This paper begins with examining the origins of Individual Educational Plans, before taking a critical approach to the concept, to highlight the shortcomings and flaws that can now be found with the concept. The call is made to move toward Personalised Planning models, which will have a greater impact on pupil outcomes, before reporting on how the…

Pam Shanks describes Raintree Montessori School, an exemplary inclusion school, and gives credit to the legacy of Dr. Montessori. An inclusive Montessori community begins with "physical integration of all children, progresses to functional inclusion, and finally culminates in the highest level, social inclusion." Each of these levels is…

General education teachers are seeing an increase of students with disabilities being included. A major contributing factor to this is that students with disabilities are required to be in least restrictive environments and given access to the general curriculum in the major subjects like math and science as mandated by federal legislation…

How do children develop identifications with mathematics over time, seeing themselves as agents in their math classrooms (or not)? This ethnographic and interview study followed nine Latino/a children with and without learning dis/abilities through two years of mathematics in a high-poverty urban school. The children participated in two distinct…

Presented at the 1980 meeting of the National Science Teachers Association, the paper discusses some psychoeducational considerations for planning science instruction for the physically disabled. It is suggested that science teachers and educators must come to understand adjustment to disability, both through the eyes of the handicapped student as…

This paper describes the early childhood special educator's use of the Five P's (Parent/Professional Preschool Performance Profile), a new assessment tool by Judith Bloch, developed by the Variety Preschooler's Workshop (Syosset, New York) for use with children with emotional and developmental disorders functioning on a preschool level. The Five…

This paper reviews the current status of gifted education in South Africa and makes recommendations for improvements. Characteristics of the gifted and procedures for identifying gifted children are described, emphasizing the importance of identifying the gifted as early as possible. Provisions for differentiated gifted education, as currently…

A Web-based tutorial was developed to teach preservice special education teachers about the individualized education program (IEP) process in Nevada and to allow them to practice development of specific IEP components. The Web site has four major sections which: (1) review the process by which children become eligible for special education; (2)…

The study examined the Philadelphia school district's program for mildly handicapped students. It provided descriptive data related to mixed categorical classes, described students enrolled in the mildly handicapped program, provided descriptive data on the content of Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), and attempted to determine the…

The paper describes development of the Pupil Observation Schedule (POS), a computer based system which provides a framework for assessing, evaluating, and reporting behavioral progress of emotionally disturbed students. The POS is used to rate five skill areas--computation, language, reading, reference, and psychomotor skills; and nine behavioral…

Discussions were held with administrative staff and evaluators from the New York City Public Schools in order to identify sources of data for evaluating special education programs. Data which are generally available include: (1) citywide reading test scores; (2) number of diplomas issued; (3) number of students decertified; (4) number of students…

A curriculum rationale and model which meet the constraints of what is known of communicatively-based language teaching/learning are presented. The curricula prepares non-English speaking students for higher educational experiences in the U.S. Current program rationales, communicative and interactive teaching, and issues in curriculum design are…

This collection of materials provides a rationale for including all students with disabilities in statewide assessments and offers guidance for Vermont educators implementing the Vermont Assessment Program. Three reasons for inclusion are presented and supported with statistics, excerpts from the law, and research findings. The reasons for…

A study of 22 elementary, middle, and secondary students with disabilities investigated the adequacy of Individualized Education Program (IEP) statements of present level of functioning and goals related to peer interactions. The study also evaluated the extent to which general and special education teachers employed teaching strategies that…

This study seeks to determine whether first-year special educators use their knowledge of differentiated teaching strategies in their classrooms. It also seeks to understand what conditions within school systems support or hinder attempts by special educators to implement these strategies. Participants in the study included four first-year special…