Tests used to estimate mental abilities (measures of intelligence, perceptual motor ability, and early identification of learning disabilities) are critically examined. (Author)

The present research investigated whether information about and experience with the handicapped would improve prospective regular education teachers' (N=29) attitudes toward and knowledge about mainstreaming. (Author)

The article illustrates a method to estimate changes in the statistical power of a study which are caused by changes in the reliability of the dependent variable. (Author)

To produce a greater degree of consistency and reliability in diagnosis of handicapped children, a system called multidimensional actuarial classification is presented for differential diagnosis of mental retardation, inadequate adaptive behavior, social maladjustment, academic under and overachievement, and learning disabilities. (Author/CL)

The authors suggest that the Rules and Regulations of P.L. 94-142 (the Education for All Handicapped Children Act) for the development and implementation of child identification systems present severe policy problems for state planners. (Author/CL)

All methods reviewed significantly discriminate between groups of brain damaged and unimpaired children. No method, however, provides successful predictive rates high enough to warrant the use of the Bender as the sole diagnostic instrument in individual cases. (Author)

A critical review of the literature indicates that overselective attention: (1) is not limited to autistic children, (2) may be only one of several developmental lags these children display, and (3) may or may not be strongly correlated with children's language abilities and general intellectual abilities. (Author)

A significant two-way input modality by output modality interaction suggested that short term memory capacity among the groups differed as a function of the modality used to present the items in combination with the output response required. (Author/CL)

The author discusses the regression discrepancy method for identifying learning disabled (LD) children and compares it with other identification techniques, pointing out its advantages but indicating that it is still inadequate as a sole criterion for LD identification. (Author)

Data from a large racially representative sample of school children showed that the trend toward placing minority students into special education classes in disproportionate numbers has been complicated by the introduction of the learning disability (LD) category. (Author)

Of the 146 special education teacher training programs that responded, 61 percent indicated that their students received some preparation in sex education. Further analysis indicates that the majority of the coursework was either elective options or a few hours of coverage within existing courses. (Author)

Three conclusions were drawn regarding the majority of the states: they have not adopted a definition of mental retardation; they have litte information on the prevalence of mentally retarded imprisoned persons; and they are not providing training for judges or lawyers on this topic. (CL)

A study was conducted to investigate the publishing policies of professional journals that deal with topics related to special education. It appears that a how to, practical type manuscript stands a better chance of being published in special education related journals. (Author)

This study presents measures of total, average, and excess costs of special education and their change over time. Average total per pupil special education costs were about 2.3 times the cost of regular education. Over the past 20 years, total costs for special education have consistently been approximately twice the cost of regular education.…

This article reviews use of the term "best practice" in special education and suggests that the term is misleading unless measurable criteria have been systematically applied. A proposed definition focuses on the theoretical basis for a procedure, integrity of the research design and extent of replication, consensus with literature, process and…