Competencies Needed for Teaching Individuals with Special Needs: The Perspective of Student Teachers

Abstract

p ublic Law 94-142, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975, includes a number of key provisions that have been important to special education. Namely, the mandates of free appropriate public education, nondiscriminatory evaluation, individualized education programs, due process, parent participation, and especially the least restrictive environment mandate have far-reaching implications for the training and updating of school professionals. One concern of many teachers, administrators, teacher trainers, and academicians has been that regular classroom teachers have not had the kind and level of preparation and experience necessary to effectively educate handicapped children in the mainstreaming setting (Crisci, 1981; Gear & Gable, 1979; Reynolds, 1979; Stephens, Blackhurst, & Magliocca, 1982). In order to provide educators with such needed training and preparation, state education agencies (as mandated under P.L. 94-142) have responded by initiating extensive in-service activities for general and special education teachers and for support personnel. Training and preparation programs were also initiated by institutions of higher education involved in the preservice preparation of educators, mainly through infusion of special education content into the general curriculum and/or through development of new courses. An important question in preparation and re-education activities involves determining competencies needed by special and general educators for providing an appropriate education for handicapped children. Several systematic attempts to identify such competency areas are reported in the literature (Alberto, Castricone, & Cohen, 1978; Crisci, 1981; Gable, Pecheone, & Gillung, 1981; Gear & Gable, 1979; Goodspeed & Celotta, 1982; Redden & Blackhurst, 1978; Reynolds, 1979; Stamm, 1980). Although these efforts were based on a variety of methods (e.g., literature reviews, reviews of IEP's, expert opinion, surveys of Deans' Grant Projects, surveys of classroom teachers), there is considerable overlap among the competencies. Most lists include the general competency areas of professional orientation, knowledge, curriculum, instructional strategies, learning resources, assessment, evaluation of student progress, classroom management, and communication. Other competencies often listed were learning styles, motivation, administration, referral, professional values, goal setting, and classroom climate and acceptance. This survey was designed to identify competencies that student teachers perceived as necessary in effectively teaching handicapped learners and in establishing databased training priorities to assist program planners in designing and/or revising instructional activities including these competencies.