A STATEWIDE EXPLORATION OF THE NATURE AND USE OF CURRICULUM IN SPECIAL-EDUCATION

This study reports the results of a statewide survey of the beliefs an d practices, regarding curriculum, of 341 elementary and secondary spe cial education teachers serving students with a variety of disabilitie s. Findings indicate that (a) teacher training in curriculum developme nt occurs mostly on the job; (b) teachers want training in teaching co mpensatory skills and life skills; (c) teachers believe that the IEP c onstitutes the curriculum for students with disabilities; (d) teacher judgment primarily guides the content of classroom instruction; (e) te achers focus principally on academic remediation versus life-skill or other instruction; (f) curriculum focus varies little across service-d elivery models, but does vary by grade level; and (g) minimal articula tion of curriculum exits across grade levels.