Supporting the needs of youth with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) and their families can be challenging in rural settings. Implementing strategies that take into account for and address barriers in rural settings is important. One strategy to improve outcomes for both students with EBD and their families in rural settings is providing…

The Technology Accentuated Teacher Education for Rural Specialists (TATERS) program aimed to: (a) prepare highly qualified special education teachers across a state comprised of more than 70% rural districts, (b) develop a system of support through a mentor network and institutions of higher education collaboration to address the needs of teacher…

The Montana Autism Education Project (MAEP), that started in 2010, aimed to: (a) increase teacher knowledge of Evidence-Based Practices (EBPs), (b) provide on-site technical assistance and peer-to-peer collaboration, (c) develop sustainable support for teachers across Montana, and (d) develop inter-agency collaboration between the project and…

National shortages of qualified personnel in the field of early childhood special education are well documented, with shortages magnified in regions characterized by poverty and rural geography. This article provides an overview of the challenges faced and innovations implemented by an alternate-track, personnel preparation program in Appalachian…

This article describes a model in special education personnel preparation designed to respond to needs in rural areas for fully licensed Director of Special Education and Pupil Services administrators. The program utilizes a fully online course format and also requires participants to complete a supervised practicum in their school districts.…

Profiles three program awards for exemplary rural special education practices. Describes an Arizona program that allows teachers to pursue advanced training without quitting their jobs, an Idaho program of work experience and transitional services for special education students, and a Virginia program for normalization of students labeled…

Profiles three programs recognized for exemplary rural special education programs. Describes a program for severely handicapped birth-through-three children in an isolated mountainous Tennessee community, a multidisciplinary special education team that provides an itinerant resource room for an Alaska school district of 22,000 square miles, and…

Describes survey of services for gifted and disabled military dependents attending schools located on military installations which do not receive monies for special education under P.L. 94-142. Finds schools provide services comparable to those of public schools and serve comparable numbers of students, but show uneven distribution between…

Describes a program designed to help rural school staff meet the educational needs of handicapped students and to give preservice teacher education students the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to work successfully with handicapped students in rural schools. Discusses the project's implications for the shortage of speech-language pathologists in…

Describes inclusive practices in four small, rural Wisconsin schools. These models focus on scheduling for cross-categorical programming, including students with challenging behaviors, coteaching, and practicing inclusion in high school. Includes philosophy of inclusion and program features for each model. Contains 24 references. (SAS)

A staff development program was designed to train rural Utah teachers in effective strategies for serving gifted and talented students. Teams of facilitators from universities and district offices traveled to rural sites to deliver 3 10-hour teacher workshops. Teachers indicated that the training was beneficial and reported positive results from…

The Montana Behavioral Initiative (MBI) is a staff development program created to stem school violence. Program components include summer institutes, site teams, ongoing technical assistance, interagency cooperation, program evaluation, information dissemination, and governance by the MBI council. MBI has expanded to include nearly 100 Montana…