The author reviews findings from a four-year study of mainstreaming programs, notes complaints of regular classroom teachers, describes successful approaches to promote integration, and discusses a range of mainstreaming models from informal "deals" between teachers to unconditional mainstreaming. (CL)

The author asserts that, because being successful in school does not necessarily lead to success in life, school should not be the primary focus for and evaluation of the existence of a handicap. (CL)

Three case histories illustrate the efficacy of a treatment program which included both visual training and the improvement of reading efficiency. The three students showed significant improvement in visual functioning and reading efficiency as measured by eye-movement recordings after a relatively brief period of training. (Author)

The article reviews validity and reliability studies on the informal reading inventory, a diagnostic instrument to identify reading grade-level placement and strengths and weaknesses in work recognition and comprehension. Gives suggestions to improve the validity and reliability of existing inventories and to evaluate them in newly published…

An abbreviated scoring system for the Goodenough-Harris Draw-A-Man Test found that three items had the same overall potential for correctly identifying at-risk kindergarteners as more time-consuming scoring methods. (CL)

Learning disabled students (N=28, 10-15 years old) who participated in cooperative learning tasks increased levels of peer acceptance and cooperation as measured by sociograms and choice cards tasks. Characteristics of successful activities were noted. (CL)

All 97 special Education Local Plan Area directors throughout California are now conducting local evaluation studies to answer local quesions to improve their own programs and respond to questions of statewide concern. (Author)

Significant improvements in scanning and processing times, attention deployment strategies, and response accuracy on haptic and visual discrimination tasks coupled with increases in reflectivity demonstrate the effectiveness, durability, and generalizability of haptic training with 12 communications disordered/neurologically impaired elementary…

In two experiments, students (10 learning disabled ninth graders and 45 nondisabled seventh graders) were taught the hardness levels of minerals according to either a keyword-pegword mnemonic, a questioning procedure, or free study. Mnemonic students significantly outrecalled both questioning and free-study students regardless of students'…

The review examines evaluations of the efficacy of special education programs for mildly disabled children. The author suggests that serious methodological flaws make our present knowledge in this area very weak and proposes a methodology to address and overcome many of the limitations of previous research. (Author)

Twelve elementary children with reading and writing difficulties substantially improved their reading and writing skills and strategies through a microcomputer project. Four software factors in successful applications were noted, including the use of microcomputers to lower risks encountered in making errors. (CL)

Scores of 14 percent of 103 learning disabled eight- to 13-year-olds on the Children's Depression Inventory were at or above the critical cutoff. Comparison of most versus least depressed Ss revealed that the former were lower in self-esteem, oversensitive, and shared traits associated with neuroticism. (Author/CL)

WPPS (Weschsler Preschool Primary Scale of Intelligence) and screening test scores of 72 children at risk for learning disability at age five were examined three years later. At follow-up there were 32 poor and 40 good readers. Both groups had average intelligence at age five and had received similar special help. (Author/CL)

Scatter analysis among the Tests of Cognitive Ability for the Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery was conducted on the performance of 3,566 Ss (grades one to 12) from the standardization sample. Examining scatter on the Tests of Cognitive Ability and identifying specific "types" of learning disabilities using this test are discouraged.…

A longitudinal study of 62 kindergarten children showed that inferior performance on tests of syllable-counting, word-string memory, and Corsi blocks may presage future reading problems in grade one. Procedures are suggested for kindergarten screening and for helping children at risk for reading failure. (Author/CL)