Administrators' Perceptions of Health Education in the Special Education Curriculum

Both the fields of special education and health education have objectives related to behavior and health. In fact, special education teachers frequently perform some of the duties of a health educator. Although the literature acknowledges that the preparation of special education teachers should include study in health education, there is very little information on whether courses in health education are included in the preparation of special educators. This study investigated the perceptions of 298 administrators of special education training programs regarding the beneficial nature of health education courses to special education majors and the extent to which courses in health education were included in the training of special educators. Findings indicated that 56% of the special education teacher preparation programs required their majors to complete a course in either first aid or personal health as a graduation requirement.