Cascade of Services Model and emotionally disabled students.

Abstract

The Cascade of Services Model has become an essential component of modern special education, but questions remain about how the Cascade actually operates and whether progams at different levels actually differ as presumed. The present study provides data relating to three areas of presumed differences between resource, self-contained, and residential programs serving emotionally disabled students: type or severity of students, amount of student integration, and allocation of teacher time. While the trends of the data indicate some validity for the assumptions implicit in the Cascade, differences between the levels of the Cascade may be overstated, and levels may overlap to the point where differences are inconsequential.