Today's special-education programs contribute to schools' disjointedness. Programs come in several varieties, serving children labeled as at risk, learning disabled, low achieving, or gifted. Narrowly framed categorical programs may have produced too few benefits. A recent forum recommends making schools more inclusive and integrated, organizing…

Explores literacy development over a three-year period of a child in a whole language, multiage classroom who also receives special education services. Contrasts the classroom teacher's holistic-constructivist views with the special education teacher's mechanistic, reductionist views; discusses implications of each; and calls for new, positive…

This article reports on the results of a qualitative study that focused on the use of critical pedagogy with African American males with labels of "emotional or behavioral disorders." The teachers in this study worked with students to examine and counter the ways that their status as a special education student affected their identities.…

The paper describes the evolution of a special education delivery sytem in a Montgomery, New Jersey township. It is pointed out that the project's first year focused in preparing teaching, administrative, and Child Study Team members for project participation through meetings and newsletters. Noted are two goals which emerged from meeting…

Many are terribly frustrated in their efforts to implement the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 (Public Law 94-142). Perhaps the most anxiety-producing letters of the alphabet for educators are IEP, Individual Education Program. Such programs are mandated for all handicapped students, but if they cannot be developed in the…

The article criticizes current special education practices, noting that the concept of individual differences has led ultimately to the practice of labeling children with special needs. The "medical model" has put children in special classes, where they tend to perpetuate and reinforce both the labels and behaviors implied by those labels.…

The weight of evidence to date suggests that distinctions among traditional remedial and special education classifications do not correspond to distinctions in the instructional approaches that are needed. Direct teaching of basic skills and frequent assessment of pupil progress seem to be effective for all children with academic difficulties.…

Multidimensional scaling and unfolding algorithms were used to explore teacher perceptions of special education labels in terms of student behaviors across gender and ethnicity. The resulting two-dimensional scaling solution revealed teacher perceptual distinctions between student acting-out and passive behaviors, and between student intellectual…

If the best interests of individuals are to be served through systems, every individual should publicize and actively support implementation of systems that respond appropriately to individual needs. School counselors, by their training and their roles as advocates for children, must be in the front lines of this effort. (Author)

Sixteen-year-old EMR children were administered the WAIS and WISC-R in counterbalanced order to determine the comparability of the two assessment instruments. The WAIS was found to yield significantly higher scores. Results suggest differences between the two instruments among children of subnormal intelligence. (Author)

This article looks at the way in which the language used in relation to special education needs has changed and evolved since the 1960s, based on articles published in the British special education literature. Vocabulary, images, and attitudes are discussed in the context of political correctness and its impact on behavior. (DB)

Presents six descriptions of classrooms, projects, or students labeled "special." Discusses how English teachers and learning-disabled specialists work together in a single classroom; problems of gifted and talented programs; programs that bring gifted and handicapped students into close working relations; and one very special student.…

A study of 144 professionals in the field of visual impairment, 437 university students not enrolled in special education courses, and 316 students enrolled in special education courses, found differences in preferences for terms related to visual impairment. However, all groups found "visually disabled" to have negative connotations and "visually…

This paper urges the radical restructuring of specialized education in South Africa through discussion of two issues: (1) exclusionary and disabling identity-construction; and (2) the educational needs of the many poverty-stricken children and those for whom English is a second language. (DB)

Notes trends in definitions and theories on learning disabilities as recorded in articles in Canadian journals from 1989-2000. Examines current definitions of learning disabled (LD) used by ministries of education and compares them with proposed changes in current research. Discusses the shift in LD identification practices away from IQ cutoffs…