This paper explores the difficulties of extending good, workable educational ideas to entire schools or districts. Two restructured schools that participated in a 4-year collaborative project that involved multi-age primary classrooms, inclusion of special-needs students in regular classrooms, and increasing specificity in assessing student…

This paper discusses some considerations and recommendations regarding the selection of children to serve as peer models in early childhood special education classrooms. The problem of having too many potential children to consider and choose from, or not enough children to consider and choose from, is discussed and the importance of establishing…

Cooperative learning has received a substantial amount of empirical support to indicate it is a viable classroom reward structure. It has been recommended that school psychologists might add this strategy to their repertoire of interventions to be used in consulting with teachers, particularly integrating handicapped students. A structured…

This case study evaluates the case of a 20-year-old young Australian adult born with agenesis of the corpus callosum, the area of the brain uniting the hemispheres. Deficits commonly associated with agenesis of the corpus callosum are mental retardation, motor involvement, seizure activity, and lateral transfer difficulties. The report: (1)…

Through technology, students with disabilities are identifying new options for participation, exerting more control, making more choices, and interacting more effectively. Inclusion, as a policy and as a practice, is reducing the physical and social isolation encountered by individuals and families, broadening expectations, reducing limits, and…

This paper describes the development and establishment of an inclusive education program on a junior high school campus. Although this is the documentation of secondary programming, with an emphasis on severe disabilities, these "phases" can be generalized to other program areas and levels of education. During phase I, a functional,…

This paper discusses issues concerning inclusion of children with special health care needs in the regular classroom. Six categories of health conditions are discussed in terms of their implications for the educational setting. These are: (1) "hidden" conditions (e.g., juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, sickle cell anemia, asthma, and cystic…

The concept of coaching can be operationalized to support the growth, change, and commitment of staff, families, and children participating in integrated preschool intervention programs. Coaching is a strategy for facilitating accomplishment; it is a process whereby a coach and a player work together with the intention of realizing a player's…

This book is a collection of commentaries on the policies and practices that shape schools. The views of a long-time teacher are presented on such educational issues as textbooks, assigned reading, and classroom discipline. The book is packed with stories about how children and teachers work together to overcome institutional missteps. The book…

Inclusion of students with disabilities, especially those with mental retardation, has come to mean the placement of all students in general education classrooms, sometimes with limited planning for the individual needs of each student. Several court cases, laws, and movements have brought about the level of inclusion that exists today. However,…

The paper focuses on educational services for blind and visually impaired children in Canada with emphasis on Ontario from the point of view of an administrator of a large rehabilitation agency. The existence is noted of five schools for the blind in Canada serving primarily multihandicapped populations. Effects of Ontario Bill 82 (1985) have…

The purpose of this study was to describe the personal and professional changes that occurred when three young children with Down Syndrome were mainstreamed into "regular" kindergarten classes in Northeast Tennessee. During the 1989-1990 school year, data were collected using participant observation and in-depth interviews with parents,…

A study was made of the impact of Chapter 5 and 6 Regulations and Chapter 339 Standards, which increase graduation requirements, on vocational education in Pennsylvania. The target group for the 1987 follow-up mail survey was the vocational director or administrator in each of the 73 area vocational-technical schools (AVTSs) and 60 randomly…

This paper reviews the concept of integration, identifies present practices in Alberta (Canada), and describes related issues and trends. Terms are clarified, current initiatives are outlined, the effectiveness of integration is discussed, and the legal and judicial context is examined. The North American experience with integration is briefly…

Facilitated communication is described as a method of training communication partners or facilitators to provide physical assistance to communication aid users, to help them overcome physical and emotional problems in using their aids. In Melbourne (Victoria, Australia), the DEAL (Dignity, Education and Language) Centre has identified 96 people…