The purpose of this chapter is to review the major curricular orientations which can be found in special education settings for students with mental disabilities. Program orientations differ along two primary dimensions: the amount of time students spend in special settings or with special education personnel, and the extent to which the curriculum differs from that offered in regular education. Three general curricular orientations are examined: (1) remedial models, including programs focused on basic academic skill development/remediation and social skills training; (2) maintenance models, including tutorial approaches, learning strategies, and compensatory techniques; and (3) functional models, including vocational training and approaches which relate to adult outcomes. The particular appropriateness of each approach is a function of a number of variables, including student variables (cognitive-intellectual level, academic achievement, grade placement, motivation/degree of responsibility, and social skills); parent variables (expectations, degree of support provided, value orientation, and cultural factors); regular education/mainstream variables (teacher and nonhandicapped student acceptance of diversity, accommodative capacity of the classroom, options for vocational education, amount of cooperation between regular educators and special educators, etc.); and special education variables (size of caseload, access to curricular materials, focus of teacher's training, and support available to special educators). (JDD)