Developing a Consulting Program in Special Education: Implementation and Interventions

Service delivery models used to educate handicapped students have been influenced by a variety of factors. Requirements in Public Law 94-142 to educate students in the least restrictive environment, research examining the efficacy of special education programs (Dunn, 1968; Goldstein, Moss, & Jordan, 1965; Sindelar & Deno, 1978), research into the effects of labeling (Hobbs, 1975; Reger, 1979), and criticisms of current identification practices (Ysseldyke, 1979, 1983) have encouraged schools to educate handicapped students in environments other than self-contained settings. The direction toward educating handicapped students in the least restrictive environment has had the greatest impact upon individuals identified as mildly handicapped. This includes students in the categories of behavioral disorders, learning disabilities, and mild mental retardation, as well as students referred to as slow learners, underachievers, or educationally handicapped (Deshler, Schumaker, Alley, Warner, & Clark, 1982; Madden & Slavin, 1983). To educate mildly handicapped students in the least restrictive environment, special education efforts historically have attempted to provide direct academic interventions in resource room settings to improve students' academic skill achievement and thus allow the students to function effectively in the regular classroom. One important assumption in this model is that mildly handicapped students can be appropriately educated largely in regular education settings, and one means of achieving this goal is to improve the cooperation between regular and special education teachers. Although educators have achieved no consensus, research and professional opinion have supported efforts to provide appropriate education programs for mildly handicapped students within the regular classroom setting (Bickel & Bickel, 1986; Wang & Birch, 1984). The utilization of sound instructional practices is thought to meet the needs of a large number of special education students while allowing them to remain in the regular classroom (Heller, Holtzman, & Messick, 1982). Placing handicapped students in regular classes, however, has placed increased instructional and management demands on regular classroom teachers (Gerber, 1986). Therefore, to educate handicapped students in the least restrictive environment, regular educators must receive supporting and collaborative services from special educators.