MS. MACK: This is Mary Mack from the University of Minnesota. I am going to introduce the call and deal with some housekeeping details. Then I am going to turn it over to Ann Clapper, who is an Associate Director for the National Center on Secondary Education and Transition here at the University of Minnesota. And Ann will introduce the speakers and we will get going. It sounds like we have a lot of people on the line and I am really excited about that. The title of today's teleconference is Accessing the General Curriculum: Including Students with Disabilities in Standards-Based Reform. I am just going to turn the call over to Ann. The process is the speakers will do a presentation and then there will be an opportunity for questions from the audience. MS. CLAPPER: Hi. This is Ann Clapper from the University of Minnesota. Our presenters for today's teleconference are Dr. Margaret McLaughlin from the University of Maryland, and Dr. Victor Nolet from Western Washington University. Drs. McLaughlin and Nolet co-authored the book by the same title as our presentation today, Accessing the General Curriculum: Including Students with Disabilities in Standards-Based Reform.

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Background/Context This article explores sustainability as an emerging paradigm for pre-service preparation of teachers. Sustainability education, which is rooted in Deweyan ideas about the fundamental social purposes of schooling, attends to the tensions created by the interconnectedness of environmental, economic, and social equity systems. Sustainability education extends but does not replace environmental education or education for sustainable development, although the latter is considered a problematic idea. Purpose/ Focus of Study Nine themes that occur frequently in the sustainability discourse are explored as the basis for sustainability literacy, a complex construct validated through collection of multiple sources of evidence. Specific strategies for integrating sustainability education into the preservice preparation of teachers are linked to a framework for teacher learning that addresses curricular vision, understandings about teaching, dispositions, and professional practices. Research Design The article is an analytic essay that examines existing literature in the area of sustainability education and maps this work onto current research pertaining to the preparation of beginning teachers. Conclusions Sustainability education represents a new paradigm for the preparation of teachers. It can help new teachers develop a curricular vision that addresses the fundamental social purposes of education in the context of an uncertain 21st century. Sustainability education also can stimulate a conversation about the role of teacher education in the creation and solution of global environmental and social justice challenges.

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Collaboration occurs when two or more individuals work together to complete a project, create a product, or solve a problem. When people collaborate, they enter into a purposeful, goal-directed relationship with equitable contributions from all participants. In schools, collaboration could involve teachers working together to plan lessons, develop curricula, team teach, engage in peer coaching, or adapt instruction for a particular student. When collaborative relationships develop among teachers, benefits accrue for them and for their students. Teachers gain increased opportunities to learn content, improve practice, and receive feedback. They develop a greater sense of collegiality and community, and they experience less professional isolation (Firestone & Pennel, 1993). At the same time, peer collaboration among teachers has been identified as an effective strategy for accommodating students who have special needs in general education classrooms (Johnson & Pugach, 1991; Phillips & McCullough, 1990). For all of these reasons, enthusiasm continues to grow for the creation of collaborative relationships among general education and special education teachers with the goal that students who have special needs can effectively be included in general education classrooms. Given the apparent benefits of collaboration among teachers, it is surprising that it doesn't occur more regularly in schools, but, unfortunately, ongoing collaboration among teachers is still the exception rather than the norm. Organizational as well as cultural forces work to limit both opportunities and motivation for collaboration among teachers. The physical organization of schools tends not to facilitate collaboration. Each teacher works in a separate classroom and rarely has opportunities to interact substantially with peers. Scheduling and staffing patterns in many schools also prevent development of collaborative relationships. Virtually every minute of many teachers' workdays is consumed with directly supervising or teaching students. Furthermore, to maintain adequate "coverage" of classes, teachers' planning periods often are scheduled when the individuals with whom teachers could most profitably collaborate are engaged in teaching. It is not uncommon for teachers at all grade levels to report that they