A review of over 10,000 special education students indicates that about 1.6 percent of the total school-age population have quantifiable handicapping conditions and the remainder have performance deficits. Special education may be perpetuating the reluctance of regular education to alter instructional procedures for all children who are…

Assessment practices in the Soviet Union reveal three trends. The so-called pedology movement was replaced in the 1930s by an anti-testing policy, followed more recently by a reassessment of psychodiagnostic practices. Late 1970s and the beginning of 1980s reveal strong interests in psychodiagnosis. (Author/CL)

In this introduction to the applicaton of meta-analysis as a quantitative synthesis technique, several alternative approaches to research synthesis are described. Their advantages and disadvantages, as compared to those of the techniques of meta-analysis. Decisions that must be faced by the prospective user of meta-analysis are described.…

The paper explores the conceptual bases of the controversy over meta analysis and computes it with traditional research on four dimensions: (1) scientific rigor, (2) detecting small effects, (3) problems of oversimplification, and (4) potential policy impact. It is argued that choice of procedures should be determined by the specific purpose of a…

The paper reviews objections to meta-analysis in psychotherapy. It is suggested that claims to inclusiveness and objectivity are not supported by the evidence, and that for most purposes the simplistic scoring systems of meta-analysis are not only useless, but may be counterproductive. (Author/CL)

The need for research synthesis is explored as well as the benefits of meta-analysis, particularly those related to understanding and explanation. The problems with traditional review methods are discussed, with special relevance to their failure to resolve problems. Finally, the findings from several meta-analyses are summarized and contrasted…

The paper discusses problems resulting from the substitution of meta-analysis for qualitative reviewing of special education research, employing H. Cooper's framework for assessing integrative research review and using illustrations from research on class placement and mainstreaming. (Author/CL)

The authors cite problems but regard meta-analysis as an improvement over traditional methods of research integration. Advantages are increased objectivity, freedom from arbitrary levels of statistical significance, and potential to relate an array of independent variables to effect size. Disadvantages include questionable reliability of ratings…

This study examined the score level, extent of test completion, and test reliability for visually impaired, physically handicapped, and nonhandicapped groups taking the Graduate Record Examinations General Test. Results included the finding that performance of visually handicapped groups approximated that of nondisabled examinees, although…

Eleven fifth- and sixth-grade learning-disabled students composed and revised stories using handwriting, dictation, and word processing. Dictated stories differed from other formats on product measures such as length, quality, and grammatical errors. Differences between handwritten and word-processed stories were found on the process measures of…

The school day of a total of 122 learning disabled, emotionally/behaviorally disturbed, educable mentally retarded, and nonhandicapped elementary students was observed. Findings were noted concerning time allocated to instruction in specific content areas, time spent in different school settings, and time allocated to instruction as a function of…

The paper describes a behavioral-ecological assessment system called AIMS (Assessment for Integration into Mainstream Settings) and presents the results of a comparative study of the responses of four Australian (N=179) and two U.S. (N=72) elementary teacher groups on two of the AIMS assessment instruments, the Social Behavior Standards Inventory…

Mothers of learning-disabled (N=15) and normally achieving (N=16) elementary-school boys administered an academic task to their children, and mothers' expectations and attributions for their sons' performance were assessed. Mothers of learning disabled pupils held lower performance expectations, provided more negative nonverbal responses, and more…

This report describes a secondary mainstreaming program in Pine County, Minnesota, which successfully used a team approach and consultation between regular and special education teachers to adapt regular content-area classes to accommodate mildly handicapped students. (Author/JDD)

The study examined the effects of classwide peer tutoring (involving team assignment, a game format, contingent point rewards, and immediate error correction) on the academic performance of mildly handicapped and nondisabled students (n=91) in ninth- and tenth-grade math classes. Group and individual results indicated significant improvement in…