Educators and policy makers confront challenging questions of ethics, justice, and equity on a regular basis. Should teachers retain a struggling student if it means she will most certainly drop out? Should an assignment plan favor middle-class families if it means strengthening the school system for all? These everyday dilemmas are both utterly…

To analyze how schools place students into special education, 66 case discussions were transcribed and assessment team members interviewed. Ways in which team participants weigh statements were examined through a taxonomy of their perceptions of learning disabilities and a match of the meeting discussions to subsequent placement decisions in light…

Four groups (40 school psychology graduates and practitioners and 40 special education trainees and practitioners) rated 11 multidisciplinary child study team (MT) professions according to influence on child placement and desirability to chair the MT meeting. MT professions were found to exert disproportionate influence on placement decisions. (CL)

Naturalistic observation procedures were employed to study the assessment and decision making events that occurred in the cases of seven students from the time of referral for special education assessment to the time when an educational program was implemented or a decision made not to provide service. Details are presented of the sequence,…

Intended for local school district personnel, the document suggests a model for assisting decision makers in placing handicapped students in the least restrictive environment (LRE). Basic considerations of a multidisciplinary team in determining the appropriate placement for the handicapped students are listed (including the nature and degree of…

This paper is the fourth of a series of working papers developed by a project which conducted a cooperative study of existing student study team (SST) processes in nine California special education local plan areas. The working papers augment the final report by providing detailed descriptions of the methods used and the preliminary findings. This…

Placement team decision making for elementary or junior high learning disabled students was studied in a naturalistic investigation of 38 meetings using both observation and videotaping procedures. Teams of researchers collected data on the effectiveness of the special education team process, the domains of data and kinds of assessment data…

To help ensure that multidisciplinary decision making in special education results in an appropriate education for exceptional students, principles drawn from theory and research on group decision making and problem solving were used to develop a decision model to serve as a guide for structuring and assessing the decision process at the school…

The paper is the third of a series of working papers developed by a project which conducted a cooperative study of existing student study team (SST) processes in nine California special education local plan areas. The working papers augment the final report by providing detailed descriptions of the methods used and the preliminary findings. This…

Examined with the placement teams of 230 handicapped students was the assumption that pupil programming team members drawn from the spectrum of school staffing hierarchy will agree on the goals of the team or be fully knowledgeable about the team's legally assigned responsibilities. Over 60% of the teams surveyed had less that a 3/4 majority of…

The goal of this project was to increase regular teacher attendance and active participation during multidisciplinary team (MDT) conferences held to ensure appropriate decisions regarding eligibility, placement, and programming of special needs students. The school psychologist, as a member of the team in the target school in Dade County, Florida,…

Compared the restrictiveness of special education placements by profession (administrators, school psychologists, and special education teachers) and by type of handicapping condition. Professionals (N=66) assigned placement scores on the basis of three psychological reports. Results indicated that the average placement scores did not differ…

To overcome factors inhibiting effective decision making by child study teams, a rationale is established for the development of pandisciplinary tools to assist in interpersonal communication, group decision making, and assessment. Specific examples of such tools are presented, and their relationships to current practices are discussed.…

To reduce professional discord among admission and discharge committee members charged with placement and treatment decisions involving exceptional children, a Cognitive Dissonance Paradigm is proposed. The paradigm is noted to allow each team member to present assumptions and their interpretations of causes of the problem without critical review…

Discusses a publication on the technical adequacy of tests used in simulated decison making. Suggests the use of poor diagnostic instruments can incorrectly influence a multidisciplinary team making student placement decisions. Authors respond to Wright's criticism. (JAC)