Abstract
Results are reported on a study in which the reintegration of 382 severely emotionally disturbed/behaviorally disordered students into less restrictive programs was examined to determine (a) where the reintegrated students were placed along the continuum of services; (b) the extent to which the school groups of students were related to the types of placement; and (c) the type of exceptionality identified at the time of reintegration. Results indicate that the expected continuum of services (most to least restrictive) was reversed during the reintegrative process with the predominant placement being full integration followed in descending order by resource class and self-contained class placements. Over half (52%) of the preschool group were reintegrated directly into general education, while over a third of the elementary and middle school (34%) and high school (43%) groups were reintegrated directly into general education. Of those reintegrated into less restrictive special education settings, 56% continued as severely emotionally disturbed/behaviorally disordered students, indicating that most students are not reclassified with other handicapping conditions when they are reintegrated into less restrictive settings.
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