A case in which professionals underestimated the ability of a Down's Syndrome child to function with his peers in a mainstreamed setting suggests that educators should be willing to listen to parents and others with differing opinions. (CL)

Administrators should address such planning considerations as preexisting conditions, staff inservice, and preparation of regular students to ensure successful integration of disabled students. (Author/CL)

Analysis of 1500 Australian principals' ratings indicated that they are positive only about integrating children who demand neither extra competencies nor extra-curricular duties from regular class teachers. Principals were dissatisfied with the support services routinely provided and seek resource personnel who can directly assist teachers in the…

Two teachers describe their efforts to promote positive attitudes toward deaf and hearing impaired students through inservice training based on surveys of hearing students in kindergarten, grades one through five, and hearing teachers. (CL)

The author describes her discussion with school personnel, administrators, tutor/interpreters, and deaf students, regarding the effects of mainstreaming and P.L. 94-142. She cites general dissatisfaction with both the social and intellectual progress made after 10 years of the legislation and notes difficulties with the concept of least…

Sex difference characteristics among handicapped pupils need to be given attention in order to improve the overall quality of students' education. This article synthesizes and charts gender similarity and difference characteristics based on research findings and advocates actions toward improving the education of handicapped students. (MT)

The study involving 60 disabled and 624 nondisabled elementary students compared three methods used to evaluate social ability: teacher ratings, sociometric ratings, and direct observation. Findings revealed that disabled children are viewed as less socially acceptable by both teachers and peers but do not differ from nondisabled peers in actual…

Teaching social skills to mainstreamed handicapped children can be accomplished by prompting, praising, using graduated guidance, and capitalizing on incidental teaching. (CL)

A model depicting teacher-to-teacher communication can serve as a guide for special class teachers to systematize and streamline communication with regular teachers of mainstreamed learning disabled students. (CL)

Reanalysis of data from a study of the activities of 59 regular elementary students vis-a-vis the Individualized Education Program process and mainstreaming of handicapped students examined practices in which nonhandicapped students were regularly sent to special education classrooms for reasons including instruction and social integration. (CL)

To help teachers ensure that spellng instruction for mainstreamed handicapped students is direct, comprehensive, student-oriented, varied, individualized, and based on research, the article poses 11 questions for analyzing spelling materials and practices. (CL)

Questionnaires completed by 450 elementary pupils and by 14 fourth- and fifth-grade teachers revealed a discrepancy between the two groups' social skill focus. Students favored communication and play/sport skills as factors facilitating social interaction while teachers tended to view task-related behaviors as more critical to mainstreaming…

A variety of teacher, student, environmental, and support service variables affect the success of mainstreaming efforts for physically disabled students. (CL)

The study examined strategies through which educators can map the social, or behavioral, characteristics of proposed mainstreamed placements. Results indicate that patterned behaviors can be documented and prevented to individuals through videotaping and analysis procedures. The information gained from such procedures is generally not otherwise…

An investigation of the educational impact of integration of severely handicapped students revealed that over and above functional level, degree of integration, as measured by interaction with nonhandicapped students, was a significant predictor of educational progress, as measured by the proportion of individualized education program objectives…