Students with special needs share the same basic needs for literacy instruction. General-education teachers should maintain primary responsibility for literacy education for all students, while special educators and reading specialists provide support. This paper examines obstacles to quality literacy instruction, offering a school-based case…

Discusses how to manage classrooms that include students identified with learning disabilities, emotional disturbances, and mild mental retardation. For these classrooms to succeed, teachers must implement appropriate curricular accommodation and classroom-management strategies and promote the learning and social skills of typical students. When…

The successes and disappointments encountered in two programmatic efforts to incorporate effective instructional practices for students with learning disabilities into mainstream classroom activities are highlighted. The lessons learned from these two examples lead to implications for researchers and practitioners interested in improving…

The predictive power of age and IQ at time of admission to an intensive behavioral treatment program for young children with autism were examined in a 4- to 6-year follow-up of educational placement. Results with 27 children showed that having a higher IQ at intake and being younger were both predictive of later placement in a regular education…

Reports on an experimental attempt to provide an appropriate public education for all children without the disadvantages of special education. The program, Project Breakthrough, provides services in the mainstream using the regular education initiative without categorizing children. Staff collaborate to help students based on need rather than on…

As a political concept, inclusion captures the moral high ground by signifying something more desirable than "exclusion." However, not all parents of children with disabilities view mainstreaming as feasible or desirable. The 1997 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act supports a movement away from full inclusion back to special…

A follow-up study of 29 British students, transferred from their special school for pupils with moderate learning difficulties into mainstream schools, found high levels of unemployment among these young people ten years later and indications that the quality of their adult lives is less than satisfactory. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)

A survey of 224 early childhood special education public school programs in Massachusetts obtained information on program implementation, child characteristics, program settings, service characteristics, teacher characteristics, family involvement, and funding/administration. Results revealed important variations among school districts in…

With strong administrative and parental support, Hinsdale (Illinois) Central High School successfully launched an inclusive (and heterogeneous-grouping) policy with five special-needs ninth graders in fall 1995; eight others took some regular courses while remaining in their traditional special-education program. (MLH)

This study evaluated a social skills training program with 18 deaf children (ages 9 to 13) in mainstream settings in three elementary schools in the Canary Islands. It found the intervention improved students' social problem solving skills and their assertive skills. However, no significant differences in social or academic integration as judged…

A review of 33 studies in which mainstreamed or included students with deafness were compared to another group found that hearing students were more socially mature than deaf included students, deaf students and their deaf classmates interacted more, and deaf students were somewhat accepted by hearing classmates. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)

Explains what mild disabilities are and discusses the issue of mainstreaming within the realm of elementary school social studies. Provides strategies for social studies teachers to use when addressing the needs of students with learning disabilities, emotional and behavioral disorders, mild mental retardation, and other health impairments. (CMK)

Describes education and special education in Spain, examining different views on deafness among hearing and deaf people and noting educational models for deaf students (oralism versus bilingualism). Presents a vision of education for deaf people, focusing on the fact that teachers and administrators have a very early, intense role in the lives of…

This study examined the moderating effects of peer social avoidance on responses of six autistic children to an inclusive classroom treatment model. Peer social avoidance (but not mental age or language level) predicted variations in outcomes for subsequent peer avoidance and language use. Results have implications for matching child…

Considers the practice implementations for teachers, schools, and local education authorities of the recent British Green Paper, "Excellence for All Children: Meeting Special Educational Needs," published in October 1997. Discusses the Green Paper's emphasis on inclusion, early intervention, target setting, and parental choice. (CR)