Describes mainstreaming at the Dowling Urban Environment Learning Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota--a fully inclusive, racially mixed, K-6 magnet school that is expensive but well worth the cost. This school has a clear purpose, few signs of emotional exhaustion among staff, and little depersonalization. Dowling's ambience is in marked contrast to…

Analysis of 114 questionnaire responses from faculty in general early childhood education identified benefits and barriers of preschool mainstreaming. Most frequently cited benefit was "learning to accept differences," and most frequently listed barrier was "lack of trained staff and consultation." Rarely listed as barriers were negative attitudes…

Discuses mainstreaming students into drama classes. Suggests ways to determine whether a student is ready to be mainstreamed, the importance of age and interest-appropriate mainstreaming, and casting scenes and plays. (RS)

This article presents summaries of 22 documents on preparation for regular classroom inclusion of students with disabilities, selected from the ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center) and ECER (Exceptional Child Education Resources) databases. Guidelines for acquiring the documents and accessing the ERIC system through online services or…

Discusses reservations about the inclusion movement. Five main concerns are noted: (1) the movement's imprecise rhetoric; (2) the concerns of regular teachers; (3) the movement's naivete about emotionally and behaviorally disturbed (EBD) children; (4) the historical lack of support for EBD programs; and (5) the need to reduce school violence, at…

Describes the Bilingual Vocational Education Program for Refugee Youth in Richmond, Virginia. Presents data that support the concept of mainstreaming refugee youth with limited English proficiency into public vocational education programs using the assistance of bilingual aides. (Author)

The President of the American Association on Mental Retardation offers a newly realistic approach to mental retardation, requiring honest assessment of the impact of mental retardation, full rights for people with mental retardation, public policies to enhance integration, and awareness of sources of peril to the lives and freedom of people with…

Addresses classroom strategies and teacher variables that influence preschool mainstreaming. Theoretical and historical aspects of mainstreaming are discussed. Differences in philosophies regarding preschool mainstreaming continue to hamper unification of early childhood education programs and early childhood special education programs. (MDM)

For the past 16 years, the University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning has worked with teachers to help students with disabilities succeed in mainstream secondary classrooms. A two-pronged approach involving strategic learning and content enhancements is the result. Teachers organize content into a user-friendly format, consider which…

Courts in the Ninth Circuit are required to apply a four-factor balancing test when reviewing school districts' least restrictive environment (LRE) placement decisions for children with a disability. Discusses the Ninth Circuit's new LRE test, LRE tests previously announced in other circuits, and the fact that the Supreme Court has not addressed…

Strategies for mainstreaming students with disabilities include consultation, community-based instruction, and vocational transition. Administrators can keep current by getting involved with local colleges and universities with special education training programs, subscribing to journals, contacting state special education directors, forming…

The article reviews efforts of the Campbell River, British Columbia, school district to integrate behavior-disordered secondary students into regular school programs served under the Rehabilitation Resource program. (DB)

Separate field of special education needs to continue evolution toward eventual merger with general education. Pete Idstein's December 1993 "Kappan" article, "Swimming against the Mainstream," is an example of systemic weaknesses reflecting need to devise more substantial system of education for all. Like Ronald Doe, too many students and teachers…

Focuses on problems encountered in providing an equal education and services for the handicapped. Examines the role of federal funding under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and resolutions for state and local school districts' problems of fiscal accountability. Continued federal government oversight is needed. (12 references) (MLH)

A survey of 196 9th and 12th graders in regular education in an inclusive school found that those exposed to special education students for one year (9th graders) did not differ significantly in their attitudes toward inclusion than did 12th graders. Girls tended to be less negative. (SK)