A summer teacher education program at the University of North Carolina (Charlotte) focused on the effective instructional accommodation of mainstreamed students with mild disabilities. The program provided the regular education student teachers with an overview of special education, then observational experiences, and finally typical student…

This paper reviews special considerations in teaching higher order thinking skills to students with mild disabilities, focusing on curriculum implications; principles of instruction (prior knowledge, connections between new and existing knowledge, self-regulated learning, and impact of social setting); the use of an anchored instructional…

Local norms representing the reading skills of general education low reading group students on passages derived from their curriculum were used to represent satisfactory reading performance. Approximately 40% of special education students read as well as or better than low reading group peers and, thus, were identified as potential candidates for…

This article addresses implications of cooperative learning for students with mild disabilities in regular classrooms. These include the importance of a collaborative ethic among special and regular educators, the efficacy of cooperative learning with this population, cooperative learning's relationship to social integration of these students, and…

This study, with three mildly handicapped nine-year olds, investigated the effects on capitalization skills of a peer teaching procedure combined with student letter-writing activities. Findings indicated acquisition of the skills, with mixed results for generalization. Two of the 3 mildly handicapped peer teachers (ages 10-11) also improved their…

The functional skills activity, "On Your Own," provides an opportunity for adolescents with mild disabilities to apply cognitive and academic skills in the program's four phases (choosing a career, finding an apartment, furnishing the apartment, and learning to budget) involve direct instruction, hands-on activities, small-group discussions, and…

A study examined the perspectives of 77 caregivers on how much they valued major curriculum skills areas for their children (ages 3-28) with disabilities. Parents of children with moderate, severe, and mild disabilities indicated the highest priority for self-help functional life skills, followed by community-based functional life skills.…

Examined classroom social integration of elementary students with mild disabilities. Used questionnaires to assess peer group membership, peer-assessed behavioral characteristics, and associates' peer-assessed behavioral characteristics. Found that most belonged to peer groups. However, they were overrepresented as social isolates; differed from…

This article describes downward and upward extensions of Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies (PALS) in reading, originally developed for Grades 2-6. Extensions have occurred for kindergarten, first grade, and high school. The rationale for development of PALS and why additional PALS activities were required to address younger and older students are…

This study investigated the outcomes of 10 African-American urban elementary students with reading and mathematics difficulties who participated in an after-school program that used peer-mediated academic and social interventions. Results indicated all participants gained in targeted academic skills in math and reading skills. (Contains…

This article argues that the reason the mathematics performance of students with mild disabilities is so limited is the mathematics. Using illustrations from subtraction, the article proposes number sense be a primary goal and that within the realm of number sense, big ideas be included among the dependent variables. (Contains references.)…

This descriptive study examined the provision of special education services in faith-based schools, especially as compared to public schools. A survey was used to collect information about the special education services typically provided to students with mild disabilities in faith-based schools. Information was also gathered about teacher…

Because of recent legislation, students with mild disabilities frequently receive science instruction in the general education classroom. Elementary teachers therefore have the challenge of teaching science to children with a wide range of abilities and preparing them to pass the federally mandated assessments in science. The emphasis in the…

This is the second of two papers that propose an expanded and enriched view of arithmetic problem solving by stressing the need to provide learning activities that include problems of varying structures. The first paper included a framework for the enhancement of text-based problems. This second paper proposes a scheme for the development of…

Comic Strip Conversations is a positive behavioral support strategy that has been used effectively to improve the social skills of students with autism. Research on the effectiveness of this strategy was extended to four students with other mild/moderate learning, cognitive and behavioral disabilities. Two elementary teachers used Comic Strip…