Rural poverty causes implementation of P.L. 94-142, The Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975, to be uniquely different from urban implementation. Rural areas may try to emulate urban policies, where it is possible to identify and group severely handicapped children for appropriate services, but in rural areas the availability of…

This paper reviews literature and history of special education programs since passage of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (Public Law 94-142) in 1975, and describes findings from a 1987-88 survey of special education directors in 50 states. Previous literature suggested perceived benefits and difficulties with local education agency…

The paper discusses the activities and processes by which the local education agencies (LEAs) are implementing the provisions of Public Law 94-142 (Education for All Handicapped Children Act) and describes and analyzes the consequences which occur at the individual LEA/community level. The preliminary findings of a series of nine case studies of…

A review of the existing literature on preparation of rural teaching personnel focuses on the problems of education and specifically, special education, in rural areas and reports various solutions to those problems. Characteristics of many rural areas (such as high non-enrollment rates, rising service costs, resistance to outside interference,…