Computers are used to manage assessment information for special education students and to administer, score, and interpret tests. Although the content validity of computer-administered assessment instruments may have certain practical limitations, several useful advantages can be gained by using computer-administered tests, including real-time…

Forty special education teachers rated usefulness and preferences concerning software evaluation information. Highest usefulness ratings were given to information on hardware compatibility, appropriateness for students, and software operation and use. The most preferred information source was software tryout, followed by software…

Investigated were the interactions among instructional elements of 26 commercial courseware packages, 62 learning-disabled students (aged 9-18), and their seven teachers. Reported are teachers' strategies for introducing, augmenting, and integrating computer-based education into ongoing instructional arrangements. Teachers developed a variety of…

Learning-disabled elementary-school students (n=126) who received computerized math and spelling drill-and-practice for a year expressed more positive attitudes toward academic work on the computer than toward similar academic tasks. They also reported more favorable opinions toward academic work than did 89 learning-disabled students not using…

The arguments of the Canadian court case Elwood v. Halifax County--Bedford District School Board, which established educational rights for the disabled under the Canadian Charter of Rights, are reviewed and the text of the agreement reprinted. The case established precedents in mainstreaming disabled students and involving parents in educational…

Normative data collected for the Goodenough-Harris Drawing Test from children (ages 7-14) in urban and rural Alberta and for Inuit children in the Northwest Territories, Canada, were consistently below the Harris norms particularly for the Draw-a-Woman test. Alternate sets of Draw-a-Person norms are proposed for use with these groups. (Author/VW)

The article describes postsecondary education programs in the Province of Alberta, Canada, for training individuals to work in paraprofessional and professional positions in community services for disabled children, adults, and their families. A career ladder in Rehabilitation Education provides advancement through study at the bachelor's,…

Results of a survey of 75 teachers, grades K-11, suggested that there are no grade level differences regarding willingness to mainstream mentally retarded students when the teachers have had some formal special education training. Additionally, special class teaching experience was not significantly related to attitude toward mainstreaming.…

A survey of educators (N=321) of the hearing impaired indicated that educational setting and communication mode employed most strongly affected their opinions on competencies relevant to instructional effectiveness. Those using oral/aural approaches thought a greater range of competencies necessary than those teaching in large special schools…

The Health Education and Learning for The Handicapped (HEALTH) program provides sex education to developmentally handicapped persons through group discussion, role-playing, films, and other visual aids. The one-hour group sessions, given over 12-14 weeks with 6-12 participants, discuss body parts, acceptable social behavior, assertiveness, birth…

Sixty gifted students (ages 9-11) were studied to identify differences in perceived competence, social adjustment, and peer relations between those in regular classrooms and those in segregated settings. Regular-classroom subjects reported greater perceived cognitive competence while segregated subjects were rated more positively by their teachers…

The Technology and Marketing Branch of Special Education programs within the US Department of Education has focused on promoting the availability, quality, and use of advances in education technology for handicapped persons. Activities have included assistance to developers, liaison with commercial publishers, and dissemination of information to…

An introduction to a panel discussion on technology for students with cognitive, motor, and perceptual handicaps examines potential benefits of interactive instructional systems and notes the tremendous increase in resources devoted to this technology in special education. (CL)

A project is underway which is examining tactual, auditory, and visual approaches to giving visually impaired students access to microcomputers. A three-module student instructional program, a workshop for teachers in residential and day-school programs, and criteria for software evaluation have also been developed. (CL)

The Trace Center (University of Wisconsin) has assembled a registry of hardware/software programs and adaptations for the handicapped user. The registry contains information on augmentative devices for motoric, sensory, or cognitive skills; special inputs that provide access to standard software; and other programs with speech output. (CL)