US EDUCATORS’ INCLUSIVE COMPETENCE

The main objective of secondary school in Ukraine at present is to provide a system of educational services that would give the children with disabilities to have an access to free, appropriate public education, which makes the philosophy of inclusive movement. Despite the many attempts of many advocates of inclusive education in Ukraine the realization of its many principles is hampered by many factors. These include physical barriers as well as attitudes to such children shown by their peers in general schools and teachers, unprepared to accommodate their special educational needs. To ensure the successful inclusion of all children in the general education environment U.S. teacher education programs have gone through many adaptations. Teacher training and retraining was largely shaped by the federal legislature, setting new goals for inclusion. The passage of the 1975 IDEA brought children with disabilities in general education settings; 1997 Amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) require that special educators are knowledgeable and skilled in the general education core curriculum standards and the use of accountability assessment systems in order to educate students with disabilities in general education settings. In addition, the No Child Left Behind legislation (NCLB, 2002) mandates an accountability system for all students, including those with disabilities. In response to legislative and policy changes, a discussion has begun between general and special education faculty about the characteristics and competencies needed by both special and general educators in order to effectively teach a diverse population of students. The discussion led to the conclusion that in order to improve general education teachers' attitudes about inclusive education, teacher preparation programs for both special and general educators must provide the competencies necessary to successfully include students with disabilities. The CEC competency list for further research was generated from the review of literature specific to inclusive practices followed by surveys and later classification. Therefore, the list of essential competencies was agreed upon by three constituent groups. Now, these essential competencies are often included in teacher preparation programs. All of the competencies delineated in the study can be found in the California Standards for the Teaching Profession (CSTP) (California Department of Education, 1998). The university teacher education programs combine study course with intensive clinical experience where students observe classes, do face-to-face tutoring of children with disabilities, interview general and special educators. The combination of study and practice has been found to address all the concerns related to the lack of knowledge and specialized skills to teach in the inclusive settings. In Ukraine similar steps should be taken to identify competencies that will help restructure teacher education and training programs to meet new standards that emphasize the importance of effectively educating diverse students.