The U.S. District of Columbia's Federal Circuit Court decision in "Hobson v. Hanson" (1967) case eliminated racial discriminatory tracking practices in the nation's capitol's public schools. The court ruled that D.C. Public Schools' tracking violated African American and low income students' rights to equal opportunities to education…

To be effective sites for enacting WAC change, writing fellows programs, like WAC itself, must be attuned to institutional realities, adapting goals and practices accordingly. To illustrate what being "attuned" has meant to the program she directs, the author describes five writing fellow placements, each motivated by the sometimes…

More than 60% of all community college students are placed into remedial, non-credit bearing courses. Concerns over the lack of articulation across the K-12 and postsecondary educational systems have led to concerns over whether students have had the opportunity to learn and demonstrate the skills required for success in college level classes. To…

Incidence figures for special education placement in a sample of 94 U.S. school districts were calculated. During the 1977-78, 1978-79, and 1979-80 school years, about 5% of the students were referred and evaluated; 3% were placed in special education programs. Wide variation was evident in the incidence figures for individual school districts,…

To analyze how schools place students into special education, 66 case discussions were transcribed and assessment team members interviewed. Ways in which team participants weigh statements were examined through a taxonomy of their perceptions of learning disabilities and a match of the meeting discussions to subsequent placement decisions in light…

It is noted that mainstreaming has been equated with criterion for success of handicapped children despite the fact that some children are best served by more specialized educational placements. With specific attention to hearing impaired students, factors involved in successful mainstream placement are considered. Research on six student…

In a study of the level, complexity, and initiations of play behavior in 15 handicapped segregated, 15 handicapped mainstreamed, and 15 nonhandicapped mainstreamed preschoolers, Ss were observed during free play. Play levels, according to hierarchies of M. Parten and J. Piaget, as well as the play initiator were recorded every 3 minutes for 90…

The paper reviews the literature on special education placement for mildly handicapped students from a sociological perspective. Using J. Rosenbaum's framework for understanding the sociological implications of selection systems, which has been applied to curriculum and ability tracking, this paper extends the framework to another selection…

The study examined DSM III (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual) Axis I and Axis II diagnoses in 350 school children (aged 6-14) referred for psychiatric evaluation. Diagnostic categories were examined for relationships to age, sex, ethnicity, IQ, achievement, and special education placement. Findings suggested certain diagnostic groups appeared to…

The author asserts that deaf students should have an unrestricted opportunity for learning on their own terms, a condition that may not be provided in a public high school. She suggests that the least restrictive environment should be evaluated according to academic, vocational, extracurricular, social, and family aspects. (CL)

The relationship of 11 social and status variables to two placement groups of severely handicapped children (home and community-based residential facility) was analyzed. Six variables (child's age, parental feelings about the suggestion to institutionalize, religiosity, mother's age, child's age at first words, and child's age at school entry)…

Teachers-in-training (N=160) were asked to make decisions about a student after reading a file containing personal data, referral information, and test results. Results indicated that Ss were significantly influenced by specific student characteristics in decisions concerning all dependent variables except likelihood of needing special education…

Looks at the way Pennsylvania Job Search was brought to the Boyce Campus of Community College of Allegheny County. Discusses student and community participants in the job placement program, its unique services, benefits to the campus, and use of the model by other schools. (AYC)

The article explores how courts are weighing the mainstreaming preference of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act in deciding appropriate placements for deaf students. Suggestions are made on how residential and day schools can provide a mainstreaming component meeting the concerns of judges and hearing officers. (Author/CL)