sociate Ofessor of Education in Charge of Major

Redacted for privacy cyAbstract approved: Public Law 94-142, passed in 1975, mandated that all children receive a free and appropriate education regardless of the extent of their handicapping condition. Handicapped students were to be educated in the "least restrictive environment " possible. Placing handicapped students in regular classrooms has been termed "mainstreaming. " Mainstreaming has produced concerns from parents and professionals regarding its possible detrimental effect on the emotional and academic development of both handicapped and nonhandicapped students. The purpose of this study was to examine the hypothesis that the development of nonhandicapped preschool children, ages 3 through 6, is impaired by their placement in a mainstreamed environment. A literature survey provided little agreement regarding the effects of mainstreaming on the academic and self concept development of nonhandicapped children. Data were collected on 15 children in a mainstreamed setting and 13 in a nonmainstreamed setting, both using the same curricular approach, the Preschool Interactive Curriculum for the Natural Integration of Children (PICNIC). Four assessment instruments were utilized. Pretest and posttest measures were obtained on 11 variables with a 30 to 32 week treatment period. One-way analysis of variance on change scores for the two groups revealed no clear indication of detrimental effects to nonhandicapped children as a result ofmainstreaming. Therefore, the hypothesis was retained for further study