This book is written for undergraduate and graduate students in both general and special education, who are being trained to teach students with behavior disorders, mild mental retardation, and learning disabilities. The book's purpose is to provide a comprehensive overview of educational practices that influence the identification, placement, and teaching of these students. The first part of the book addresses the foundations of special education for students with mild disabilities. It outlines the roots of special education; compares general and special education; describes the purpose of special education, eligibility and placement procedures, and types of special education programs; explains how students with mild disabilities are more similar than different; outlines noncategorical and categorical approaches; describes common causes of mild disabilities; and outlines procedures for referring, evaluating, and placing students in special education programs. The second part analyzes each category of mild disabilities, with historical origins, definitional concerns, prevalence estimates, causes, and functional abilities. The final part discusses mainstreaming, learning and teaching from a noncategorical perspective, behavior management, and partnerships with parents. Advance organizers state competencies that students will acquire from each chapter. Appendices offer a chronology of service provision to individuals with mild disabilities, descriptions of commonly used psychoactive medications, and a list of congenital disorders. (Contains over 500 references.) (JDD)