Special Education Certification/Recertification For Regular Educators

This article reports on a recent national study of the nature and extent of special education certification and recertification requirements for regular education teachers. State directors of teacher education and certification were asked to respond to questions related to teacher certification and recertification requirements, the means by which these requirements are met, and factors that might have led to changes in these requirements. Results indicated that in the last 10 years there has been a dramatic change in state special education coursework requirements for the certification of regular education teachers. The subtleties and implications of these results, as they relate to both special and regular education, are explored.