In order to examine the relationship between reported levels of teacher self-efficacy, collective efficacy, and job satisfaction in special educators, teachers in one school district completed three surveys measuring these constructs. The results indicated that teacher self-efficacy had a direct effect on job satisfaction. It was further found…

Schools in the United States and schools across majority of countries around the world today face two critical issues: "Inclusion of students with disabilities in general education classrooms" and a contributing factor to success of this inclusion, teachers prepared to use best practices. "Best practices" in education are approaches to teaching,…

This article presents a description of current practices in educating students with mild intellectual disabilities in regular schools in Jordan. The data were obtained using several methods, including interviews with special education staff at the Ministry of Education, summaries of documents and published research related to resource rooms and…

A synthesis of eight studies, involving 442 students, that examined the perceptions of students with learning disabilities concerning their educational settings resulted in five overall findings, including (1) most students preferred to receive specialized instruction outside of the general education classroom for part of the school day and (2)…

As an echo of the worldwide movement of inclusive education and because of the conviction of inclusive ideas, special education in Taiwan is moving toward a goal of inclusion, though not necessarily full inclusion. While its terminology is as yet undesignated, principles and strategies are significantly reflected in the Special Education Act and…

This report discusses the findings of a review of 35 articles on the perceptions of students with disabilities regarding student placement. Results of the review indicate students with special education needs vastly prefer general education classroom placement to any form of separateness. Students generally report reluctance about leaving the…

During the 1989-90 budgetary process, the Bangor (Maine) School Department established "blended funding" of special and regular education accounts, so that nonhandicapped students might also benefit from resource-room services. An evaluation study showed that teachers felt less pressured to label borderline students as special-education…

Relations among social status, current service delivery, and service delivery preferences were examined in 42 students with learning disabilities (LD), 40 low-achieving, and 42 average/high-achieving students in grades 2-4 and 6-7. Most students preferred pullout service to in-class service. Only among LD students were self- and peer-rated social…

A study of 17 middle school students with learning disabilities examined their perceptions of their experiences with an inclusive delivery system organized around a team of teachers and students. Results found that most students preferred this delivery system to the pull-out program in which they had been involved the previous year. (CR)

A study investigated whether 44 students (ages 11-19) with mild mental retardation demonstrated more self-determination behaviors in regular classrooms than in resource classrooms. Results indicate that these students demonstrated more self-determination behaviors in resource classrooms. Implications for self-determination instruction and…

Thirty-two students with and without learning disabilities who had participated in both inclusion and pull-out service delivery models were interviewed individually. Overall, more children preferred the pull-out model, but many children were confident that inclusion was meeting their academic and social needs. (Author/DB)

In the field of education, there is considerable controversy about the appropriateness of an inclusive setting as a more beneficial environment than a resource room for students with learning disabilities. The purpose of this research is to determine whether students with learning disabilities perform better in an inclusive setting or in a…

Using data from the Department of Education's 1997 Annual Report to Congress, this article examines changes that have occurred in the number of U.S. students who are identified with disabilities since inclusion began in earnest in the late 1980s, as well as the movement toward educating these students in more inclusive settings. (CR)

This study compared Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) for 108 elementary grade students with mild disabilities in either resource or inclusive settings. IEPs for resource students had more service minutes, more long-range goals, used more information sources, indicated better correspondence between IEP components and student ability level,…

Two studies compared the inclusion only, pull-out only, and combined services models for elementary students with mild disabilities, using a survey of 80 teachers and comparison of reading improvement in 240 students in the 3 models. Teacher satisfaction and student progress in reading were significantly greater for the combined services model.…