Stanley E. Wigle

Inclusion Criteria for the Preparation of Education Personnel

There has been a great deal of controversy surrounding the inclusion of students with disabilities in general education classrooms. when students with disabilities are included in general education classrooms, such placements must be congruent with the concept of least restrictive environment (lre). five criteria are identified in this article as elements important to the establishment of an lre within inclusive general education classrooms. these criteria have implications for the preparation of preservice teachers. these implications are the foci for suggested teacher preparation program elements related to the efficacy of preservice classroom teachers.There has been a great deal of controversy surrounding the inclusion of students with disabilities in general education classrooms. when students with disabilities are included in general education classrooms, such placements must be congruent with the concept of least restrictive environment (lre). five criteria are identified in this article as elements important to the establishment of an lre within inclusive general education classrooms. these criteria have implications for the preparation of preservice teachers. these implications are the foci for suggested teacher preparation program elements related to the efficacy of preservice classroom teachers.

Teacher and Administrator Attitudes toward Full Inclusion in Rural Mid-America.

Full inclusion as a service delivery model for all students with disabilities has generated significant recent controversy. In this study, questionnaires were sent to a sample of special educators, general educators, and administrators in rural, mid-western K-12 school districts. The subjects were asked to respond to four statements relating to inclusion. The analyses of variances of the group responses indicated a very cautious attitude toward full inclusion among all of the subjects in this study. The implications of the findings for K-12 professionals are discussed.

Conceptual Frameworks, Portfolio Assessment and Faculty Mentoring: Bridges to Standards-Based Teacher Education Programs

Abstract The purpose of this article is to describe how conceptual frameworks, portfolio assessment, and faculty mentoring have been used to transition a teacher preparation program to a standards-based approach. The implications for teacher preparation program design are discussed.

Applicability of Humor in the Reading/Language Arts Curriculum.

Abstract The value of humor in a reading/language arts program may not be completely understood and may often be overlooked. Critics contend that it is inappropriate for successful classroom management, that it is another “add‐on” to the curriculum, and that too much student humor seems to be counterproductive. It is suggested in this article that the use of humor is supportable by many learning theorists and that it has probable affective and cognitive benefits. Furthermore, humor does not have to be viewed as an “add‐on” when it is used to enliven skills that are traditionally taught. Finally, the authors believe that the reading/ language arts setting may represent the most likely curricular area to nurture student‐generated humor.

THREE-YEAR ANALYSIS OF CHARACTERISTICS OF LEARNING DISABLED STUDENTS IN SELF-CONTAINED CLASSROOMS AND RESOURCE ROOMS

The present investigation examined the characteristics of school-identified learning disabled students from a large metropolitan school district in Tennessee. While it corroborated several findings of previous surveys of such students, this report also supplemented the literature by comparing the differences within a three-year span of time between school-identified learning disabled students who were assigned to self-contained classrooms and those who were assigned to resource rooms. Among the major findings were the presence of initial differences in IQ between self-contained and resource room students, the absence of differences in initial achievement scores between these two groups, and a decline over time in IQ, arithmetic, and spelling scores for both groups.