Teaching Students With Mental Retardation

Bob Algozzine is a professor in the Department of Educational Leadership at the University of North Carolina and project codirector of the U.S. Department of Education-supported Behavior and Reading Improvement Center. With 25 years of research experience and extensive firsthand knowledge of teaching students classified as seriously emotionally disturbed, Algozzine is a uniquely qualified staff developer, conference speaker, and teacher of behavior management and effective teaching courses. He is active in special education practice as a partner and collaborator with professionals in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools in North Carolina and as an editor of several journals focused on special education. Algozzine has written more than 250 manuscripts on special education topics, including many books and textbooks on how to manage emotional and social behavior problems. Jim Ysseldyke, Ph.D., is Birkmaier Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology, director of the School Psychology Program, and director of the Center for Reading Research at the University of Minnesota. Widely requested as a staff developer and conference speaker, Ysseldyke brings more than 30 years of research and teaching experience to educational professionals around the globe.As the former director of the federally funded National Center on Educational Outcomes, Ysseldyke conducted research and provided technical support that helped to boost the academic performance of students with disabilities and improve school assessment techniques nationally. Today, he continues to work to improve the education of students with disabilities.The author of more than 300 publications on special education and school psychology, Ysseldyke is best known for his textbooks on assessment, effective instruction, issues in special education, and other cutting-edge areas of education and school psychology. With A Practical Approach to Special Education for Every Teacher, Ysseldyke seeks to equip educators with practical knowledge and methods that will help them to better engage students in exploring—and meeting—all their potentials.

• About A Practical Approach to Special Education for Every TeacherAcknowledgementsAbout the AuthorsSelf-Assessment IIntroduction to Teaching Students With Mental Retardation1.What is Mental Retardation?DefinitionPrevalence2.What Causes Mental Retardation?Genetic ConditionsProblems During Pregnancy & BirthHealth Problems3.How is Mental Retardation Diagnosed?Significance of Adaptive Behavior in Diagnosis4.What Characteristics Are Associated With Mental Retardation?CognitiveAcademicPhysicalBehavioralCommunication5.How Should Teachers Teach Students With Mental Retardation?Improving Functional Academic SkillsImproving School Adaptive BehaviorImproving Work SkillsImproving Leisure Skills6.What Should Every Teacher Know About Teaching Students With Severe Disabilities?DefinitionPrevalenceCurriculum ConsiderationsInstructional Approaches7.What Trends and Issues Influence How We Teach Students With Mental Retardation?Prevention of Mental RetardationTransitioning From School to Work8.Mental Retardation in PerspectiveRecent AdvancesThe Importance of EnvironmentsInclusion9. What Have We Learned?Key PointsKey VocabularySelf-Assessment IIAnswer Key for Self-AssessmentsOn Your OwnResourcesBooksJournals & ArticlesOrganizationsReferencesIndex