Three studies are described in this article. Each is focused on a different aspect of the long-standing initiative that supports special education doctoral students. This initiative is one of the discretionary programs of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act that is managed by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of…

The alignment of the teacher quality provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the transparency of low achievement of students who have disabilities under the testing mandates of NCLB have converged to create substantial renewed interest and activity in collaborative programs…

Teacher education programs are limited in terms of available face-to-face instructional time for preparing general education teacher candidates to work with students with exceptionalities. Given this constraint, developing innovative use of technologies may assist in meeting the demand for highly qualified teachers for such students. In this…

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) mandates that every classroom be staffed with a "highly qualified teacher." Research supports that teachers' content knowledge affects student achievement. However, the special education population continues to be taught by teachers who do not have the content area background they teach. In addition,…

In this study, the authors focus on one highly contested provision of the No Child Left Behind Act, which allows states flexibility in how the quality of teachers is defined and evaluated: the high, objective, uniform state standard of evaluation (HOUSSE) option. They conducted a national survey of representatives from each state to explore how…

Special education administrators must be prepared for their leadership roles in inclusive, culturally diverse, standards-based school settings. These challenges create the need for new skills, required for effective special education leaders in the 21st century. In this article, the authors examine the standards used to prepare special education…

The roles and obligations of teacher educators have expanded substantially in recent years. Expectations have increased because of national concerns about the overall achievement results of all students and because of specific federal mandates--expressed in reauthorizations of the No Child Left Behind Act and the Individuals With Disabilities…

The Individuals with Disabilities Improvement Act mandates that every student with an Individualized Education Program be considered for assistive technology (AT). As a result, future special educators need to have the knowledge and skills regarding AT. In this article, the authors report findings from a national study of special education teacher…

With the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act (2001), the Council for Exceptional Children's Content Standards for Beginning Special Education Teachers (2002), and the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (2004), the research to practice gap in special education has garnered increased attention.…

This study examined perspectives of field experiences among preservice teachers and their cooperating teachers because of debate in the politically charged atmosphere of No Child Left Behind regarding teacher preparation programs. Nine pairs of preservice and cooperating teachers were observed and interviewed over the course of a semester to…

As P-12 education changes to meet the needs of children and federal and state regulations, teacher education must change to prepare candidates with knowledge and skills expected of today's educators. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and No Child Left Behind Act increased opportunities for students with disabilities to be educated…

Researchers examined roles and actions of members of "co-teaching" teams including a special educator and a regular educator in a public high school. Observational data were collected using momentary time sampling procedures. Results indicated that regular educators presented material to students in 29.93% of observed intervals; special…

Within recent years, federal legislation has required schools to develop and implement standards-based accountability systems for the purposes of evaluating their performance. Although the implementation of accountability systems for K-12 programs is well underway, the design and implementation of such systems for Part C and Section 619 programs…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act mandates that free, appropriate, public education (FAPE) be provided to children with educationally-defined disabilities. The Individualized Education Program (IEP) requirement (i.e., team meeting and document) is the method for providing FAPE to children. Previous research has failed to consider…

The purpose of the current study was to examine beginning special educators' experiences in their attempts to implement two key requirements associated with reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Act of 1997: access to the general education curriculum and participation in general education programs. We conducted in-depth interviews…