Two groups of teacher education faculty (regular and special educators) were asked to predict the responses of regular class teachers to a questionnaire about mainstreaming. Results lend support to the perception that teacher education faculty may not have accurate perceptions about mainstreaming issues that affect regular class teachers.

Rural pubic schools are mandated by federal and state laws to provide all necessary educational services for their constituents including the therapy services rendered by speech-language pathologists (SLP). However, due to extensive competition for these professionals in the last decade, rural public school administrators have experienced considerable difficulty in recruiting and retaining SLPs. The purpose of this investigation was to identify reasons why SLPs employed in rural public schools opt to remain in that employment setting. A 32 item questionnaire was developed and used to survey SLPs employed in rural public schools in a mid-south state. Of the 169 respondents, 93 reported having been employed in the same rural public school for four or more years. These 93 respondents were chosen as subjects for this investigation. Respondents chose the following seven factors as the most important reasons for continued public school employment: salary, vacation, support for continuing education, satisfaction with types of clients, caseload selection, the school's reputation for providing quality services, and relationships with other professional staff.

The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether special educator predictions of regular class teacher attitudes toward mainstreaming were significantly different from actual attitudes expressed by regular educators. To that end, a group of special educators was asked to predict regular educator colleague responses to a questionnaire designed to elicit attitudes about several aspects of the mainstreaming concept and process. Resulting data were submitted to factor and discriminative analysis. Results indicated that nearly half of the special educator group was unable to predict regular educator responses. Special educator prediction consistently underestimated the positiveness of regular education colleagues concerning several aspects of the mainstreaming process. Implications for further research and for carrying out consultation services effectively are presented.The least restrictive environment mandates of PL 94-142 have necessitated close working relationships between regular and special educators

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A group of special education resource teachers (n = 25) were paired with regular educators (n = 25) who worked in the same school building. Regular educators were asked to respond to an opinionnaire designed to obtain their perceptions of six factors associated with the mainstreaming process. Special educators were asked to attempt to predict the responses of regular education colleagues to this opinionnaire. Results indicated that special educator predictions were not significantly different from regular educator responses on five of the six factors. Significant differences were obtained, however, on one factor : willingness to teach the handicapped. Implications for special education resource room and consultation programs and for further research are discussed.