The central obligation under the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act is to provide each eligible student with a free appropriate public education (FAPE). In "Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District RE-1" (2017), the U.S. Supreme Court revised the prior substantive standard for determining FAPE that the court had developed in…

The study evaluated developmental progress in three groups of infants (9-30 months) presenting Down syndrome (n=28), mild disability (n=16), or moderate/severe disabilities (n=16). To evaluate intervention impact, formulas that measure rate of development and change in rate of development were computed. Findings indicated rate change formulas were…

Schedules of 844 mildly handicapped elementary school students were analyzed to describe the degree of appropriateness of mainstreaming practices. School variables were then investigated in relation to appropriate scheduling. Data analysis revealed that very few students had appropriate mainstreaming schedules but that "good" scheduling was found…

A multi-element cross-age tutoring program involved handicapped adolescents as tutors of elementary school handicapped children in areas of reading, language arts, and mathematics. Program evaluation results suggested that the program can be readily implemented in public school districts, and that it is effective in enhancing scholastic…

Among results from evaluation of approximately 400 learning disabled students' individualized education programs (IEPs) were that more than 75 percent of the instructional objectives addressed basic academic areas, while only 10 percent were listed in areas relating to social, emotional, and behavioral needs; in addition, 6 percent of the IEPs…

The article examines service provisions for preschool-aged handicapped students in terms of two legal issues: what constitutes an appropriate program in terms of the intensity/frequency of program length; and how the least restrictive environment provision should be applied to this population. (Author/DB)

The Minority Issues Inservice Program, a three-year cooperative inservice program regarding special education of minority handicapped children, was evaluated with 34 participants (building trainers, teacher trainees, contrast Ss). Results indicated that trainees increased their weekly mastery, made substantial and continuing applications, and had…

Impact evaluation of Retrieval and Acceleration of Promising Young Handicapped and Talented, a model program for gifted and talented handicapped preschoolers, revealed that 28 project children in three sites demonstrated statistically significant gains in self-esteem, purposiveness, creativity, and talent area functioning. (CL)

Analysis of 43 states' practices in involving parents in monitoring the appropriateness of educational services (as suggested in the regulations for P.L. 94-142, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act), revealed that parents have little direct involvement in the monitoring process. Training can help parents assume a larger role. (CL)

Goal attainment scaling (GAS) is a useful approach for evaluating special education services at the local education agency (LEA) level because it allows for individualization of program goals for a range of special education service programs.

Reviewed are the basic functions of the National Advisory Committee on the Handicapped, designed to insure that federal government administrators of programs for handicapped indiviudals continue to receive direction from professionals and consumers regarding the operation and coordination of their programs. (SBH)

The article provides a guide for using cooperative agreements to increase the utilization of community resources for serving handicapped persons. Procedures for designing, implementing, and measuring the cost and benefits of cooperative programs are included. (Author)

The article represents a literature based set of practical guidelines regarding mainstreaming in the areas of inservice method, format, planning, goals and objectives, location, scheduling, evaluation, incentives, training personnel, school administration, and instructional materials. (Author/CL)

The study examining the validity of statistical conclusions of 49 early intervention studies found that 4 percent had adequate power to detect medium intervention effects and 18 percent to detect large intervention effects. Low statistical conclusion validity has practical consequences in program evaluation and cost-effectiveness determinations.…

Criterion-referenced tests in a time-series design were found to be the most feasible methodology for evaluating placement in an early intervention program for mildly retarded, learning disabled, and emotionally disturbed children. Advantages included provision of longitudinal data, while the major disadvantage was administration time. (CL)