Preschool students with disabilities engage in social interaction with peers less often than children developing typically in inclusive classrooms. This research explores how divergent theories of literacy learning, those inherent in the structure of special education and those promoted by scholars interested in emergent literacy learning, impact…

Teachers in rural areas are finding that more and more special needs children are being included in their K-12 classrooms to comply with the mandate for a free and appropriate public education even in isolated small school systems. For students with mild intellectual disabilities (MID) this placement is meant to accomplish both the academic and…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) of 2004 supports equitable access to educational opportunities for all children who have disabilities. IDEA requires that students who receive services for special needs receive a free appropriate public education, and have access to the general education curriculum, which includes…

The Autism Spectrum Australia Satellite Class Project features small specialist classes for students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) within general education schools. The program incorporates individual education goals within timetable based on the general school curricula, in conjunction with a schedule of integrated activities. The aim of…

Many children with severe disabilities never have the opportunity to try general physical education (GPE) because their Individualized Education Program (IEP) team feels that they will not be successful, will not benefit, or will not be safe. However, there are ways to safely, successfully, and meaningfully include children with severe…

The McGill Action Planning System (MAPS) is a planning process for furthering the integration of children with disabilities into the school community, using a team which includes the individual, family members, friends, and regular and special education personnel. Examples of MAPS planning for elementary-age and secondary-age children with severe…

Seven articles in the special issue on local school mainstreaming discuss such strategies as involving regular teachers in individualized educational program meetings, encouraging teachers to plan inservice, and promoting student responsibility in resource rooms. For related material, see EC 133 673. (CL)

The Individualized Education Program of an 11-year-old boy with severe disabilities was written to emphasize development of social skills and friendships. Opportunities to develop friendships were created, classmates examined their feelings about the meaning of friendship, and parents' and teachers' reactions were assessed. (JDD)

Two studies on reintegration of behaviorally disordered (BD) students into general education classroom are presented. Part I, by S. Huntze, considers five basic assumptions underlying the concept of reintegration and the following five areas that need to be considered when matching student and classroom environment: physical setting, academic…

A study examined communication between special educators and the regular classroom teachers to whom they mainstream students. Respondents to a survey questionnaire included 34 special education teachers employed by a special education cooperative, 25 special educators employed by individual school districts, and 84 regular classroom teachers. The…

This manual describes a Kansas program which is working toward full inclusion of students with deaf blindness through the MAPS approach (which stands for Making Action Plans or the McGill Action Planning System). An introduction stresses the value of integration and the focus of MAPS on the student's abilities and not his/her weaknesses. The MAPS…

These six papers address theoretical and practical issues in the inclusion of students with severe disabilities in regular classes and related settings. Emphasis is on how communication and other social skills can be taught to these students in inclusive settings. A prologue and epilogue, by Beth Dixon, a parent, relates her severely disabled…

The document contains descriptions of multimedia training resources of materials relating to mainstreaming and the education of handicapped children in the regular classroom. An introduction covers organization of the guide, criteria for including materials, and categories used. Provided for each of the 89 entries are title, date (if available),…

This descriptive study formulates a comprehensive picture of the structure, educational practices, and associated positive student outcomes of integrated programs for students with severe disabilities across a variety of California communities. Three of the seven participating programs represented the full inclusion model of integration…

A study examined the impact of teaching handicapped students in regular vocational education classrooms on class interaction and instructional variables. During the study, researchers conducted individual interviews with 22 vocational education instructors from 11 randomly selected school districts throughout Texas and later conducted a total of…