Science for Secondary Teachers: Implementing Lab Activities and Essential Elements in Special Education.

This report evaluates a project for secondary school education teachers in northeastern Texas. The objectives of the project were to: (1) train the secondary and middle school teachers of special education to use the Science Activities for the Visually Impaired/Science Enrichment for Learners with Physical Handicaps (SAVI/SELPH) curriculum; (2) provide those teachers with activities and lessons to implement the required science essential elements; (3) enable the special education teachers to meet the 40 percent laboratory requirement in science for grades 7-12; (4) provide safe and appropriate material and activities for science instruction; and (5) determine the effectiveness of the SAVI/SELPH program in meeting the needs of special education teachers and students in science instruction. After approximately seven days of training related to the science curriculum project, participants were tested for changes in attitude, knowledge and confidence. The 11 special co-op directors were also surveyed to evaluate the project. Evaluation materials and test scores are presented in the appendices. (Author/YP)