As important decisions are being made with regard to educational legislation, policy and provision for children with special educational needs (SEN), it is critical that the views of these key stakeholders are heard and considered. This article reports the perspectives of 38 children and young people with special educational needs on their…

Aim: To explore factors associated with students' attitudes towards their peers with disabilities. Method: All 7th grade students (aged 12-13y) from 12 schools in the Toulouse area were invited to participate (n = 1509). Attitudes were measured using the Chedoke-McMaster Attitudes Towards Children with Handicaps (CATCH) questionnaire (affective,…

One of the provisions of the law for special education in Cyprus is for children considered as having special needs to be educated in "special units". The purpose of this study is to investigate and observe the way that "special units" function in the educational environment in Cyprus, paying particular attention to one unit in…

This survey examined experiences and beliefs regarding homework of primary-grade children (n=809), of whom 91 were in resource room programs and 17 in special education classrooms. Overall, results indicated that children in the resource rooms were experiencing the greatest amount of difficulty in doing homework and had acquired the most negative…

Analysis of survey responses of elementary and junior high students (n=1,527) in regular, resource, and self-contained special education classrooms found significant main effects for group, grade, and group by grade interactions for amount, type, and time spent doing homework; opportunity to do homework at school; parents' assistance; and…

This study investigated the preferences of parents, teachers, and students regarding the relative benefits of a cooperative teaching (general educator/special educator in a general education classroom) service model in comparison to a special education "pull-out" model. A cooperative teaching model was implemented in four public…

Two groups of students with disabilities (n=14, ages 8-10) in self-contained classes participated in a teacher-directed peer confrontation system used in conjunction with a token economy system. Results showed that the system was effective in modifying inappropriate behavior and that students had positive reactions to the system. (Author/JDD)

Nondisabled students (n=65) and disabled students (n=120) from mainstreamed grades 6 through 12 were surveyed and compared to non-mainstreamed controls. Responses were analyzed in the categories of stereotypes, peer-ratings, and self-ratings. Nondisabled students favorably described the disabled in general, but descriptions of actual disabled…

This action research study examined how peer tutoring of students with disabilities causes changes in the attitudes of high school peer tutors. Data were gathered through surveys, interviews, and open-ended questions completed by 18 high school peer tutors. Results showed that the peer tutors involved held positive attitudes and beliefs toward…

This report discusses the findings of a study that gathered descriptive information in the areas of salient student characteristics (e.g., gender, ethnicity, poverty, disability classification), level of participation in general education classes, current level of functioning, student outcomes (e.g., grade point average, performance on state or…