The compartmentalization of responsibilities to serve student needs has created agencies with their own demands and has dramatically increased costs of transportation, facilities, and management. The Ontario (Oregon) School district has reintegrated students closest to the norm and has devised a plan to return more severely disabled children to…

The mission of the Rum River (Minnesota) Special Education Cooperative is to help local school district staff integrate students with challenges in regular education settings. Currently, almost all children attend a home school in their local communities. The expanded opportunities in regular classrooms have raised disabled students' expectations…

This article addresses the use of curriculum-based measurement (CBM) techniques within regular education settings. Specific CBM decision-making strategies in the areas of mathematics operations are described. Successful application of these strategies in 40 elementary classes, each with at least 1 student with a learning disability, is also…

Finds that reverse mainstreaming, creative drama, and social skills training (used during an academic year with a class of fourth-grade students and emotionally disturbed (ED) students improved the fourth graders' attitudes toward emotionally disturbed children and improved the self-concepts of the ED students. (SR)

Analysis of instructional recommendations for mainstreamed students with disabilities provided in teachers' manuals of three elementary science textbook series revealed that there was a limited number of disability categories addressed, a poor match between recommendations and student needs, lack of consistency across grades, and inappropriate…

This study examined effects of three increasing levels of curriculum compacting on the instructional practices of 470 elementary school teachers with gifted students in regular classes. Teachers were able to eliminate between 24% and 70% of the curriculum across content areas for more capable students but required assistance in designing…

Many schools are implementing collaborative, interdisciplinary approaches (cooperative teaching, collaborative consultation, and teacher assistance teams) to help teachers meet students' diverse needs. This article, which shows how a rural eastern Virginia middle school developed coteaching as an alternative to special education pullout programs,…

European Community initiatives in language management include educational models involved in promoting mastery of at least three languages. The Luxembourg model outlines a trilingual program for the whole school population; the European School model, a complex multilingual program; and the Foyer Project, plans for immigrant minorities to move into…

Public Law 94-142 requires that school districts provide a free, appropriate, and public education to all handicapped children, aged 3 to 21, in the least restricted environment (LRE). This article explains compliance dilemmas, defines LRE, compares integration with mainstreaming, outlines integrated program characteristics, and discusses…

The Detroit Tests of Learning Aptitude were administered to 60 students at a day treatment center for violent youth. Analysis determined that verbal ability was the single most powerful predictor of successful mainstreaming into public schools. Higher verbal composite quotients were associated with successful mainstreaming. (SK)

In response to the establishment of school-based teacher support teams to assist teachers serving students with learning and behavior problems in the general classroom, this article summarizes data from 5 studies of 96 teams concerning team goals, team impact on student performance and special education referral, reactions of classroom teachers,…

A model is presented for planning the transition of handicapped children from early childhood special education (ECSE) programs into kindergarten/elementary school mainstream classrooms. The model, developed through Project TEEM (Transitioning into the Elementary Education Mainstream), enables parents, ECSE, and elementary school program staff to…

An observational study in a British nursery school examined effects of direct and indirect strategies in increasing interactions of four developmentally delayed young children with their peers. (DB)

Mainstreaming proponents claim that all children can work on the same subject but at different levels. In reality, mainstreaming can produce the same demoralization, low self-esteem, and inferior education as special education classes. Dreams of a more equitable society should not blind educators to the very real and different needs of special…

A mother recounts the first experience of her 5.5-year-old son who has muscular dystrophy and learning disabilities with mainstreaming in a summer day camp. (DB)