The digest focuses on being comfortable around handicapped children and offers suggestions for classroom teachers working with mainstreamed handicapped students. The importance of treating the child as normally as possible is emphasized. Questions of pity are dealt with. Teachers are urged to handle children's frustrations and accomplishments in…

The report presents results from an evaluation of the "Side-by-Side" program in Albuquerque, New Mexico, designed to integrate institutionalized severely handicapped high school students into the public school system. Following a brief review of the program's history and a description of the evaluation's in-depth interview approach, the program's…

Factors underlying attitudes toward mainstreaming were examined for 38 elementary school principals, 45 special education administrators, 84 regular elementary school teachers, and 80 special teachers. A mainstreaming questionnaire was devised around four factors: academic concerns, socio-emotional concerns, administrative concerns, and teacher…

In a study of the mainstreaming practices of a large urban school district, schedules of 844 mildly handicapped elementary students were examined. Schedule appropriateness was defined by three factors: assignments of handicapped students to a fixed group of regular students, to a grade-appropriate group, and for the full sequence of scheduled…

The emergence and importance of educational interpreters for hearing impaired students are reviewed. Qualifications in the Mesa (Arizona) Public Schools for this position are set forth, including certification and ability to work on a team. Duties beyond interpreting include assisting in normal classroom routines and procedures and acting as…

The paper draws on the experiences of a mainstreamed early education program to consider ways that preschool programs can make themselves accessible to families with handicapped children. The importance of clearly stated program intent is stressed along with accurate staff perceptions of handicapping conditions. Ten steps are then offered: (1)…

A descriptive study designed to assess the types of requirements used to prepare elementary preservice regular class teachers for education of the handicapped surveyed 102 schools granting a baccalaureate degree in elementary education and accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education. Most accredited programs either…

The report describes a collaborative effort to develop an inservice training package for regular teachers working with handicapped students. The effort drew upon work of the local education agencies (LEAs), an institution of higher education, and a regional education service center. The development of the training package is described. Two field…

The Pegasus Project offered nine gifted hearing impaired students (11-15 years old) a summer enrichment experience with hearing peers. Courses included computer programming, literature, fine arts, physical and biological sciences, math enrichment, and sign language. All hearing impaired students also attended a special class on issues for the…

The paper presents strategies to help regular class teachers help their mainstreamed students read and learn better. The seven teaching ideas are offered for use in "whole class" settings and are designed to benefit both mainstreamed and regular students. Further, the strategies can be used by subject matter instructors who cannot become…

Compared was the academic performance in the third grade of 75 children who had participated in the Complete Communication Development Program, a learning disabilities kindergarten, with the performance of 75 children in regular kindergartens. Stanford Achievement Test scores indicated that the Ss in the special class performed significantly lower…

Described is the mainstreaming program at the College Learning Laboratory (at the State University College at Buffalo, New York) to further the temporal, social, and instructional integration of elementary grade mentally handicapped children with normal peers. Discussed are these three components of mainstreaming, requirements for successful…

The resource teacher's role as a consultant for learning disabled children in the regular classroom requires the skill of consultation which includes establishment of a contract, a working alliance, and a communications system between the resource teacher and the regular teacher as well as criteria for evaluation and termination. (DB)

The purpose of this article is to convince the reader to reject the use of categorical labels with students and to accept the concept of mainstreaming special education in the schools. (Author)

A questionnaire was administered to 50 gifted children (9 to 12 years old) to determine how students feel about the mildly retarded in a classroom setting. Based on the responses to the 10 questions, there seemed to be a very high belief that mildly retarded children will be socially accepted by their peers. The gifted group did not view the…