This article describes the stages of an assistive technology (AT) assessment process and use of an Assistive Technology Referral Format for use with students who have disabilities. Emphasis is on assisting teams to identify AT objectives within the student's present skills and curriculum and plan for the appropriate use of AT. The relevant forms…

This article briefly reviews research supporting the value of teacher mentoring programs for beginning and experienced teachers and reports on implementation efforts including Cincinnati's Peer Assistance and Evaluation Program, the Rhode Island Teachers & Technology Initiative, and programs at the University of Texas-El Paso and Iowa State…

This article reviews seven texts intended for use in special education technology courses making use of a matrix developed to compare the texts on visual layout, organization, technology integration, planning, educational technology in context, administrative planning, skills related lessons, and assistive technology features. (DB)

This status report on instructional software accessibility for individuals with disabilities notes current initiatives to further instructional technology accessibility and reports on a survey of 19 major companies producing instructional software. Only two responses reflected awareness of accessibility considerations and all the remaining…

In the past two decades, inclusive schooling for students with exceptional conditions has emerged in a range of national contexts to the extent that inclusion is now a world-wide movement. Major prompts arise from mandates and directives from international bodies such as UNESCO. However, the provision of education built on social inclusion places…

The effectiveness of a unique model of in-service training involving U.S. teacher educators and school teachers from Belize, Central America, is described based upon findings from a consecutive three-year period of the project. An evaluation component was integrated to provide a structure for program improvement, in which formative and summative…

This paper draws on research which took an auto/biographical and narrative approach in order to investigate mainstream teachers' and teaching assistants' experiences and understandings of inclusion. Throughout the 2003/04 academic year, three researchers made three visits to one primary and one secondary school to talk with individuals and groups.…

The study examined children's self-reported socio-emotional characteristics (loneliness and sense of coherence) and perception of their homeroom teacher as a secure base among 3rd-graders with reading difficulties prior to formal diagnostic assessment, thus controlling for the possible impact of diagnosis. In line with resilience theory, this…

There are now higher than ever numbers of children in public care in the developed world and increasing concerns across Europe to examine the differences in policies and practices and their impact on childrens lives. The small-scale research reported in this paper was commissioned by an agency in the UK concerned with addressing the challenge of…

The study examined attitudes towards inclusion and sense of efficacy of 1155 Israeli preservice teachers and variables related to these beliefs. Participants responded to an "Options related to inclusion scale", and a "Teacher efficacy scale". Findings revealed strong support for the principle of inclusion, yet also support for segregated special…

This paper engages with the issue of marginalization, in relation to the notion of inclusive education, that might be experienced by children within primary school settings. The discussion draws on understandings gained through an ethnographic study that took place in one primary school in Cyprus, with 227 children enrolled (aged 5 years 8 months…

This brief review paper examines what has been, until relatively recently, a largely under-explored area of research within the sub-discipline of inclusive education, namely the inclusion of pupils with special educational needs (SEN) and disabilities in National Curriculum Physical Education (NCPE). More specifically, by drawing upon studies…

A multiple case study is reported aiming at identifying the degree of taking part and of being engaged in classroom activities for children with and without reading and writing difficulties/dyslexia. The aim was also to investigate the accordance between "effective literacy teaching" and children's expressed interest and observed taking part and…

Individual educational plans (IEPs) are considered to be more effective when designed and implemented by a multidisciplinary team. This paper deals with the IEP as a collaborative tool for the education of pupils with profound and multiple learning difficulties (PMLD). Ten pupils with PMLD and the people working around them (e.g. teacher, speech…

The aim of the study was to examine factors that predict maternal stress, reported by mothers whose infants were diagnosed as having developmental disabilities at the beginning of participating in an early intervention programme "Me and My Mommy" and after one year. A second goal was to identify and to portray a subgroup of resilient mothers. The…