Among findings of a study involving 48 teachers of early childhood programs for handicappped children were that diagnostic reports should be organized by developmental or functional domains and should include suggestions for behavioral and instructional strategies. (CL)

Among results of a survey of teacher education programs in California was that a large majority felt that it is important to train teachers to work with exceptional adults. Only 52.9 percent of the institutions offered some training in this area, while 17.6 percent offered a complete course of studies in the area. (CL)

A study involving 87 special and regular educators and other professionals involved with handicapped children demonstrated that none of the three groups had a thorough understanding of due process rights of handicapped children. (CL)

The author discusses the overrepresentation of Blacks and other minority or culturally different groups in special education classes and points out how special education fails and succeeds in dealing with diverse cultural groups. (SBH)

Current efforts to reduce bias in assessment and placement of children with special needs has included the development of new testing procedures, use of adaptive behavior scales, use of criterion referenced measures, and interpretation of test results using local or special group norms. (SBH)

Some of the problems that cloud the understanding of the interaction between cognitive and social/emotional needs of culturally diverse children are reviewed, and a path model of reciprocal influences is proposed. (SBH)

Curriculum methods and materials need to address the values, individual traits, and learning styles of the handicapped child with racial or ethnic differences. (SBH)

Differences in reactions of parents of gifted and handicapped children are pointed out; concerns of parents regarding testing and identification are considered; and parent-professonal communication is discussed in terms of the parents' need for information, need to belong, and need for positive self-esteem. (SBH)

The article provides an overview of the employment situation for minority individuals and its implications for career and vocational education of culturally diverse handicapped youth and delineates the enigma presented by being a member of a doubly stigmatized population. (Author/SBH)

The author examines some of the issues and concerns in teacher education related to training personnel to work with culturally diverse exceptional children, considers several forces influencing change in teacher education programs, and discusses conceptualization issues and several alternative implementation strategies for change. (SBH)

Day treatment teachers (N=5), day treatment social workers (N=6), and district teachers (N=7) were asked to rate each of 83 behaviors on a five-point scale indicating the degree to which that behavior would impair a severely behavior disordered child's ability to function in a special education classroom within the district. (SBH)

The study assessed the feasibility of using the Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT) with 24 intellectually precocious preschoolers. Ss' performances suggested that the PIAT is an appropriate instrument for assessing the academic skills of intellectually advanced preschoolers. (SBH)

This article proposes an experimental, output-oriented noncategorical alternative to traditional approaches to identification of students for special education. The "20/20 Analysis" identifies students showing the least (below twentieth percentile) and most (above eightieth percentile) progress toward educational objectives. Application in two…

A constant-time-delay procedure was used to teach a generalized response to the lures of strangers to four preschool children with disabilities. Only after also providing in vivo training did instruction result in acquisition, maintenance, and generalization of the response with novel lures, strangers, and sites. (Author/DB)

Comparison of "Distar Reading Mastery" and Addison Wesley's "Superkids" beginning reading programs with 81 children in transitional kindergarten special education classes found no significant differences at the end of the treatment year or at one-year follow-up. However, among children making the most gains, the Distar group was superior.…