Maintaining at-risk children in regular education settings: initial effects of individual differences and classroom environments.

This study described the course of school failure by classifying the characteristics of 103 first-grade children who were at risk for such an outcome and examining their classroom environments over a 1- to 4-year period. We describe the association between empirically validated clusters of children and specific instructional arrangements that served to increase the risk of special education placement. We found that individual seatwork while other children were in a reading group significantly increased the risk of placement; on the other hand, small-group work was associated with nonplacement for one cluster of children (those with possible learning disabilities). Other results were inconclusive, but suggestive of patterns that may eventually assist in the definition of the elusive link between individual differences and classroom environments.