The report presents results from an evaluation of the "Side-by-Side" program in Albuquerque, New Mexico, designed to integrate institutionalized severely handicapped high school students into the public school system. Following a brief review of the program's history and a description of the evaluation's in-depth interview approach, the program's…

The report describes the development and use of the Educational Assessment of Social Interaction (EASI), part of project REACH (Regular Education for All Children with Handicaps). The EASI is intended for program evaluation rather than individual student evaluation. The scale, originally developed to measure interactions among severely disabled…

The document, most of which consists of appendixes and tables, reports on a study to evaluate the effectiveness of a program in which 35 severely handicapped children (ages 3-14 years) were integrated into regular preschool headstart and child development programs and were compared with a control group of similar but non-integrated students.…

Site visits (1973-74) to 52 regular Head Start programs, 14 experimental programs, and 10 selected non-Head Start preschool enrichment programs were conducted to evaluate the response of Head Start programs to a 1972 Federal mandate requiring at least a 10 percent enrollment of handicapped children. Sources of information included interviews with…

The introduction to several articles on measurement issues in supported education for severely handicapped students stresses the importance of measurement in evaluating outcomes and identifying variables responsible for those outcomes. (DB)

Evaluation of the 1-year program for approximately 25 seriously emotionally disturbed older adolescents involved a review of the program design (objectives and organization), the planning process, interviews with staff, and analysis of data about student progress. Interviews were conducted with 11 staff members to elicit information on such topics…

The Inclusive Education Project was a collaborative demonstration project between the Division of Special Education and Rehabilitation at Syracuse University and the Syracuse City School District, in New York. It was designed to meet special problems of children with severe handicaps in regular education settings. Project goals included: (1)…

Short-term workshops with a competency orientation and a practicum component can increase the competence of teachers of severely handicapped students. Self-evaluation as a means of documenting the degree of competence and workshop effectiveness should be of particular concern. (JD)

This needs assessment instrument was developed as part of the PEERS (Providing Education for Everyone in Regular Schools) Project, a California project to integrate students with severe disabilities who were previously at special centers into services at regular school sites and students who were in special classes in regular schools into general…

The Achieving Membership Program in Forest Lake (Minnesota) attempted to develop, document, and evaluate district level, building level, and child team level strategies to achieve full inclusion in regular schools for elementary-aged students with severe disabilities. The 3-year program had three main components: (1) establishing model…

This paper reports on a qualitative ethnographic research study on the inclusion of children with severe disabilities into a Montessori preschool program in Lawrence, Kansas. The program has served 20 children with disabilities since its inception in 1986. The program's emergent model involves a split program (utilizing a special education…

For the 1989-90 school year, two Minnesota elementary schools developed a program in which 14 students with severe to profound disabilities became full-time members of regular education classrooms. The program maintained functional programming for the students with disabilities within the context of the activities and materials used by regular…

This article presents and explains the Preschool Checklist, a measure that incorporates research-based guidelines for developing preschool programs that include children with severe disabilities. The checklist assesses four areas: (1) scheduling and instructional arrangements; (2) socialization and communication; (3) alternative communication; and…

Discusses integration of students with severe disabilities, noting that programing is superior in integrated settings as illustrated by students' Individualized Education Programs. Various assessment tools help determine the extent to which best practices are being adhered to while attending to the individualized programing needs of students with…

The Regular Class Participation System (RCPS) project attempted to develop, implement, and validate a system for placing and maintaining students with severe disabilities in general education classrooms, with a particular emphasis on achieving both social and learning outcomes for students. A teacher-based planning strategy was developed and…