bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
“Another Van Gogh of Japan”: The Superior Artwork of a Retarded Boy
Authors: Morishima Akira
Published: January 2017

A famous Japanese artist, Yoshihiko Yamamoto, who happened to be mentally retarded, is the example for a discussion of long range educational programs which respond to specific aptitudes of retarded children. The superior artistic/graphic skills of Yamamoto suggest that art superiority can be developed if the educator detects interest and aptitude, and encourages such skills in a long range educational plan.
The Influence of Sexism on the Education of Handicapped Children
Authors: Gillespie Patricia H. , Fink Albert H.
Published: January 2017

The sex label is viewed as having a pervasive influence on the education of handicapped children. The identification of exceptional children as either male or female results in arbitrary practice, discriminatory judgments, and intervention decisions which limit opportunities for personal and vocational development and are in violation of federal legislation. Specific attention is drawn to biases contained within special class curricula which reinforce traditional roles, to vocational training practices which program children for economic discrimination by encouraging selection of traditional occupational roles, and to special class placement processes which result in the selection of a greater number of boys than girls in all significant areas of exceptionality. The implications for major activities within special education are discussed.
Research Implications for Communication Deficiencies
Authors: Hollis John H. , Carrier Joseph K.
Published: January 2017

This article traces, historically, four decades of chimpanzee research relevant to the prosthesis of communication deficiencies. The prosthetic methods reviewed include the following: (a) environment and specialized prosthetic training, (b) mechanical devices for the production of expressive speech, (c) learning of sign systems, e.g., American Sign Language, and (d) a language system based on nonspeech manipulable symbols. The knowledge and techniques resulting from the chimpanzee research have been applied to the training of retarded children. This article discusses the results of this research and its implications for the prosthesis of communication deficiencies in the retarded and deaf.
Placement in Regular Programs: Procedures and Results
Authors: Haring Norris G. , Krug David A.
Published: January 2017

Forty-eight elementary age students classified as mentally retarded and living in an economically depressed area were randomly selected, divided into matched experimental and control groups, and placed in 4 classrooms of 12 students each. The objective was to initiate an experimental, individualized, instruction program that would facilitate the return of special education students to regular classes. After a year's intervention, 13 students from the experimental group were placed in regular classes. A one year followup study was done to determine the academic and social adaptation of the 13 students. Results showed that a high percentage of the subjects could acquire basic skills at a rate to allow regular class placement. Once placed, these students maintained their academic and behavioral adjustments.
Functional Similarities of Learning Disability and Mild Retardation
Authors: Neisworth John T. , Greer John G.
Published: January 2017

Descriptions of educable mentally retarded and learning disabled children are discussed as they relate to similarities and differences in assumed cause and educationally relevant problems. The terms genotype and phenotype are presented to conceptualize the distinction between underlying condition and objectively assessed psychoeducational repertoire. The argument is made that real or assumed differences in the underlying conditions of the educable mentally retarded and learning disabled are somewhat irrelevant to the analysis and design of instructional programs. A tentative schema is provided that illustrates appreciable overlap of the educable retardation and learning disability classifications with respect to instructional objectives and instructional intervention.
Teaching and Advising Competencies of Special Education Professors
Authors: Ingram Cregg F. , Blackhurst A. Edward
Published: January 2017

This article describes the use of the critical incident technique in identifying special education professors' teaching and advising competencies. Special education professors and graduate and undergraduate students were asked to identify critical professorial behaviors they felt were necessary to effectively teach and advise college students. They named 3,882 critical behaviors, which were synthesized into a list of 120 specific statements of competency using critical incident technique procedures.
Legislative Intent and Progress
Authors: Harvey Jasper
Published: January 2017

Central to the provision of a free appropriate public education for all handicapped children in this country is the successful implementation of an individualized education plan for each child. This article addresses some of the concerns and some of the progress being made in implementing the statutory requirements of Public Law 94–142.
Learning Characteristics of Educationally Handicapped and Retarded Children
Authors: Becker Laurence D.
Published: January 2017

During the past 10 years, special educators have been debating the merits of mixing learning disabled and emotionally disturbed children. Recently, this debate has taken on a broader focus. Some special educators now advocate the use of generic categories and programs that include educable mentally retarded, learning disabled, and emotionally disturbed children. The efficacy of this new trend is addressed in this article. The learning characteristics of educationally handicapped (learning disabled and emotionally disturbed) and educable mentally retarded children are compared using five problem solving tasks. Based on the results of this study, several concerns are raised about the use of generic categories and programs in special education.
Critical Issues in Career Education for Handicapped Students
Authors: Brolin Donn E. , D'Alonzo Bruno J.
Published: January 2017

This article discusses the career education concept and its need, significant events, critical issues, and recommendations to make it a viable educational thrust for handicapped students. The authors contend that career education should encompass the knowledges, skills, and attitudes needed for the various life roles and settings that comprise an individual's life, including employment. This will require curriculum efforts to be more extensively directed toward teaching daily living, personal-social, and occupational competencies, as well as basic subject skills. Career education includes the academic/work study curriculum design, but it goes one more step by requiring all teachers to relate their subject matter to its career implications. In addition, it requires a shared responsibility and cooperative relationship among all school disciplines and substantial involvement of parents and community agencies and industries in all phases of education.
Young Children's Responses to a Physically Disabled Storybook Hero
Authors: Mauer Ruth A.
Published: January 2017

The purpose of this study was to determine if identification and affinity for a storybook hero are functions of physical status. The similar groups (one disabled) aged 4 to 7 were randomly assigned to one of two storybook treatments telling of two boys' friendship. One version depicted both boys as nondisabled (control); the other depicted one boy as disabled (experimental). Questions were asked to determine whether the hero's disability affected the subjects' identification with or choice of him as a friend. Significant differences appeared between responses of two groups and again when sex was isolated as a variable. Disabled males identified less willingly with the disabled hero than did disabled females and preferred friendship of the nondisabled hero. Nondisabled males identified with the nondisabled hero but preferred friendship of the disabled hero while nondisabled females rejected him as a friend
Introducing Behavior Modification Techniques to Teachers
Authors: Rosenfield Sylvia
Published: January 2017

The techniques of behavior modification are of potentially great value in the schools. Before this potential can be achieved, teachers need to understand behavior modification and engage in guided experience with the method. A brief workshop without followup or independent reading about behavior modification usually will not suffice. Consultants need to be sensitive to the concerns and questions that teachers have regarding this method, and they need to appreciate that the demands made upon the teacher are not inconsequential.
Social Interactions among Preschool Children
Authors: Guralnick Michael J.
Published: January 2017

To obtain information on the potential benefits of integration, this study investigated the nature and extent of social interactions among preschool children at different developmental levels. Communicative and parallel play interactions of mildly, moderately, severely, and nonhandicapped children were observed during free play across two time periods. The results revealed that (a) nonhandicapped and mildly handicapped children interacted with each other more frequently than expected on the basis of availability, and they interacted with moderately and severely handicapped children less frequently than expected; (b) moderately and severely handicapped children interacted with all four developmental groups as expected by the criterion of availability; and (c) whenever this pattern of interaction changed over time, it was typically in the direction of enhancing the differences noted in the first statement. These findings are discussed in terms of the potential value of integrated programs for children of varying developmental levels.
The Intervention Efficiency Index: An Approach to Preschool Program Accountability
Authors: Bagnato Stephen J. , Neisworth John T.
Published: January 2017

Intervention programs claiming to benefit young children are increasingly being required to provide evidence of their effectiveness. An Intervention Efficiency Index (IEI) is proposed as a method of measuring child progress and program impact by relating changes in children's developmental capabilities to time spent in a program. A series of steps involved in computing an IEI is presented. Research data supporting application of the IEI in two different preschool programs for handicapped children are analyzed and discussed.
Performance of Bilingual Children on the Spanish Version of the ITPA
Authors: Perez Fred McCall
Published: January 2017

A Spanish version of the ITPA and its English translation were administered alternatively to kindergarten and second grade Hispanic children from bilingual classes in the San Francisco Bay area. It was found that: (a) the kindergarten children scored the same in English as in Spanish except for two auditory-vocal tests on which they scored significantly higher in English; (b) the second grade children scored significantly higher on all auditory-vocal tests except one: (c) on the visual-motor tests both groups scored equally in English and in Spanish and equal to the average standardization norms; (d) neither group scored significantly higher in Spanish on any of the 10 tests of the ITPA; and (e) the major deviation in scores for each group was in the auditory-vocal channel whether the test was administered in Spanish or in English. The results from this sample of Hispanic children throw some doubt on the court decisions that require bilingual Hispanic children to be tested in the language that is predominant in the home.
Interagency Services: A New Era for an Old Idea
Authors: Martinson M. C.
Published: January 2017

Interagency planning and service delivery has been a long-term goal of professionals concerned with handicapped individuals. Efforts to achieve collaborative service bases have been given higher priority and sharper focus due to major shifts of emphasis and requirements in the design and implementation of service delivery systems. This discussion is intended to: (a) summarize precedents and developments affecting current efforts in developing collaborative service systems; (b) identify basic processes essential to current efforts; (c) summarize basic interorganizational models relevant to interagency planning; (d) provide an illustrative planning model; (e) suggest basic problems associated with complex interagency negotiations; and (f) propose priorities for research, demonstration, and development.
Delivering Vocational Education to Handicapped Learners
Authors: Greenan James P. , Phelps L. Allen
Published: January 2017

The purpose of this study was to provide vocational and special education personnel baseline data for determining policy research needs. The major objectives of the study were to (a) develop a survey instrument and technique for identifying the policy-related problems confronting state directors of vocational, special, and vocational special needs education and to (b) identify the major policy-related problem areas and problems. The state directors from each of the 50 states, District of Columbia, and surrounding territories identified eight problem areas: interagency cooperation and agreements; funding and fiscal policy; service delivery and program alternatives; personnel preparation; state legislation, plans, and policies; federal legislation and regulations; program evaluation and improvement; and attitudes.
Applications of Microcomputer Technology to Special Education
Authors: Bennett Randy Elliot
Published: January 2017

Microcomputers are currently being used to make technological improvements that affect many areas of our lives. Microcomputer technology is used in the latest cars for regulating fuel flow, in television sets for tuning, in microwave ovens for remembering and acting on cooking instructions, and even in Broadway shows for coordinating complex audiovisual effects. Given this profusion of microcomputer technology in everyday life, it is only natural and appropriate that microcomputers be used to improve the educational process. This article describes some of the ways in which microcomputer and related technologies are being applied to special education. In particular, applications designed to improve special education administration, assessment, instruction, related services, and staff development are discussed.
The Microcomputer and Special Education Management
Authors: Ragghianti Suzanne , Miller Rosemary
Published: January 2017

Microcomputer technology creates a critical demand for computer literacy. It also provides new management techniques for school administration. This article addresses the use of microcomputers in special education management by discussing data collection and information management, the selection of microcomputer software and hardware, and the potential for computer-based special education management.
Making the World Work with Microcomputers: A Learning Prosthesis for Handicapped Infants
Authors: Brinker Richard P. , Lewis Michael
Published: January 2017

The contingency intervention system based upon an Apple II microcomputer is described. The purpose of the contingency intervention system is to (a) foster a generalized expectancy that the world is controllable and (b) lead the infant to use specific behavioral movements to explore the contingencies available. The use of the microcomputer to sensitively modify contingencies based upon continued analysis of the infant's movements is described. Finally, data from the performance of three Down's Syndrome infants (CA 3 to 6 months; MA 2 to 5 months) and one 10 weeks premature infant (CA 5 months, [uncorrected] MA 2 months) are presented. The use of the microcomputer as a behavioral microscope in infant intervention is discussed.
ARC-ED Curriculum: The Application of Video Game Formats to Educational Software
Authors: Chaffin Jerry D. , Maxwell Bill , Thompson Barbara
Published: January 2017

This article explores the applicability of video arcade game formats to educational microcomputer software. Four variables are discussed as being potentially important to the motivational appeal of video arcade games and several established educational practices are examined in relation to the motivational features of arcade games. Also, guidelines for educational curriculum based on arcade game formats are proposed and the term Arc-Ed Curriculum is offered to describe such software. The content for this article is based on established learning theory and the authors' experience in the development and field testing of six math games based on video game formats.
Research and Evaluation Priorities for Special Education Assessment
Authors: Bennett Randy Elliot
Published: January 2017

This article summarizes current knowledge as it relates to three basic requirements for assessment: qualified personnel, adequate tools, and fair implementation. On the basis of this summary, research and evaluation priorities for the attention of the fields of special education and school psychology are offered. These priorities include, among others, defining minimum competency for assessment personnel, determining the population-validity of currently used instruments and their modifications, and identifying sources of bias in assessment.
Learned Helplessness: A Piece of the Burnout Puzzle
Authors: Greer John G. , Wethered Chris E.
Published: January 2017

Learned helplessness is a phenomenon wherein people are repeatedly exposed to situations beyond their control. Such exposure results in passivity, decreased interest and a reduction in the initiation of responses. This presentation used learned helplessness as a model for better understanding burnout as experienced by teachers of exceptional children. Comparisons are made between the treatment for learned helplessness and possible parallel strategies for preventing burnout. These strategies include helping educators to (a) set realistic and attainable goals, (b) recognize the control which they do have and (c) develop a realistic understanding of the causes for their actual failures.
Spelling Instruction in Special Education Classrooms: A Survey of Practices
Authors: Vallecorsa Ada L. , Zigmond Naomi , Henderson Lola M.
Published: January 2017

Special education teachers were asked to differentiate between practices for spelling instruction which do and do not have adequate empirical support. They were also asked to report on the extent to which they employed various instructional practices in teaching spelling. Outcomes suggest that special educators may have several misconceptions concerning appropriate and inappropriate methods of instruction. Further, it appears that teachers use a variety of methods on a regular basis which lack empirical support in teaching spelling. Several suggestions for improving training and practice are presented.
Measuring the Social Position of the Mainstreamed Handicapped Child
Authors: Ray Barbara Marotz
Published: January 2017

There is an accumulating body of data indicating that handicapped mainstreamed students are not socially acceptable to their nonhandicapped peers. However, this determination has typically been based on data derived from sociometric techniques and could therefore be artifactually derived from sociometric procedures. The current research compares three methods used to evaluate social ability: teacher ratings, sociometric ratings, and direct observation. These data reveal that handicapped children (a) are viewed as less socially acceptable by both teachers and peers but (b) do not differ from their nonhandicapped peers in actual amounts of positive and negative social interaction. Implications of those findings for reinterpretation of past research and future research direction are discussed.
The Effects of Cooperative and Individual Goal Structures on Learning Disabled and Nondisabled Students
Authors: Cosden Merith , Pearl Ruth , Bryan Tanis H.
Published: January 2017

This article compares the effects of cooperative and individual goal structures on learning disabled (LD) and non-learning disabled (NLD) students. Children in LD-NLD or NLD-NLD dyads were individually tested on a reading comprehension task after study periods which emphasized either cooperative or individual study behaviors and goal incentives. There were sex differences in the impact of cooperative goal structures on attitudes, behaviors, and academic performance for mixed and homogeneous groups of students. The need to consider both subject and task parameters for effective use of cooperative goal structures is discussed.
Postsecondary Vocational Adjustment of Rural, Mildly Handicapped Students
Authors: Fardig Diane Budd , Algozzine Robert F. , Schwartz Stuart E. , Hensel James W. , Westling David L.
Published: January 2017

Few studies have focused on the postsecondary adjustment of mildly handicapped students living in rural areas. This article examines a study of the background of 113 formerly labeled mildly handicapped students to determine what educational variables were predictive of their current occupational status. Data were collected on the demographic and academic backgrounds of the students as well as on current and previous employment status. These variables were reviewed and statistical measures were used to describe and evaluate the relationship between the former students' employment status and their education and training. Analysis of the results indicated that former students were employed an average of 50 percent of the time after termination of their secondary education and that former special education students received little specific vocational training. Correlational analyses reflected a positive relationship between years of school completed and employment status. Additionally, a significant relationship between certain academic variables (e.g., mathematics level and reading level) and employment status was indicated. Results are discussed relative to implications for improved training of students served in classes for the mildly handicapped.
Teachers' Perceptions of Behaviorally Disordered Students in a Variety of Settings
Authors: Bullock Lyndal M. , Zagar Edanna L. , Donahue Catherine A. , Pelton Gary B.
Published: January 2017

This article describes an initial attempt to examine and compare the behavioral characteristics of behaviorally disordered students being educated in five different settings. Behavioral rating scales were completed by teachers on 1,078 behaviorally disordered students assigned to (a) resource rooms in public schools, (b) self-contained classrooms in public schools, (c) psychiatric hospitals, (d) residential treatment centers, and (e) state training schools for the adjudicated. The data indicate that some differences do exist across settings and that this topic warrants research priority.
The Effects of Integration on the Mathematics Achievement of Hearing Impaired Adolescents
Authors: Kluwin Thomas N. , Moores Donald F.
Published: January 2017

In a study of three metropolitan high school programs for the deaf, a matched groups design was used to assess the relative effects of placement in an integrated class on the mathematics achievement of hearing impaired adolescents. The mathematics achievement of a group of 36 students in mainstreamed mathematics classes was compared with a group of 44 students in self-contained classes matched on the variables of mathematics ability, reading ability, degree of hearing loss, and social adjustment. An analysis of covariance controlling for prior achievement, sex, ethnicity, and degree of hearing loss showed that the integrated students performed significantly better than the students in the self-contained classes. A ‘post-hoc’ model of the differences in the instructional process is proposed to account for the differences which includes (a) higher expectations, (b) exposure to greater quantities of demanding material, (c) availability of individual support, and (d) training in academic content for regular mathematics teachers. The authors propose that differences are attributable to alterable factors in placements.
Larry P.: A Case of Segregation, Testing, or Program Efficacy?
Authors: Prasse David P. , Reschly Daniel J.
Published: January 2017

The premier case involving bias in intelligence tests and placing children in programs for the mildly retarded is discussed. Larry P. v. Riles was a class action law suit involving disproportionate placement of minorities in classes for the educable mentally retarded in the State of California. The article provides the backdrop for initiation of the case and outlines the specific findings and remedies. The underlying implicit and explicit issues which were central to the judicial proceedings are discussed.
Legal Precedents for Students with Severe Handicaps
Authors: Lehr Donna , Haubrich Paul
Published: January 2017

Since the passage of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act in 1975 many legal precedents have been established that serve to define the parameters of programs for students. These parameters, as well as emerging and as yet unresolved issues as they relate to students with severe handicaps, are discussed. The authors focus their discussions around an example of a student with severe handicaps and present the effects of the precedents on this child's free appropriate public education, including extended school year, related services, appropriate curriculum, and appropriate placement.
Frederick L.: A Review of the Litigation in Context
Authors: Tillery Win L. , Carfioli Joseph C.
Published: January 2017

Frederick L. was identified as a learning disabled person in need of special education. Because the school district did not operate appropriate programs for students at or above grade 5, he was deprived of a program to meet his needs. The parents initiated a class action suit in the federal courts seeking an appropriate remedy. Throughout the course of litigation, the federal court has served a key role as mediator in effecting sweeping changes in programs for learning disabled students. These changes have provided for special education of the learning disabled from school entry to age 21 and include provisions for equal access to vocational training for exceptional persons.
Attorneys' Fees Reimbursement in Special Education Cases: Smith v. Robinson
Authors: Luckasson Ruth A.
Published: January 2017

The Supreme Court in Smith v. Robinson indicated substantial restrictions on the ability of students and their families to recover legal expenses incurred in pursuing their due process rights under the Education of the Handicapped Act. The Act's reliance on private enforcement by parents coupled with the difficulties inherent in attempting to pursue administrative and legal remedies without legal training suggest that Congress intended that reimbursement of attorneys' fees be available.
The Effects of Classroom Organization on Mainstreamed Preschool Children
Authors: Burstein Nancy Davis
Published: January 2017

This article investigates the relationship between classroom organization and the experiences of preschool handicapped and nonhandicapped children in mainstreamed settings. Nine handicapped and nine nonhandicapped preschool children were observed in three settings that differed in grouping, supervision, and teacher direction: center time, rug time, and outdoor play. Findings indicated, as predicted, that handicapped children differed from nonhandicapped children in their classroom experiences. Handicapped children spent less time on-task, interacted more frequently with adults and less frequently with peers than did nonhandicapped children. Furthermore, handicapped and nonhandicapped children's experiences were differentially affected by the setting. Handicapped children spent less time on-task in rug time than in center time while nonhandicapped children's time on-task was similar in each setting. Handicapped children's interaction with peers was similar in all settings while nonhandicapped children interacted most frequently with peers in outdoor play. The impact of classroom organization on the integration of handicapped children is discussed.
The Family Environment and Achievement of Deaf Students: A Discriminant Analysis
Authors: Bodner-Johnson Barbara
Published: January 2017

Discriminant analyses were conducted to investigate differences in social-psychological family environment dimensions between young deaf students with high and low academic performance scores in reading comprehension, mathematics concepts, and mathematics computation. Parental responses ( N = 125) to scaled items presented in a semi-structured home interview procedure were factor analyzed and the derived family environment dimensions were employed as predictor variables. Parents of proficient readers were characterized as adapted to their children's deafness, involved in the deaf community, and permissive rather than overprotective in their child-rearing orientation. Across all three academic areas, high achievers had parents with high educational and occupational expectations and standards. Recommendations are made for school program application and professional preparation.
Evaluating Mainstreaming through an Analysis of Students' Schedules
Authors: Sansone Janet , Zigmond Naomi
Published: January 2017

This article describes a comprehensive study undertaken to help a large urban school district evaluate and improve its mainstreaming practices. Schedules of 844 mildly handicapped elementary school students were analyzed to describe the degree of appropriateness of each school's mainstreaming practices. Then school variables were investigated in relation to appropriate scheduling. Data analysis revealed that very few students had appropriate mainstreaming schedules but that “good” scheduling was found in all kinds of schools. The schedule analysis procedures used could provide a model for ensuring that handicapped students have a sensible educational experience in regular classes.
Assessment for Instructional Planning
Authors: Zigmond Naomi , Miller Sandra E.
Published: January 2017

The provision of an appropriate, individualized education for handicapped students has traditionally involved the use of assessment procedures to determine appropriate learning objectives and teaching strategies. In this article, current approaches to assessment of what to teach and how to teach, and their limitations, are discussed. Suggestions are made for modifications in current approaches to a priori assessment of what to teach in favor of a post hoc procedure that uses frequent student evaluation to provide the database from which decisions regarding modifications of teaching strategies may be made.
Practicing Effective Instruction: The Exemplary Center for Reading Instruction Approach
Authors: Reid Ethna R.
Published: January 2017

The Exemplary Center for Reading Instruction (ECRI) teaches teachers how to use instructional strategies and a management system that have been proven to prevent reading failure and enhance the learning of ail language skills. Through a series of early research studies, ECRI found that student learning increased when (a) pupils are provided with greater amounts of quality instructional time; (b) teachers positively reinforce their students for increasing oral reading speed and accuracy; (c) students are taught to display overt, rapid, and accurate responses to specific teacher directives; (d) teachers provide a supervised practice time for students and require high levels of student mastery; (e) teachers increase their, rates of particular teaching behaviors; (f) instruction is introduced in a three-step process: demonstration, prompt, and practice; and (g) the teaching of language skills is correlated.
Precision Teaching—Precision Learning
Authors: White Owen Roberts
Published: January 2017

Precision Teaching represents a set of procedures for deciding if, when, and how an instructional program might be improved to facilitate pupil learning. A brief summary of those procedures is provided, along with their rationale and an overview of studies that demonstrate the efficacy and efficiency of Precision Teaching in applied educational settings.
Learning Strategies: An Instructional Alternative for Low-Achieving Adolescents
Authors: Deshler Donald D. , Schumaker Jean B.
Published: January 2017

As mildly handicapped students move from elementary to secondary school, they are expected to deal with increased curricular demands. The University of Kansas Institute for Research in Learning Disabilities has designed and validated a set of task-specific learning strategies as an instructional alternative for these students. Learning strategies teach students “how to learn” so that they can more effectively cope with increased curriculum expectations.
Future Directions in Deinstitutionalization and Education: A Delphi Investigation
Authors: Putnam Joanne W. , Bruininks Robert H.
Published: January 2017

A Delphi survey procedure was used to forecast future events and set goals relative to deinstitutionalization and educational services for handicapped children and youth. Thirty-three persons of varying organizational affiliations, occupations, and geographical locations participated in two rounds of mail surveys. Questionnaires presented forecasts for deinstitutionalization and residential services spanning the entire life cycle and educational services directed more at children and youth below 25 years of age. Among some of the major trends predicted were that the deinstitutionalization movement would not lose momentum and that community-based residential services would increasingly become available to all persons with handicaps. Panelists anticipated that children and youth with handicaps would be educated more in natural environments and situations, but did not foresee a wholesale movement of mildly handicapped students or special education teachers into regular classroom settings in the near future.
Improving the Test-Taking Skills of Behaviorally Disordered and Learning Disabled Children
Authors: Scruggs Thomas E. , Mastropieri Margo A.
Published: January 2017

Seventy-six third- and fourth-grade children classified as learning disabled or behaviorally disordered were randomly assigned to treatment and control groups. Students assigned to the treatment condition were taught test-taking skills pertinent to reading achievement tests. Students were taught, in small groups over a 2-week period, such strategies as attending to appropriate stimuli, marking answers carefully, using time well, and avoiding errors. Following the training procedures, students were administered standardized achievement tests in their normal classroom assignments. Results indicated that trained students scored significantly higher on the Word Study Skills subtest of the Stanford Achievement Test. Scores on the Reading Comprehension subtest were not affected by training. The relevance of these findings to assessment in special education is discussed.
Standardization and Evaluation of the Classroom Adaptive Behavior Checklist for School Use
Authors: Hunsucker Pamela Foster , Nelson Rosemery O. , Clark Robert P.
Published: January 2017

This article presents a study evaluating a measure of adaptive functioning designed for school use—the Classroom Adaptive Behavior Checklist. Normative data from almost 1,300 subjects in kindergarten through sixth grade and satisfactory psychometric data are presented (test-retest reliability, concurrent validity with Walker Problem Behavior Checklist, discriminant validity between normals and special education groups).
How Various Forms of Data Affect Teacher Analysis of Student Performance
Authors: Utley Bonnie L. , Zigmond Naomi , Strain Phillip S.
Published: January 2017

Special education teachers are routinely taught to collect and analyze student performance data. Data collection and analysis are assumed to be necessary for accurate analysis of three possible trends: (a) an upward trend (when performance improves), (b) a level trend (when performance remains the same), and (c) a downward trend (when performance worsens). Few studies have examined the accuracy of trend analysis when teachers simply observe consecutive training sessions, nor has there been sufficient comparison of the accuracy of trend analysis based on various forms of data (e.g., raw data vs. data in graphic form). The present study examined the effects of observation and various forms of data on teachers' ability to accurately analyze trends. A 2-factor experimental design was used with 4 groups of randomly assigned subjects. Subjects analyzed 15 samples of videotaped student performance. All subjects viewed the tapes with or without additional forms of data and made judgments regarding the trend of student performance following exposure to each sample. The data were analyzed using a two-way ANOVA. Both the main effect for form of data and the interaction between form of data and type of trend were statistically significant beyond the .01 level. All subjects were able to accurately analyze upward trends in performance, but data were required to accurately analyze level and downward trends. These results are interpreted as support for the practice of training teachers to collect and analyze student performance data.
Parents' Perceptions of Schooling for Severely Handicapped Children: Home and Family Variables
Authors: Meyers C. E. , Blacher Jan
Published: January 2017

Findings on home-school relationships for 99 parents of severely impaired school children, ages 3 to 8, are presented. An interview was developed to assess parents' satisfaction with schooling, their involvement with it, their communication with the school, and the benefits they as parents believed they derived from schooling. The study also sought to determine relationships among the above four dimensions of schooling and aspects of the family and home environments. Overall, “high” involvement and satisfaction were reported by the majority of parents. Parent involvement correlated significantly with many factors reflecting the home and quality of parenting, including overall family adjustment and level of mother's education.
Direct Observation: Factors Affecting the Accuracy of Observers
Authors: Repp Alan C. , Nieminen Gayla S. , Olinger Ellen , Brusca Rita
Published: January 2017

The use of direct observation methods to collect data relevant to research and practice in special education is widespread. Although the reliability of such data has often been addressed, far less attention has focused on the accuracy of these data. The purposes of this article are (a) to review research on factors that adversely affect the accuracy of observers, and (b) to provide recommendations for reducing their possible influence. The areas discussed include reactivity, observer drift; the recording procedure; location of the observation; reliability; expectancy and feedback; and the characteristics of subjects, observers, and settings.
Auditory Feedback and Writing: Learning Disabled and Nondisabled Students
Authors: Espin Christine A. , Sindelar Paul T.
Published: January 2017

The effects of listening to and reading passages were compared on the identification and correction of written errors of grammar and syntax. Learning disabled (LD) students were compared with two control groups, one matched on reading level (RDG) and the other on chronological age (CA). Half of all subjects received auditory feedback; the others simply read the passages. For all groups, students listening to the passages located significantly more errors than those reading. Both LD and RDG groups identified fewer errors than did the CA group. These results support the use of auditory feedback and illuminate the relationship between reading and writing disabilities.
The Arts, Science, and the Study of Exceptionality
Authors: Heshusius Lous
Published: January 2017

This article outlines the need for the arts to be integrated into the scientific ways by which educators pursue an understanding of exceptionality. This need emerges from an awareness of profound similarities between the two ways of knowing and from the increasing disenchantment across the social sciences with the dominant scientific paradigm. To persist in the strict separation between scientific thought and the arts would be to restrict the progress of knowledge. Nobel Prize winner Prigogine suggests that the symbol for 20th Century science are art forms. Implications for the field of special education is suggested.
Special Education Screening System: Group Achievement Test
Authors: Stone Brian , Cundick Bert P. , Swanson Dave
Published: January 2017

The purpose of this study was to assess the efficacy of standardized group achievement testing in screening and identifying mildly handicapped students for referral to special education programs. Stanford Achievement Test scores of students already placed in either regular or special education programs in four elementary schools were arranged according to four cutoff points: 20th, 15th, 10th, and 5th percentiles. At the 10th percentile cutoff, 71% of the special education and 97% of the regular education students were correctly identified. These results were cross-validated for students at two other elementary schools. The potential uses of this identification method as a preliminary screening device are discussed—particularly at a lower cutoff point of the 5th percentile.
Decreasing Violent or Aggressive Theme Play among Preschool Children with Behavior Disorders
Authors: Sherburne Sara , Utley Bonnie , McConnell Scott , Gannon Jeanette
Published: January 2017

Two procedures for reducing the violent or aggressive theme play of preschool children with behavior disorders were compared in an alternating-treatments design during two daily freeplay periods. The treatments consisted of (a) a contingency statement followed by a modified time-out on a small rug if violent or aggressive theme play continued and (b) a verbal prompt to engage in more appropriate types of play. Both treatments produced a decrease in the frequency of such play though contingency statements produced consistently lower rates of violent or aggressive theme play than did the verbal prompt. These findings are discussed in light of special educators' need for effective behavior management procedures.
Educating All Children: Ten Years Later
Authors: Gerber Michael M. , Levine-Donnerstein Deborah
Published: January 2017

This article reviews the Tenth Annual Report to Congress on the Implementation of The Education of the Handicapped Act (EHA), covering the 1986–1987 school year. In addition to reporting the current status of services (i.e., numbers of students served, their placement, resources allocated and needed for their support), the report also discusses and cites data pertinent to (a) transition from secondary education: (b) state and federal efforts anticipating full implementation of preschool special education services under Public Law 99–457; and (c) the classification of students with learning disabilities. Some directions for research on special education at a national level are suggested.
Follow-up of Postsecondary-Age Rural Learning Disabled Graduates and Dropouts
Authors: deBettencourt Laurie U. , Zigmond Naomi , Thornton Helen
Published: January 2017

This article reports the dropout rates, basic skills competency levels, and employment status of a group of semi-rural learning disabled postsecondary-age youth and a control group of nonlearning disabled same-age peers. Findings indicated significantly higher dropout rates and significantly lower basic skills competency levels among learning disabled youth. Learning disabled graduates and dropouts were not different in how they fared in the employment market for the group, nor were they different compared to peers. Educational implications of these findings and future suggestions for follow-up research are discussed.
Peer Acceptance of Learning Disabled Children in the Regular Classroom
Authors: Fox C. Lynn
Published: January 2017

Mainstreamed handicapped children often experience social rejection by their nonhandicapped peers. To evaluate possible approaches leading to a resolution of peer rejection, 86 low socially accepted learning disabled children in the fourth, fifth, and sixth grades were paired for 8 weeks with 86 high socially accepted, same-sexed, nonhandicapped classmates, in four groups: mutual interest group, cooperative academic task group, Hawthorne Effect/Control group, and classroom control group. Social acceptance ratings of students with learning disabilities by their nonhandicapped peers, paired in the mutual interest group, increased significantly as a function of the intervention. Those in the academic activities group and in the Hawthorne control group did not change. However, ratings of the classroom control group showed a lowered acceptance level over time.
Honig v. Doe: The Suspension and Expulsion of Handicapped Students
Authors: Yell Mitchell L.
Published: January 2017

Public Law 94–142 provides for a free appropriate public education for all handicapped children, but does not address the issue of disciplining handicapped students. The result has been confusion and uncertainty, particularly concerning expulsion and suspension. The courts have been forced into this vacuum, acting as arbiters. The Supreme Court's ruling in Honig v. Doe will help to delineate the proper role of educators in the suspension and expulsion of handicapped students. This article examines that role and offers recommendations for school policies regarding the discipline of handicapped students.
The State-Federal Rehabilitation Program: Interface with Special Education
Authors: Szymanski Edna Mora , King John , Parker Randall M. , Jenkins William M.
Published: January 2017

There are many differences between state and local special education programs and the state-federal vocational rehabilitation (VR) program. The differences are highlighted through discussion of the history of the state-federal VR program, differing definitions of individuals with disabilities (used in VR and special education), operation of the VR program, and funding differences and resultant differences in evaluation standards between VR and special education programs. Recommendations are made to effect productive interaction between special education and state-federal VR agencies.
Nationwide Survey of Postsecondary Education Services for Students with Learning Disabilities
Authors: Bursuck William D. , Rose Ernest , Cowen Sara , Yahaya Mohd. Azmi
Published: January 2017

Postsecondary services for students with learning disabilities vary a great deal from campus to campus, and published guides to postsecondary education services are often inaccurate and incomplete. A nationwide survey was conducted to investigate student service provisions in 2-year colleges and 4-year colleges and universities. The purpose of the study was to identify and catalog postsecondary education service goals and options for students with learning disabilities, and to determine differences between the goals service providers have for these students and services actually provided. The findings and their implications for service providers at both high school and college levels are discussed.
Postsecondary Education for Students with Learning Disabilities
Authors: Nelson Ron , Lignugaris/Kraft Benjamin
Published: January 2017

Increasingly, students with learning disabilities are attending community colleges and traditional 4-year colleges and universities. This article presents the results of a review of the literature on services available or recommended for students with learning disabilities. The results suggest that postsecondary institutions have begun to provide a wide array of services to these students. There is little empirical evidence, however, on the effectiveness of those services. An agenda for future research is also discussed.