The evolution of terms, including disability labels in special education, is traced from a social and legal context. The educational implications of the concept of least restrictive environment, and specifically its difficulties when applied to severely/profoundly retarded students, are noted. (CL)

Forty special education teachers were asked to make some decisions about a fourth-grade boy portrayed as learning disabled or emotionally handicapped and whose work samples were representative of high or low levels of competence. Placement decisions and future performance predictions were a function of the child's perceived competence. (Author)

Issues of bilingual handicapped students are examined through a review of goals, examples of services for physically handicapped and mentally retarded non-English speakers, and a list of considerations in four major areas: appraisal and assessment, placement, decisions, instructional personnel and materials, and physical management. (CL)

Describes a program to phase a special needs student into the vocational training program and later to make a transition to community-based placements. A class in reprographics is used as an example. Discusses curriculum and student placement and follow-up. (CT)

The article delineates the training and competencies individuals should possess if they have primary responsibility for classification and placement decisions for the learning disabled. (Author)

Results indicated that the teachers spoke during an average of 27 percent of the 10 second intervals analyzed, that all teachers were satisfied with the decision making process, but that only 13 percent indicated their view of the child had changed as a function of the meeting. (DB)

Illustrates the cross purposes of tracking and mainstreaming. (JT)

Eleven school psychology and 19 special education graduate students were asked to make a placement decision for a student based on data about IQ, adaptive behavior, and academic achievement. IQ had a powerful paralyzing effect on further flexibility in problem solving. (Author/CL)

A psychologist describes a counseling situation in which the divorced parents of an 11-year-old, behavior problem child disagreed about his future school placement. (CL)

Describes a student placement program for freshman composition courses. (MKM)

Describes the process one school district uses in attempting to place students with teachers whose teaching style best matches the way the student learns. (IRT)

This article describes the results of a study that examined alternative methods of placement into the mathematics curriculum. Findings indicated that an institutional placement policy that prescribed placement using test scores and self-reported high school preparation resulted in student placement into higher-level mathematics courses with equal…

The Tests of Adult Basic Education (TABE) and Tests of Adult Literacy Skills were used to place 168 adult literacy students into classes. The 37-minute TABE Locator Test predicted placements as well as or better than the full 3-hour TABE. Therefore, lengthy placement tests for four or fewer class levels may not be necessary. (SK)

A six-point rationale for assessing mainstream learning environments in order to facilitate placement of mildly and moderately handicapped students is presented. Indicators of learning environment assessments include substantive modifications, more typical modifications, and curriculum anomalies in the local setting. (Author/DB)

Practicing school psychologists (N=400) were surveyed regarding their experiences with and views of the due-process-hearing system. Thirty-eight percent reported that they had been called upon to testify, that they had spent an average of approximately one hour on the stand and an average of 7.5 hours in preparation, and the most common issues on…