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This article describes federal initiatives to support preparation of regular educators to serve students with disabilities through the eras of mainstreaming, the Regular Education Initiative, inclusion, and, currently, promoting access to the general education curriculum. Trends in the number of personnel preparation projects that support preparation of regular educators are analyzed. Current OSEP policies are discussed in terms of their potential impact on efforts to prepare regular educators to serve students with disabilities.

This article is part of an illustrative study of federal leadership in special education based on interviews with persons who served as Assistant Secretaries in the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services and Directors of the Office of Special Education Programs. The perspectives cover the time period since the inception of the HEW—Bureau of Education for the Handicapped in 1967 until 2012. A phenomenological approach to interpreting the data revealed that these leaders faced similar barriers in their efforts to implement their vision, that their family background experiences influenced the policies they pursued, that their accomplishments frame major evolutions of the field, and, that their work represents a lifelong commitment to improving education and services for students with disabilities and special needs. We believe what we learned has value not only in helping to understand the challenges and accomplishments that have passed but also in its potential for guiding the future of federal and other legislation protecting the rights of and improving and sustaining the services needed for individuals with disabilities.

This article is part of a case study of federal leadership in special education from the perspective of those who served in the roles of Assistant Secretaries of Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services (OSERS) and Directors of Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), or their equivalents in the former U.S. Office of Education and later U.S. Department of Education. The perspectives cover the time-period since the passage of the Education of the Handicapped Act of 1975 to amendments of Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 1997 and the end of the Clinton administration in 2001. The participants detailed their (a) Career and appointment, (b) vision for educating students with disabilities, (c) theory of change, (d) politics and financial constraints, (e) advocacy, and (f) views of the past, present, and future.

In this article, the authors explore contexts that have shaped the federal program for personnel preparation in special education. A brief review is provided of the historical, political, and policy considerations that influenced the directions, implementation, and impacts of the federal personnel preparation program funding at particular points in time. Issues and questions are posed for those who seek to understand the impact of the program, and recommendations are provided for how answers to those questions might be used to improve the program and enhance its impact.