This volume offers 12 readings which attempt to synthesize key ideas underlying a shift toward functional and noncategorical approaches to special education in light of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997. The chapters are: (1) "Origins of Categorical Special Education Services in Schools and a Rationale for Changing Them" (Jim Ysseldyke and Doug Marston); (2) "Reform Trends and System Design Alternatives" (Daniel J. Reschly and W. David Till III); (3) "Functional Analysis Assessment as a Cornerstone for Noncategorical Special Education" (Frank M. Gresham and George H. Noell); (4) "Noncategorical Special Education Services with Students with Severe Achievement Deficits" (Mark R. Shinn, Roland H. Good III, and Chris Parker); (5) "Noncategorical Approaches to K-12 Emotional and Behavioral Difficulties" (Frank M. Gresham); (6) "Transition from School-to-Adult Life" (Cheryl Hanley-Maxwell); (7) "Services to Young Children: Functional/Behavioral Conceptions of Services to Young Children" (Carla A. Peterson); (8) "Functional Approaches to Low Incidence Populations" (Diane M. Browder, Timothy Minarovic, and Edward Grasso); (9) "Developing Effective Program Plans for Students with Disabilities" (Lee Kern and Glenn Dunlap); (10) "Curriculum-Based Evaluation: Finding Solutions to Educational Problems" (Kenneth W. Howell and Scott C. Hazelton); (11) "Providing Noncategorical, Functional, Classroom-Based Supports for Students with Disabilities: Legal Parameters" (David P. Prasse and Judy A. Shrag); and (12) "Disability Determination in Problem Solving Systems: Conceptual Foundations and Critical Components" (W. David Tilly III, Daniel J. Reschly, and Jeff Grimes). (Individual chapters contain references.) (DB)