What are the most difficult aspects of teaching for public school teachers? Ask elementary teachers
and secondary teachers what challenges them most each day. The majority will list teaching
students with disabilities as one of their primary concerns. Officials of the U.S. Office of Special
Education Programs indicate that more than half of all students with disabilities receive instruction
in science in regular education classes (U.S. Department of Education, 1991). Science has been
considered one of the most valuable subjects taught to students with disabilities (Patton & Andre,
1989). Additionally, teachers identify science as the subject most suited for mainstreaming special