A model for evaluating the effectiveness of mainstreaming.

Years ago it was a common and accepted practice to segregate handicapped students from their nondisabled classmates. It was presumed that handicapped youngsters needed a sheltered segregated environment in order to make satisfactory progress in school. Handicapped students were given a special curriculum and social contact with their school peers was limited (Dunn, 1968). However, since the 1960\u27s there has been a trend towards moving handicapped children from segregated classrooms into regular class settings. This trend gained momentum which led to the passage of the federal mandate Public Law 94 142 which stated that handicapped individuals should not be inappropriately segregated from their nonhandicapped peers, and that they should be educated in the least restrictive environment