Undergraduate Special Education Teacher Training Programs in Comprehensive and Noncomprehensive Schools: Phase 1

This article describes the results of a nationwide study designed to assess the emphasis placed upon selected training areas by undergraduate special education teacher preparation programs. Two groups of randomly selected schools comprised the study. Group / (noncomprehensive schools) included schools that grant an undergraduate degreelcertification in special education but do not grant a doctoral degree in special education. Group II (comprehensive schools) included schools that grant both an undergraduate degree/certification and a doctoral degree in special education. Schools were asked to indicate the emphasis their programs placed on 11 training areas. The training areas were adapted from the "common body of knowledge" research. Comparisons were made both between and within groups. Results suggest that comprehensive schools place a greater emphasis upon the training area of curriculum. In addition, differences were found in the degrees of emphasis placed on the training areas within programs by the two types of schools.