Concurrent use of two direct observation instruments (momentary time sample of task engagement and event recording of discrete student responses) were evaluated in six middle school resource rooms using either of two reading programs. Findings tended to be program specific with differences lost or diluted when data were combined across programs.…

Special education students (21 learning disabled, 12 emotionally/behaviorally disordered, 14 educable mentally retarded) and 30 nonhandicapped students were observed to identify teaching structures and tasks experienced during reading in both mainstream and special education settings. Several setting effects and a difference in the amount of time…

Home-based consultations about homework were conducted over a 12-week period with nine families of elementary students with mild handicaps to determine the extent to which consultations increased academic responding time, and to document home and school factors that contribute to work incompletion problems. The intervention was implemented by…

This study investigated time allocated to instruction as a function of the specific type of mild handicap and as a function of setting and subject matter content. Subjects were 122 elementary students categorized as learning-disabled, emotionally/behaviorally disturbed, educable mentally retarded, and nonhandicapped. Subjects were in mainstreamed,…

A federally funded research project investigated the relationship between academic learning time (ALT) and achievement of 43 educable mentally retarded, emotionally disturbed, and learning-disabled students, aged 7-13, in grades 1-5. The project's final report, titled "An Analysis of the Impact of Instructional Time within Different Service…

Observations were conducted to document the active academic responding and academic engagement rates of 122 elementary students (30 learning-disabled, 32 emotionally/behaviorally disturbed, 30 mildly mentally retarded, and 30 self-contained programs. Data were recorded in 10-second intervals for each student over an entire school day. During a…

This project examined the extent to which varying instructional grouping arrangements are used for different categories of mildly handicapped students in various instructional settings and the extent to which any differences translated to differences in student responses. Observational data were recorded all day in 10-second intervals for 122…

Observational data were collected on the instructional tasks used by 122 elementary students (30 learning-disabled, 32 emotionally/behaviorally disturbed, 30 educable mentally retarded, and 30 nonhandicapped). No differences between handicapped and nonhandicapped students were revealed in an analysis of time using each of eight specific tasks…