Visual representation and viewing are integral parts of language arts, communication, and physical education. Time constraints often limit a self-contained classroom teacher, or even the language arts teacher's ability to adequately address all areas of language arts. Therefore, it is important to include language arts in other content areas.…

Universal design for transition (UDT) refers to an approach to instructional planning, delivery, and assessment that bridges the gap between teaching academic and functional/transition goals. It builds upon the principals of universal design for learning (UDL) assuring that instructional practices are designed to meet the needs of diverse learners…

The purpose of this 18-month case study is to highlight the successes and challenges that an ESL/mathematics teacher encountered as she made a shift from traditional mathematics curriculum to a standards-based curriculum as part of a statewide systemic initiative. The study was conducted in an urban, public middle school in Central Texas that…

This article discusses the Berlin (Connecticut) High School's NET (Non-Traditional Educational Training) program. NET is a self-contained program that is composed of three components: academics, social and emotional support, and vocational training. Rather than treat students alike, the NET program tailors their high school experience to meet…

This study describes the academic, social, and behavioral performance of elementary and secondary students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) receiving services in a self-contained school for students with serious behavior problems, with an emphasis on how school adjustment and problem behavior patterns predict academic performance.…

Teaching students to self-monitor their attention or on-task behavior has a robust history of success in school and has been an effective strategy for students of all ages, including those with and without disabilities. However, this strategy has not made use of advances in technology in order to collect and record performance data. In this study,…

Factors relating to curriculum use in general education have been studied in considerable depth, yet little research has been conducted on what factors impact the enactment of curriculum in special education. This study specifically studied the enactment of a functional curriculum in two rural, self-contained, cross-categorical programs. The data…

The Activity Based Learning (ABL) is unique and effective to attract out-of -school children to schools. It facilitates readiness for learning, instruction, reinforcement and evaluation. ABL has transformed the classrooms into hubs of activities and meaningful learning. Activity-based learning, naturally leads to cooperative learning. Since group…

This study established a method for obtaining information about behavior states and patterns as they appeared in Individual Education Programs (IEPs). Also investigated was the extent to which behavior states and behavior state pattern language was included in daily planning for students with the most pervasive multiple disabilities. While…

Little research has been devoted to studying functional curriculum in secondary special education programs, self-contained cross-categorical programs, or curriculum enactment in special education, which warrants study of the culmination of these issues. This article presents a case study that attempts to answer, "What is the nature of the…

Research Findings: Quality of care for preschool children in inclusive and noninclusive classrooms was examined in two studies. In Study 1, comparisons across a large sample of classrooms (N = 1, 313) showed that inclusive classrooms were higher than noninclusive classrooms in global quality as well as on two dimensions of quality…

This study investigated school administrators' perceptions of the effectiveness of their programs serving students with emotional behavioral disorders (EBD). Specifically, the perceptions of principals in schools that provided self-contained programs were compared to the perceptions of principals in schools without self-contained programs. Also…

Experiment 1 investigated the effects of observational training in a social listener reinforcement game on participants' conversational units in non-instructional settings. Experiment 2 tested the effects of multiple exemplar instruction on the development of "empathy." The participants who had reader/writer levels of verbal behavior were selected…

This article describes a study designed to examine the relationship of tutoring in specific reading comprehension strategies to gains in reading achievement for children enrolled in self-contained classrooms for gifted students from low-income, culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and heterogeneous with respect to reading achievement.…

An observational study of reading instruction was conducted in general education, resource, and self-contained classrooms, grades 1-4, in public schools. Participants included students who were deaf or hard of hearing and their reading teachers. Results indicated that time engaged in reading and/or academically responding varied significantly by…