Community colleges are key providers of early childhood teacher and paraprofessional education, and their programs include content knowledge that helps future educators work effectively with young children with and without disabilities in inclusive environments. In this article, we describe the Advancing Community College Efforts in…

Educating students with disabilities in the same classrooms and instructional environments as their natural neighbors and peers (i.e., inclusion) is a promise of significant substance and value for many special educators. When federal legislation mandated that students with disabilities receive a free and appropriate education in least restrictive…

As part of ongoing evaluation activities and continuous improvement, the Exceptional Children (EC) Division of the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction regularly reviews its efforts. This study was interested in documenting responsibilities, working conditions, and satisfaction of special education administrators as a basis for future…

Conducting and supporting scientifically valid research activities and implementing evidence-based practices have driven recent hopes and efforts to achieve better outcomes for all students. In the context of ongoing internal review and continuous improvement, we were interested in how this evolution was reflected in empirical studies published in…

Inclusion means that students with disabilities have access to high-quality and effective instruction, as well as specialized services as needed, within least restrictive environments. We believe there are no limits on who can or should participate in and benefit from inclusion and we were interested in perceptions resulting from professional…

Given the rapid growth of diversity in schools across the country, teacher educators are turning to innovative ways to redesign their programs. In this article, we describe efforts of a dual licensure program in which undergraduate teachers-in-training acquired knowledge and skills in core content, as well as evidence-based pedagogy and discipline…

Preparing teachers to work in urban public schools--and to remain there--is a daunting challenge. In an age plagued with the overrepresentation of culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students placed in special education programs, it is important that teacher preparation programs within the field of special education devote attention to the…

Despite a continuing record of interest over the years, few studies have documented the demographics of grade retention or the relationship between it and academic achievement across multiple grades and groups of students. In this research, we were interested in the characteristics and consequences of retaining students in elementary (K-5) and…

Researchers have conducted two prior longitudinal retrospective syntheses of the journal "Teacher Education and Special Education." The present authors' approach is different; they analyze only the content published during their tenure as editors. They define big ideas that they believe are representative of what they published. They found that…

The importance of reading fluently is widely recognized in school effectiveness, reform, and improvement efforts of the educational community, yet there are few large-scale, structured assessments of the progression of students' reading rates over time. This study documented 2nd-grade students' oral reading rates on the basis of fall, winter, and…

This article provides a review of educational reforms that are critical of contemporary special education practices, presents the principles embodied in the total quality education (TQE) movement, and argues the need for special education to be fully involved in the general education reform movement. (Author/JDD)

Focuses on problems with current referral-to-placement procedures that require a student to be found eligible for special education services before serving the student. Federal and state education agencies are urged to collaborate to support partnerships between special and general education to provide better outcomes for all students. (CR)

The University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC) Master's degree in learning disabilities is delivered via distance education to surrounding rural counties. Describes the UNCC-community college partnership, technology selection and resources, faculty and student training for using distance education technology, costs, funding, student…

Incidence figures for special education placement in a sample of 94 U.S. school districts were calculated. During the 1977-78, 1978-79, and 1979-80 school years, about 5% of the students were referred and evaluated; 3% were placed in special education programs. Wide variation was evident in the incidence figures for individual school districts,…

A national survey of 94 Directors of Special Education was conducted to ascertain: (1) the number of students referred for psychoeducational evaluation; (2) the number of referred students evaluated; and (3) the number of evaluated students placed in special education programs. For each of the school years during 1977-80, the percentage of…