A long-standing debate has been waged over the past century or more about the purpose of education. Is the primary purpose to provide for the general edification of the individual, or must education have a pragmatic application that relates to one's intended role in the workforce? Public education's focus on these ends has evolved over time, often…

Educating students with disabilities gained national attention in 1975 with the passage of Public Law 94-142 the Education of All Handicapped Children Act. This law provided students with disabilities with equal access to the same free and appropriate education as students without disabilities, and mandated that schools provide students with…

Including students with special needs in the general education classroom is being widely promoted in the public schools. This practice places a heavy burden on the general educator who is often inadequately trained to meet the needs of such a diverse classroom. Co-teaching has been one of the support strategies used to address the challenges and…

A project was conducted to improve the capacity of the Portland (Oregon) School District to fully implement individualized vocational education programs for the handicapped. Four high schools participated in the project, which involved the following activities: assessing current capabilities of the schools involved; conceptualizing and…

Examines a Connecticut case concerning the rights of a disruptive handicapped student in light of P.L. 94-142. (IRT)

This guide addresses steps that must be taken at various administrative levels and at the course or program level in order to successfully implement P.L. 94-142 (see CE 024 664). The guidelines, called action steps, are organized and discussed in the following categories: central administrative action; area administrative action; building level…

College personnel from a Special Services Program explain how parents, students, and school psychologists can best prepare high school seniors with disabilities for the transition to college. The difference between accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act versus Public Law 94-142 is highlighted with an emphasis on those needs which…

P.L. 94-142 mandated that handicapped children be provided a free appropriate education in the least restrictive environment. This study was conducted to determine: (1) perceptions of high school teachers with respect to reasonableness of accomodative strategies for teaching mainstreamed learning disabled (LD) students; (2) teachers' use of…

A college professor relates his experiences of being diagnosed with learning disabilities while in high school, which affected his education, eventually making possible doctoral degree attainment. As a special education teacher and school psychologist, he cites the challenge of meeting post-secondary obstacles in transition planning for students…

This monograph, intended to aid business education teachers, examines various aspects of the legislation concerning the education of handicapped students, and presents methods of teaching handicapped students in regular business education classrooms. The book contains six chapters, a bibliography, and appendixes. Chapters 1-2 summarize the history…

The legal parameters concerning how and when to properly graduate special education students are examined, through review of the United States Constitution, the Rehabilitation Act, the Education of All Handicapped Children Act, and subsequent case law. Recommendations on how school districts can properly terminate services are also presented.…

In order to implement special education courses in high schools, the Massachusetts Department of Education, Division of Special Education, developed an inservice training program which utilized a peer-training approach. (CM)

This paper examines learning-disabled students' change in legal status as they leave high school, which is structured by Public Law 94-142, and enter college settings structured by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The paper discusses implications of the change, transition programs, and guidelines for developing legal transition…

Students with disabilities can be a successful part of a regular science classroom setting. This article describes the requirements of Public laws 94-142 and 93-112 and explains how science teachers can provide the least restrictive environments. (Contains 26 references.) (PR)

Five legal questions are discussed in the conflict between the move to institute minimum competency testing (MCT) for students and the effort to protect the educational rights of handicapped children. The threshold question is whether handicapped children should be subject to the same MCT requirements as the non-handicapped. (PS)