The trend in special education toward integrating students with disabilities into general education schools and classrooms and the trend in general education toward systematic reorganization of school governance structures, policy, and resource utilization present an opportunity for amalgamation of these viewpoints through broad-based, school…

Compliance with policy mandates and instructional complexity are unique aspects of special education for which peer review, applied research, and qualitative/naturalistic methods used for evaluating general education are inadequate. A conceptual map designed to organize longitudinal, systematic evaluation of special education addresses its special…

This article addresses the efforts of school districts to use private health insurance or Medicaid to subsidize special education services. It notes that such efforts have been generally unsuccessful, time-consuming, and costly. A legal explanation of the reasons for such failures is provided. (Author/DB)

School districts (N=145) were surveyed on program evaluation in special education, addressing preplanning, who evaluates special education programs, the focus of evaluation activities, methods for obtaining evaluative information, criteria for judging program effectiveness, and perceived benefits of the evaluation process. Plans for program…

This study of 55 elementary-level general, special, and remedial education teachers found no intergroup differences in perceptions of the amount or quality of assistance available for mainstreamed students with mild handicaps, or in perceived effectiveness or overall acceptability of eight instructional strategies and 11 social behavior…

This paper offers a conceptual and technical framework for examining alternative approaches for funding special education. The paper discusses fundamental policy questions that guide the selection of an appropriate funding approach, presents criteria for evaluating funding formulas, and analyzes alternative approaches for their fiscal and…

The paper explores elements necessary to develop a stable, well-prepared itinerant instructional team (the Multilingual/Multiethnic Instructional Service team) to serve linguistically diverse exceptional students. Such a team would utilize paraprofessionals under the direct supervision of a certified special education teacher, allowing districts…

School division compliance with Virginia state and federal regulations concerning the parent's role in the special education process was examined. Analysis of parent surveys and state department of education compliance reports found a high incidence of parent nonparticipation, inadequate communication to parents of their rights, and difficulties…