Research suggests that the academic achievement of deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) students is the result of a complex interplay of many factors. These factors include characteristics of the students (e.g., hearing thresholds, language fluencies, mode of communication, and communication functioning), characteristics of their family environments…

School psychology graduate trainees, special education trainees, school psychology practitioners, and special education practitioners (total N=80) independently rated 16 pieces of diagnostic data on importance in determining special educational placement. Results indicated that classroom observation, assessments of expressive and receptive…

Among findings of a study involving 48 teachers of early childhood programs for handicappped children were that diagnostic reports should be organized by developmental or functional domains and should include suggestions for behavioral and instructional strategies. (CL)

The paper advocates an educationally focused definition of problems and procedures in educating handicapped children, with emphasis on the aptitude by treatment interaction model as a guide for both instructional and research activities. (Author)

A two-year study assessing the stability of 1,184 elementary special education students found 71 percent stayed in special education with the same classification, 12 percent remained with a different classification, and 17 percent were no longer in special education. The original primary classification was the best predictor of reclassification…

The author discusses the overrepresentation of Blacks and other minority or culturally different groups in special education classes and points out how special education fails and succeeds in dealing with diverse cultural groups. (SBH)

The communication model, described within the framework of channels, levels, and processes, is intended to clarify evaluative, prescriptive, and instructional practices for exceptional children. (Author/KW)

The article focuses on the provisions of Public Law 94-142 (the Education for All Handicapped Children Act) which involve nondiscriminatory assessment procedures. The author proposes the use of nondiscriminatory decision-making processes using data obtained from intervention effectiveness statistics rather than norm referenced tests. (PHR)

The problems in educational diagnosis of the exceptional student, particularly the use of norm referenced testing, are pointed out; and an alternative approach, criterion referenced assessment, is suggested. (SBH)

Assessment of writing skills must focus on the writing product to satisfy four educational functions: identifying unsuccessful writers, planning instruction, monitoring student progress, and providing feedback. Both qualitative and quantitative measures for five important aspects of the writing product are discussed: fluency, content, conventions,…

This article examines the concept of mild mental retardation and the confusion surrounding its etiology, prevalence, diagnosis, and educational "treatment." It concludes that mild mental retardation should be redefined in contextual terms: a person's relative difficulty in responding to the environment's cognitive demands. It recommends that the…

In this comment to a paper by S. Braaten (EC 210 835), in which the Regular Education Initiative (REI) was described as a "patent medicine" for students with behavioral disorders, it is argued that such students are not misidentified or inappropriately placed and that the REI has been misinterpreted and may work. (JDD)

This rejoinder to EC 230 272 defends the original paper (EC 210 835) and argues that the critique reflects a misunderstanding of the nature of the Regular Education Initiative, the inclusion of students with behavioral disorders in reform proposals, the seriousness of the problems of these students, and the nature of patent medicine. (JDD)