Although rural children with mild or moderate handicaps have been integrated into the regular classroom, children with severe or low-incidence handicaps continue to be underserved by rural schools. Traditional service delivery models are inadequate in rural areas where many levels of the traditional service continuum and adequate staff and funding…

The rural special education context is unique because of the distinct environment and the variety of rural school subcultures. However, little information about rural special education is available prior to the late 1970's, partially because federal agencies lacked a working definition of "rural." Although rural and urban special…

Rural school districts face nearly insurmountable obstacles to implementing the comprehensive special education programs mandated by PL 94-142, Education for All Handicapped Children Act. In order to identify workable strategies for rural special education delivery, a survey was conducted among state and local education agencies in 19 states…