Teaching is systematic presentation of content assumed necessary for successful progress in school. Each year, large numbers of students fail to profit from the educational menu taught in America's schools. Many of these failing students are classified as handicapped and receive special education designed to compensate for or correct the problems believed to be the sources of their failure. Although very many students receive special education in self-contained classrooms, the effectiveness of this alternative educational placement remains an issue largely because so little is known about what special teachers do differently in their classrooms. Forty teachers of categorical special education classrooms were observed during various academic instructional periods. No differences were indicated in the extent to which these teachers demonstrated several general teaching behaviors (e.g., by using a variety of instructional strategies, maintaining active student involvement). The outcomes of this research raise questions about the appropriateness of categorical grouping of students for instruction and relate to issues of personnel training in categorical programs.
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