As an extension of the focus on the relation of special education to regular education, this study investigated the national pattern of change in the school provision for educable mental retardation for the years 1940 to 1976. Across states, increased uniformity of inclusion of mentally exceptional students is apparent. (Author/GK)

After reviewing the federal laws and the litigation that led to the passage of PL 94-142, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, the authors explain its provisions and procedural safeguards. (SJL)

Dispels several myths about handicapped students and their participation in science learning laboratories. (SA)

This article discusses progress in the integration of the Victoria, Australia, school system following a 1984 ministerial review. Fundamental principles behind the effort such as school-based services and noncategorization of disabilities are reviewed along with resultant policies, structures, and services. Barriers to mainstreaming are identified…

Examined are the political, historic, and economic influences in England and Wales affecting the categorization and labeling of pupils with special educational needs. The paper concludes that adoption of a non-categorical classification system has been unsuccessful in abolishing labeling, but has obfuscated statistical information reported by the…

Questionnaire responses of parents (n=165) of gifted students (grades five through eight) and regular classroom teachers (n=90) with at least one child attending an enrichment program indicated parents were more supportive of the program than teachers with both groups being concerned about a lack of task commitment and possible elitist attitudes…

This paper considers what can be done to shape an educational system that meets the needs of all students; it then recommends such a system to replace the existing situation in which certain students are labeled as "handicapped" and placed in separate programs. In evaluating the current situation, the paper examines existing educational…

Research on the efficacy of special classes is reviewed in terms of academic achievement, personal and social adjustment, and the role of labeling. (CL)

Analysis of the responses to the Issues in Disability Scale made by 244 disabled and nondisabled persons suggests that the strain that frequently occurs during interactions between disabled and nondisabled individuals may derive more from misunderstandings of one another's expectations than from negative intentions. (Author/BJV)

Addresses the problems of special education in the larger context of curriculum theory. Points out the inadequacy of considering such issues as mainstreaming, identification of exceptional students, and teacher training in isolation from more fundamental questions of learning goals or outcomes. (TE)

The article provides a definition of the Regular Education Initiative, considers implications for students with mild learning and behavior problems and examines such issues as labeling, assessment, identification, placement, and attitudes in special education. (DB)

Teachers' perceptions of student behaviors were examined to explain teachers' attitudes toward their students with and without learning handicaps. The study involved 44 intermediate-grade teachers who had students with learning handicaps and nonhandicapped students in their classrooms. Teachers' attitudes were measured with a four-question survey,…

In relatively recent months the U. S. Congress and the Georgia General Assembly have enacted comprehensive legislation that affects the placement of students in special education programs. The major concern of this article is the procedural safeguards in regard to student classifications. The major precedent-setting cases in the area of due…

Describes an assistant professor's experience teaching two eighth-grade classes: a self-contained group of students with learning and emotional disabilities and an English/social studies class that mainstreamed disabled students and used a team-teaching approach. Advocates "pull-ins," or putting children into special programs and…

Describes a plan to split a problematic second-grade gifted class into two parts, fill the remaining seats with mainstream ESL children, and collaborate in teaching the classes. From the start, the children mingled socially and academically; student teachers could not tell which were from the initial gifted group. Heterogeneous grouping also paid…