The Assessment for Integration into Mainstream Settings (AIMS) Assessment System: Rationale, Instruments, Procedures, and Outcomes

The Assessment for Integration into Mainstream Settings (AIMS) system for use in mainstreaming handicapped children into less restrictive settings is described. AIMS is an ecological assessment system, consisting of five instruments, that makes it possible to (a) identify the minimal behavioral demands of less restrictive settings, (b) make use of this in formation in the systematic preparation of handicapped children for the behavioral demands that exist within them, and (6) directly assess the handicapped child's adjustment to academic and free-play settings following social integration. Following a brief review of the knowledge base on mainstreaming, three sections of the paper describe respectively (a) the AIMS assessment instruments and their uses; (b) validation studies, psychometric characteristics, and normative data; and (c) school applications of the AIMS system.