A National Assessment of Staff Development Needs Related to the Education of Students with Disabilities

Focus on Exceptional Children, Apr 2003 by Meyen, Edward L, Ramp, Eugene, Harrod, Cheryl A, Bui, Yvonne N

7. There seemed to be a close relationship between the perspectives of OSEP staff members who participated in the first focus group and SEA and RRC representatives participating in subsequent focus sessions.

8. The need for staff development for teachers is of critical importance. Participants in the focus groups had a clear perception that a major investment has to be made in models that allow for national dissemination, represented by the features allowed by online instruction.

9. The topics in Table 1 reflect skills and knowledge that teachers need and which warrant serious attention in preservice teacher education. Additional research needs to be done to ascertain the extent to which preservice curriculum covers the topics judged to be high priority staff-development needs for practicing teachers.

Preparation of this article was supported in pan by the Office of Special Education Programs and Grant #HO29K73002. Wc acknowledge the contributions of the Online Academy staff, the individuals who served on the various advisory boards, jurors and the many institutions, and individuals who contributed to the evaluation of the online modules and the production tool.Appreciation is expressed to the Center for Research on Learning and the Information & Telecommunications Technology Center whose collaboration created the e-Learning Design Lab in which this work is being conducted.

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