This study reviewed 1137 students' records from 25 school districts to determine if there is a possible conflict between Wisconsin's learning disabilities (LD) eligibility criteria and the federal definition under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. It also surveyed student evaluation and placement teams concerning their application…

This collection of six papers focuses on students with serious emotional disturbances and/or behavior disorders in the Georgia Psychoeducational Network Program. "A Five Year Longitudinal Study of Severely Emotionally Disturbed/Severely Behaviorally Disordered (SED/SBD) Preschool Students" (Juanda Ponsell and others) reports the…

A descriptive study was undertaken to determine students' reactions to and perceptions of required field-based experiences as a component of teacher training. Using a researcher-designed instrument, data were obtained from 140 undergraduate students at the conclusion of their directed teaching semester. The instrument measured five components of…

This study evaluated the cost effectiveness of Instructional Support Teams (IST) in Pennsylvania, by comparing IST costs to those of traditional special education programs. An introduction notes pressures for change and the objectives of the prereferral intervention utilized in the IST approach. The study compared costs and program effectiveness…

This handbook for parents explains how Wisconsin schools must go about finding, evaluating, developing programs for, and placing children with exceptional educational needs (EEN). The first section covers identification of EEN children, including Child Find, screening, and referral. The next sections look at evaluation of children by a…

Designed to assist local school districts, this manual provides guidelines for the development of local plans for the education of academically or intellectually gifted students in North Carolina. In 1996, the General Assembly in North Carolina passed legislation removing gifted education from the law governing children with special needs and…

This study investigated the changes in the mainstreaming practices of five school districts, which were originally described in a 1974 study by Birch. The districts involved were: Tacoma (Washington), Richardson (Texas), Plano (Texas), Tucson (Arizona), and Louisville (Kentucky). Survey forms were sent to superintendents of the original six…

As part of a project formulating optimal rules for decision making in computer assisted instructional systems in which the computer is used as a decision support tool, an approach that simultaneously optimizes classification of students into two treatments, each followed by a mastery decision, is presented using the framework of Bayesian decision…

This study examines the processes by which students are assigned to courses in high schools. The data are drawn from a longitudinal study of five inner-city high schools located in an eastern metropolitan area spanning three separate school districts. Each school served a population of students that was overwhelmingly disadvantaged. The schools…

As part of an effort to assess the academic readiness of incoming students at Cerritos College (CC) in Norwalk, California, a study was conducted of the college's constituency to identify the characteristics of incoming students and to determine the extent to which these characteristics have changed over time. The study utilized data from the…

Many private schools administer some type of standardized test to prospective students in an attempt to assess the student's potential for success in high school. The test results are used to assist the school in deciding whether to accept the student or to assist in the placement of the student in the appropriate curriculum level. This study…

The move toward inclusive education potentially threatens the very heart of the Deaf cultural community, and may be an example of "epistemic violence" where the dominant ideology of equality of access to educational resources actually serves to reproduce structured inequalities. Deaf education has been moving away from a view of deafness as a…

This special report summarizes a larger report titled "Linkages in the Delivery and Financing of Special Education Services in New Jersey" by Henry A. Coleman et al. It describes a project which analyzed the linkage between the structure of state aid for special education and the identification, classification, and placement of students…

Noting that the latest messages communicated to the public about the learning problems of American children emphasize children's lack of social maturity and premature school entry, this book examines the many complex issues surrounding school readiness and entry. The 15 chapters are divided into 4 sections. The first section includes an…

This collection of essays warns against embracing the illusory rhetoric of full inclusion of all students with disabilities in regular education programs maintaining that this movement offers only an illusion of support for all students. Essays are divided into three sections. Part 1 provides context and historical perspective. Part 2 is a series…