Best Practices in Teacher Preparation for Inclusive Education

Background

Researchers consistently find gaps in knowledge of licensed teachers. For example, Gable, Tonelson, Sheth, Wilson, and Park’s (2012) study surveyed teacher perspectives regarding the importance and level of preparation of working with students with emotional and behavioral disorders. These teachers were asked about their use of particular practices that are known evidence-based strategies for use with students with emotional and behavioral disorders. Both special education and general education teachers responded that they felt ill-equipped to teach social skills. Their findings suggest a clear gap in teachers’ abilities to work with students with emotional and behavioral disorders and that much more work is needed with pre-service educators in this area.

A meta-analysis of 32 qualitative studies regarding co-teaching practices in inclusive settings (Scruggs, Mastropieri, & McDuffie, 2007) concluded that while co-teachers were supportive of engagement in co-teaching for inclusive practices, more training was needed to help teachers do so effectively.

The aim of this chapter is to review the existing research on the preparation of teachers for providing inclusive education services to children and youth in the United States. The primary research question we explored was:

What is the current state of inclusive education teacher preparation practices in the United States?

• •

  What is level of knowledge and skills teacher candidates have regarding inclusive practice in the United States?

• •

  What are the attitudes and efficacy of teacher candidates in the United States?

• •

  What is the structure of existing inclusive education programs in the United States?