State summative assessments play an important role in measuring student learning and guiding educational improvement efforts, despite their limitations. But there is growing momentum in individual states and nationally to rethink these assessments with an eye toward reducing time spent on testing and increasing the tests' instructional relevance.…

The purpose of this paper is threefold: (1) to provide information to policymakers and government personnel who support and develop workforce development programming, policies and practices for youth, including those with learning disabilities (LD); (2) to provide a national view of the literacy and employment status of youth with LD who have low…

"Special Schools as a Resource for Inclusive Education" examines inclusive education reform efforts by the Open Society foundation in Armenia in communities with special and mainstream schools. These efforts evolved into a project to transform three special schools for children with disabilities into resource centers to help mainstream…

Many mentoring policies do not differentiate between novice special education teachers and their general education counterparts. Although novice special education teachers may benefit in part from general induction practices, their experience is limited when there is little attention given to their unique instructional needs. Policymakers can…

As the ongoing national indicator of what American students know and can do, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in Reading regularly collects achievement information on representative samples of students in grades 4, 8, and 12. Through "The Nation's Report Card," the NAEP Reading Assessment reports how well students…

This final report describes the Systematic Integrated Preschool Education Model (SIPE) project, which established classrooms to demonstrate an inclusion model for serving preschool children with severe disabilities. A total of 33 preschool children with identified developmental disabilities and their families in three Virginia school districts…

The current standard in providing residential services for individuals with severe disabilities favors serving small groups of people with similar levels of assistance needs in ordinary housing units, which are owned or leased by nonprofit agencies, funded by a mix of federal and state funds, and employ shift workers who provide professionally…

Responses to EC 604 077 include "A Proposed Certification Model for Special Education" (Paul Sindelar et al.), "Categorical versus Noncategorical versus Cross-Categorical Teacher Certification in Special Education" (Ann Nevin), and "Do We Have to Choose Categorical versus Noncategorical?" (Judith Bondurant-Utz et…

Presented originally at four conferences (held during 1984-1985), the 12 invited papers contained in this document were part of a federally funded project, the National Network for Professional Development in Vocational Special Education. Project objectives included training of teacher educators in employment preparation for the handicapped,…

Recently the Oregon Legislative Assembly called for a new funding approach for regional programs for severely disabled students. The resulting resource-cost model, based on a state approved funding level by handicap and instructional delivery system or student placement, provides greater educational equity for disabled students regardless of…

This report responds to Delaware state legislation requiring the development of proposed revised regulations for the classification of students as learning disabled (LD). The report first describes the current system, noting that in 1997 15 percent of the student population were served under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and over…

The editorial describes a proposed interagency university-based social/health maintenance model to provide health and medical services to developmentally disabled persons in the Buffalo, New York, area. (DB)

Before teachers can productively implement individualized education programs for handicapped students, substantive IEP planning should occur at state and local levels. Impediments to IEP development should be identified and relationships among federal, state, and local agencies clarified. A paradigm is offered to help the teacher systematically…

This paper proposes the twin themes of prevention and intervention as components of a conceptual framework for determining special education research priorities and developing a coherent research program. Brief descriptions of ongoing programs of research on prevention and intervention from three different research groups are used illustratively,…

The article describes the eligibility model developed by the community college system of California for students with learning disabilities. Major activities of the research and development process leading to the eligibility model are detailed including components, procedures, and criteria. The process combines clinical and databased evidence with…