Teacher preparation in E/BD: A national survey

Surveys investigating teacher preparation program requirements and competen cies for training teachers to work with students with emotional and behavio ral disorders (E/BD) were mailed to 219 directors of E/BD training programs at colleges and universities representing 47 states. A total of 101 survey s from 32 states were returned, for a final response rate of 46%. Informati on was obtained over two primary areas: E/BD program practices and E/BD pro gram competencies. Results of this survey were mixed. There were some encou raging practices such as offering E/BD programming at the graduate level. E /BD program competencies such as instruction, assessment, and behavior mana gement were taught most frequently. However, there were some areas such as special education law and multicultural issues that received little attenti on. Other important competencies such as social skills instruction and tran sition practices were not even mentioned.