This study examined the literature and state policies concerning noncategorical certification of special education teachers. First, the issues are identified and include services organized around the categorical conditions defined in Federal law, the tendency of categorical certification to adversely affect teacher supply and limit administrative…

Based on suggestions of participants at the second annual Instructional Methods Forum held in June 1989, the monograph considers cognitive-based approaches to teaching mathematics to students with learning problems. It addresses identification of characteristics of successful cognitive approaches and the role of media and materials. An…

The Prevocational Assessment Screen (PAS) is designed to provide instructors or evaluators with a quick (50 minutes to score and administer) and simple (requiring no training to administer) method of screening mildly handicapped and disadvantaged youth between 14 and 21 years of age for job training and placement. PAS contains eight samples which…

The guide is intended to help teachers of mildly handicapped (learning disabled, behavior disordered, and mildly retarded) students develop and modify language arts activities keyed to specific learning needs. A preliminary chapter discusses principles of teaching for mastery and generalization including sequential modification, identifying and…

The study examined how 620 children, identified as handicapped while in preschool or kindergarten, had progressed 3 to 9 years later. The study addressed questions of effectiveness of identification procedures, outcomes of early intervention, handicapping condition and placement level, and educational history. Among results were: Identification…

The 2-part student workbook for mainstreamed learning and mentally disabled high school students contains 12 units intended to provide supplementary instruction in the Contemporary Parenting Choices Curriculum in the home economics class. This unit, the fifth in the Child Care part of the workbook, focuses on understanding the work world and…

The Job Preparation curriculum guide, developed by the Secondary Transition and Employment Project (STEP) in Idaho, is designed to provide students with mild, moderate, or severe handicaps in grades 10, 11, or 12 with hands-on training for a specific job chosen by the student and parents in previous career and work exploration activities.…

The New York system of providing aid to contend with the higher costs associated with special education programs is the subject of this research study. The basic policy questions that it addresses are whether the current state aid system provides for special education needs for which the state should bear special responsibility and whether the…

The second of two documents designed to train paraprofessionals to work with mainstreamed mildly handicapped children presents a teacher's guide approach to inservice and preservice training. The following four topics are covered in the section on preservice training (sample subtopics in parentheses): the teacher (forming a good working…

Parents of mildly-disabled (learning-disabled, behaviorally-disordered, mild mentally retarded) six- to eight-year-olds (N=14) called a telephone service to hear weekly spelling lists, suggested techniques for helping children learn the words, and children's performance on weekly spelling tests. Results showed an increase in the average number of…

Attitudes of 38 work-experience employers toward the employability of high school special education students were studied. Employers had positive attitudes toward the employment potential of mildly handicapped students and stated that their participation in the work experience program increased the likelihood that they would hire a special…

Analysis of feedback provided by 40 teachers in self-contained special education classes serving learning disabled, emotionally handicapped, or educable mentally retarded students discerned no differences by type of handicap involved or in comparison to regular classroom teachers. Results raised questions concerning the appropriateness of…

This final report describes a project to develop, implement, evaluate, and disseminate a framework, the James Madison University (JMU) Active Learner Approach, for course-specific strategy assessment and tutorial instruction for 46 college students with learning disabilities or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Individual sections address…

A study examined whether instruction in collaborative skills and learning characteristics of students with mild disabilities (MD) would influence 17 preservice elementary education teachers' attitudes toward students with MD, knowledge of learning characteristics, and their instructional planning. Results found differences in instructional…

Eight mildly handicapped young adults were taught to discriminate whether or not possible violations of legal rights occurred in socially validated scenarios and, if so, to role-play a behavioral sequence to redress rights violations. With one exception, participants demonstrated generalization to four community role-play settings. (JW)