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Over the last several years special education teacher shortages have increased to alarming levels. Remote rural areas face even more critical special education teacher shortages. Many professionals teaching students with disabilities in rural areas do not have formal special education training. This article describes a distance education partnership program between Wright State University and school districts in rural Ohio that addresses special education teacher shortages in these areas. Although the program required intense effort from university faculty, partnership students, and district education staff, program benefits outweighed the work necessary to implement and maintain the program.

Inclusion is the meaningful participation of students with disabilities in general education classrooms. The CLASS project (Creating Laboratory Access for Science Students) is a unique initiative offering training and resources to help educators provide students with a variety of physical, sensory and learning disabilities equal access in the science laboratory or field. To determine whether participants believed a 2-week residential workshop sponsored by CLASS raised disability awareness and provided teacher training in inclusive science teaching practice, a multipoint Likert scale survey and questionnaire was completed by all participants (N = 20) in four workshops. Participants reported large gains in their preparedness to teach science to students with disabilities. Participants also reported gains in their familiarity with instructional strategies, curricula, and resources and their ability to design, select, and modify activities for students with disabilities. Finally, shifts in attitudes about teaching science to students with disabilities were noted.

This article describes project CLASS (Creating Laboratory Access for Science Students) an innovative NSF-funded project originating at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. Project CLASS enables students to participate in chemistry labs regardless of physical or learning disabilities in grades 7–12. This nationally recognized project prepares educators to accommodate and develop adaptive lab equipment to meet the needs of students with physical and learning disabilities while maintaining the integrity of the science curriculum.