A study of 156 K-3 classrooms revealed that the Adaptive Learning Enviornments Model, an educational approach that accommodates, in regular classes, a wider-than-usual range of individual differences, can be implemented effectively in a variety of settings, and that favorable student outcome measures coincide with high degrees of program…

Describes a New York City program, the Adaptive Learning Environments Model (ALEM), that successfully provided academically at-risk students instruction in regular classroom settings. The program achieved remarkable results, but, due to state policies, it was discontinued in 1983. (MD)

The article reports results of a study on the Adaptive Learning Environment designed to integrate moderately handicapped students in regular classes on a full-time basis. Data supported the ALEM as a feasible and effective approach and identified significant reading and math achievement gains for regular and special education students. (CL)

A study comparing the effects of a full-time mainstreaming approach for handicapped students with a resource room approach suggested that the full-time mainstreaming approach, known as the Adaptive Learning Environments Model, exceeded the resource room in attaining desirable classroom processes, student attitudes, and student achievement in basic…

Results are reported from an investigation of the implementation and effects of The Adaptive Learning Environments Model (ALEM), a program designed to provide special education services for mainstreamed handicapped students in regular classroom settings on a full-time basis. ALEM includes components of prescriptive instruction with informal…

A meta-analysis was performed on 11 empirical studies of the effects of mainstreaming. Results indicated that mainstreamed disabled students consistently outperformed nonmainstreamed students with comparable special education classifications. The most success was found in programs with design features (such as continuous assessment) suggested by…

In discussing the need to restructure school programs and more completely integrate students with special learning needs into regular school programs, the problems of classification of students in special education and overlapping services and programs are presented. Includes a table featuring effective classroom environments and a reference list.…

The article reviews theoretical and research bases for the design and effects of the adaptive instructional approach for students with special needs in the regular classroom. Research indicates that the program can be implemented in a variety of school settings when supported by systematic staff development and organizational support. (Author/DB)

The social outcomes of two mainstreaming programs were compared for 24 first through third grade handicapped children. Ss were randomly assigned to one of two placements: a traditional resource room or an adaptive educational program. Placement differed in the amount of time students spent in an integrated setting, the instructional practices, and…

Identified are four major fallacies in Douglas Fuchs and Lynn Fuchs' critique of the Adaptive Learning Environments Model (ALEM) and the General Education Initiative (GEI): erroneous interpretations of the GEI, segregationism in the Fuchs' point of view, the research base of the ALEM, and readiness for the GEI. (JDD)

This paper provides a summary of the knowledge base on serving students with special needs through inclusive education approaches, and it discusses the implications for restructuring regular and special education practices for school-based implementation of inclusive education. The first section is an introduction to some of the basic assumptions…

The objective of the Adaptive Learning Environments Model (ALEM) is to establish and maintain school environments that ensure optimal learning success opportunities for most students through adaptive instruction. Modification of the environment to accommodate student differences has been an important design consideration in the development of the…

How to effectively and efficiently serve students with disabilities in regular education (progressive inclusion) is an important current theme. The paper examines deep structural, demographic, and socioeconomic changes that affect such students, highlights a progressive inclusion policy, examines design characteristics of inclusive schools, and…

This module (part of a series of 24 modules) is on alternative instructional strategies and school resources to be used to provide learning experiences adaptive to the needs and characteristics of individual students. The genesis of these materials is in the 10 "clusters of capabilities," outlined in the paper, "A Common Body of…

This chapter considers the situation of special needs children who are seen as wrongly segregated due to federal, state, and local regulations, and identifies needed reforms and changes to remedy the problem. Presented from a social work perspective, the paper notes the trend toward mainstreaming of children with disabilities, children in Chapter…