Commentary on Articles from Issue Three of RSEQ's 30-Year Retrospective

When the first issue of RSEQ was published 30 years ago, I was unaware of special education and its positive impact. Like most individuals educated in the 70s and early 80s, I saw few students with special needs in school. I grew up in rural Utah where students were bused from miles away to attend the "local" elementary. I know we had individuals with special needs in our small community. I vividly remember a neighbor boy "Sam" with Down syndrome riding his noisy bicycle that had a playing card attached to the spokes of the front wheel. However, I have no clear recollection of Sam attending our elementary. I also remember "Rachel" who started out with our first grade class. She was a sweet girl who invited us to play with her jacks or jump rope at recess. Unfortunately (for those of us without our own set of jacks), Rachel was quickly moved to the third grade because she could read and do math better than the rest of us. From these recollections, I assume that special education was done outside of the grade-specific general education classroom. I went on to college in the early 80s and decided to pursue my degree and secondary teaching licensure. It was only due to a recommendation from my advisor that I went on to pursue a career in special education. My advisor stressed the need for special educators, especially in rural areas. I was lucky enough to be introduced to ACRES during my graduate work. I was glad that there was an organization focused on rural issues. Coming from a rural community, I know that many do not understand the unique challenges faced by those in rural areas. I also was impressed with Rural Special Education Quarterly (RSEQ). RSEQ is a wonderful oudet for those seeking to publish research in the field of rural special education. It is only through publications, such as RSEQ, where rural issues are stressed that positive changes in rural special education can occur. It is with great pleasure that I comment on the articles chosen for this retrospective. The classic articles in this issue address a wide array of topics still relevant today. Topics include distance education in special education teacher preparation, community-based rehabilitation, vocational competencies, and identification of gifted and talented students. Each of these articles stress the unique challenges faced by rural communities addressing issues in special education. The authors have illustrated how specific interventions and programs can overcome rural setting obstacles. In this issue, a 1999 article by Ludlow and Brannan presents distance education programs in special education teacher preparation. In the introduction, the authors mention that distance education is seen as a way to overcome teacher shortages. Unfortunately, in this era of increased standards and budgetary concerns, special education teacher shortages continue. In a listing put out in March 2010 by the U.S. Department of Education, 48 of the 50 states reported special education teacher shortages. These shortages are of particular concern in rural areas where populations are more static and have less access to traditional teacher training facilities. It is no surprise that rural areas are still relying on distance education as a way to overcome these shortages. In an act of prescience, Ludlow and Brannan predicted an increase in competition in distance education programs to attract students. This is clearly the case today. What students need to consider in choosing a program is the quality of components used. Ludlow and Brannan describe diese components from a perspective that still has relevance today. In another article, Zambone and Suarez (1996) describe community-based rehabilitation (CBR) programs used by developing nations as a way to overcome some of the obstacles of relying on institutional-based programs. In many of these settings, individuals with disabilities lack access to institutional programs due to their location. The authors call for rural communities in the U. …