Personnel Preparation: Recurring Challenges and the Need for Action to Ensure Access to General Education

Abstract

All teacher preparation programs face serious challenges; however, programs that prepare teachers to work with students with extensive support needs face additional, unique challenges in preparing professionals to facilitate their students' development of functional skills and to ensure their access to the general education curriculum. The purpose of this article is to examine current issues in preparing teachers to work with students with extensive support needs. An examination of how philosophy, law, research, and certification requirements impact the content and structure of teacher preparation programs is provided. Suggestions for teacher educators are included.

Teacher Educators’ Perspectives: Preparing Preservice Teachers to Provide Access to the General Curriculum

“…As collaboration was a central component in providing access in inclusive settings (Olson et al, 2016), collaboration around issues of access to the general curriculum must be explicitly taught. Preparing preservice teachers to collaborate with general education teachers is a necessary and essential piece in training them to provide access to the general curriculum (Delano et al, 2008). Although teacher educators in this study included collaboration in their definitions of access to the general curriculum, it was not a central theme of the instructional practices they used to teach preservice teachers how to facilitate access.…”

“…In a survey of professionals involved with master’s programs in significant disabilities, Ryndak, Clark, Conroy, and Stewart (2001) found that 98% of faculty participants believed preservice teachers should be taught about curriculum content identification processes, but several faculty noted that this area was not currently addressed in their institution’s master’s program. These findings and the variations in teacher preparation programs in significant disabilities (Delano et al, 2008) call for further research at the teacher preparation level.…”

“…Unequivocally linked to understanding access to the general curriculum is an interpretation of and understanding of inclusion (Delano, Keefe, & Perner, 2008). Teacher preparation programs for future teachers of students with significant disabilities involve training in and discussion of both inclusion and access to the general curriculum.…”

Creating Collaborative Schools in the United States: A Review of Best Practices

“…When their expertise is shared amongst one another, the opportunities for students to make educational gains improves dramatically (Murawski & Spencer, 2012). Historically, however, teacher education programs and specialist training programs have limited or nonexistent opportunities for educational personnel to learn, plan, and collaborate together (Delano, Keefe, & Perner, 2008). Training delivered separately may beget a siloed service delivery system, unless systematic and strategic practices around collaboration are in place.…”

Ecological Factors Affecting Access to General Education Content and Contexts for Students With Significant Disabilities

“…Teachers' experiences and education can directly and indirectly affect their decisions about a student's access to general education content and contexts (Agran et al, 2002;Brownell & Pajares, 1999;Ruppar, Gaffney, & Dymond, 2015). Although teachers report that their teacher education programs do not influence their decisions about access to general education curriculum (Ruppar, Gaffney, & Dymond, 2015;Timberlake, 2014Timberlake, , 2016, research has demonstrated that teacher education does play a role in general educators' and special educators' perceptions and beliefs regarding access to general education content and contexts (Delano, Keefe, & Perner, 2008;Gehrke & Cocchiarella, 2013). Causton-Theoharis, Theoharis, Orsati, and Cosier (2011) found that separate special education classes are often supported through separate teacher certification systems and separate university pre-service preparation programs.…”