The failure of some researchers to find improved reading comprehension with increased fluency may result from the assumption that readers automatically shift attention to comprehension when fluency is established. Research on cuing readers to a purpose in reading suggests that a simple cue about comprehension may be sufficient to prompt this attentional shift. In this study, the effects of repeated readings and attentional cues on measures of reading fluency and comprehension were examined. Thirty third graders read separate passages one, three, and seven times following cues to attend to either reading rate or meaning. After the final reading of each passage, the students retold as much of the story as they could. Fluency and proportion of story propositions retold were analyzed in repeated measures analyses of variance. Significant main effects for both repeated readings and attentional cues were obtained on both dependent measures. Thus, both fluency and comprehension increased as the number of repeated readings increased. In addition, readers cued to fluency read faster but comprehended less than those cued to comprehension. These results suggest that increasing fluency is a less efficient means of improving comprehension than presenting cues about comprehension. 129

Minimum competency testing is currently a reality in American education; the practice presents a number of problems for regular class and handicapped students. In this research, the mathematics performance of learning disabled (LD) students and their nondisabled peers on the Florida State Student Assessment Test-II (SSAT-II) was evaluated, and employers' opinions about the importance of mathematical skills assessed on the SSAT-II were analyzed. It was reasoned that information such as this would provide valuable benchmarks for use in planning, organizing, and implementing educational programs for high school students. Skill performance and mastery scores were tabulated and compared for adolescents classified as learning disabled and their regular class peers; the relative importance of various skills to employers was also tabulated and compared. Strengths and weaknesses in basic math competencies were identified and relations among these skill performances and employer opinions were identified. In general, LD students performed better on skills requiring literal use of numbers and worse on skills requiring application of mathematical knowledge. Employers' ratings of the extent to which various skills were required in the world of work supported the importance of competence in these basic skills.

The authors provide results of a study analyzing special educator's beliefs regarding special and general educators' skills in implementing legal mandates described in Public Law 105-17, the individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA '97). The authors compare how preservice and practicing special educators approach legal mandates, and what special educators perceive to be the influence of their preservice preparation andlor continuing professional development opportunities on satisfying legal requirements. The groups shared similar, negative perceptions regarding their general education counterparts' skills to adapt general education curricula and to accommodate student needs for statewide assessments. The groups differed in their responses to a number of items regarding student suspensions and the appropriateness of general education preparation programs to meet the needs of students with disabilities. There appears to be a continued division between general and special educators. Preservice and inservice programs should be designed to integrate general and special educators in order to unify the service delivery systems.

The authors describe key factors in teacher preparation and continuing professional development. They pinpoint efforts promulgated by the Council for Exceptional Children on special educator standards and assessments. To meet the demands for improved teacher performance, there is a need to align the standards for state licensing, program accreditation, and national certification. The alignment should span entry, to the profession, continuing practice, and advanced practice. Finally, they summarize themes of authors contributing manuscripts to this special section of Teacher Education and Special Education.

Collaboration and school reform are current social-political issues that affect many individuals and school districts. In this series summary, the authors examine national goals, federal legislation, and local reform practices. A twenty-first-century perspective predicting the integration of collaboration and school reform may help to guide future teaching, research, and/or service efforts. How families and professionals work together today will affect how we educate students during the next century.