This study examined the criterion-related validity of oral reading fluency (ORF), number of words read correctly per minute, with 64 regular, remedial, and special education elementary-level students. Comparison with two miscue-based assessment measures did not support modification of traditional ORF but did suggest practical value of selected…

This study analyzed the relative efficacy of normative (population relative) and ipsative (person relative) measures for the study of intraindividual and interindividual differences in child ability. Ipsative ability measures were found to be uniformly inferior to their normative counterparts and conveyed no uniquely useful information. (Author/DB)

This paper describes the social, political, and professional climate that prevailed in special education in the 1950-70 period, especially in Minnesota. Consideration of changes from that period to 1993 suggests the need for a delivery management plan that fosters an equal sharing of responsibility between regular and special education and…

This paper examines the basic tenets of the 1968 blueprint for change offered by Lloyd Dunn, which outlined a progressive plan to improve special education for students labeled as slow learners and educable mentally retarded. Current extensions of the blueprint are offered along with a rationale for including those students with extensive support…

This article reviews historically the overrepresentation of Latino and African-American students in special education; examines the influence of court cases, debate about systemic issues, demographic and socioeconomic changes, the construction of minority students' school failure, and the fallacy of the cultural diversity-disability analogy; and…

This paper on secondary students with mild disabilities, in the context of the twenty-fifth anniversary of papers by Lloyd Dunn and Evelyn Deno, focuses on adult outcomes indicating the efficacy level of secondary special education programs; alternative curricular orientations available; and current and emerging curricular models associated with…

This paper reviews current practices in urban school districts, concluding that for inner-city children, special education referral, evaluation, and placement practices are not more effective now than 25 years ago. The characteristics and needs of inner-city special education youngsters and the difficult options facing school administrators are…

This article explores the social context surrounding Lloyd Dunn's 1968 paper on educational reform for children with mild disabilities, noting the subsequent adoption of resource specialist services in place of special day classes, changes in numbers of students with mild mental retardation and their behavioral characteristics, and the current…

This article views Lloyd Dunn's 1968 paper, which called for educational reform for students with mild mental retardation, as a reaction to civil rights concerns permeating school reform and as a creator of ideological cleavage between special education and advocates for minorities. The use of Tolerance Theory and analysis of the school…

Papers by Lloyd Dunn and Evelyn Deno are analyzed for their ideas about merging special and general education, labeling, and blaming students' failure to learn solely on teachers. Development of a culture of disability that uses the distinctive characteristics of persons with disabilities to develop a positive identity through congregation,…

Issues that are central to special education and appear destined to remain so are discussed, including professional divisions among special educators and between special and regular educators, the population to be served, individualization, and placement. (JDD)

Societal forces influencing special education today include expectations of programs for exceptional children, the consequence of fear of being accused of ethnic or social discrimination in placing students in special education, special education as an entry to services, the philosophy of full inclusion, and issues of power and influence in…

Reactions to Lloyd Dunn's 1968 paper and Evelyn Deno's 1970 paper calling for educational reform for students with disabilities are discussed from the perspective of an emotional and behavior disorders specialist. Several underlying issues are highlighted, such as the relationship of special education to general education, the mutability of…

This introductory article describes a study that explored the meaning of special education in the context of full-time mainstreaming and the Regular Education Initiative. The study involved observing five full-time mainstreaming models of service delivery for elementary-age students with learning disabilities (described in subsequent articles).…

This article describes the inclusion model used at one elementary school in Virginia and the educational experiences of a third grader and a fifth grader, both with learning disabilities. The school uses a collaborative teaching model that emphasizes strategy training and provides full-time services in general education classes. (DB)