IDENTIFIERS Elementary Secondary Education Act Title III; ESEA Title XII

Evaluated in a 3-year project were the effects of three different classroom settings (a graded open classroom with a resource teacher, a multigrade open classroom emphasizing individualized instruction, and two self-contained special education classrooms) on achievement, self-concept, and classroom behavior of 30-38 educable mentally retarded children 8- to 13-years-old. Analysis of pre- and posttest measures of self-concept, achievement, attitudes, and classroom behavior did not demonstrate that one setting was clearly superior to another in producing meaningful gains in academics, self-concept, or attitudes toward schooling. Open classrooms promoted more peer interaction while the self-contained setting elicited more attending and teacher directed behavior. Teachers perceived Ss in open settings less faWorably than Ss in self-contained classrooms. Associated with academic success were th