ment of Special Education at the University of Florida

Teachers working in settings serving emotional-ly handicapped (EH) students are frequently confronted with incidents of student aggres-sion. Little is known about the teachers ’ confi-dence in their ability to cope with these inci-dents or the nature and extent of their previous training to deal with interpersonal violence. Sur-vey questionnaires sent to 311 teachers serving EH students requested demographic, factual, and attitudinal information about teachers cop-ing with classroom aggression. The response rate was 57 % (178). Results indicate a signifi-cant(p <.05) relationship between level of confi-dence and previous training in methods of cop-ing with aggression. While there was almost unanimous agreement upon the need for such training as part of teacher preparation, the ma-jority of the trained teachers had received rele-vant training through inservice workshops rather than university coursework, and 68 % de-sired additional training. The need for compe-tence in this area, action by preservice person-nel, and components of such training are ad-dressed. As a normal aspect of human development, ag-gression is not a primary concern to a society as long as it remains within the accepted param-eters of that society. Once the limits have been breached, however, aggression becomes a ma-jor concern. Evidence in the professional litera-ture suggests that aggressive behavior in school settings has been and continues to be a problem. Public and parental concern is ob-vious from the Gallup poll of the public’s atti-tude toward the public schools; in 13 of the past 14 polls, lack of discipline has been placed at the top among major dilemmas confronting public schools. National investigations (Bayh