This article links standards-based goals and objectives to district standards using three cornerstones: the development of one belief system, a common understanding of the district's standards, and the development of a working relationship with general education. A district-wide model project of accountability for students with disabilities is…

This article discusses symptoms of students with Rett Syndrome, a disability in females characterized by the development of multiple specific deficits following a period of normal functioning after birth. Specific interventions for students with Rett syndrome are provided and address communication, stereotypic movements, self-injurious behaviors,…

This article analyzes the legal requirements and regulations regarding the discipline of students with disabilities found in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (Amendments of 1997) as well as policy statements of the Office of Special Education Programs and the results of state-level due-process hearings. Guidelines for school…

This article focuses on the link between changes in teachers' conceptual knowledge and student performance. It shows how teachers used the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills assessment system and describes significant change in teacher practice and student performance on foundational skills in early literacy. (Contains references.)…

This article describes the quest of an elementary special educator to create an effective reading program that would motivate students, as well as one that would address the students' Individualized Education Programs. Allowing the students to help select books and integrating writing activities had a positive effect on the students. (Contains…

This article outlines the rationale for developing a process to help Individualized Education Program teams determine when to assign paraeducators to support students with disabilities in general education classrooms. It describes a formal, decision-making model, its benefits, and its effects. A needs checklist and assistance matrix is provided.…

This article considers instructional strategies for developing a curriculum for preventing HIV/AIDS infection among adolescents with mild mental retardation. The strategies help teachers modify instructional materials designed for typical students. The need to encourage parental involvement, use a variety of instructional materials, and consider…

This article discusses using fiction and nonfiction juvenile literature to teach about HIV/AIDS in concert with preventive curricula and to integrate books that happen to have characters with HIV/AIDS within other curricular areas as thematic units in the classroom. A list of relevant biographical and fictional books is included. (Contains…

This article discusses strategies for encouraging children with and without disabilities to have fun together and learn with computers, the rationale and benefits of inclusive computer play, and the outcomes of a study in which children engaged in inclusive computer play. Recommendations for materials, grouping, and scheduling are provided.…

This article describes the phenomenon of loneliness and its incidence in children with disabilities, and suggests techniques for detecting and dealing with loneliness at school. Interventions include social skills training, creating opportunities for social interaction, creating an accepting classroom climate, teaching adequate coping strategies,…

This article describes how coteaching in a general education life skills class became an effective way to provide inclusive instruction to benefit all of the students, both with and without disabilities. The collaborative team unified separate special education and general education transition efforts within a general education transition class.…

This article discusses strategies for including students with visual impairments in general education settings. It explains categories of visual impairments and how students with visual impairments learn. Auditory learning and visual learning accommodations are addressed, and checklists for orientation and mobility adaptations, and for classroom…

This article presents a model for describing the range of types of support and instruction necessary to make inclusion successful for young children with disabilities. The building blocks include a high quality early childhood program, modifications and adaptations, embedded learning opportunities, and explicit child-directed instruction.…

This article describes the power and potential of documentation as a effective strategy to make visible the assessment processes in early childhood special education programs. The use of documentation for assessing the progress of two children is described and guidelines are provided for producing documentation panels. (Contains references.) (CR)

This article describes how to identify sources of children's learning opportunities, how families and practitioners can work together to choose natural learning environments as a source of learning opportunities, how to use children's interests for involving them in everyday learning opportunities, and how an intervention plan can increase…