A Responsive/Reflexive Model for Faculty Renewal and Curriculum Change

The right of all school-aged children to public educational opportunities within the least restrictive environment was institutionalized by the passage of PL 94-142.1 The mandates set forth by PL 94-142 are indeed significant for schools at each level in the educational arena. The implications of this law are most important to institutions of higher education, especially those which offer programs in teacher training.2 The importance can be evidenced by the fact that the Bureau for the Education of the Handicapped (BEH) has established an on-going funding source to support deans of schools of education, especially those associated with teacher education, in the re-design of curriculum materials.3 As such, Dean's Grants provide the means by which the professional retooling of education department faculty can proceed relative to the development and dissemination of effective strategies which would ensure that exceptional students' needs are met adequately. The Howard University School of Education Dean's Grant project is one model for orchestrating faculty renewal along those lines, in addition to facilitating curriculum change in teacher education programs.4

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