The article examines service provisions for preschool-aged handicapped students in terms of two legal issues: what constitutes an appropriate program in terms of the intensity/frequency of program length; and how the least restrictive environment provision should be applied to this population. (Author/DB)

The chairman of the House Committee on Labor and Human Resources reviews economic and geographic factors affecting the development of social policy decisions for handicapped persons. He notes progress in prevention and early childhood special education and considers implications of tax policies for families of handicapped children. (CL)

State and local efforts at interagency collaboration for handicapped children are examined in a report that first describes the mandates of P.L. 94-142, The Education For All Handicapped Children Act. Effective approaches to state-level interagency collaboration in Louisiana, Delaware, Maine, New Jersey, Michigan, Rhode Island, Massachusetts,…

The 50 states and the District of Columbia were surveyed concerning their procedures for delivering educational services to limited English proficient (LEP) handicapped students. Results indicated that few states have established procedures and guidelines for delivering educational services to LEP handicapped students. (Author)

The planning, preparation, and delivery of learning experiences tend to be organized vertically, in accordance with schools' structure of curricular subjects and teaching departments, but pupils' experience of the curriculum is horizontal and serial. A rationale for utilizing a horizontal, across-the-curriculum model of support teaching is…

The article proposes more consideration of preventive services as a viable alternative to current service delivery models for special education services. Primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention services are described. Reasons for more preventive service delivery systems are identified and the research on risk and child development is reviewed.…

The paper analyzes the legal, fiscal, and organizational differences and similarities in special educational services in the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. Noted are the decreased role of the courts in Australia and New Zealand and provision of all education funding by the state in Australia and New Zealand. (DB)

The final report summarizes activities of the 3-year Correctional Special Education Training (C/SET) Project, designed to improve special education services to incarcerated youth and young adults. Original project goals are listed. First year activities are noted, including site visits to identify current regional correctional special education…

The report details accomplishments of Texas's Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) program and describes the program's interagency organization and services. The history of early intervention in Texas is traced and the need for early intervention documented. Interagency cooperation among the departments of health, mental health and mental…

Analysis of early intervention expenditure data for 157 children in Massachusetts revealed an enormous variability in the total expenditure per child estimate. The study identified specific child, family, and program characteristics as predictors of different types of service hours. Difficulty in using one mean expenditure figure for planning is…

This booklet focuses on the role of interagency agreements in facilitating the transition of young children and their families from early intervention services to preschool services as children turn 3 years of age. Interagency agreements can be viewed as an "invisible brace" supporting families and staff as they consider many issues in moving from…

The report concerns H.R. 4904, a bill to establish a program of grants to states to promote the provision of technology related assistance to individuals with disabilities. Other aspects of the bill include authorization of a study on the financing of assistive technology devices and services, a feasibility study for establishing a National…

This paper discusses the importance of interagency coordination in developing services for young children with handicaps and their families. It suggests strategies to improve the functioning of interagency coordinating councils by considering council membership, role definition, goal commitment, vision of the early intervention system, and use of…

The report describes a regionalized system of community based child health centers developed in Iowa to provide coordinated secondary level health services for children with chronic illness and handicapping conditions. The system is based on two principles: (1) Communities will be given the responsibility for determining which health services are…

This paper notes the need for an empirically based model for helping students with disabilities make transitions toward less restrictive settings and exit special education. Emphasis is on defining the least restrictive environment, identifying students with mild disabilities who are potential candidates for reintegration, assessing the…