Unifying General and Special Education: What Does the Research Tell Us?

Abstract

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act has provided the impetus to educate all children in more inclusive settings. With the move toward inclusion has come the recognition that changes must occur in the manner in which teachers are prepared. Since the 1970s, efforts have been made to ensure that general educators have some content in their preservice preparation programs related to disabilities either through modifying existing courses or by adding special education courses to the curriculum. However, research suggests that such practices have not resulted in adequately prepared general educators for inclusive settings. A more recent early childhood education trend in preparing preservice students for inclusive settings is to unify general and special education curricula in universities/colleges. An overview of efforts toward unification and a summary of the limited research in this area are provided. The remaining articles in this topical section are introduced with a discussion of the need for further research related to unification.

Religion and attitudes of college preservice teachers toward students with disabilities: implications for higher education

“…Reports indicate that institutions of higher education in many countries have started to infuse course work about students with disabilities, and inclusion into their curriculum, yet evidence suggests that a single course may not be effective (i.e., Staton and McCollum 2002).…”

An Analysis of the Outcomes of a Unified Teacher Preparation Program

“…These results are preliminary but suggest that models of inclusive teacher education such as the one described herein may warrant further investigation (Welch, 1996). This is particularly true, given the lack of research to date on the outcomes of unified teacher education programs (Stayton & McCollum, 2002).…”

Diversity Competencies within Early Childhood Teacher Preparation: Innovative Practices and Future Directions

“…In regard to effectively preparing teachers to work confidently and competently in inclusive settings with young children with diverse abilities, it has been recommended that general education and special education programs be integrated (Miller, 1992;Bredekamp, 1992, as cited in Stayton & McCollum, 2002). It has been suggested that successful inclusion of young children with disabilities cannot be achieved as long as personnel preparation is segregated.…”