The least restrictive environment (LRE) mandate suggests a preference for educating students with disabilities in general education settings provided their needs can be met there. This study examined national trends in the educational placements of students with disabilities ages 6 to 17 in the 50 states and the District of Columbia from 1990…

The Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA) has synthesized key data on English learners (ELs) into short PDF sheets, by topic, with graphics. The topics for this report students with disabilities who are ELs include: (1) Percentage of students with disabilities, ages 3 to 21, served under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act…

Among findings were that relative locations of special education classrooms are similar for both urban and suburban school systems and that the locations of special education classrooms tended to be closer to the mainstream rather than distant. (SW)

The incidence figures of handicapped children in a sample of school districts were calculated. During the 1977-78, 1978-79, and 1979-80 school years, four to five percent of the students were referred or evaluated; three percent were placed in special education programs, with wide variation in the data supplied by individual school districts.…

The article traces the history of mass segregation of handicapped students in U.S. public schools, notes the advent of the concepts of mainstreaming and least restrictive environment, and analyzes such ramifications of mainstreaming as increased numbers of handicapped students in college and re-emergence of "tracking" or ability grouping. (CL)

A group of researchers from Syracuse University's School of Education (New York) conducted 25 case studies of local school programs that had been nominated by teachers, administrators, and parents as being exemplary in integrating children with disabilities into the mainstream of education. The 12 case studies selected for this volume represent…

Types of training considered include selecting target behaviors which are likely to be maintained by natural consequences, promoting self-management skills, and extending stimulus control through creating similarities between the special and regular class settings and matching the regular class reinforcement frequency in the special class. (DB)

Fifty primary research studies of special versus regular class placement were selected for use in a meta-analysis. Special classes were found to be significantly inferior to regular class placement for students with below average IQs and significantly superior to regular classes for behaviorally disordered, emotionally disturbed, and learning…

This paper examines the status of special education for mentally and physically handicapped children in Japan. Among the topics covered are these: (1) placement of students with "heavy" handicaps in special schools; (2) more mainstreamed placement of children with "light" handicaps; and (3) enforcement by prefectural and…

A meta-analysis was performed on 11 empirical studies of the effects of mainstreaming. Results indicated that mainstreamed disabled students consistently outperformed nonmainstreamed students with comparable special education classifications. The most success was found in programs with design features (such as continuous assessment) suggested by…

The article reviews the special class as a model of serving exceptional children; reviews the increasingly more complex and more ecological views on retarded, learning disabled, and emotionally disturbed children; and points out implications for research (team research, funding, and consumer review) and practice (clinical approach, augmented…

Teachers in self contained special education classes can learn to monitor and supervise parent and peer volunteers in the classroom. Teachers should remember the parents' background in teaching their children, realize the success demonstrated by nondegreed individuals, and understand the importance of scheduling and reinforcing the volunteers for…

This article, in the form of a letter from the parent of a teenager to parents of younger children with disabilities, encourages parents to take advantage of integrated educational opportunities for their children. Negative aspects of segregated education are illustrated with examples from the teenager's life. (DB)

The paper distinguishes American and Canadian applications of the terms "mainstreaming" and "integration" in relation to placement of exceptional children in settings which foster interaction between them and their non-handicapped peers such as regular classes in neighborhood schools. The two terms are seen to represent…

Two studies examined the relationship between classroom crowding and the behavior of handicapped students in a total of 74 special classes. Both studies found the frequency of disruptive or aggressive behavior higher under the crowded conditions. (Author/DB)