The increasing number of children on the autism spectrum entering mainstream schools requires classroom teachers with the knowledge and skills to create supportive and inclusive environments in which these students can thrive. This paper reports the perspectives offered by 33 teachers who volunteered to trial an Early Years Model of Practice…

Australian mainstream school teachers report a severe shortage of accessible autism-focused resources, strategies, and professional development (PD). This 2-part mixed methods study investigated the effect of using a web-based model of practice (MoP) for PD. The MoP contains evidence-based, autism-specific educational practices and resources…

With the large number of students with autism entering the educational system, the need for empirically supported treatment (EST) in the classroom and special education teachers with training in autism and ESTs is necessary now more than ever. This paper describes a collaborative model between 2 universities aimed at providing teacher-candidate…

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…

Dr. Stephen R. Pickard is currently serving as an adjunct professor at Gardner-Webb University located in Boiling Springs North Carolina. He is a retired educator having served 21 years as a classroom teacher at both the middle and elementary levels. In addition to his service as a classroom teacher, Dr. Pickard served as a public school…

The paper is a product of the 3-year project, "Functional Mainstreaming for Success," designed to develop a model for instructional mainstreaming of handicapped children (3-6 years old) in community settings. The paper reviews the literature defining "mainstreaming," notes that mainstreaming is not the wholesale return of exceptional students from…

Suggestions for implementing a successful classroom program integrating hearing and deaf primary grade students include preparing hearing children for the arrival of deaf children and giving all children equal attention after helping the deaf students make a transition into the classroom. (CB)

The final report describes the evolution and accomplishments of a project designed to identify factors associated with successful completion of education/training programs for mainstreamed mildly handicapped secondary students. Program outcomes were measured via examination of the student records, interviews, and recollections of special education…

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…

Describes the long-term effectiveness of the Adolescent Learning Center, a model classroom for emotionally disturbed adolescents (N=24). Results on a behavioral checklist, student attitude questionnaire, and parents' questionnaire indicated that gains in emotional adjustment continued to accrue significantly upon the students' return to the public…

This publication describes an inservice training program implemented in September 1979 in the Montgomery County Public Schools (Maryland) to help physical education teachers involved with mainstreamed handicapped students. Issues emphasized in planning the program were relevance, information, convenience, and feasibility of the workshop model. Two…

The paper examined empirical evidence (published through 1986) concerning the effectiveness of the Adaptive Learning Environments Model (ALEM), a multifaceted program designed to integrate handicapped pupils and remedial and compensatory education students in general education. Evaluation of three evaluative studies by the program's originators…

This paper offers an endorsement of mainstream placements for adolescents with severe and profound hearing impairments, describes successful mainstreaming at Clarke School for the Deaf (Massachusetts) in classrooms using spoken and written English, points out roadblocks that must be negotiated for successful mainstream education, and outlines…

This study surveyed educators involved in mainstreaming students with disabilities into regular elementary classrooms, to determine their perceptions of the necessary characteristics of a successful mainstreaming program. Their responses were used to formulate a model for a mainstreaming program. The study began with a review of the literature and…