The paper considers issues of educational and social reform suggested by the dual systems of teacher education, the preparation of regular teachers and the preparation of special education teachers (particularly those of the mildly handicapped). It is suggested that the existence of two teacher preparation university curricula allows general…

This report presents a comprehensive overview of special education, or education of handicapped children and the preparation of special education teachers in Europe. Perspectives from eight countries are presented: United Kingdom; Netherlands; Federal Republic of Germany; Republic of Ireland; Northern Ireland; Italy; Norway; and Sweden. The first…

The amorphous nature of nonverbal study can benefit from the unifying yet pluralistic perspective of the humanities and liberal arts. Those who teach, write, and create under the broad rubric of the humanities appreciate the complexity of human life and try to honor the subtle and the special in human actions and creations. When addressed from…

This newsletter discusses the evaluation of environmental education (EE) in schools, highlighting an introductory chapter of a proposed Unesco-United Nations environmental program guide on evaluating such programs. The benefits of evaluating an EE program (including program improvement, growth in student learning, better environment, and program…

The critical role of computers in scientific advancement is described in this panel report. With the growing range and complexity of problems that must be solved and with demands of new generations of computers and computer architecture, the importance of computational mathematics is increasing. Multidisciplinary teams are needed; these are found…

The Mainstream Assistance Team (MAT) Project is a 3-year program to develop, implement, and validate a prereferral intervention model with nonhandicapped difficult-to-teach students. This paper presents a rationale for prereferral assessment and intervention focused on the increasing numbers of mildly handicapped students enrolled in special…

After much discussion and several false starts, Nassau Community College (New York) has developed a two-course core curriculum designed to cover significant material from the sciences, social sciences, and humanities in practical proportions. The first course in the sequence, "Exploring Nature and Society," deals with Perceptions of the…

This ERIC Digest discusses heritage education in terms of: (1) what it is; (2) why it belongs in the core curriculum; (3) how it relates to social studies education; and (4) the qualities of exemplary heritage education programs. Heritage education is defined as an approach to teaching and learning about history and culture that uses information…

The report describes the University of Florida Multidisciplinary Diagnostic and Training Program (MDTP), jointly administered through the Department of Pediatrics and the Department of Special Education. It functions as a diagnostic, training, and consultative resource to local school districts in north central Florida and provides short-term…

Five leading feminist scholars assess the nature and extent of the contemporary women's movement in this collaborative book that focuses on the dual disciplinary-interdisciplinary character of feminist research. The five collaborators are Ellen Carol DuBois, Gail Paradise Kelly, Elizabeth Lapovsky Kennedy, Carolyn W. Korsmeyer, and Lillian S.…

Based on the premise that environmental education should be taught in K-12 social studies classes, this document describes the eco/studies concept of the constant interaction between natural and human designed environments. The use of a model, through which students role play as researching social scientists, is described, along with the concepts…

Brief descriptions of interdisciplinary developmental education programs are provided in this paper, along with a more extensive examination of the Personalized Approach to College Education (PACE) program at the College of the Finger Lakes (CFL) in Canandaigua, New York. Introductory material cites examples of developmental programs which involve…

After recounting a brief history of special education trends and reviewing two early models of learning disabilities, this paper calls for and describes a holistic approach to teaching students based on their abilities rather than their disabilities. It describes how psychologists of the 1960s viewed learning disabilities as a product of deficient…

An ongoing, interdisciplinary reading program for students in grades 7-10 in Perris Union High School District (California) is described. Initiated in 1979 as a result of low reading scores, the program divides all incoming seventh grade students into homogeneous groups. In the first 6 weeks of school these new groups meet once a day for 50…

This article describes a 10-step process for bookwebbing, a method of using a storybook for instruction in a variety of curriculum areas. The process, which is recommended to be used in cooperation with another teacher, is as follows: (1) choose a book which can apply to many curriculum areas; (2) read the whole book; (3) read it again in two or…