The paper criticizes the lack of standards of excellence in special education and notes the damaging effect of this situation on teacher education. It draws parallels with the reform of medical education in the early 1900's, describing the changes instituted at Harvard and Northwestern Universities and the developments fostered at the Johns Hopkins Medical School. Many of the same obstacles that hindered reform in medical education exist today in the field of special education, including fear of declining enrollments, the field's inability to seek and accept reform, and lack of application of basic research to problems confronting teachers. The paper concludes by citing the Council for Exceptional Children's ongoing work on professional standards which has resulted in eight proposed principles as the code of ethics for the special education profession. (CL)