

A needs assessment survey was conducted with 77 teachers serving bilingual/multicultural exceptional children. A five-point Likert type scale was used to assess degree of importance teachers attached to each of 18 teacher training competencies. (SB)