Curricular articles pertaining to students with severe disabilities (moderate, severe, and profound mental retardation) published from 1976 to 1995 in six special education periodicals were examined to identify trends in curricular research. Over the 20-year period, 785 curricular articles were identified in the six journals. This represented 16% of the publications across these journals during that time span. The percentage of total publications represented by curricular articles showed an increase from 1976-1980 to 1981-1985, but a steady decline over the past 10 years. There was a 23% decline in the average annual frequency of curricular articles during the 1991-1995 time span in comparison to the 1976-1980 period. A 32% decrease in the average annual frequency of functional life skills training articles was noted, with a 231% increase in the average annual frequency of articles focusing on interactions, integration, and/or inclusion. Within the functional life skills area, recreation/leisure/play/social skills articles represented approximately 34% of the publications, followed by vocational skills with 25%, domestic living/self-care skills with 19%, community functioning skills with 13%, and other/ mixed with 11%. The average annual frequency of controlled, quantitative studies remained stable over the past 20 years, but noncontrolled and non-data-based publications dropped by 56%. Qualitative studies represented only 1.2% of those published, only recently appearing in the literature. An analysis of these findings is presented along with a discussion of curricular areas in need of further investigation.In its simplest terms, curriculum refers to the content of instruction, or, as stated by Williams, Brown, and Certo (1975), what to teach. The purpose of the present study was to review curricular trends in research with students with moderate, severe, and profound mental retardation over the past 20 years in six special education journals. This analysis was undertaken for two main reasons. First, the need to identify appropriate curricular content has been a central characteristic of the field of severe disabilities since its inception. Seminal publications in the formative years of the severe disabilities movement, including Son tag, Burke, and York (1973);Hamre-Nietupski (1976), andWilliams et al. (1975), devoted considerable attention to the question of what to teach.

A recent controversy has arisen over the relative merits of simulated versus in vivo community instruction. The view presented here is that in cases where in vivo instruction alone is unfeasible, practitioners should employ both training formats in a concurrent fashion. Accordingly, five guidelines for making simulated instruction a more effective adjunct to community instruction are presented and discussed. Future research needs in this area also are suggested.

A pilot study was conducted to verify empirically the educational activitypreferences of68 parents ofstudents with moderate and severe/profound mental disabilities. Parents were surveyed to determine the relative value they place on the three areas offunctional life skills, academic skills, and friendship/social relationship development in the educational programs of their sons/ daughters. Parents ofstudents withmoderate disabilities ratedfunctional life skills most highly, while parents of students with severe/profound disabilities ratedfriendship/socialrelationship development most highly. Furthermore, parents ofstudentswith moderate disabilities rated each curricular area as more important than did parents ofstudents with severe/profound disabilities.

This research explores the mediating effects of severity of disability on the employment outcomes of participants with disabilities, taking into account their perception of interest‐job match. Participants were 115 high school students with disabilities who took part in an intensive school‐to‐work transition program that explored occupational interests in relation‐to‐work opportunities. Results of a 1‐way analysis of covariance indicated that severity of disability had a significant effect on the employment outcomes of participants despite interest‐job matching. Although participants experienced positive employment outcomes in terms of job entry, these outcomes may not necessarily translate into higher earnings.

The authors review recreation/leisure training programs that have been conducted with moderately/severely handicapped individuals. Emphasis is placed on data based task analytic, instructional efforts and recent curriculum volumes/position papers. Implications for practitioners are provided, as well as future research needs in the recreation/leisure skill domain.