This book is designed to help educators provide effective instruction to students with disabilities in inclusive classrooms. Chapters address: (1) the concepts of inclusive society, schools, classrooms and services; (2) legal foundations for inclusion and government support for education; (3) the qualities of inclusive schools and classrooms; (4)…

This document is comprised of the six issues in volume 15 of the Harvard Education Letter, a bimonthly newsletter addressing current issues in elementary and secondary education. Articles in this volume include the following: (1) January-February--"Retention vs. Social Promotion: Schools Search for Alternatives" (Kelly), and "School…

The intent of this manual is to provide some templates and direction to schools that are looking for ideas of how to incorporate work experience into their curriculum for youth with disabilities. Hamilton Middle School served as a pilot site for one of the Rural Institute Transition Projects from 2006-2008. The school administration eagerly…

This study is concerned with legislation for the education of crippled children. Legislation for the education of crippled adults has rapidly increased in recent years. All of the States except Connecticut, Delaware, Kansas, Maryland, Kentucky, Vermont, and Washington are now cooperating with the Federal Government under the terms of the national…

The report presents data and discussion on U.S. education across sectors, as well as the work of the Office of Education (OE). Among topics covered are the education budget; OE reorganization; educational priorities, including basic skills, binding school to work, higher education, education of the handicapped; legislation, including the 1978…

This study compared the preparedness of middle school teachers graduating from either traditional teacher education or professional development school (PDS) programs. Surveys and interviews with graduates and enrollees of both programs indicated that PDS graduates felt better prepared for middle level teaching in terms of knowledge about early…

This paper discusses the need for a continuum of services offered within the least restrictive environment, in light of national policy and demographic and fiscal factors. The paper also discusses promising practices in collaboration, new roles for professionals, intervention team models, and emerging trends in service delivery to new populations…

The American "No Child Left Behind Act" of 2001 (NCLB) mandates that by the end of the 2005-2006 school year, all public school teachers teaching core subjects will hold at least a bachelor's degree, be fully licensed by the state and demonstrate knowledge in the subjects they are teaching in order that students have the maximum…

In this investigation, the authors examined the perceptions children had of their relationships with parents, peers, and teachers; their bonds with schools and neighborhoods; and their social, behavioral, and emotional adjustment. Participants were 96 students in the fifth and sixth grades who were receiving special education services for learning…

The purpose of this article is to provide the reader with a conceptual understanding of the key elements in a three tiered Response to Intervention (RTI) model. The three tiered model is discussed in terms of how it would be applied in implementing an intervention program to promote the development of reading. The characteristics of interventions,…

Using a campus climate assessment instrument developed by Rankin (1998), we surveyed students (N = 7,347) from 10 campuses to explore the different experiences with harassment and campus climates reported by men and women. Both men and women reported experiencing harassment, although women experienced harassment at statistically significantly…

In the United States black women have for decades been twice as likely as white women to give birth to babies of low birth weight who are at elevated risk for developmental disabilities. Does the black-white disparity in low birth weight contribute to the racial disparity in readiness? The author summarizes the cognitive and behavioral problems…

Standards-based reform efforts are highly dependent on accurate assessment of all students, including those with disabilities. The accuracy of current large-scale assessments is undermined by construct-irrelevant factors including access barriers, a particular problem for students with disabilities. Testing accommodations such as the read-aloud…

This article addresses how teacher preparation programs can best respond to the broad, complex calls for reform in ways that are locally meaningful and honor academic integrity, but that are also true to the intent of the reform mandates. The authors begin with an overview of some of the federal and state initiatives that are presenting challenges…

As educators' awareness of their responsibilities towards ensuring the accessibility of the learning environment to disabled students increases, significant debate surrounds the implications of accessibility requirements on educational multimedia. There would appear to be widespread concern that the fundamental principles of creating accessible…