WHAT MAKES SPECIAL-EDUCATION SPECIAL - EVALUATING INCLUSION PROGRAMS WITH THE PASS VARIABLES

Zigmond and Baker's analysis of case studies of inclusion of students with learning disabilities in elementary classrooms reveals that littl e ''special'' education was being provided to those students. But what makes special education special? We have evaluated these case study r eports with a set of variables that are essential for success in speci al education settings-the PASS variables: Prioritized objectives; Adap ted methods, materials, and environments; SCREAM (an acronym for effec tive teacher presentation variables); and Systematic monitoring of pro gress. The cases described by Zigmond and Baker reveal substantial sho rtcomings in each of these variables. Further, these shortcomings do n ot appear to be the result of insincere teachers or ineffective teachi ng abilities, but rather appear to be an unavoidable consequence of th e inclusion programs themselves. Perhaps many of the teachers involved in these settings reported that they were successful because they lac ked the type of information that might have provided a more realistic, and perhaps less optimistic, evaluation of the effectiveness of the i nclusion settings. important learning objectives for students with lea rning disabilities should not be sacrificed in the attempt to accommod ate all learners in the same setting.