Children who fail to acquire appropriate social skills have a lower probability of completing school, becoming employed, and becoming well-adjusted adults. This article provides the practitioner with strategies that can be used for teaching social skills to children with learning and behavior problems. These include how to select students for training, which social skills to use, teaching discrete skills and problem-solving routines, and helping students generalize training across settings and situations.

This article provides a context for this special issue devoted to the social-emotional side of learning disabilities (LD). The impact LD definitions have on policy and practice, the prevalence of social-emotional deficits among youth with LD, relevant social-emotional terms, and the rationale for teaching socialemotional skills are discussed. Finally, the articles comprising this special issue are introduced.

A survey focusing on the use of the Case Method of Instruction (CMI) in special education teacher preparation programs was sent to 257 randomly selected members of the Teacher Education Division (TED) of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC). Surveys from 141 individuals were returned, representing a 55.8% return rate. The survey was designed to obtain information regarding (a) subject characteristics, (b) characteristics of students and institutions, (c) teacher educators' perceptions of CMI, and (d) methods used to implement CMI in special education teacher preparation programs. More than 78% of respondents were using, or had used within two years, CMI and 90% felt positive about their ability to teach using cases. Greater than 17% were considering adopting CMI. Respondents reported using CMI most frequently in assessment and methods classes. Primary advantages of CMI cited by respondents were that this method allowed students to apply theory to practice and enabled students to develop problem-solving skills. Potential disadvantages included the amount of preparation and implementation time, difficulty finding appropriate cases, and the demands placed on the instructor (e.g., well-developed classroom management and group facilitation skills). Based upon results of this preliminary investigation, issues related to practical and research applications of CMI were discussed.istorically, teacher preparation programs JL teach students how to teach by (a) teaching them content (i.e., curriculum), (b) teaching them how to present content (i.e., methods), and (c) giving them the opportunity to apply (a) and (b) during field experiences (i.e.

Results of a survey of speech-language pathologists who had adopted (i.e., adopters) or who were considering adopting (i.e., nonadopters) integrated speech and language services are presented. The survey was designed to obtain information regarding speech-language pathologists’ perceptions of their expertise and the expertise of classroom teachers (CTs), integrated service delivery approaches they had adopted, the types of speech and language services provided in the classroom, and the characteristics of students served. Adopters’ and nonadopters’ perceptions regarding factors that contribute to effective integrated service delivery are reported, along with perceived advantages and disadvantages for speech-language pathologists, CTs, caseload students, and noncaseload students. Implications of survey results for inservice and preservice training and the future implementation of integrated speech and language services are considered as well.

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