The responses of two experts in the field of visually impaired education to a recent council position paper address aspects of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, alternative placements, local school district versus residential school placement, supportive integration, and a rationale for the maintenance of both special and regular…

Factors that contribute to teen misbehavior include those in self, home, school, and community. The Calgary School System has successfully integrated troubled teens into the regular public school classroom by developing mutual respect; pinpointing problems; making mutual agreements about which problems to solve; sharing responsibility for change;…

This paper reviews the cultural and historical context of mainstreaming students with disabilities in the United States and contrasts this with a proposed model for Canadian integration. Mainstreaming and integration are seen as reflecting different social dynamics and cultural traditions, and the administrative and research implications of the…

Regular classroom teachers (n=114) who had taken a special education course were queried as to the value of the information presented to them, after they had begun to teach mainstreamed students. Results indicated that teachers considered the topics covered to be very important, and reported themselves to be fairly competent to deal with…

To assist teachers in promoting successful transitions of preschool children with handicaps to integrated preschools or kindergartens, this article summarizes research findings on teachers' classroom organization, behavioral characteristics of most and least independent children in mainstream settings, and differences in the instructional…

This study of 20 preschool children with disabilities and 8 normally developing children found that more peer interaction occurred during play activities that were more structured, whereas teacher interaction rates were not related to activity structure ratings. Among children with disabilities, rate of peer interaction correlated positively with…

Arguments in favor of and against the Regular Education Initiative (REI) are presented. Lack of appropriate qualifications of regular classroom teachers and a lack of empirical evidence on REI effectiveness are cited as some of the problems with the approach. (JDD)

Twenty-nine special education and 26 regular education principals in Australian schools were surveyed regarding effectiveness of their jointly run integration programs for students with intellectual handicaps. Results found positive attitudes among both groups about types and amounts of integration in their programs and levels of cooperation…

The Peabody Reintegration Project utilizes curriculum-based measurement (CBM) to help integrate pupils with mild and moderate disabilities into mainstream math instruction. CBM is seen to be particularly relevant to a transenvironmental programing process involving environmental assessment, intervention and preparation, promoting transfer across…

Though mainstreaming students with exceptional needs for physical education has become common practice, sharing information about their requirements is not so common. The article discusses why it is not happening, stresses its importance, and describes the process. Several possible accommodations for exceptional students are listed. (SM)

This article describes challenges and solutions to the integration of children with multiple disabilities into supported regular elementary classes: (1) providing a functional curriculum in a regular class; (2) providing community-based instruction; (3) scheduling staff coverage; and (4) promoting social integration. Solutions are illustrated with…

This article introduces four papers addressing the contribution of special education to educational reform, especially the goals set forth in the America 2000 plan. Issues are raised concerning inclusion or exclusion of students with disabilities in reforms, and the practical nature of special education's contributions are emphasized. (DB)

Twenty-two classroom teachers (grades one through seven) of mainstreamed students with learning disabilities were interviewed concerning their use of social studies textbooks. Results indicated that teachers were concerned about content and comprehensibility of the texts. Teachers reported dealing with difficult texts by helping individuals with…

Notes that recommendations of preschool teachers are pivotal in creating a "goodness of fit" when placing special needs children. Discusses child, parent, and program considerations for placement decisions. (HTH)

This paper describes and evaluates the efficacy of a combination of curriculum-based measurement and peer tutoring incorporated into 40 elementary education mathematics classes, to differentiate instruction and improve student achievement. The evaluation indicated that students with low achievement, average achievement, and learning disabilities…