The mainstreaming concept has dramatically changed the lives of enumerable special needs children in positive ways but in some cases has become a travesty as it is extended beyond its logical limits. Developmental appropriateness is the pivotal priority in the education of children, especially those with severe/profound mental disabilities. (JDD)

Mastery learning offers a way for teachers to offer individualized instruction to students and to help more of their students be successful in learning. Practical implications of using the mastery learning approach are described, followed by evidence of its effectiveness. (JDD)

Interviews with 21 parents of children receiving special education resource room services in reading revealed that most parents had strong positive attitudes toward the services, derived primarily from subjective perceptions (such as teachers' caring) rather than academic performance data. Most parents were reluctant to have their children…

This counterpoint to a critique of the authors' paper, which argued against full inclusion of students with disabilities, offers evidence of the effectiveness of special education and notes court litigation that has recognized that separate is not always unequal. (JDD)

This paper highlights the historical, social, and legal aspects of Spain's movement to integrate special education students. Differences in constitutional and legislative foundations as well as in practical mainstreaming efforts and professional roles between the U.S. and Spain are noted. Educators are warned to not uncritically replicate other…

This paper argues that New Zealand's policy to close special classes for students with mild intellectual disability represents a premature and unsound reduction in available educational options and that available resources are grossly insufficient to provide quality special educational services for all "children with educational and social…

Although most international schools have an open admissions policy, most do not accept severely learning-disabled children. The International School of Brussels, which stresses respect and tolerance of others' cultures, mainstreams its special education students as much as possible, depending on their needs. Students from regular classes are also…

To obtain information about costs, University of Maryland researchers interviewed special education directors, principals, and other administrators in 14 schools or districts committed to including all students with disabilities. Respondents identified five affected areas: teachers and instructional assistants, transportation, facilities,…

Mandating inclusion for all special-needs students would return education to the 1950s, when student options were extremely limited. Full inclusion, requiring the regular education teacher to learn a monumental number of additional skills, may be state-of-the-art education for the 90s--the 1890s. Restricting all students to the same learning…

This article focuses on integration of children with and without disabilities during the early childhood years, with specific attention devoted to the notion of how predictors of high-quality programs become integrated into service delivery systems. Indicators of program quality from general education, early childhood education, and early…

This study examined pupils' knowledge of and feelings about mental handicap, through interviews with second year students in a British comprehensive school and a questionnaire survey of 179 students. Results indicated that girls felt that disabled persons were capable of benefiting from integration, whereas boys' attitudes were more ambiguous.…

Fears concerning possible results of including students with severe disabilities in regular programs are raised, including (1) the insinuation of constructivism into a system emphasizing inclusion (rather than instruction); (2) a lack of policies to preserve educational integrity; and (3) elimination of special education as a full partner with…

A survey of 483 early childhood educators in public and private preschool and kindergarten programs found that 74% of the responding programs had enrolled a child with a disability; the percentage of mainstreamed programs increased across the five years studied; and most frequently reported diagnostic categories were speech/language impairment,…

This article offers basic suggestions for the regular classroom teacher whose class includes students with disabilities. It covers attitudes and beliefs, services and physical accommodations, school support, collaboration, instructional methods, a sample scenario illustrating collaboration, and a list of suggested resources. An annotated…

This article discusses prereferral intervention, mainstreaming, and appropriate education for culturally and linguistically diverse exceptional learners. One approach for addressing prereferral intervention at district or school building levels is described, emphasizing the need to expand training to meet the needs of minority non-Hispanic…