This brief paper describes the Circle of Collaboration approach at one elementary school in Utah that is focusing on development of an inclusive school for all students and implementation of a program (Balance Literacy) to enhance students' reading skills. Balance Literacy incorporates phonemic awareness, phonic instruction, fluency, vocabulary,…

In order to understand the cognitive and affective roots underpinning the differences between teachers' and parents' teaching approaches for hearing-impaired children, this study proposes a four-level analysis structure (global-level schema, middle-level schema, local-level schema, and prepositional reasoning) to construct and then compare…

A survey of 116 early intervention service providers for young children with disabilities examined their experiences and perceptions of providing services in natural environments such as the home, day-care center, restaurants, play grounds, etc. A questionnaire, "The Natural Environment Questionnaire," was developed which included questions with…

This paper examines the concept of "outcomes-based education" (OBE), how it was developed, how it relates to other current reforms that encompass the notion of outcomes, and how it relates to students with disabilities in theory and in practice. Outcomes-based education holds that all children can learn and succeed and that schools are…

This brief paper describes a project, the Curriculum Development in Teaching Science to Students with Disabilities Project, which provides training to teachers and teacher educators. Participants receive information on teacher education, methods, materials/programs, organizations, media resources, evaluation/assessment alternatives, World Wide Web…

Advocates of full inclusion of students with disabilities in regular education settings are overlooking such elements as the requirement that delivery of services be appropriate for the individual student, that a continuum of alternative placements be available, that the educational rights of nondisabled students not be overlooked, and that…

This paper reports on a cost analysis of Kings Park (New York) Central School District's expenditures for special education services and relates that analysis to a comparison of proposed models of service delivery. The first section of the paper reviews the current status of New York State's initiative to document educational outcomes for special…

Morgantown (West Virginia) High School developed and implemented a collaborative teaching service delivery model, in which special education students enrolled in given subjects were mainstreamed into regular classes. A regular educator and a special educator were jointly assigned to the classroom to team teach the curriculum. The special and…

This paper describes Project SMART (Science and Math Access: Resources & Technology), a multi-year professional development effort that includes components for all adults who regularly have contact with children with disabilities. The common goal of each of the components is the development of both efficacy and capacity to inspire children with…

This paper presents the results of a two-year initiative to change the social arrangements and interactions of special education students and teachers assigned to a predominantly Mexican-American, low-income seventh grade campus of 520 students. The project investigated how to improve the learning environments of students at risk of being placed…