This report presents a plan of the National Association of State Directors of Special Education's Project FORUM to establish and implement the on-going process of identifying national program information needed for improving the management, administration, delivery, and effectiveness of programs and services under the Individuals with Disabilities…

This report discusses the findings of a study that investigated whether the New York State Education Department's Office of Vocational and Educational Services for Individuals with Disabilities (VESID) has improved its oversight of special education by implementing a system for evaluating the performance of special education programs, and whether…

This paper first compares Vermont's old Individualized Education Plan (IEP) which was designed primarily to insure legal compliance with the new family-centered IEP. It then describes the new IEP. Vermont's new family-centered IEP process emphasizes increased collaboration, reduced paperwork, and legal compliance. Three questions serve as a focus…

The 3-year qualitative study evaluated high-school special education programs and their contributions to the transition of youth with disabilities. This report focuses on: the current status of programs for transition from school to adult life; program gaps as seen by administrators and practitioners; and reported priorities for program…

This report describes a project which developed and implemented a process for the ongoing identification of national information needed for improving programs and services to infants, toddlers, children, and youth with disabilities. The process involved creating a polling panel of stakeholder groups, creating a list of national program information…

This country has few highly qualified personnel to fulfill the various state commitments to legislation mandating effective vocational programs for two special populations, i.e., persons discriminated against on the basis of racial/ethnic identity and the physically handicapped. The result of a lack of national policy in this area has been a…

State and local agencies must work to provide appropriately designed vocational education programs to vocational students in order to help them become self-sufficient in living and working. In view of the employment potential of disabled people and the legal and economic reasons for facilitating their access to employment-related programs, state…

This annotated resource list is intended to help state and local administrators of vocational special needs programs, special needs educators, counselors, researchers, and policy makers develop or improve programs and services for at-risk youth and adults. The list is not intended to be exhaustive but to list resources that are representative of…

This document contains four Congressional hearings on H.R. 4164, the Vocational-Technical Education Act of 1983, to strengthen and expand the economic base of the Nation, develop human resources, reduce structural unemployment, increase productivity, and strengthen the Nation's defense capabilities by assisting the States to expand, improve, and…

This policy analysis focuses on identifying optimal federal fiscal policies for achieving desired programmatic and student outcomes on behalf of special populations in vocational education (i.e., disadvantaged, limited-English-proficient, and handicapped persons, and students interested in nontraditional careers). The present status of unserved…

This document, a transcript of a House of Representatives subcommittee hearing on a Reagan Administration proposal, discusses consolidation of existing federal vocational and adult education programs, simplification of requirements for states and other recipients participating in federal vocational and adult education programs, authorization of…

During its third year of operation, the National Council on the Handicapped continued to develop priorities for the National Institute of Handicapped Research (NIHR) and worked to identify all research on disabilities and handicaps that is currently underway. In addition, the council's Committee on Services undertook a review and assessment of…

What constitutes quality in early childhood settings, and how can it best be measured with today's widely used tools and promising new approaches? Find authoritative answers in this book, a must-have for high-level administrators and policymakers as more and more states adopt early childhood Quality Rating and Improvement Systems. The most…

This study evaluated the effect of training on improving the reliability of the peer review process by determining whether or not training made a difference in the variability among reviewers' scores and documentation provided to support the scores. Different levels of training were provided for participants in the peer review process who were…