Reginald L. Jones

Evaluating Mainstreaming Programs: Models, Caveats, Considerations, and Guidelines:

A variety of practical and theoretical issues pertinent to the evaluation of mainstreaming programs are presented, including (a) a critique of large and small mainstreaming evaluation studies, with emphasis upon the adequacy of models and the insights they yield for improved evaluation designs; (b) problems and issues in the evaluation of educational treatments, including attention to the variables of instructional time, instructional integration, stating goals and objectives, assessing teacher willingness to accommodate the handicapped child, and monitoring child progress; (c) considerations related to appraising dependent measures (attitudes, achievement, acceptance, cost/effectiveness); and (d) a discussion of issues unique to the evaluation requirements of Public Law 94–142. The paper concludes with a presentation of guidelines for developing and appraising mainstream evaluation reports, and the observation that problems related to the evaluation of mainstreaming programs are not insurmountable.

Accountability in Special Education: Some Problems

An appraisal of accountability from a special education perspective is presented. Attention is first given to types of accountability, and then, measurement problems are addressed, including measurement, objectives, and special education; norms; limitations of standardized tests for accountability and special education; and criterion referenced measures. Recommendations for proper use of standardized tests with exceptional children are also offered. Next, statistical problems in special education accountability are taken up. These include problems with multivariate and parametric methods, regression effects, and difference scores and the measurement of change. Other aspects focused on were special education accountability at the secondary level, accountability and current understanding of special education teacher characteristics and behavior, the potentially subversive effects which accountability may have on hard to assess objectives and theory development, and problems of attributing cause and effect in accountability. Finally, a position on directions for special education accountability is offered.

Student Views of Special Placement and Their Own Special Classes: A Clarification

The School Morale Inventory was given to 341 junior high school retarded students and 717 nonretarded students in the same schools. The results revealed as many positive responses given by special class students to various questions as were given by the nonretarded. Since other investigations indicate overwhelmingly that retarded students reject special class placement, it is suggested that retarded students reject the stigma of special placement but hold many positive attitudes toward their classroom and school experiences. Also in this study, a separate analysis of responses from suburban retarded students (N=114), contrasted with those given by the inner city retarded (N=227), revealed more positive attitudes held by the surburban retarded. This finding reinforces the view that retarded students cannot be considered a homogeneous group and that the educational problems of the inner city retarded are particularly acute.

Preferences and Configurations of Interest In Special Class Teaching

THE purpose of this paper is to present inforrnation on the expressed preferences of college students for teaching various types of exceptional chilo dren. The research has as a basic assumption the point of view that there is an orderly relationship between interest in teaching and several types of exceptional children, and that these relationships will be manifest in a smaller number of interest clusters or configurations. It is the identification of these relationships and clusters that forms the crux of this paper.

Correlates of Orthopedically Disabled Children's School Achievement and Interpersonal Relationships.

Editors Note: The journal receives many more manuscripts of interest and worth than space permits publishing in full. This department, In Brief, will present shortened versions of some articles as recommended by associate editors. Authors have agreed to furnish interested readers with full copies of the papers if requested The full length article must have been submitted for review and the author(s) will prepare the Briefs. GJW

The Individual High School as a Predictor of College Academic Performance

THE usual studies forecasting student performance in college correlate a number of predictors (usually test scores and indices of high school performance) with some criterion (usually first year college grades). Multiple correlation techniques are then used to combine the predictors to obtain optimal prediction of the criterion. Sometimes an attempt is made to develop separate batteries for various divisions within a school; at other times predictions by division are made from a common battery of predictors (Eels, 1961). Most often predictions are made across university divisions-with

A Study of the Validity of the Pre-Engineering Ability Test

Background. The Pre-Engineering Ability Test (PEAT) (Educational Testing Service, 1952) is a paper-and-pencil test designed to predict performance in engineering and pre-engineering programs. An outgrowth of the substantially longer Pre-Engineering Inventory (PEI), the PEAT is often included in a pre-admission battery of tests used for counseling and guidance purposes. ’BB11ile the validity of the PEI for these purposes has been established elsewhere (Lord, et aI’1 1950), no validity studies of the PEAT

Book Review: Problems and Methods in High School Teachingby Adam M. Drayer. Boston: D. C. Heath and Company, 1963. Pp. xiv + 303.

included a number of problems and exercises a t the end of each chapter. Sommhat unique is the listing of films correlated with the various subject-matter parts of the test. These films and their sources appear in the appendix. The text is well organized; the titles and headings of various sections are meaningful and brief. The style of writing is clear and uniform in spite of the fact that the book has three authors. Illustrations are carefully chosen and well placed. The authors have also been abIe to achieve a good balance between presentation of studies and understanding of the subject-matter. Studies are not quickly passed over in the text, but rather receive an adequate description mith the added inclusion of a table or graph when necessary. I n summary, this text appears to have achieved a proper marriage of the subject-matter and practical aspects in the field of educational psychology. It well organized and up-to-date. It is not “preachy,” nor is it “sugary” (i la “understanding your pupils in the challenge of today”). It could be used not only by prospective teachers, but also by any group of students interested in the field itself. PHILIP S. VERY University of Rhode Island

Book Reviews : Education for Slow Learners by G. Orville Johnson. Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1963. Pp. viii + 330:

on motivation, one finds Harry F. Harlow’s lucid article entitled &dquo;Mice, Monkeys, Men and Motives,&dquo; which defends the notion that the chief source of motivation is external stimulation, backed by four research studies: Terrell’s &dquo;Manipulatory Motivation in Children,&dquo; Wittrock’s &dquo;Set Applied to Student Teaching,&dquo; Waterhouse and Child’s &dquo;Frustration and the Quality of Performance,&dquo; as well as Bostrom’s &dquo;Grades as Reinforcers in the Production of Attitude Change.&dquo; Most articles, incidentally, are somewhat abridged from the sources in which they originally appeared. In order that the industrious student may compare each article in the book with the original, full references to the sources are provided. Although the selection of research studies for inclusion in this volume must have been quite an editorial task, the reader will not find much to complain about. Since most of the papers are fine models for students to discuss, they make the book useful even in classes devoted mainly to considerations of research methodology. Especially helpful is the inclusion of papers advancing most sides of a question in areas where theories clash. Thus both Skinner and Crowder articles are found in chapter three that deals with programmed instruction.

Book Reviews : Readings in Child Psychology (Second Edition) by Wayne Dennis (Editor). New York: Prentice Hall, 1963. Pp. xi + 532

on &dquo;The Development of Stability in Behavior&dquo; and the deletion of the section, &dquo;The Child in School.&dquo; Otherwise the reader will find only minor revisions in section titles, reassignment in the placement of articles, and occasional substitutions of one study by a leading child psychologist of the period 1930-1945 for another. Unquestionably this volume has its strengths, especially its inclusion of classic statements of theory and pioneering research studies that have attained the status of venerability. Davenport Hooker’s remarkable observations and photographs of fetal activity; Terman’s delightful discourse on the development of the Binet Scale published in 1916; Piaget’s fruitful speculations on the nature of children’s ideation-these are all represented. In his preface, the editor writes, &dquo;In slightly more than a decade much has happened to change the thinking of most child psychologists, including the editor of these readings.&dquo; However, scant evidence of change is to be found in the readings selected. The failure to include recent material is the major weakness in the book. Only in the last two sections, &dquo;Cultural Influences on Behavior&dquo; and &dquo;Development of Stability in Behavior,&dquo; are the newer studies adequately covered. Only one study published within the last 15 years is included in each of the first eight sections of the book. By overweighting venerability to the virtual exclusion of all other criteria, including merit, serious errors of omission have been made. For example, all of the articles in the section on intelligence are restricted to the Binet-Terman orientation. Surely, the instructor of a Child