Nine studies reporting child change data for nonhandicapped children participating in integrated preschool settings were analyzed in terms of methodology and specific classroom practices. The studies suffered from methodological weaknesses common to many early intervention efficacy studies. Documentation of child progress is only one measure of…

Two highly contrasting models of preschool education for mildly handicapped children were compared. Direct Instruction led to greater gains on the Test of Early Language Development and the Basic Language Concepts test. Mediated Learning led to greater gains on the McCarthy Verbal and Memory scales and Mean Length of Utterance measure. (Author/VW)

Contends that success of supported employment service programs depends on the ability of new programs to replicate results of supported work demonstration projects. Notes that the capacity to verify accurate replication independently is limited, as is knowledge of the extent to which supported employment demonstration programs generalize to a wide…

Subjects (N=224) were elementary, middle, and high school special education students receiving the Gillingham tutorial program services in reading and language arts for one school year. In general, progress was made at more than one-half the expectancy for the nonspecial education student. Spelling showed the least improvement. (Author/DB)

The study investigated whether 25 intermediate grade learning disabled students would generalize creativity training to increased competence on a spontaneous writing task. Following creativity training, including such activities as nonjudgmental brainstorming, the experimental group's writing significantly improved in number of thought units,…

Analysis of 326 studies of early intervention efficacy indicated significant positive benefits for most children but little evidence to support some common beliefs (such as the superiority of very early intervention or the necessity for parental involvement). Application of the steps in the scientific method are recommended for such large scale…

Describes the Kaleidoscope, a conference activity designed to make special needs personnel and other interested individuals aware of a variety of new techniques, materials, and programs for handicapped, disadvantaged, and limited English proficiency learners. Subjects include evaluating software for disabled learners, workshops, competency-based…

Cognitive behavior modification (CBM), Direct Instruction (DI), and holistic approaches to the education of students with learning disabilities are compared for purposes of identifying similarities and differences in instructional practice. Comparative discussions are organized around four distinctions: specific vs. general, bottom-up vs.…

Forty-two students (aged 8 to 12) with developmental learning disabilities who had or had not participated in a one year evaluation of the Tomatis Listening Training Program, completed a battery of tests assessing intelligence, academic achievement, linguistic skills, and other traits. Results failed to support the educational effectiveness of the…

The article reports the methodology and results of a two-year program evaluation effort to determine effectiveness of an early intervention program for disabled infants and preschool children. Overall, the results indicated the intervention program had a positive impact on participating children and their parents. (Author/CL)

The Vermont Consulting Teacher program, based on the triadic model of consultation, trains consulting teachers to deliver instruction via training classroom teachers. Six modules are described: (1) consultation training, (2) workshop training, (3) systems analysis, (4) research, (5) training a change agent, and (6) Individualized Education Program…

Describes the career education needs of college women who are disabled, a project to provide for those needs, and first-year evaluation results. (Author)

Studies are reviewed regarding the outcome of interpersonal skills training; vocational skills training; and academic, intellectual, and job performance data on learning disabled and dyslexic students. (Author/CL)

The review examines evaluations of the efficacy of special education programs for mildly disabled children. The author suggests that serious methodological flaws make our present knowledge in this area very weak and proposes a methodology to address and overcome many of the limitations of previous research. (Author)

Meta-Analysis of 59 studies revealed that neither the Frostig Developmental Test of Visual Perception nor the Frostig program for the development of visual perception was advantageous for handicapped students. (CL)