An administrator of a school for students with visual impairments and multiple disabilities raises concerns about assumptions of inclusive education that "all teachers can teach all children" and movements toward a generic "teacher of the handicapped" certificate. He maintains that blindness requires highly specialized interventions. (DB)

The recommendations of the National Association of State Boards of Education's Study Group on Special Education focus on: (1) creation of a new belief system and vision that includes all students; (2) encouragement of collaboration between general and special educators to better serve the diverse student population; and (3) breaking the link…

This article considers how principles of whole-theme constructivism, which integrates multiple learning sources and activates learners' creativity, are used in the University of Alabama's teacher training program, the Multiple Abilities Program. The program centers on the whole-themes of diversity, empowerment, and authenticity. The way these…

This paper discusses whole-theme constructivism as the theoretical framework for the Multiple Abilities Program (MAP), a program at the University of Alabama that prepares teachers to work with students of varying abilities. Whole-theme constructivism, which integrates multiple learning sources and activates learners' creativity, is discussed in…

The Multiple Abilities Program (MAP) at the University of Alabama is a five-semester, competency-based preservice program preparing teachers to teach all students regardless of settings or disability labels. This article outlines the program rationale, organizational framework, and the program feature in which undergraduates spend over 50 percent…

This volume presents 12 papers that address the increasing shift toward functional and noncategorical approaches to special education. The papers are: (1) "Origins of Categorical Special Education Services in Schools and a Rationale for Changing Them" (Jim Ysseldyke and Doug Marston); (2) "Reform Trends and System Design Alternatives" (Dan Reschly…

This study examined efforts at the local level to reduce the fragmentation of services to students with and without disabilities through the consolidation or blending of federal and state categorical educational programs. Twenty-two state and local program administrators in California, Maryland, and Massachusetts were interviewed. Findings include…

This study investigated the differences in academic achievement of regular education students in noninclusion classrooms and of same-grade students in special education inclusion programs, to assess the impact on regular education achievement of inclusion programs in a particular elementary school. All subjects were second, third, or fourth grade…