This article describes a project which involved inner city elementary grade children with disabilities in writing and performing their own plays. A four-step playwriting process focuses on theme and character development, problem finding, and writing dialogue. The project has led to improved reading skills, attention, memory skills,…

This article offers suggestions for incorporating cognitive principles into mathematics instruction for students with disabilities, such as identifying underlying concepts and relationships and teaching them explicitly, and presenting instruction from a problem-solving perspective. A checklist is provided for determining whether or not…

This paper describes and validates a model of teaching in early elementary grades that infuses the self-determination skills of problem solving and goal setting into existing curricula and programs. Use of the "Self-Determination Learning Model of Instruction with 5- and 6-year-olds found the model effective in identifying student interests,…

A review of research on the school consultation process as it relates to handicapped students focuses on issues in case problem solving, establishing and maintaining effective consultant-consultee relationships, and evaluating consultation outcomes. Topics discussed include interpersonal variables, relationship building, managing consultee…

An action-research project examined how implementation of an inclusive rule, "You can't say you can't play," at a Syracuse, New York, elementary school influenced children's informal social relationships, focusing particularly on children with disabilities. Overall, the rule has helped create a rich discourse about inclusion issues,…

Presents a six-step model for generating hypothetical examples of what a handicapped student might experience in a mainstreamed setting, and preparing nonhandicapped students for this integration. Stages include determining student needs, specifying environmental demands, identifying problems, translating and presenting hypotheticals to the class…

Using an integrated curriculum anchored in science and multimedia technology, Project LINCOL'N (Living in the New Computer Oriented Learning 'Nvironment) facilitates active learning for all students. The project's vision is to enable all students, including those with disabilities, to engage in authentic learning in a problem-solving environment.…

Suggesting that using children's literature as a tool for problem solving is a meaningful way for teachers to understand and help children with problems, this Digest claims that through the exploration of stories, discussion, and reflections on their own experiences, children can begin to perceive the complexities of the world in which they live.…

Offers a constructivist perspective in considering strategies for managing student behavior, such as severe behavior problems, in elementary school classrooms which include children with special needs. This approach capitalizes on the social context and group problem solving to teach children how to manage their own behavior. Examples are…

Several Maryland schools are experimenting with Roots and Wings, a collaborative project of Saint Mary's County Schools, the state education department, and Johns Hopkins University. Funded by the New American Schools Development Corporation, the pilot project's goals are to guarantee every child's successful completion of elementary school and to…

A study investigated the ways that six general and special education teachers and five school staff worked to identify and solve their concerns about children with disabilities in their classrooms. Educators collaborated to resolve concerns about children with disabilities by following problem-solving steps somewhat similar to traditional…

This booklet contains 10 short plays written especially for performance by spcial education students who ranged in age from five to ten and in academic level from kindergarten to fourth grade. The plays focus on promoting character development and topics include death, prejudice, manners, senior citizens, responsibility for others, and positive…

This article describes "Hot Math," a third-grade intervention conducted with small groups of students with disabilities or in inclusive classrooms that fosters mathematical problem solving. Hot Math integrates two promising practices to promote mathematical problem solving, explicit instruction about transfer and self-regulation strategies.…

The study examined procedures utilized in 28 elementary schools in Montgomery County (Maryland) when a student is found to have academic or behavioral problems that make functioning in the regular classroom difficult. The study examined one part of special education--how the school system initially identifies students for special services. The…

This final report describes the outcomes of Project MAPS (Monitoring Authentic Problem Solving), a project that developed multimedia computer-managed assessment environments to overcome the barriers educators face in using problem-solving performance assessment (PSPA) with students with disabilities. MAPS software was developed for 6 alternate…