The percentage of male students who complete an undergraduate degree in the field of special education continues to be much lower than that of female graduates. Low status, low salaries, the perception of teaching as women's work, potential complaints of child abuse and sexual harassment, and a lack of male peer groups factor into this low percentage. Male teachers are needed to be positive role models for all children. The need for male teachers as special educators is paramount. The reasons for the gender disparity in special education are discussed based on the current literature, as is the need for possible strategies to encourage more male special educators.

Dialogue discussing the moral role of the teacher appears in the educational literature with greater and greater frequency each year. Fenstermachers [1] states, "The teacher's conduct, at all times and in all ways, is a moral matter. For that reason alone, teaching is a profoundly moral activity (p. 133)". This statement reflects the strong sentiments being expressed in the education literature. This is the first study to examine the moral reasoning ability of special education teachers [2]. The primary finding of this research is that special education teachers have a significantly lower level of moral reasoning than the norms established for all other reported professions. The results were consistent with previous findings reporting that teachers in general have lower levels of moral reasoning ability as measured by the DIT P-Score of the Defining Issues Test than other professionals.

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