Schools in the United States and schools across majority of countries around the world today face two critical issues: "Inclusion of students with disabilities in general education classrooms" and a contributing factor to success of this inclusion, teachers prepared to use best practices. "Best practices" in education are approaches to teaching,…

The article calls attention to the fact that one of the ironies of P.L. 94-142 is the constraining effect of the regulations developed to implement the law. A combination resource room and self- contained class are described as one alternative to strict adherence to the Deno Cascade model. (Author)

Most of the principals (82 percent) considered the most effective placement to be a combination of regular class and part-time special education. Only 6.4 percent regarded full-time regular class as most effective, while 10.1 percent favored full-time special class placement. (DB)

The decision to mainstream a child into the least restrictive environment opens up a variety of possibilities. The author surveys the mainstreaming options available in public schools, ranging from regular class placement to custodial care. (Part of a theme issue on mainstreaming.) (Editor/SJL)

Structured interviews with 150 elementary students with learning disabilities found that they accurately perceived that special education is intended to provide extra help for children with academic problems. Students reported they liked special education classes, though some missed instruction or recreational activities in their mainstream class…

The school day of a total of 122 learning disabled, emotionally/behaviorally disturbed, educable mentally retarded, and nonhandicapped elementary students was observed. Findings were noted concerning time allocated to instruction in specific content areas, time spent in different school settings, and time allocated to instruction as a function of…

This paper discusses the outcomes of a longitudinal study that investigated whether significant change has occurred in the number of Louisiana students in general education, resource, and separation placements from 1990 to 1999; whether significant differences in placement by age category have continued; and which school systems show a tendency…

This handbook provides North Carolina school units with an explanation of service delivery components for academically gifted students and an overview of a variety of program models for gifted education. The program options include the following: enrichment in the classroom with the consultant-teacher, the Triad Model, resource room/pull-out,…

Over 100 resource rooms, mainstreamed classes, and special day classes for learning handicapped students were observed in a longitudinal study of Micro-Educational Environments (MEEs) and microcomputer use. Results from 1986 and changes from 1984 to 1986 cover hardware selection and location; student grouping; software; access; use time; and user,…

Unstructured comments of 509 parents of students in regular, resource, and self-contained classrooms regarding homework, tests, and grades revealed 8 broad themes: complaints, traditional beliefs about education, alternative beliefs about education, communication issues, beliefs about involvement, stress factors, involvement dependent on child…

This paper discusses the outcomes of a Finnish study that investigated the school experiences of former special education students with emotional and behavioral disorders. Twenty-three former students, who had attended classes for students with emotional and behavioral disorders were interviewed. The students had been out of special education and…

This program guide examines a comprehensive occupational preparation program for the handicapped that is fiscally responsible, in concert with current practice, and has practical application possibilities. Section 1 is a position statement for the guide. Section 2 is a diagram showing program goals and objectives. The purpose of section 3 is to…

Described are findings from a review of the organization, administration, and effectiveness of special education services in Alberta, Canada (1975-1976). The first part provides an analysis of the relationship of variables (such as district size, per pupil expenditure, and ratio of students to special education staff) to the distribution of level…

The report examines the status and needs of behaviorally handicapped students in Maine. It describes the referral and identification process, program characteristics, current problems and issues. The first section presents statistics related to prevalence, types of programs received, costs of special education, and the certification and supply of…

This study examined the involvement of special education teachers with school-linked services (SLS) programs at their California schools. Telephone interviews were conducted with 25 resource and 8 special day teachers at 33 Healthy Start elementary schools, as well as from focus groups conducted with special education teachers at 2 case-study…