ABSTRACT
It is no longer remarkable or unusual, as it was 30 years ago, to talk about the importance of preparing all teachers to work with students with disabilities. Although in 1980 only 15 states required general education teachers to complete coursework on educating studentswith disabilities (Smith& Shindler, 1980), today teacher education programs in 45 states and the District of Columbia have such requirements (National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification, 2004). Either through dedicated special education coursework or content integrated into other preservice coursework, the majority of today’s new teachers are expected to know something about working with students with disabilities.
