Do States Have Certification Requirements for Preparing General Education Teachers to Teach Students with Disabilities? Experience in the Northeast and Islands Region. Issues & Answers. REL 2010-No. 090

Overview & Synopsis

With more than half of children with disabilities being educated in the general education classroom, and with federal education law requiring improved learning outcomes for these students, preparing general education teachers to work effectively with all students is critical. This report on teacher certification requirements in the nine Northeast and Islands Region jurisdictions finds that eight of them require some coursework in teaching students with disabilities for initial licensure of general education teachers. It finds commonalities and differences both in how jurisdictions require general education teacher candidates to develop knowledge in special education and in the specific knowledge and skills required as part of teacher preparation. The study was requested by education policymakers and practitioners in the Northeast and Islands Region, who expressed interest in learning more about teacher preparation requirements for initial licensure of general education teachers that prepare educators to teach students with disabilities. Specifically, education officials from Maine and Puerto Rico requested information on current policies and pending changes to requirements, along with more detail on the specific content or program of study required by state education agencies. Appendices include: (1) Methodology; (2) Consent Form to Accompany Interview Protocol; (3) Expanded Tables of Publicly Available Documents from Northeast and Islands Region State Education Agency Web Sites; (4) State Education Agency Web Site Document Review Summary Sheet; (5) Interview Summary Sheet; (6) Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium Model Standards for Licensing General and Special Education Teachers of Students with Disabilities (2001); (7) Jurisdiction Summaries of Requirements for Preparing General Education Teachers To Teach Students With Disabilities In General Education Classrooms; and (8) Knowledge and Skills in Special Education Recommended for General Education Teachers, by Jurisdiction. (Contains 3 boxes, 8 tables, and 7 notes.) [This report was prepared for the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) by Regional Educational Laboratory Northeast and Islands administered by Education Development Center, Inc.]