Using Early Career Special Educators Voice to Influence Initial Teacher Education (Report‪)‬

Introduction Students with disabilities and the adults who teach them have made many gains in the United States since 1975 when Congress passed PL 94-142 mandating that every child has a right to free and appropriate public education. Educators have made progress in changing what education for students with disabilities looks like physically and programmatically as many of these students are now successfully and meaningfully placed in general education contexts. Despite the progress, teachers continue to struggle to meet the needs of a diversifying student body, meet the challenges of teaming with a variety of qualified related service personnel, and prepare a new generation of teacher leaders that will educate those students who still fight to be counted.