A resource teacher describes a unit on basic research writing designed to help her junior high-level mildly handicapped students communicate better through writing. The unit incorporates library visits, note-taking instruction, and revision for a final draft. Related activities include journal writing and vocabulary work. (CL)

The authors apply the statement-pie approach (in which the reader is trained to look for the two major categories of concepts--the statement or major topic of the passage, and the information which supports the statement) to the teaching of reading and writing skills to elementary level mildly handicapped students. (SB)

Twelve mildly handicapped students, aged 10-12, used the "Add-A-Word" spelling program to learn words frequently misspelled in creative writing. The percentage of words spelled correctly in creative writing increased dramatically, and correct spelling of words from a spelling list was generalized to creative writing. (Author/JDD)

The study investigated the effectiveness of a constant time delay procedure in teaching multiplication facts to four fifth- and sixth-grade students identified as learning disabled, behavior disordered, or educable mentally retarded. Results indicated that the learning procedure was effective and near errorless. (Author/DB)

The paper examines policy issues associated with proposals by proponents of the Regular Education Initiative to reform special education practice by creating a more integrated system of general education that better serves mildly handicapped students. Additional research and policy analysis are recommended. (Author/DB)

This study evaluated the effectiveness of promoting relational thinking, using "elaborative interrogation" techniques, to facilitate the content acquisition of 36 elementary school students with mild disabilities. Results indicated that students coached in relational thinking who generated their own explanations outperformed students who…

This article describes a class activity for use with students (ages 8 through 15) having moderate-to-mild disabilities. Children work through feelings of grief and loss by constructing a "class book" from pictures and articles depicting loss or grief. Students use the book as a basis for personally reflecting on and writing about the…

Thirteen content-area teachers of mildly disabled adolescents rated six cognitive strategy-based adaptive teaching procedures for facilitating content mastery. The teachers rated the strategies' familiarity, value, use, assistance needed to routinely implement, and reasonableness of being expected to implement. The teachers highly valued and…

This article identifies content and process components for developing and evaluating schoolwide programs as well as programs for individual secondary students with mild disabilities. Program comprehensiveness and flexibility are stressed. Content components include social/oral communication, basic literacy, life skills, and others; process…

Preservice special education teacher candidates in higher education training programs are given little or no specific training in the use of basic native language or cultural academic instructional techniques to support the learning needs of students who have not reached a level of English proficiency. Preservice special education students are…

This article explores the benefits of the Internet to enhance history instruction for all learners. The authors describe a Web-based learning environment, the Virtual History Museum (VHM), that helps teachers create motivating, inquiry-based history units. VHM also allows teachers to build supports for learners with disabilities or other learning…

The research summary is based on studies reported in "Computer Assisted Instruction in Higher Order Skills for Mildly Handicapped Students: Programmatic Research on Design Principles" by Douglas W. Carnine. Overall, results indicated that well-designed computer-assisted instruction (CAI) can be an effective instructional medium for students with…

Twenty-one hypothesized components of effective teaching were examined and three to four basic attributes for each were stated as instructional strategies for teaching mildly handicapped students. Approximately 40 regular and special educators reviewed the strategies and their validations were used to develop the Assessment Inventory of…

Intended for friends and families of children with disabilities, the book contains information and suggestions on play activities, toys, and games for children (0-8) with mild and moderate disabilities. Activities are sequenced from simpler to more developmentally advanced within six major categories (1) exploring the senses (hid and find,…

The study focused on the special education identification through placement procedures for mildy handicapped students in one school district in order to: (1) describe what occurred in the decision making process in relation to what was "supposed" to occur, and (2) analyze collected data to identify factors which influenced decisions. Data were…