Integrating special education content into the elementary education pre-service general education curriculum

Although much attention has been focused on accommodating student diversity in the general education classroom, scant attention has been paid to developing a curriculum for teacher educators to meet the challenging demands of preparing teachers for today's classrooms. The purpose of this study was to design, implement, and evaluate the integration of a special education module into a curriculum for pre-service general education teachers in Elementary Education. This design research study examined (a) changes in pre-service teachers' knowledge about special education content as a result of the module, (b) their attitudes about teaching students with disabilities as a result of the module, and (c) the process of integrating a special education module into a general education seminar course.;The researcher, who is a special educator, worked directly with pre-service general education teachers to integrate special education content into the general education curriculum. Using design research in this way is an attempt to use scientific methods in an educational manner that may help to reduce the research to practice gap.;Although the results of the study showed that the special education module was viewed as an adequate way for the pre-service general education teachers who were involved in the study to learn basic information about students with disabilities, the participants did cite the need for more time to be devoted to learning about the methods and materials that would enable them to meet the needs of students with disabilities in their classrooms.;Including a special education module is a start toward providing pre-service general education teachers with the knowledge and skills they need; however, a module should be the only the beginning of changes that must be made to the teacher education curriculum to create teachers who are capable of teaching all the students in their classrooms, including those with disabilities. As this study suggested, research may be needed that focuses on training general education teacher educators so that they can teach, or productively collaborate with others to deliver the special education content that pre-service general education teachers so greatly need.