Determining the number of school-age children who need special education has been a persistent problem for many years. The crux of the problem is to clearly identify the population of children who are to be served by special education. A specific concern is OSE's use of the 12.035% prevalence figure for handicapping conditions and the implication that states not serving this percentage of school-age children are not in compliance with the law. A review of over 10,000 special education students indicates that about 1.6% of the total school-age population have quantifiable handicapping conditions. The remainder of the children served in special education have performance deficits. Perhaps special education is serving too many children with only performance deficits and by so doing is perpetuating the reluctance of regular education to alter instructional procedures for all children who are experiencing performance problems.

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A research and demonstration classroom was established through the cooperative efforts of the University of Washington's Experimental Education Unit and the Head Start Program of the Seattle Public Schools. The demonstration classroom enrolled children demonstrating severe social, emotional, and/or language deficits, as identified by Head Start teachers. The aggressive or acting out child was most often seen as the child needing help. Of the 25 children originally referred, 12 were enrolled for a term which ran up to 43 days. Principles of programing the arrangement of activities in language and social discrimination were followed in the classroom. Behavior modification procedures were utilized and introduced to the regular Head Start teachers. The demonstration class teaching staff worked with the Head Start teachers when the children returned to their home class and throughout a followup period.

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