A review of the existing literature on preparation of rural teaching personnel focuses on the problems of education and specifically, special education, in rural areas and reports various solutions to those problems. Characteristics of many rural areas (such as high non-enrollment rates, rising service costs, resistance to outside interference, geographic isolation, low salaries, high unemployment, local pride, provincialism, lack of comprehensive human services, and limited educational resources) combine to create severe teacher recruitment and retention problems. In addition to facing the general problems of rural education, rural teachers of learning disabled, severely handicapped, and sensory impaired children are isolated in the service delivery system and must integrate information and knowledge from a variety of fields without the help of support personnel. Rural districts alleviate the resulting shortages in trained personnel in many ways, including offering extension, in-service, off-campus, and summer training courses; providing consultants; employing and training local residents; providing programming based on needs assessment; providing broad-based training across handicapped populations; supplying professional support systems; organizing practica; waiving training tuition; offering training stipends; and developing realistic rural curricula. Teacher preparation curricula should tie competencies, objectives, and activities to rural problems and their solutions. (SB)