Inservice Teachers' Assessed Needs in Behavioral Disorders, Mental Retardation, and Learning Disabilities: Are They Similar?

Abstract

In certain states, resource room teachers are being certified as interrelated or cross-categorical teachers without preparation courses in all the areas in which they are expected to teach. This investigation attempted to determine whether the skills/competencies needed by teachers of the learning disabled, behaviorally disordered, and mentally retarded were, in their viewpoints, similar. One hundred eighty public school resource room teachers returned survey responses to preparation areas they felt were important to the teaching process. From the data pool, a random sample of 20 learning disabilities teachers, 20 teachers of the behaviorally disordered, and 20 teachers of the mentally retarded were analyzed. Results indicated that teachers of the learning disabled and teachers of the mentally retarded shared similar views concerning skills/competencies needed, while teachers of the behaviorally disordered differed in their ratings of skills/competencies when compared to teachers of the mentally retarded and learning disabled.