This article identifies five criteria important to the establishment of a least-restrictive environment within an inclusive general education classroom. The criteria are substantive student-teacher interaction, opportunity to respond, academic engaged time, relevant curriculum, and maximization of student success. These criteria are related to the…

Focuses on reasons for the development of a mathematics test for admission of African students from grossly under-resourced schools as well as for placing students into a diversifying first-year curriculum. Highlights the process by which the test questions were developed and piloted. Discusses the reliability of the test and correlations with…

Disputes eight myths about special education relating to inclusion, including automatic individualization of instruction and negative effects of attending special classes, the potentially positive effects of eliminating labeling, and the neighborhood school's general education classroom as the least restrictive environment for all children.…

Students who entered special education for serious emotional disturbance (SED) during elementary (n=78) or secondary school (n=95) were followed up eight years later. Results found the secondary students were more likely to have two years of SED services, be placed in SED centers, and to have an unsuccessful outcome. (Author/CR)

This study examined 125 Finnish teachers' attitudes toward the integration of students with severe and profound intellectual disabilities one year after their mandated transition from the social service system into the comprehensive school system. About 80% of respondents thought the best placement for these students was in full- or part-time…

This article presents a comprehensive approach to identifying and addressing issues of disproportionate representation of minority students in special education. Specifically, a list of questions are suggested for evaluating which issues and factors of disproportionality exist in a school. Strategies to address the needs of students from…

Presents an annotated bibliography regarding "Generation 1.5" students--those not born in the United States but who have received some secondary education there. States that these students have completed regular English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) programs and have sufficient linguistic and cultural skills but still find themselves placed in…

Ninety fictional children's books that portrayed at least one character with a learning disability were analyzed. Most characters with learning disabilities were dynamic and were the main character. Most commonly, the learning disability was in reading and written language and services were received in a resource room. (Contains references.) (CR)

A study involving 80 Ohio schools employing Intervention-Based Assessment (IBA) found that IBA was favored over Intervention Assistance Teams in the proportion of children on team caseloads who underwent multifactored evaluation and were found eligible for special education, but not for the proportion of children who received intervention in…

The Education for All Handicapped Children Act requires school districts to provide handicapped children with an appropriate education in the least restrictive environment. Analyzes several circuit court decisions that provide a reasonable framework for courts to use in deciding least restrictive environment controversies. (MLF)

Describes a composition course in which students questioned their placement in remedial instruction based upon holistic evaluation of a single essay. Notes that, when students were assigned to judge the same essays, results correlated closely with the earlier evaluations. Suggests that the exercise made students more open to peer response and…

In this comment to a paper by S. Braaten (EC 210 835), in which the Regular Education Initiative (REI) was described as a "patent medicine" for students with behavioral disorders, it is argued that such students are not misidentified or inappropriately placed and that the REI has been misinterpreted and may work. (JDD)

This rejoinder to EC 230 272 defends the original paper (EC 210 835) and argues that the critique reflects a misunderstanding of the nature of the Regular Education Initiative, the inclusion of students with behavioral disorders in reform proposals, the seriousness of the problems of these students, and the nature of patent medicine. (JDD)

The article reviews historical challenges met by the blindness field including the epidemics of retrolental fibroplasia and Rubella. It discusses internal developments in the field including the trend from braille class to resource room, changed standards of teacher preparation, future functions of residential schools, and disability-specific…

Reviews the strengths and weaknesses of 5 representative standardized reading tests and 7 informal methods for testing reading. Lists 10 considerations to help in the selection, evaluation, and use of reading tests. (DMM)