Promoting social interaction among students with severe disabilities and their general education peers has long been a prominent focus of research and policy efforts. We asked 81 educators to evaluate the effectiveness, feasibility, and actual use of 12 intervention strategies for increasing social interaction among high school students with and…

This paper presents nationally representative information about the extent of disproportionate gender representation in special education for the disability conditions of learning disabilities, mental retardation, and emotional disturbance. Recommendations are made for research to elucidate the basis for differences, improved data collection and…

Discussion of transition for students with disabilities emphasizes transition skills needed for life beyond work. The importance of assisting students in planning for their life roles as workers, family members, friends, consumers, and community members is discussed. Suggestions are offered to better prepare students for all their life roles by…

Discussion of postsecondary education as an important option in transition planning for students with disabilities considers: (1) what the law requires of postsecondary education institutions; (2) the information and documentation required at the postsecondary level; and (3) preparation for the transition to postsecondary education. (Contains…

This article presents a model for integrating transition planning into the Individualized Education Program (IEP) with a focus on developing quality student-centered strategic plans. Strategies for developing effective transition practices, following meaningful processes, and creating efficient and effective IEP products are described. (Contains…

Due to improved medical procedures, more and more children with congenital heart disease are entering the school system. In order to help both school and health professionals involved in the education of children, we provide a brief review of the literature, review real-life dilemmas that school personnel face on a daily basis, and interpret the…

Analysis of special education services in British Columbia (BC) for students with learning disabilities in light of a current legal challenge finds the province's policies and practices are supported by theory and research on best practices. However, BC's Ministry of Education is urged to ensure policies are enacted consistently and to increase…

The application of noncategorical special education in two states and categorical special education in two companion states was considered, with a focus on program practices and procedures. The effects of grade level, disability severity, and school district size on state and local implementation of the noncategorical approach were examined, and…

Teachers used a nonexclusionary time-out package emphasizing ongoing participation to treat inappropriate social behaviors in 4 classrooms of roughly 16 preschool children each. Behavior improved in terms of several measures including direct observation. Opinions of treatment acceptability from a survey of 210 lay people were also found to support…

This study examined effectiveness of an instructional program designed to teach learning-disabled adolescents (N=70) to make better personal decisions. A pretest/posttest comparison design found that following instruction students showed better ability to both identify general schema for decision making and apply schema to novel problem…

Thirty elementary-level learning-disabled and 30 nondisabled students were trained on addition using either a drill-and-practice task within an arcade gamelike context or a straightforward drill. The straightforward drill was more effective than the game format for learning-disabled students. (Author/JDD)

This study demonstrated that a columnar notetaking strategy was an effective way for secondary teachers to help 198 heterogeneous students abstract the main ideas, special terms, and facts from textbooks. The treatment involved a diagnostic-prescriptive approach to placing students with learning disabilities, remedial students, and nondisabled…

This study evaluated ease of learning 5 visual symbol sets (photopictorial, rebus, Blissymbolics, orthography, and Premack-type tokens) with 4 autistic students (ages 7-13). A second article describes the development of instructional procedures for the students, noting the contribution of behavioral, cognitive developmental, and information…

This study evaluated the "I Found a Solution" computer-assisted social skills intervention program with 87 mildly mentally retarded students (ages 10-18) in 2 Israeli special schools. Following training, teachers rated trained students as demonstrating better task orientation and less aggression and behavior difficulties. The second article…

This study used a seven-stage instructional methodology to successfully teach a comprehensive test-taking strategy to six secondary learning-disabled students. Evidence of maintenance and generalization is reported. In the second article, answers are presented to questions about strategy training in general and this study in particular. (Author/DB)