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Since the mid-1980s several forces have brought about changes in the delivery of special education services to students with disabilities: the Regular Education Initiative and inclusive education movements; increase in parent advocacy for including students with disabilities in general education classes; increases in student diversity in terms ofrace, language, income, exceptionality, and culture; and a trend toward heterogeneous grouping in special education classes. As a consequence, the new California Standards for teacher credentials in special education require competencies and skills to implement inclusive service delivery models. Current holders of Learning Handicapped (LH) and Severely Handicapped (SH) credentials, trained under previous standards, may not have all of these skills. The purpose of this study was to determine training needs of veteran special education teachers in California, as perceived by those teachers and their school site administrators. Specifically, this study sought to determine the extent to which these teachers and administrators perceive that (a) the teachers possess 31 skills in eight new Level I standards and (b) the teachers need additional training in these skills. Responses to 167 questionnaires completed by LH teachers, SH teachers, and school site administrators, and two follow-up interview sessions with a selected subsarnple of each group were analyzed. Overall, the teachers perceived themselves to be competent in the examined skills and indicated little need for further training. Responses to follow-up interview questions showed that they have a balanced awareness of their competencies and need for training. Administrators rated the teachers lower in skills and in greater need of training than the teachers rated themselves, but the administrators expressed (a) a high level of regard for the abilities of the teachers and (b) a high level of expectation for the teachers as they take on new roles in the inclusive system. Based on the findings, it was recommended that (a) districts implement pragmatic inservice training, rather than university coursework; (b) administrators formally state their expectations for these teachers in the general education setting and provide system-level support and training to facilitate the teachers' assumption of their new role; and (c) administrators form a closer alliance with these teachers to better understand their performance and their needs.

The recent focus on transition from school to working life has created a growing concern in Oregon about teachers with elementary certification as their initial certification who earn a special education certificate and teach students with disabilities in secondary settings. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship among initial certifications (elementary, secondary, and K-12), where Oregon high school special education teachers received the major part of their transition skills training, and their self-perceived needs for further transition skills training. The population for the study consisted of 213 secondary special education teachers of students with mild disabilities from throughout Oregon. The instrument was a survey-type questionnaire that included 14 transition skill competencies for teachers. Subjects were first asked where they received the major part of their training in each of the transition competency skills. Next, they were asked to rate their self-perceived needs for further training in each of the transition skills. The instrument design was validated through a Delphi procedure. Data were collected during the spring of 1987 and the fall of 1988. No significant statistical relationships were found between initial certification and where teachers received the major part of their transition skills training, or their self-perceived needs for further training. However, three major implications became apparent from the data. First, decisions regarding coursework could be examined at the preservice level. Next, opportunities for preservice teachers to participate in team decision-making activities should be examined. Lastly, personnel inservice preparation programs at the district level should be examined to ensure that transition skill competencies for teachers are included. Recommendations included follow-up studies to find out if the size of school, type and level of endorsement, major and minor fields of study and years of teaching may have an effect on transition skills training of secondary teachers. / Graduation date: 1992

The purpose of this study was to determine whether participation in an instructional module on procedures for individualizing instruction produced results different from those produced by a traditional education approach with respect to the performance, attitude, self-concept, and dogmatism of special education student teachers. The findings were (1) there was no significant difference between the experimental and comparison groups with respect to teaching-performance; (2) the experimental group's mean self-evaluation teaching-performance score was significantly different in a negative direction than the mean self-evaluation teaching-performance score for the comparison group; (3) both groups had positive correlations between teaching-performance scores and self-evaluation scores, but the experimental group had a significantly higher correlation; (4) there was no significant difference between the experimental group and the comparison group with respect to change in attitudes; (5) there was no significant difference between the experimental and comparison groups with respect to the degree of change in self-concept, and (6) there was no significant difference between the experimental and comparison groups with respect to degree of change in dogmatism.

"The purpose of this study is to make an analysis of the 1951-52 of class of fifth grade pupils to: 1. Find the cases of retardation. 2. Discover through study and research the underlying causes of the retardation. 3. Develop a keener understanding of retarded children. 4. Determine ways of working with these children more effectively"--Introduction. / Typescript. / "August, 1952." / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science." / Advisor: Virgil E. Strickland, Professor Directing Paper. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 72-75).

This research was two-fold in its purpose: the first purpose being to assess the perceived relevance of the current state competency standards adopted in Texas by the State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) as they apply to the work of the educational diagnostician and the second being to examine the diagnostician's perceived ability of training institutions to prepare professionals for the field of special education evaluation. This study examined the perceptions of educational diagnosticians (N = 432) through the use of a survey instrument. Specifically the survey instrument was designed to assess diagnosticians' perceptions of importance of the SBEC competencies to special education evaluation in general, and to their practice in particular; the frequency with which they use the competencies; and their degree of training to meet the demands of the competencies through their preparatory program. Results indicate variability with regard to the perceived importance of the competencies and the degree of preparation to meet the demands of the competencies in practice.

The reality of changing state and federal policy, as well as the process of program improvement across teacher preparation programs has prompted a line of research into the exploration of an alternative curriculum-based value-added model (VAM). Based upon a thorough review of VAMs as they have been applied to education policy and decision-making, this line of inquiry focused on a curriculum-based approach to increasing our understanding of how the instructional efforts of our candidates affect the learning gains of the K-12 students they teach. Designed to conform to the fundamental principles of evidence-based practice, candidate and program level data for 109 student teachers between 2013 and 2017 were analyzed. Results indicate that variation in K-12 students’ learning gains can likely be attributed to the instructional efforts of our special education teacher preparation program (TPP) completers. Limitations, implications, and directions for future inquiry across policy, practice, and scholarship are discussed. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2017. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

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Educational legislation requires the implementation of a functional assessment for students with disabilities who engage in challenging behavior that could lead to a change in their educational placement (IDEA Amendments, 1997; IDEA, 1990; IDEA Improvement Act, 2004). Research has shown that teachers can implement functional assessments with intensive instruction and performance feedback, yet this training can be difficult to carry out in educational settings with limited resources to provide such supervision. In the health care field, video teleconferencing (VTC) is used to overcome specialist shortages and provide supervision. Such technology might be used to deliver training and performance feedback to teachers learning to assess challenging behavior, but few studies have reported the use of VTC in educational settings. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of performance feedback delivered via VTC on the acquisition and maintenance of functional analysis procedures by 6 teachers. Concurrent multiple baseline designs across teacher-student dyads with embedded multi-element designs were used to evaluate the effects of performance feedback delivered via VTC on the percentage of functional analysis procedures implemented correctly. Performance feedback via VTC was provided once per week over an average of 6 weeks until each teacher implemented the procedures of each functional analysis condition (i.e., escape, attention, and play) at 100% accuracy over three consecutive sessions. Results indicated that performance feedback delivered via VTC was effective to train the teachers to independently implement functional analysis conditions. These results were maintained at or near criterion performance four weeks following the termination of performance feedback for 4 teachers. Each teacher rated performance feedback delivered via VTC positively with respect to the training procedures and the outcomes of training. The results and limitations of this study, and relevant areas for future research are discussed. / text

This study examined how technology-mediated distance education is used in special education courses in teacher preparation programs. The data are based on a 30-item survey administered to members of the Teacher Education Division of the Council for Exceptional Children, who identified themselves as serving in an instructional capacity within institutions of higher education. Technology-mediated instruction was characterized in terms course delivery methods and program attributes. An analysis of instructional design processes revealed that most instructors are largely autonomous and do not rely on a team-based approach. Most make use of course-design and management software. Training is linked to course strategy and evaluation, while experience is associated with implementation. Respondents emphasized communication and student feedback. While both users and non-users of distance education technology foresaw the increased use for course delivery in the future, a notable percentage (13%) of current users indicated a desire to discontinue use.