Findings: Classroom management
Perhaps not surprisingly given the need for special education teachers to deal with behavior-related disabilities, the only type of program that routinely passed this standard was the undergraduate special education programs we evaluated. The highest proportion of programs meeting the standard (three-quarters) was found in graduate special education programs.
Secondary programs showed the greatest weakness on this standard, with one-third of graduate secondary and half of undergraduate secondary programs reviewed failing to have any coursework at all dealing with classroom management, or failing to target the skills appropriately by covering the subject in too many courses (with at least one not unique to the secondary grade span).
While most programs appear to treat classroom management with sufficient gravitas, some programs did not do so for the following reasons:
- Seven programs do not address classroom management at all.
- Nineteen programs do not teach it with sufficient focus, with the topic spread out among too many courses.
- Eighteen programs do not tailor classroom management to a specific grade span.
Eastern Illinois University addresses classroom management in one grade span-specific course in the undergraduate elementary program and a different single course in the undergraduate secondary program.
How Illinois institutions fare on this standard
