As trends in favour of inclusion continue, questions arise concerning the extent to which teachers in mainstream schools feel prepared for the task of meeting pupils' special educational needs. Little previous research has considered how the subject taught impacts upon the attitudes of mainstream teachers towards pupils with special educational…

How do school-aged and adolescent youngsters without disabilities think about and act toward their peers who have disabilities, chronic health conditions, or other developmental or behavioral differences? And what would it mean for program operators, coaches, volunteer leaders, and after-school caregivers to help shape their thinking in a…

This study evaluated school functioning of a sample of children with hearing impairments who were mainstreamed in regular educational settings. Participants comprised 47 children aged 7;2 to 9;3 years with various degrees and types of hearing loss. Teachers evaluated the children using the Hebrew version of the Screening Instrument For Targeting…

The purpose of this study was to examine the attitudes of Greek physical education teachers toward the inclusion of students with disabilities in regular education settings and to compare the results with the findings of similar studies. The sample consisted of 93 participants, all physical education teachers working at different schools of…

Six secondary students with mild mental impairment took part in a multiple case study exploratory research project, involving full day observations, document reviews, and interviews to examine their classroom interactions. Data collection focused on the students' interactions with peers and adults in general education and special education…

Students with disabilities, whether they are developmental, cognitive, or physical, can find the "unwritten curriculum" of social life at school painfully isolating. Yet these children can be included, and experience the joy of connecting with peers. This article presents some simple techniques teachers can use to foster positive social…

Since the early 1980s, it has become increasingly common for children with special needs to be included in regular classrooms. In this article, the author addresses issues surrounding the inclusion of students with special needs into the regular classroom. She discusses potential sources of difficulty with mathematics and suggests strategies to…

This paper reports the findings from a study of the participation of children with special educational needs (SEN) in decision-making about their needs in a sample of mainstream schools which were self-selected for having promising practices. The findings show promising practices in eliciting views, the importance of a school participation ethos…

In this article, the author recognizes and responds to the three major themes of the four articles focusing on the use of school-wide positive behavior support (SWPBS) with students having the most serious problem behavior: needed research, including students with severe disabilities at all support levels through adaptations, and avoiding further…

We examined the peer interactions and academic engagement of 23 middle and high school students with developmental disabilities within inclusive academic and elective classrooms. The extent to which students with and without disabilities interacted socially was highly variable and influenced by instructional format, the proximity of general and…

Eighty-two percent of public school teachers teach in classrooms that include students with disabilities. Yet some research has suggested that many teachers feel ill-prepared to implement standards-based reform in heterogeneous learning environments. In a national survey of 400 general education teachers, less than half (37%) reported that they…

When William Moore, a Scottish Presbyterian pastor, established the first special school in China in 1874, the country began her long and circuitous journey toward establishing formal educational services for individuals with special needs. Special education in China developed slowly on the infertile soil of continual wars, political instability,…

Section 504 is federal civil rights law under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. It provides protection against discrimination for individuals with disabilities. Students in school settings fall under the protection of Section 504 and prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability from all school programs and activities in both public and…

Recent changes in the structure of initial teacher education have resulted in teacher training institutions having to think again about how they address the issue of inclusion within their provision. In this article, Sue Pearson, who co-ordinates the MA (SEN) programme in the School of Education at the University of Leeds, and who contributes to…

Students with special needs are more likely to spend most or all of the school day in a typical classroom than they did in the past, when separate classrooms were the norm. As a result, teachers are faced with the challenge of teaching students with a wide array of learning needs. Marilyn Friend suggests that coteaching, a partnership in which a…